Review: The Rom-Commers: A Novel by Katherine Center

Thank you to #NetGalley for a free copy of this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

My Interest

My interest? Simple! I loved Katherine Center’s last two rom-coms: The Bodyguard and Hello Stranger (my reviews are linked). I learned of this book via a post by blogger A Book Wanderer–why not go visit her blog, too, and leave her some nice comments? We bloggers live for nice comments.

The Story

“I fell in love all the time. Just… nobody fell in love with me back. Fiction really kind of was all I had in the romance department. But that wasn’t a weakness. That was a strength. I had a theory that we gravitate toward the stories we need in life. Whatever we’re longing for—adventure, excitement, emotion, connection—we turn to stories that help us find it. Whatever questions we’re struggling with—sometimes ones so deep, we don’t even really know we’re asking them—we look for answers in stories.”

Emma Wheeler has spent a lot of years now caring for her disabled Dad and raising her kid sister. All the while her writing talent has been begging to come out. When a high school friend gets her the ghostwriting gig of a lifetime helping revamp the first ever rom-com written by screen writing legend, Charlie Yates, will Emma be able to leave her Dad in her sister’s care and go to L.A. for the 6 week gig?

Charlie Yates is the real deal–a drawer full of Oscars, an intimidatingly successful ex-wife, and a network of Hollywood mega-everythings at his beck and call. But he has some…”phobias?” Take for instance Hollywood legend Esther Williams’ old swimming pool complete with high-dive in his backyard–a body of water he’s never entered. Then there’s the shared custody of his guinea pig, Cuthbert. And that vintage Chevy Blazer he drives. And well, the man is just simply cool personified in public, but in private….? And what’s the secret to his friendship with blockbuster Jack Stapleton?

Can two such people navigate the egos, emotions, and problems of living and working in the same house for six weeks?

My Thoughts

Like she did in Hello Stranger, Center weaves a traumatic brain injury into the story. This time she has Emma occasionally speak to readers which is fun because it wasn’t overused. From the get-go I loved the chemistry between Charlie and Emma. The disaster of the initial set up, the growing relationship, the banter, the talk, the growing emotional attachment–it all just worked beautifully for me. This was a sweet, but never cloying, never precious, rom-com. This could be a really fun movie, too. But, I’m worried just which guinea pig(s) would get to play Cuthbert!

My Verdict

4.0