A review by tvislife
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

fast-paced

3.0

I really like this author, but this book just didn’t hit for me. Emma, a full-time-caregiver-for-her-father-slash-writer, takes a job to write a romcom with famous-writer Charlie Yates (the full name is important. Or at least I assume so because she used his full name 500 times). 

My main issues with this book were the tone, and the fact that Charlie was very much A Douche. The tone reminded me of the early 2000’s romcoms where the main female character would narrate over her life (ala—“See that girl? The one who just got pushed into a locker and cheese tots thrown on her brand new shirt? Yep that’s me, and I’m the dorkiest girl in school). Like, I get what she was going for, it fits the idea of the novel pretty well. But it’s kind of lame to read! It’s something that comes across better in a film, because in a novel it just feels like you’re shoving info down our throat rather than actually explaining it in a natural way. Not the biggest fan of it!

And then Charlie? I could not get a read on his vibe at all, other than “huh this guy kind of sucks”. Very narcissistic, constantly insulting Emma, being the epitome of Entitled White Male at every event. Like, that’s not likable! I found it hard to root for him, even when he got more sympathetic towards the end. The “tortured writer” schtick would have worked better if he was less of an asshole. 

I will say I still liked reading the book, and flew through it. The tone wasn’t my fave, like I mentioned, but this author is undeniably talented and I do really like her stories. This one just wasn’t my fave! But there’s still a good story, and any fan of contemporary romance would find something here to love.