# The Rom-Commers

By Katherine Center

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/the-rom-commers-7e15a09c/

Emma Wheeler gets six weeks away from caring for her father to pursue a screenwriting opportunity in Los Angeles. Her assignment is to help her idol, action-film writer Charlie Yates, repair a terrible romantic-comedy script. Charlie resents needing help and has little faith in love, leaving Emma to defend the work as well as improve it.

## What makes it funny?

Emma is certain Charlie could never write a bad screenplay until her manager tells her just how bad this one is. Her admiration keeps running into blunt corrections. She is more pragmatic about an ex-boyfriend’s job referrals, which she considers useful repayments for guilt.

### The comedy at work

Emma has to explain romantic-comedy conventions to a skeptic while they begin experiencing those conventions themselves. Research extends to line dancing and kissing, making it harder to keep an argument about writing separate from what they feel.

### Try this if…

Readers interested in how romantic comedies work can follow a collaboration built around defending the form. Forced proximity and an antagonistic working relationship give the attraction room to develop, with grief and trauma accompanying the jokes.

### Good to know

Emma’s caregiving concerns a father with partial paralysis and Ménière’s disease after an accident. Guilt, grief and trauma are consequential parts of the story.

## What to expect

- Genre: Romance
- On the shelf: Contemporary romance · Romantic comedy
- Kind of humor: Banter · Situational comedy
- The atmosphere: Warmhearted
- Format: Novel
- Length: 336 pages
- Published: 2024

## A few distinguishing details

- A romcom enthusiast repairing her idol’s awful script
- A romance skeptic taking part in romantic research
- Six weeks in Los Angeles after years of caregiving

## Sources & further reading

- Publisher: [The Rom-Commers | Macmillan](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250283801/theromcommers)
- Review: [Publishers Weekly review](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781250283801)
- Publisher: [Publisher and opening chapter](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250283801/theromcommers)
- Review: [Kirkus review](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/katherine-center/the-rom-commers)