On the Same Page by Penelope Janu

Oof. This one was rough. It's a fun premise, but the story itself is so unbelievably slow. I loved the themes of romance being a valid and important genre in the world of literature. That was great. But I'm largely a character-driven reader, and Miles is horrible. I can't stand her. And hiding behind her pen name caused unnecessary drama and conflict. The pen name literally was only there to create chaos. Miles didn't have a good reason for not owning her work at all. I can't see what Lars sees in her. I dunno, this just wasn't for me.

This book was a really good example of enemies to lovers. I'm not talking about one person hating the other over some immature disagreement and then getting over it within the first five chapters. Miles and Lars had actual, valid reasons for disliking each other and spent the first half of the book arguing until they finally made out and addressed the underlying sexual tension between them. And even then, Miles continued to hate Lars and fight him as he tried to expose her as the author behind Emma Browning's novels. As much as I loved this true portrayal of enemies to lovers, I found myself getting frustrated with Miles near the end because she was pushing away the protective and passionate man who was overwhelmingly attracted to her. I really struggled with how to rate this book because of Miles, but in the end I felt like it still deserved four stars despite the issues I had with her. One of the things I loved most was the snippets from Emma's novels that were interspersed throughout this book. I kind of wish they were real novels I could read- especially the story of Rupert and Evangeline. I was also amused by Lars unintentionally becoming the body model for Rupert's character and Miles taking pole dancing classes as part of her book research. It especially touched my heart when Miles took some of her classmates under her wing to get them out of bad life situations. All the positive moments in this book helped me to look past Miles's faults and appreciate the story as a whole.

Emma Browning’s PA nominates her historical romance novel into a literary award with a prize which included a deal with Iconic Publishing. Sounds good except that Iconic, and Iconic’s gorgeous CEO Lars, will force Emma to go on a book tour and reveal her true identity as a marketing stunt. Emma is actually Miles Franklin whose parents, considering her name, have some serious love for the literary world and would be horrified to think Miles writes such fluffy romantic fare. They’ve also given Miles some confidence issues which will prevent her from feeling comfortable with ‘coming out’ as Emma. Thus, Miles sets out to thwart Lars and Iconic at every turn.

Generally On the Same Page delivered on what it promised – a lighthearted HEA romance. But…
There were a lot of really unrealistic moments which I thought, if replaced, would have raised the book to the next level (the leading man posing shirtless, the entire pole dancing thing, the amount of personal effort Lars and the other Iconic employees were putting into Miles/Emma, Miles being the worst lawyer evah). The conflict, towards the end, became far too convoluted and, surely, could have been sorted out in a few minutes.

I found the smut well written and I would have liked more of Emma’s historical romances. The brief excerpts we got were all enjoyable.

I’ve been in a bit of a reading rut of late and On the Same Page’s fluffy but sweet romance has definitely helped me snap out of it at least.

3 out of 5

An entertaining an quirky read.
Miles is a lawyer by day, and also secretly a novelist. When her book is entered into a competition it looks like she might have to admit to her writing, but she fights against it, and the CEO of the publishing company Lars.

First book I heave read by this author and really looking forward to more.

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

I really enjoyed this book. It was lighthearted, witty, and funny. A feel good book. Would definitely recommended.

I felt the Miles was a well developed and her motivation for hiding her writing from her parents made sense. Even as a read I have encountered literary snobbery from others.

What i didn't understand was why she was required to be unveiled and stripped of her synonym. this seemed like an act of cruelty by Lars and failure to expertise with others. This lack of empathy and willingness to put his own priorities before others emotional well being meant that I don't see this relationship ending well in the long term.

This book was not for me. I did not particularly like it and ended up DNFing it thus won't be able to provide a detailed review.

I really enjoyed this book. A romance that is light hearted and funny, and where you really quite like the characters and wish the best for them. I’ll read more of Penelope’s books in the future.

I am not going to be reviewing this book, but thank you for the approval.

#netgalley #onthesamepage

I loved reading this well written book. It is funny, quirky, emotional, maddening. At times I was not sure which way is up. The writing style of this romance is so different. I couldn't put this book down without reading to the last page.

A wonderful read.

This great little romance novel is about Miles Franklin, a female lawyer who uses the pen-name of Emma Browning to be a closeted historical romance novelist. Being a lawyer is convenient for Miles because as an attorney she can easily pretend to be acting on behalf of her client, Emma. Miles' snobbish parents have made her feel ashamed of herself for being a fictional author which has made her adamant to keep her writing identity a secret. The major conflict of the novel happens when Emma wins a prestigious writing award and an exclusive contract with Iconic publishing. Lars, the CEO of Iconic is determined to find out Emma's identity as he feels this will be hugely successful for his Australian publishing firm.
This was overall an extremely light-hearted romance novel. The characters were enjoyable. This genre is always predictable but was worth the read for me due to the likeable characters, comedic scenes and the literary themes. 4 stars!

Title: On The Same Page
Original Rating: Four Stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Penelope Janu

I received a free copy in exchange of an honest review. I am, in no way, related to Penelope Janu.
On The Same Page is a light hearted Romance which is thought provoking in its true element.

With protagonist Miles Franklin who is a lawyer by day and a historical romance writer by night. Delving in the story we come to know that her writing novels is a secret which only a few people know about because of her parents snobbish thinking about romance not being a good enough genre in literature..
Enters Lars Kristensen, the CEO of Iconic International, the company publishing where Miles’s prize-winning novel is going to be published. Lars is determined to meet the author and uncover her true identity. While Miles will do everything to hide the fact that she is actually the author Emma Browning.

This romantic comedy is a great way to sit back and relax for a few hours of me-time while actually reading something good..
It's a standalone, HEA read which a heartily suggest to the Romance Readers Worldwide!
Happy Reading!!

I am not sure where to start with this one, it is a fun, quirky and different, but it is a romance and yes I do love a good romance and I am not surprised that this book won an award and deservedly so, I laughed out loud so many times through this story that the family were giving me weird looks. I fell into this one and can highly recommend you get to know Mile, Lars and all of the other wonderful characters that make this story so good.

Miles Franklin, is female, a lawyer and a closet historical romance writer Emma Browning, her novels are self-published as e-books and sell really well, but her world as she knows it is about to be totally upended when her PA Pippy enters her into a literary competition and she meets the boss of the publishing house that is determined to take over her books and expose her identity.

Lars Kristensen is now the head of Iconic International and he is very wary of Emma’s lawyer Miles he suspects that Miles is not telling the truth about a lot of things and although he is travelling a lot he is also pushing Miles to get to the truth, but he is also falling for her in many ways, he has never met anyone as stubborn and difficult to deal with, but she is getting under his skin.

Lars and Miles push each other so much in this story and with the other characters, Jack, Pippy, Crystal and so many more just adding to the turmoil that goes on with Miles trying hard to keep her secret and Lars pushing to expose her identity, yes there were times I could have pushed Miles and Lars for that matter but I really did love them both and when they finally get to that HEA cheers everywhere. This is a story that I highly recommend there is so much happening there were laughs and smiles in this page turner, thank you MS Janu I loved it.

This book made me want to read more historical fiction. Writing under a penname our protagonist tries to keep her real identity a secret. Winning a contract with a publishing company that wants to make her go public and do events was not in her plans. As the lawyer of the author "Emma" she tries to stall the process and find a way out of the contract without revealing who she really is. How she managed to get anyway with being so unprofessional for so long was a bit of a stretch.
There were aspects of her friendship with Jack I liked but others I didn't.
Over all I really enjoyed this book and the characters, although found how she managed to be such a prolific writer whilst dealing with a love interest, avoiding being discovered, making new friendships and researching for her books.... and still working as a lawyer is beyond me. If you ignore how far stretched the story is and just take it for what it is, a fun romance read, it's a good read.

This was my first book by this author and I absolutely loved it. I could not put the book down. The heroine was so much fun, I loved her adventures as she worked on her writing. Watching her deal with Lars had me turning pages late into the night.

In Penelope Janu's charming contemporary romance, On The Same Page, our heroine, Miles Franklin, is a lawyer with a secret she'll keep at any cost — even love. Which is funny, since the secret is that she's the wildly successful historical romance novelist Emma Browning and the man keen to learn her real identity has striking similarities to her latest hero.

When her assistant enters her in the prestigious Stapleton Literary Prize, Emma has no expectation of winning. But she does win — and the prize is an exclusive contract with Iconic Publishing, run by Lars Kristensen. He's determined to save his publishing house, and for that he needs the reclusive Emma — who he suspects is really Miles, the author's "difficult" representative. The real conflict in this novel is Miles's determination to keep her secret, and it highlights the complicated feelings many of us may have about the genre we love. Miles is proud of her work and loyal to her readers, but her snobbish parents have made her deeply ashamed of her talent — and she definitely knows that she's valuable to Iconic only in terms of her sales potential. And then there's the sexy Lars to complicate things further.

Miles's stubbornness may grate on some readers, but it's worth it for the funny secondary characters and hysterical and swoon-worthy scene when Lars demonstrates what really makes him hero material.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This past Fall I had the opportunity to attend the Romance Writers Association’s annual conference, as well as a panel discussion about the stereotypes typically associated with romance novels and authors. I found all of these enlightening facts wonderfully confronted and challenged in Penelope Janu’s novel, and think that it is very notable that the basis of her plot focused around combating these stigmas. I learned a lot about the publishing industry as well, and found these points (in addition to Janu’s primary character development and relationship) most compelling. There were several characters and sub-plots that felt glossed over and under-utilized, and the primary plot battle felt as if it was waged just a little bit too long. However, the novel was nevertheless empowering and entertaining.

I found this book a little tricky to get into, the start felt a little awkward and like it was trying hard to conform to some typical romantic comedy tropes. What kept me going was the fact I liked Miles as a protagonist, she was relatable and I felt I understood her motivations, I was rooting for her the whole story. It's an easy reading, kind of predictable romantic comedy, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I enjoyed many things about this book but it did feel a bit unsatisfying - not sure if it was the ending or some of the dialogue. What I mean by that is the law bits seemed a bit off to me. Granted, I do not practice in Australia but it still seemed incredulous given basic contract law. Furthermore, Miles was just hard to get into. She was not necessarily hard to like but I was expecting more considering the critical acclaim this book has received. While the premise is great, the parts that should have been thought out more were sped up while other parts dragged on for me.

On the Same Page came out earlier this month on December 1, 2018, and you can purchase HERE.

The woman who writes Emma's novels is extraordinarily imaginative. She is intelligent and insightful, but she wishes to remain anonymous. Not long after we met for the first time, she told me I ought to demonstrate my passion for romance. And that is what I have done, becoming personally involved in the marketing strategy for Cupid's Chariot.