Spoiler-Free Review

If you’re a fan of romance stories that feel like a love letter to the genre and focus on flawed characters who have to grow in order to find happiness, and which avoid sex scenes, you might like The Rom-Commers.

What’s The Rom-Commers about?

Emma thinks she has landed the best gig ever: helping her favorite screenwriter write a romcom. That is, until she actually meets him.

It was a fun, easy read for about 60-70% of the time.

My reading experience for this book went as follows: acts 1 and 2 kept me interested because it was cute and easy to read, and I liked what it was doing; act 3 brought forth all the cheese and melodrama, and pretty much broke my immersion for the remainder of the story.

Let’s start with the good. The two main characters were fun to follow, and I loved their back-and-forth about writing and the rom-com genre. Charlie, the screenwriter whose romcom Emma is here to fix, generally disdains the genre and doesn’t believe in love. Meanwhile, Emma is a rom-com aficionado – and she’s here to educate. It was meta reading a rom-com about characters writing rom-coms.

The narration also had its own charm. The main character’s sarcasm and self-deprecating humor gave the story a lot of personality. It was easy to be on-board with (most of) her motivations and thought processes. I also felt the themes around full-time caregiving (to a parent) and health scares were a unique addition.

Aside from some overused plot points (our main character overhears important conversations at least two or three times), and the fact that the love interest says some disagreeable things at the beginning for which he never actually apologizes, my real issue was with the final act. For the sake of not spoiling it, I won’t get into specifics. But I found myself questioning the choices all of the characters were making, side characters included. And things that were written to be happy, cheerful moments I found myself asking, “Really? This is how you want to do that? And right now, of all times?” The forced cheer and easy forgiveness felt at odds with some of the more serious things that were happening.

I also felt our main couple was missing some crucial tension. I loved that their friendship grew over time. But without those charged moments, it felt more like a crush than anything else. The moments that I think were meant to create that “charge” read more as cute than electric. Which isn’t always a bad thing; just depends on the reader.

Should you read The Rom-Commers?

I recommend it if you’re looking for a romcom that’s more on the cute side. Bonus points if you’d find it relatable or meaningful to read about a character who’s a full-time caregiver to a disabled parent.

If you’d rather have more tension in your romances, you may not be into this one. I’d also avoid it if you’d find it hard to forgive people for the things they say to each other (if the regret is assumed rather than expressed directly with an apology).

Given that it’s a rom-com about rom-com writers, I’d put this one in a similar vein thematically as Book Lovers by Emily Henry.