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juanat77's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’ve loved every Katherine Center book I’ve read. She’s an auto-buy author for me. The Bodyguard is still my favorite followed by Hello Stranger. The Rom-Commers held up to my expectations! There was humor, fun, witty banter and heartwarming moments. Katherine Center’s books are more than just romance. She intertwines serious elements and ties it up with a beautiful message/lesson. 4 stars!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
abbygdickerson's review
emotional
funny
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Grief, and Death of parent
jjha's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Infertility and Medical content
gwenswoons's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-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
5.0
I love this book so much. I am a Katherine Center superfan and will read everything she writes forever, but I think this might be my favorite one ever. I love books that have writing and writers and books and publishing as part of their fabric and heart, and this does it so beautifully! A good comp would be Jasmine Guillory’s By The Book, though I loved this one more probably; I love the forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine, and I guess enemies to lovers-ish tropes here, and how creative and funny KC is in her approach to those. The two main characters are both so special and complicated — I love how fully and compassionately drawn they are, and the ways that they are able to interact and build chemistry from all of those complexities. The side characters and familial relationships are beautiful and complex in their own ways, and I love the perspective and context that these other relationships and that the main characters’ back stories give to the love story at the heart of the book. I loved this so much. Read!!!! 💜
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Infertility, and Injury/Injury detail
kyleethecatlady's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
It gets five stars if it makes me cry
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Grief
Minor: Animal death and Infertility
aliceaustin's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol
chemeducator's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief and Alcohol
jg34's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Katherine Center DOES NOT MISS. She always finds a great balance of romance, character study, conflict etc. With some romances the characters seem to fall to fast or the third act breakup is not convincing, but I’ve never felt this issue with Katherine’s books. We really get to see the couple get to know each other and grow. Any conflict they face seems genuine and believable. And of course our main character is also going through her own journey aside from the budding romance. In this case our main character Emma is struggling to balance her dream career of screenwriting with caring for her ailing father. There is also grief, sibling relationships, feelings of inadequacy, things that many of us can relate too!
The male main character Charlie was charming and lovable. Get you a man that LISTENS and LEARNS from criticisms and get this… actually CHANGES HIS BEHAVIOR in response. IMPOSSIBLE. someone who so willingly agrees to do things he does not want to do to please someone else. A man who can be clueless but would google how to help you with any of your problems. Someone deep down so unselfish and accommodating. SWOON.
However, one thing that rubbed me the wrong way was how he acts in the beginning. It is a total 360 to how he acts for the rest of the book. He buys into partnering with Emma very quickly after earlier in the day he is listing about 1000 reasons why he would never ever work with her. I sort of get that he has this performance he puts on to act like he doesn’t give a shit but damn did he have to be so mean in the beginning?? I literally teared up for poor Emma!!
One more small complaint. (SPOILER) there is a public declaration of love, which personally is a bit of an ick for me. I’M SORRY I’m so shy I would die.
The ending though. Katherine center’s books (SPOILER) always have a happy ending. I can always count on her for this, she is so good at happy endings and always leaves me feeling hopeful and wholesome. I love seeing the characters growth on display in the epilogue, living their best (but still realistic) lives.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this, loved the characters, loved the plot, loved the growth. Great time would recommend.
The male main character Charlie was charming and lovable. Get you a man that LISTENS and LEARNS from criticisms and get this… actually CHANGES HIS BEHAVIOR in response. IMPOSSIBLE. someone who so willingly agrees to do things he does not want to do to please someone else. A man who can be clueless but would google how to help you with any of your problems. Someone deep down so unselfish and accommodating. SWOON.
However, one thing that rubbed me the wrong way was how he acts in the beginning. It is a total 360 to how he acts for the rest of the book. He buys into partnering with Emma very quickly after earlier in the day he is listing about 1000 reasons why he would never ever work with her. I sort of get that he has this performance he puts on to act like he doesn’t give a shit but damn did he have to be so mean in the beginning?? I literally teared up for poor Emma!!
One more small complaint. (SPOILER) there is a public declaration of love, which personally is a bit of an ick for me. I’M SORRY I’m so shy I would die.
The ending though. Katherine center’s books (SPOILER) always have a happy ending. I can always count on her for this, she is so good at happy endings and always leaves me feeling hopeful and wholesome. I love seeing the characters growth on display in the epilogue, living their best (but still realistic) lives.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this, loved the characters, loved the plot, loved the growth. Great time would recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, and Alcohol
author2223's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content
katmystery's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The first half was hilarious, and I appreciated the unhinged writer rep. But the second half lost me. My main problem with it was that the love interest was mean. Not abusive, but rude. He doesn’t treat the MC nicely. The book says this is okay because he’s just pushing her away to protect her, but… no. He insults the MC several times out of nowhere and is very critical and snappy. My second problem was with the MC. She’s obsessed with “fixing” the love interest, which results in her kinda forcing him to do exposure therapy for various fears and getting mad at him for not wanting to, which made me uncomfortable. And the ending was way too heavy for a rom-com. Katherine Center did this in The Bodyguard too, throwing extremely serious and potentially triggering content into the story towards the end and then brushing it off in a rushed ending without treating this content with the care it deserves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent