The Rom-Commers

[Kristie]

We will be buddy reading The Rom-Commers. Date to be determined. Join in the discussion here.



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

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?

[Elyse]

I've only read 2 of her books so far. I liked Hello Stranger more than The Bodyguard.

[Kristie]

I saw somewhere that the book is currently read now. I can't confirm because I already have the book, but it would be worth checking out if you're interested in it.

[Elyse]

Kristie wrote: "I saw somewhere that the book is currently read now. I can't confirm because I already have the book, but it would be worth checking out if you're interested in it."

Oh I got a widget for it because I got Hello Stranger from NG.

[Kristie]

I've read several of her books now. The first one read was Things You Save in a Fire, which I loved. I have since read How to Walk Away, What You Wish For, The Bodyguard, and Hello Stranger.

I enjoyed all of them, but my least favorite was What You Wish For. I struggled with a few things in that one. I wasn't sure I really wanted to read Hello Stranger because the inability to recognize faces didn't seem like a plot line I'd be interested in, but Center really pulled it off.

[Kristie]

I also got a widget. I had been keeping my eye out for it on NG and was excited when I got the widget.

[Vicki Willis]

I have this one too. One of the only romance writers I look for and want to read every summer!

[Kristie]

Oh good, Vicki! Yes, I love her writing.

[Kristie]

Are you all ready to pick a date for this one? I'm still pretty open in May. I'd suggest maybe the 7th or later because we have If Something Happens to Me starting on the 1st and I think a few of us are doing that one too.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

7th sounds good to me!

[🌻 📚 Nichole 📚 🌻]

7th works for me also.

[Kristie]

Ok, I have it put in the schedule for the 7th. Elyse, Vicki, and Hajar - Let us know if that works for you. I'm looking forward to this one. :)

[Vicki Willis]

Yes! I will be there.

[Elyse]

Sounds good

[Kristie]

Excellent! :)

[Kristie]

Hi all - Just a reminder that this buddy read is supposed to start tomorrow. I may be a day behind because I need to finish If Something Happens to Me, but I'll do my best.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

I’ll try to start tomorrow. I have this one on both audio and ebook so I’ll probably kick off with the audiobook and maybe switch later.

[Elyse]

I think I'll be ready!

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

end of chapter 6 (~13%)

I like this one so far!

Emma is (view spoiler)[ fun. I love that she's still spunky and hasn't let her life circumstances completely bring her down. I liked Sophie too - I hope we get a visit to TX because I'll be sad if we don't get anymore Sophie in the story.

Logan... wow. What a move to make. I kinda feel bad for Charlie. I know we're supposed to see how grumpy and stubborn he is, but I would be irritated if I was super successful and my agent brought some random person to help with my work.

(hide spoiler)]

[Elyse]

I died at this: “I’m not freaking out,” I said, but in truth I was now clucking around the dining table in a meaningless circle, headless-chicken style. Lol

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Elyse wrote: "I died at this: “I’m not freaking out,” I said, but in truth I was now clucking around the dining table in a meaningless circle, headless-chicken style. Lol"

I died laughing. I was out walking my dog at the time so my parents' neighbors probably think I've completely lost my marbles now :D

[Kristie]

Too funny, Shruti! Those laugh out loud moments always seem to come at the most inopportune moments.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Kristie wrote: "Too funny, Shruti! Those laugh out loud moments always seem to come at the most inopportune moments."

Always. I do a lot of my ebook listening while walking my dog and I found myself laughing along with this book again this afternoon so it might be unavoidable. :)

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

25%

I'm having fun with this one. The part where (view spoiler)[ she's listing all the issues she sees with the script was hilarious!

(hide spoiler)]

[Vicki Willis]

I will be a couple days behind. I need to finish If Something Happens to Me also.

[Kristie]

I ended up finishing If Something Happens to Me today and decided to read 'a little bit' of The Rom-Commers before bed. I ended at 23%. I'm enjoying this one.

I've had earbuds in while getting groceries and while waiting in a doctor's office where something caught me off guard and I laughed out loud. My earbuds are wireless and a pink color. You can't even see them when I have them in. I'm sure I looked pretty ridiculous. lol

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

60%

I'm really enjoying this one. It's such a fun story.y only complaint is that (view spoiler)[ the car on the cliff thing was a bit much to be. I'm loving the parallels between life and the romcom they're writing.

They've both been through so much in life, it's making me root for their happiness even more.
(hide spoiler)]

[Kristie]

I can understand that, B. I went years and years without reading any romance type books. I read mostly thrillers and historical fiction, a lot of WWII stories. I ended up reading almost all heavy stories and I don't remember why, but I picked up a rom-com and thought it was just what I needed, something lighter. I now pepper them in throughout my reading and love them. I even have a few favorite authors in the genre.

[Kristie]

I read everything now. I had a challenge prompt to read a new-to-you genre and I had to do research. lol

I also read nonfiction. I recently read Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, which was a fabulous memoir, and Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, which was pretty fascinating.

[Elyse]

Born a Crime was amazing and the audio was perfection!

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Born a Crime was incredible! I saw Trevor Noah live recently and it was amazing. He's my favorite comedian.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Dr. B wrote: "This was my first ever rom com read!

I enjoyed the funny bits but I think this genre is just not for me, I have the same problem with romance books; I tend to get bored xD"

fair enough. I go through phases with romcoms depending on so many different life factors. At the moment, I'm enjoying them between heavier books.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Done!

I enjoyed this one. Parts of it got (view spoiler)[ a little overly dramatic for me. Namely the car on the edge of the ravine and the cancer recurrence overlapping the dad in the hospital. But it wasn't enough to make me not enjoy the book. (hide spoiler)]

I think this will probably be a 4 star for me.

[Kristie]

I think this was the best memoir I've read. Really excellent. I hope you love it, B! I also saw him live way back in 2018. I had to look to remember when it was. I can't believe it was that long ago!

I am up to chapter 15 (36%) and (view spoiler)[ Charlie is kind of being a jerk. I get that he's gone through some crap and I'm guessing that he'll grow as a character, but stringing Emma along and saying that he doesn't want to try make the romcom great (behind her back) is really a mean thing to do. It sounds like he plans to intentionally make it mediocre and like he intends to play her a little dirty. Again, I'm sure that's not what's going to happen, but I don't like his intentions. He had me grumbling at him. (hide spoiler)]

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

my review here :)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kristie]

Two days in a row - I picked it up again thinking I'd just read a little more and get to 40% and read 7 more chapters, ended up at 59%. lol

Just finished chapter 21 (view spoiler)[ I'm still ticked at Charlie about calling Emma a failed writer and putting her down repeatedly. He comes back later and has excuses, but they're not good enough. I'm sure it's a defense mechanism because he doesn't want to get hurt, but it's still mean. I do love that he's trying to do nice things for her like making her birthday breakfast and saving her from handing off her manuscript.

I am wondering if his cough could be cancer again. I'm sure he believes that if he's sick Emma will leave him, but that is the opposite of who she is. I wonder if he'll try to push her away. That seems like it would be his reaction. She's supposed to cook for him when he gets his clean bill of health and is officially cancer free after his 5 year check. I'm guessing that may not go as planned.

Oh... just an aside - the 'hillbilly' Italian line dancing instructor was a riot.

(hide spoiler)]

[Elyse]

I've just dabbled in and out so far, on Ch 4, because I have to finish The Children on the Hill before Saturday!

[Kristie]

My review: my Rom-Commers review

This might have been 5 stars for me if (view spoiler)[ Charlie wasn't so mean to and dismissive towards Emma from the beginning and she stuck around for it, knowing he planned to not do his best and he was already talking about making excuses. It still bothers me that he kept referring to her as a "failed writer." (hide spoiler)]

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Kristie wrote: "My review: my Rom-Commers review

This might have been 5 stars for me if [spoilers removed]"

Agreed Kristie. I ended up at 4 for the same reason.

[Kristie]

I also thought (view spoiler)[ Emma was kind of dumb. lol Hoe could she not put together the phone call with a possible cancer diagnosis knowing he just went for the final testing? And the hospital stuff? Seriously?? Way to much to not think something was going on. (hide spoiler)] But, I still thought it was a really fun read.

[Shruti morethanmylupus]

Kristie wrote: "I also thought [spoilers removed] But, I still thought it was a really fun read."

Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly but (view spoiler)[ didn't she ask him if it was his cancer and he basically acted like she was a dramatic idiot? She always jumps to the worst diagnosis conclusion. (hide spoiler)]

[Tasha]

I am going to eventually get to this one. I am not a romance reader but I've enjoyed her books, the two I've read.

[Elyse]

I finished The Children on the Hill (AMAZING) and now I'm 22% through this. Swoony!

[Elyse]

30% (view spoiler)[OMG I'm crying!!! The description of the accident that killed her mom and severely injured her dad! So horrific!! (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki Willis]

I am going to start this one today.
I am excited to see what she brings this time

Elyse, glad you loved COTH. I rated it 5 stars too.

[Kristie]

Shruti morethanmylupus wrote: "Kristie wrote: "I also thought [spoilers removed] But, I still thought it was a really fun read."

Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly but [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ Yes, but she had to know it was something and knowing his history and the way he responds to things... I just thought she let it go as "nothing" way too easily. Maybe she thought she was just doing that 'jumping to the worst diagnosis' again, but she had to know his behavior was strange immediately after the phone call.

I don't know, there were just several times that I thought she was making dumb decisions or believing dumb things. It didn't make me dislike her or the story though. I still loved it.

And even though Charlie made mean comments in the beginning, he did show up for her when she needed him to. I was really happy they ended up together. I was a little concerned for a minute that she was going to have him die and it would be tragic love story instead of a rom-com. (I certainly hope a doctor would tell you you have metastasized cancer if it was just bronchitis. They would run additional tests first.)

Also, I really liked her sister. I was glad she wasn't written as a spoiled bratty younger sister. She seemed very grateful and willing to jump right in and she put in her best effort. (hide spoiler)]

[Kristie]

Elyse wrote: "I finished The Children on the Hill (AMAZING) and now I'm 22% through this. Swoony!"

I still need to get to The Children on the Hill someday.

[Kristie]

Elyse wrote: "30% [spoilers removed]"

I cried a couple times during this one... (view spoiler)[ That part was SO sad. I can't imagine the guilt she had and it makes perfect sense why she felt responsible to give up everything and take care of her dad. What a tragic accident. (hide spoiler)]

[Elyse]

44% (view spoiler)[God why is Emma so stupid? Earthquake when it's just her heart beating?! She just can't get over the fact that her heart races, she gets excited/nervous around Charlie? So frickin DUMB. lol. And childish. (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki Willis]

End of chapter 6
Yep, liking this one.

Did the book tell us or did anyone get a sense of how old Charlie is supposed to be?