Emma Wheeler lives a very small and structured life in her small Texas town. For the past 10 years she has been her father’s caregiver and surrogate mother to her younger sister due to a life-altering camping accident. Emma didn’t go away to college to live out her dreams and instead made sure her younger sister had every opportunity. Earning her degree online and also teaching online, Emma makes a meager living for her family. Unknown to the world, Emma is a brilliant screenwriter, especially romantic comedies.
Charlie Yates is a famous screenwriter living in Los Angles. He’s won countless awards. His name alone opens doors that Emma can only dream of. Charlie creates incredible stories covering almost every genre. Whether they're cowboys, space aliens, or criminals, Charlie Yates writes them in such a way that you really care about these characters. But his latest story, a rom com, is so terrible that we need a new word for "terrible."
Emma soon receives a call from her manager, and ex-boyfriend, who happens to also be Charlie’s manager. He comes up with a plan for Emma to ghost write the rom com with Charlie, convincing Emma to leave her disabled father in the care of her younger sister and fly to Los Angeles to work with Charlie.
There’s only one problem: Charlie doesn’t know she’s coming. Worse, Charlie never works with other writers. Even worse, Charlie doesn’t believe in love. Can Emma convince Charlie to give her a chance? Could this be her big break? Can the movie industry survive a rom com so terrible it could end the genre?
The book is a great selection for those who love a classic rom-com-movie plot. Reading Emma’s and Charlie’s interactions was like watching a Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movie from the 90's and early 2000's. The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center is a book I will definitely be reading again. Similar titles are Emily Henry’s Book Lovers and Abby Jimenez’s The Friend Zone.
