"Finding Mr. Write" by Kelley Armstrong had potential, but unfortunately, it was a letdown for me.

The story had its moments, but the chemistry between Daphne and Chris just wasn’t there. It felt forced, and don’t get me started on the unnecessary miscommunication trope and the third act breakup, it just wasn’t giving.

One of my biggest hang ups is the cover- I’m not sure the illustrator understood the assignment- Daphne is described as being almost 6 foot tall and curvy- and that is not her on the cover. Being as that is my exact body type, it really made me not like this book even more.

Daphne has written a solid book, but she can’t seem to get publishers’ attention. Deciding to take another approach, she changes her name to a male pseudonym, gives herself a fake MFA, and lo and behold, her novel sells. Next, she hires Chris as the her dreamy made-up namesake, as she must keep the charade up with interviews and signings. Things get out of hand, but not before she falls “the author.”

This book was cute - light and breezy - a perfect easy-read set in the Yukon. At first, I was a bit put off by the pacing, the story begins almost as if we were in the middle of the conversation and it takes off! It took me a second to get my bearings; there wasn’t a lot of build-up to the premise. Still, I enjoyed the authenticity of the male character Chris, and Daphne’s inability to talk in front of a crowd. Their relationship seemed natural and while there was a slow burn, it genuinely seemed to mimic the insecurity that surrounds the first moments of dating, and it translated well to the page. Also, the commentary about women v. men in literally any job setting - I am here for it. I enjoyed this rom-com and love the unusual setting!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this romance novel, it had everything that I was looking for and enjoyed from Kelley Armstrong’s writing. It had that writing style that I’ve come to enjoy and thought everything worked in this romance novel. The characters were everything that I was hoping for and enjoyed how they felt in this. It was a romance element that I was looking for and was realistic for the story.

The humor and situation the main characters were in hooked me instantly! The pace was a push and pull throughout but picked up near the halfway mark, which made the book nearly impossible to leave my hands. I fell in love with the characters Daphne, and Chris and D’s home in the woods.

It opened my eyes to the writer and publishing world, and how sexist corporate America really can be because of Daphne fighting for her book throughout the pages. Her passion for her book was the heart of the story.

You’ll love this book if you like:
🌲 slow burn
🌲 fake dating
🌲 they’re both falling and don’t realize it
🌲 forced proximity
🌲 third act break up
🌲 Happy Ever After

Thank you, NetGalley for this arc copy in exchange for my honest review!

this book was so unique, fast-paced, and such a fun read! it's not like anything i've read before and i did thoroughly enjoy it. the characters were not my favorite, but i can see why they'd be popular and it was interesting to see their dynamics and growth. the third-act breakup felt a little unnecessary but i've never been a fan of them unless they're done really well, and unfortunately, this book didn't do it for me. it was still a fun read & i would still absolutely recommend it to people!

This story had me hooked from the start! Daphne writes a YA dystopian novel that she knows is going to be a hit. She decides to try to submit her novel under a male pseudonym in order to get it noticed. It ends up getting picked up immediately. Now how can she keep up this lie now that the books sales are soaring?
She hires an actor to be the public-facing figure of her pseudonym. Everything becomes more complicated when she is in close proximity to this very attractive man and she starts falling for him.
I loved Daphne and Chris’s chemistry and the slow burn build of the relationship between them. It felt very natural! I was really rooting for them to end up together in the end!

The only parts that felt missing for me were:

What happened to the blackmail situation? It was a very pressing and scary issue to have this man basically stalking her. After the incident towards the end, it was never addressed again.

The ending felt a bit rushed. I would have loved to read Daphne’s speech/confession instead of it fading to black.

There were a lot of “fade to black” parts in the book that I wish would have been elaborated on.

Overall, it was a cute romance and a great summer read! I really enjoyed it!

Okay. I have thoughts...

I'm just going to flat out say - I was not a fan of this book.

I hate rating this so low because I found myself seeing that the writing itself was not bad but I really struggled to get through this. I’ll say this again later but to those who lived this book, I’m glad that you had a better experience with this! Not every book is for every person and that’s totally okay.

For me, the plot could have been cute but this is a hard concept to make cute and not cheesy or weird. Like, this story could have easily ended if she came clean in one email. Everything else just felt so unnecessary and extra.

I feel like there was just A LOT going on in this. We had so many little stories or add on moments that just had me feeling like this was all over the place.

When the camera crew came over, I just felt like we tried fitting 10lbs of story into a 5lb bag. Too much. The bear and the swimming and the canoe and the brownies and the girl coming onto Chris and the neighbor and the tree and I could keep going. And that was just 10% of the book.

The characters were not my favorite. I couldn't feel any chemistry between Chris and Daphne. I felt like he was hired and then they're suddenly texting but there was no relationship growth or development. Texting to "we're in a fling" in a matter of like two chapters. I was genuinely confused as to when they suddenly got super close and BFF material.

I don't want to repeat myself a lot but throughout this whole thing I just felt like there was too much being thrown in. Chris is an accountant but now actor and author and boyfriend? Like...it's doing too much. The two of them go back and forth this whole book and I just kept getting annoyed. There was just a lot of talk and no action.

The end was all over the place. The letter and him leaving and then chasing her was just so overly dramatic and ridiculous.

I don't think I could even pinpoint their personality traits at this point. So I couldn't even tell if Chris would act this way and even which Chris it was. Why were there two Chris personalities?

I had to skim majority of this because it was soooo much "inner dialogue" in third person.

This is sounding really harsh and just mean and I'm so sorry for that because I don't like to be negative with books. But isn't that what your personal opinionated reviews are? Speaking how you truly feel?

Because listen, there are some people on here who LOVED this and that's amazing. I'm glad they were able to see this book differently.

For me, I just couldn't get into it and didn't like a lot of aspects of it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for an ARC copy!

I regretfully say I had a really hard time with this. at times I found myself laughing, but in others I was downright annoyed with both main characters. The MMC was hard to like, and I could not stand him the moment he appeared, the FMC had me liking her about halfway through the book, but still fell short. I also did not enjoy the mid chapter POV switches, in my opinion it would've read better had it been separate chapters. As a whole, the story just felt odd and off, and the chemistry between the two just felt flat.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to Finding Mr. Write, here’s my honest review :

This is the first rom-com by one of my favorite authors, Kelley Armstrong, and I was delighted when I learned that she would be writing out of her usual genres. I liked the book at first but the more I kept reading, the more I loved it. While the romance in this book was top notch (Chris is swoon-worthy), I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the behind the scenes of being an author - especially a woman frightened by the idea of having her book not sold because she’s a woman and because she is, well - herself. Being an introvert, I understand that speaking to an audience - even your own fans - is a terrifying thought at first. Of course, there were all the regular Amrstrong tropes in the book, like the Yukon, the dog, ect, and that felt like coming home to me. I can only recommend this book for everyone since it had a good balance of romance and comedy shown through the eyes of a debut author, and a guy who plays the role of said debut author. I can’t wait to read Kelley Armstrong’s next rom-com!

4.25 stars
I love books about books and this one had some interesting takes about being a female author. I enjoyed how quickly we would switch back and forth between the POVs so sometimes we saw the same scene from both MCs. Their flirting was cute and at times awkward but never cringey or uncomfortable. The miscommunication in the third act was actually a little funny because men can truly be that dumb sometimes. I enjoyed it! I'm surprised this is the author's first contemporary romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

When YA author Daphne was trying to get her zombie book out into the world, she assumed using a pen name could help to her advantage. Her pen name? Zane Remington. A male persona that was strong, outdoorsy and photogenic — everything Daphne was but in male form. She wanted to show just how unfair the system was for women when publishing a book.

When the book sold for half a million dollars, Daphne needed to think quick. She hired a (very unqualified) actor, Chris Stanton, to act the part. Daphne never expected just how far the charade would go on or how fast she’d start catching feelings. Chris could only act as Zane for so long before people would find out their big secret.

I wanted to love this book because it started off so STRONG. I loved the banter in the beginning but then it got boring quickly. I also don’t love the plot — I don’t think the author is sending the right message here whatsoever. All of my favorite authors are extremely successful women and to think that this book was all about how Daphne was too scared or lacked the confidence to publish her book as herself was just disappointing to me.

A sweet and sensual romcom from one of my favorite writers! Armstrong somehow manages to capture the nail biting essence of being a new author while developing a slow-burn romance that readers will cheer for.

Daphne has written a book but she wrote it under a male pseudonym so now doing a book tour. She has to have an actor to play the real Zane. She hires. Chris, who is an accountant to play Zane well she is in the background.

They at first appear to be very polar opposites but the more they get to know each other the more they see each other for who they really are and not what they put out to the world.

This was a very interesting book to read because it was not exclusively a light-hearted rom-com. It definitely had some very serious moments but that really just helped add to the story.

I've pretty much loved every book by this author I've read and this is no exception. So if this at all sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend you pick it up.

Finding Mr. Write is a dual-POV romance based on a false identity. After receiving a frustrating rejection, and a little wine, author Daphne resubmits her manuscript with a new cover letter, and a new name: Zane Remington. In the excitement of having her book picked up Daphne didn’t expect so many people to want to see and meet Zane- so she hires Chris to play the part in interviews and at signings. Chris falls for Daphne and slowly convinces her to open her heart as well.

This book was a lot of fun, although a bit messy with the false identity and how everything was handled once it became obvious that Daphne couldn’t keep up the charade. I was so caught up in Daphne’s dilemma that at times I’d find myself annoyed that there was a romance happening too (this is admittedly a WEIRD reaction for a romance lover to have to a romance book). I just wanted to see how she’d balance her career with her need for privacy but there was a hot guy (and they make sure to tell you he’s hot. A lot.) making everything more complicated! Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I’m glad I got a chance to read it!


Read dates: 05/13/2024 - 05/15/2024
Goodreads review: 05/15/2024
Instagram review: 05/15/2024
Blog review: 06/25/2024

As a female author, Daphne is having no success getting her zombie apocalypse novel published. She hatches a plan to submit her work under a male pseudonym, and she hires a gorgeous brawny male to portray the author of her book. Obviously there are sparks, romance, and an ultimate happily ever after.

This book was cute. I didn’t think there was enough of a romantic struggle for my personal taste - I’m a slow burn girl, all the way. But all in all, I thought the story was fun and had some originality to it.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for early access to this ebook!

I am so excited that Kelley Armstrong wrote a rom com! Finding Mr. Write was a joy to read and I hope that she writes more books in this genre. It is entirely possible that this story will be a one off for her, so make sure you pick this one up!

One of my favorite tropes that the books centers around is also the reality that sometimes if you change your name, success follows in the book world for seemingly little to no reason. Daphne McFadden discovers how true this can be when she decides to change the author name of her book from female to male. Of course, she then needs this fictional man to appeal to a variety of people, so he becomes a rugged, outdoorsy hunk. When a publisher picks her book up, suddenly she needs someone to play the author.

Chris Stanton is an accountant who made a poor decision for his business and needs some help. His lawyer makes a deal, help for his business if he will pretend to be Daphne's author. He completely fits the bill, except he's not an actor. He's willing to make a go of it and become Zane Remmington, author.

Suddenly Daphne and Chris have to have a bunch more contact in order to take care of the publisher's requests for book publicity, and hilarity and romance ensue.

I enjoy the way Kelley Armstrong structures her stories and uses subplots to support her story while bring surprising elements to her books. Like bears.


Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this wonderful book!

3.25 stars. Something about this book didn’t quite connect with me (I’m probably the problem). The plot setup is great, and I really loved the beginning of the book, especially when they were in the Yukon together. The book started to lose me while the MCs were on the book tour. The tour made me care less about the couple instead of more. I also didn’t think either MCs response to the third act conflict really made sense. Also, the FMC’s best friend just kind of disappeared in second half of the book? I feel like she could have helped the plot if she had been included more, especially since she was acting as the FMC’s lawyer.

People who love to “pretend” - read this book!

Daphne hires a man to be the “face” of her novel - and of course it does SO much better than her previous times of where she was rejected.

This book was so fun! There was so much pretending - Chris pretending to be outdoorsy and an author of Daphnes book, when in reality he was an accountant who isn’t outdoorsy at all.

I always love a good fake romance, and you could FEEL their chemistry and attraction grow.

I read “Finding Mr. Write” so fast because I didn’t want to put it down! If you’re looking for an easy and enjoyable read - mark your calendars for this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Publishing) for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

this woman has been writing for as long as i've been alive and reading and she can do no wrong. utterly astounded by her range. this was a fun time. was it the most incredible romance i've ever read? no but it did the damn job. it had an interesting concept being about a writer who hires a man to be the face of her book and of course, it all goes to shit. and books about writing and writers are always enjoyable. i also liked that while it did have moments of spice, it was mostly a closed door romance. i think this market is so oversaturated with smut right now and this was a nice refreshing balance of dirty and sweet.

also picturing the male mc as justin hartley made this so perfect

Daphne (FMC) ends up submitting her manuscript with a male name after she has been rejected multiple times and to her surprise it gets picked up and sells for big money at an auction. But there's a problem...she needs a man to play her alter ego, Zane Remington. In comes Chris Stanton, he looks perfect for the role, but Chris has some secrets of his own. He is really an accountant who has no idea how to do these manly, outdoorsy things. When Daphne becomes a bestselling sensation, she and Chris are forced to go on tour together and she starts to find herself wondering if this geeky but hot guy is what she needs to push her out of her comfort zone and claim her dreams.

I loved this so much! The book had all the things I love...dual POV, fake relationship (romantic and professionally), forced proximity, he falls first, and there was so much witty humor!! I found myself laughing out loud a handful of times. The characters were relatable and I loved the feminism spin this novel took and how hard it can be for women to get recognition for their work...but if they slap a male name on it, bam!! The dynamic between Daphne and Chris is just perfect and so adorable. So so good!! I gave this 4.5 stars.