The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates―The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!―it’s a break too big to pass up.
Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone―much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script―it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.
But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules―and comes true?
Review: Emma has always dreamed of being a screenwriter. But years ago, her father was in an accident, and she has become his fulltime caretaker. But now, an old friend has given her a chance to re-write a script with famous screenwriter Charlie Yates and Emma can't resist the chance. With her sister agreeing to serve as caretaker for six weeks, Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks to help her screenwriting idol with his terrible romantic comedy. But she quickly finds out that Charlie doesn't want to work with anyone.
This was such a fun premise. I liked the frame story of Charlie and Emma being reluctant coworkers who are inevitably drawn to each other after spending so much time in each other's premise, and time that is spent thinking about romance and how it works on the page. I also liked that they each have their own trauma - Emma from the loss of her mother, her father's disability, and the subsequent loss of her own dreams for her future, and Charlie with his ex-wife and previous health issues - but they like and accept each other and the complicated individuals they are.
I did think this dragged at times! I didn't buy that Emma would have stayed with Charlie, but the whole premise of the book is them holed up together for weeks on end in his house. I also did not like how he repeatedly talked badly about her behind her back and diminishes her abilities and worth. They seem drawn to one another, but he seems to have a poor way of showing it. Of course, the great reveal is that it is all for her benefit, but I still smarted at how he acted towards her for much of the book. However, I did love the way the book concluded and how it is all tied up.
Stars: 3.5
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