Tag: Romantic Comedy

The ROM-COMMERS by Katherine Center

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Publication June 11, 2024-St. Martin’s Press-Women’s Fiction-336pp

Book Summary

She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?

Charlie Yates is a great writer. He wrote the epic screenplay that made Jack Stapleton a household name—and became a household name himself. But now he’s written a romantic comedy . . . and it’s terrible.

Emma Wheeler could have been a great writer—but her life didn’t quite go like she planned. Now, when she gets the chance to rewrite Charlie’s apocalyptically bad screenplay—uncredited, of course—she jumps.

But Charlie doesn’t want anyone to rewrite his work—least of all a “failed nobody screenwriter”—and Emma can’t support a guy who doesn’t like rom-coms adding another terrible rom-com to the world.

So what choice do they have, really . . . but to fall stupidly, crazily, heart-poundingly in love?

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

The Rom-Commers, an emotional tug-of-war, pairs perfectly with the classic 1934 romantic-comedy, “It Happened One Night.” The movie, known for humor, sexiness, and wisdom, is a mirror for Charlie’s screenplay.  Emma deems the screenplay’s script terrible and explains, “The job of a rom-com is to give you a simulated feeling of falling in love, and that stories exist for the emotions they create.”  Charlie’s script did neither, so Emma is hired to fix the screenplay.

Katherine Center believes we, like her characters, gain wisdom through struggles. Through thought provoking dialogue with Charlie, Emma reveals her struggles and true feelings realizing she is the supporting character in her own story. Themes of unfulfilled dreams, sacrifice and guilt immerge in the kitchen, poolside, and at the worktable as Emma and Charlie spend time together. The emotional tug-of-war is filled with rom-com snooty disrespect, admiration mixed with some flirty banter, and even a distrusting, quitter attitude! How will this end? That’s what Katherine Center’s readers look forward to!

Wise beyond her years, Emma describes love as “feeling hopeful, and kind, sunshiny and soothing…like your heart is glowing.”

To experience humor, sexiness, and wisdom like Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert’s “It Happened One Night,” read The Rom-Commers. Your heart will glow.

BookPage calls Katherine Center “the reigning queen of comfort reads.” She’s the New York Times bestselling author of ten novels, including How to Walk Away, Things You Save in a Fire, and her newest, Hello Stranger. Her summer 2024 book is The Rom-Commers—a connected story to her blockbuster hit, The Bodyguard. Katherine writes laugh-and-cry books: deep romantic comedies about how life knocks us down—and how we get back up. She’s been compared to both Jane Austen and Nora Ephron, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” The Netflix movie adaptation of her novel Happiness for Beginners—starring Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes—just hit the Global Top Ten in 81 countries, and the movie of her novel The Lost Husband was a surprise Netflix sensation in 2020, hitting number one and landing in their top 25 movies for the year. Her books have made countless Best-Of lists—at Audible, BookBub, and Book of the Month, as well as Goodreads’ Best Books of the Year, and Amazon’s yearly Top 100 books. Emily Henry calls The Bodyguard “my perfect 10 of a book,” and Jodi Picoult says of Things You Save in a Fire, “Just read it, and thank me later.” Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two almost-grown teenagers, and their fluffy-but-fierce dog.

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Publication Day: July 19, 2022

Katherine’s website: Look for the video of the real Texas ranch setting in the novel! https://katherinecenter.com/books/the-bodyguard/

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Hannah Brooks is an Executive Protection Agent, aka Bodyguard. She is assigned to a famous move star on hiatus due to a family crisis; the death of the brother that was a buffer for the family. Protecting one famous brother while he follows his mother’s wishes is in this recipe for a romantic comedy! Katherine Center, known as the “queen of comfort reads,” blends ingredients of witty banter, inner workings of a protection agency, and Hannah’s goal of remaining professional while in the presence of a handsome movie star with layers of childhood memories and disappointment, betrayal, and grief. The icing on the cake is swirled with Center’s delicious toppings of restoring friendships, the power of kindness, and refusing to give up on hope and optimism. There are plenty of relationship twists and tweaks to the recipe and readers will cheer for Hannah when she discovers that ‘love is something you do.”

The Bodyguard is also a treat for the senses: exploring the views of the Brazos River and the ranch in Texas, delving into the harshness of brothers revealing disturbing feelings and tensions, to hugs that prove to Hannah she is lovable. A favorite sprinkle of wisdom: “People loving you for your best qualities is not the same as people loving you despite your worst.” Thanks, Katherine, for whipping up The Bodyguard during the Pandemic; a “satisfying, delectable dessert” for fans of romantic comedy.