Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

157 reviews

mamawantsbooks's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Katherine Center has managed to take every beloved romance trope and combine it with the hopefulness of every 90’s-00’s romcom into the most wonderful book that’s perfect for the summer. 

Emma Wheeler has had a life that wasn’t hers. She’s devoted the last ten years to caring for her father and her little sister while putting off her dreams of becoming a screenwriter. Her agent, who happens to be her old high school friend, sets her up with the opportunity of a lifetime with THE Charlie Yates but Emma doesn’t know if her responsibility will be to herself or to others. And why is Charlie Yates so damn attractive and infuriating? 

I thought this was a well written story with the most amazing use of all tropes for romance books and movies. I loved the callbacks to other characters from Katherine’s other novels. The story did feel like it dragged a bit and could have done a bit of editing to get rid of some extra fluff that wasn’t needed. 

Overall I am extremely glad to have read this book because as a lover of romcoms and romance novels, though maybe not as big as Emma, this filled a void in my heart I didn’t know I was missing. 

Thank you so so so much to St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for the opportunity for this advanced copy! 

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glisteningstarfish's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Katherine Center does the best job of writing a romance novel with deep, realistic themes while making it feel like a sweet, light-hearted experience! She has done it again in “The Rom-Commers,” the perfect fast-paced summer read! Emma, a ghost screenwriter, is given the job to work with Charlie, a very famous screenwriter, on a Rom-Com script. The only thing is, he doesn’t believe in love. It was so fun getting to see these two write together and fall in love. 

For those who love:
🩵 Workplace Romance
🩵 Roommates
🩵 Screenwriter + Screenwriter 
🩵 Cinematic
🩵 Anxiety Rep
🩵 Caretaking Rep
🩵 Guinea Pigs

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

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bookrecsbyjess's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center. All opinions are my own. 

I’ve read a few books by Katherine Center, but this is definitely my favorite book of hers! It’s so good! I ended up staying up way too late just so that I could finish reading it. 

The Rom-Commers is about forgiveness, growing, not giving up on your dreams, and making the most of the life you have. It was such a beautiful story. 

I loved the characters in this story. While Charlie Yates started off a bit rude and arrogant, he quickly became such a sweetheart who’s thoughtful and maybe not as confident as you’d expect him to be with the fame and awards he had. 

Emma was an absolute delight and so funny and charming without even trying to be. She was constantly putting others first, which was lovely, but I also liked the moments when she did things that she enjoyed. She learned to let others help even when it’s hard to give up that control. 

The friendship that formed between Charlie and Emma was so wholesome. They got along so well and really complemented each other. Their conversations were entertaining, and I just loved how quickly they became comfortable with each other. 

Emma’s family was really sweet, but I loved that they weren’t perfect. They didn’t always say or do the right things, but it was clear how much they loved each other. Emma’s dad was a total sweetheart, and I loved that he didn’t let grief and his health hold him back from life. 

The premise of this book was also so interesting and unique. I haven’t read any other books about screenwriters, and I thought it was fun to learn more about that. It was also adorable to see Emma teach Charlie all about rom coms (especially the kissing!). 

Also, I read this book as an audiobook, and it was fantastic! Patti Murin did an amazing job with her character and with her dialogue with Charlie. She fit Emma perfectly, and I definitely need to read more audiobooks that she narrates. 

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone! It was an easy five star read for me, and I can see myself re-reading this book many times in the future. 

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ktdakotareads's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0


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letmetakea_shelfie_'s review

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emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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booksandcoffeewithlexi's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


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alexwalton's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This book was so so so good. 4.75 ⭐️, but honestly might bump up to a 5⭐️ the more I sit on it.

This story is of Emma, who is an aspiring screenwriter but also caregiver for her father, who gets the opportunity of a lifetime. She leaves her dad in the hands of her little sister to move in with Charles Yates, legendary screenwriter (and Emma's favorite), to write a rom-com movie remake. 

This is light-hearted and silly one moment, then romantic, then sad and reflective. No spice but the romance was so strong I didn't even notice.

(Also Katherine, could we please have a book on TJ Haywood? 🙏)

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asims723's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This little sweet story is dazzling. It has humor and love and all of the emotions. My only tiny complaint is that I wish, as with many stories in this genre, that the happy ending was more showing than telling especially with a focus on that love story we've been waiting so long for. I had the opportunity to read the ebook and audiobook, and I loved both, switching between them. The narrator, Patti Murin, was great!
Massive thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy of both the ebook and audiobook!

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ashley_andherbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

ARC Review

Emma, a want to be screen writer is paired up with Charlie, a very successful screen writer to rewrite Charlie's not to romantic (or comedic) rom-com. This grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, work place romance blossoms as the two writers work through their differences to rewrite a script.

Brief take away;
- grumpy/sunshine
- work place romance
- forced proximity
- egotistical MMC
- anxiety and disability rep

Trigger warnings for;
- illness/cancer
- grief/loss of parent

Emma took a step back from her dream of being a screen writer to take care of her sick dad. When the opportunity to work with her favorite screen writer, Charlie, to help him with his rom-com, it's an opportunity she can't pass up and her family won't let her. Charlie doesn't believe in love and just wants to get this out of the way quickly so he can get the green light on another project.

I absolutely adore Katherine Center's writing. Her books always make me feel warm and fuzzy inside and this one was no different. The connection between Emma and Charlie was slow to spark but once it did, they had great chemistry. This was the kind of book that gave me butterflies. The characters pasts are a big driving factor in their relationship and the story progression.

Big spoilers ahead!!

One thing that didn't sit well with me, was the last minute "solution" to Charlie's cancer. It felt very deus  ex machina to me. It felt insensitive to real life people who are dealing with cancer. I'm sure they wished an incorrect scan would happen to them, but I'm not sure how likely that is to happen in real life. I wish she would have found a different and better way to deal with this. Even as simple as Charlie freaking out thinking he had cancer again, to be told it's okay you have bronchitis.


Overall, I very much enjoyed the book and characters.

Thank you to Netgalley, Katherine Center and St. Martin's Press for a copy in exchange for a review. 

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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Thank you to the publisher for providing me an eARC to review! This one is out June 11.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Emma is an aspiring screenwriter whose career was derailed by personal tragedy—but things might be about to turn around when she is hired to fix a terrible rom-com script with her favorite writer, Charlie Yates.

This book is, first and foremost, a love letter to the genre of romance and I am HERE FOR IT. Watching Charlie come around to the importance of joyful stories was such a beautiful and meaningful character arc it genuinely made me cry, and the awards show scene was one of my favorite moments I’ve read in a book this year (or maybe ever).

Also, this book is DELIGHTFULLY funny. I found myself literally laughing out loud so many times (even though there are definitely some super sad moments and pretty big CWs as well, see below). The chemistry and banter between Emma and Charlie was SO good, and I was rooting for them SO HARD the whole way through.

Highly HIGHLY recommend this (ideally after THE BODYGUARD because there are some fun Easter eggs/cameos if you care about that sort of thing!)

CW: Cancer; death of parent; chronic illness/disability; medical content; grief; mild sexism

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