I’ve read both of Penelope Janu’s other novels and they were a little hit and miss with me but because I’ve read and loved another that had won the ‘XO Romance Prize’, I decided to give this one a try. And I must say that it didn’t disappoint.

Miles Franklin (named after the famous Australian Author) is a lawyer by day and her alter ego is Emma Browning, successful ebook author of historical ‘hot’ romances. She has kept this secret for all her life except with her best (gay) friend Jack. Her parents, who are well known in the literary world, would be horrified!

It is her author earnings that keep her business afloat, so her troubles start when her good friend and PA Pippy, (who is not supposed to know who Emma is), enters her into Australia’s biggest literary awards and to everyone’s surprise, Emma wins. Miles then begins the cat and mouse game of keeping her identity secret from all around her, while seeing her earnings diminish due to the ‘winning contract’ with Publishing House Iconic International.

I did love this book but I had to suspend belief in a few places. It was fun though, especially all the little things that Miles does in the name of research to ‘authenticate’ her writing. Lars is the head of the Australian arm of Iconic and I enjoyed all the innuendos between them both as Miles/Emma’s demands grow.

I found myself laughing out loud in a number of instances and as with most romances, we all know where it’s going, it’s the journey that is important.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy to read.

This was a good choice when it comes to a light mood reading. It is the story of Miles who is a lawyer officially and secretly pens historical novels of the more explicit kind. I personally am not a big fan of the more graphic ones, I feel like less is sometimes more but that is one of the topics tackled here. The prejudice that comes along with reading/writing such books. I may have used 'guilty read' myself a time or two when talking about these books. This story focuses on that aspect and also on the amount of research and effort a good historical romance needs in order to stand the test of scrutiny. Miles has annoyingly famous (literary) parents who have not managed to do much good when it comes to their daughter but she has a boatload of other people to back her up in her personal life.

Her friend/assistant submits the pseudonym as an entry for a writers award which starts events which spiral out of control while Miles tries to keep up the charade of being two people. There is a lot of chaos and as we get to read about her other books simultaneously, this is actually more than one story put together in these pages. There were some tears and some admiration as well as a whole lot of other feelings on my part while Miles struggles to make sense of her feelings for her career as well as for the man in charge of her contract with a publishing house. Overall a pretty great option for readers of the genre (or maybe even if you want to check out the genre)

No, no, no. The concept was fun but the execution was excruciating. I've read romance books for over 30 years and am sick and tired of making the heroine a klutz - which began the first scene. That scene was such a trope that at first I wasn't sure if I was reading a scene from the heroine's books or not. Then the set up with Miles's PA forging her name to enter the contest - with no repercussions. The contest rules are absurd as well.

I also loathed all the people who had and continued to put down Miles. I get that she's faced snobbish put downs but *that* many people? The only character I began to like was another trope - the gay BFF.

I lasted until Miles began trying to force her way out of the contract with ridiculous demands and gave up. As so many other reviewers have said, I wanted to like this one but there was nothing in it for me.

Full disclosure: I was completely drawn by the cover of On the Same Page by Penelope Janu. I am not familiar with Janu or this publisher, but there was something about the cover that lured me in. And after reading the synopsis? I was hooked. 

On the Same Page by Penelope Janu is a story that gives me both contemporary romance details as well as historical romance elements. Miles is a contract lawyer for authors, but also moonlights as one, Emma. And when her assistant enters her into a contractual contest, her secret life as an author will be jeopardized. 

I loved Miles. She has my heart. She was brave and loyal to herself, and I loved that. I loved Emma's circle of friends, and really enjoyed their side stories. Lars took some getting used to. I couldn't figure out if his alpha persona just wasn't my thing, or if it was something else. In the end, he sort of won me over, but Miles is clearly the star of this show.

This was an unconventional romance story, and I was really engaged with the story. I really enjoyed that Miles was a historical romance author, because to be read glimpses of that era, it was like getting a combination story. And all the chapter 45 scenes? LOVE. 

I will say that there are a few scenes that I didn't think were necessary. I found myself speed reading through some of those parts. I'd rather get to the main heart of the story, and that revolved all around Miles. While I appreciated and understood the scenes with her parents, they just angered me. The things said about Miles' author persona? Boo. 

Overall, I enjoyed this story and found it refreshing. 

*Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.*

This is a well-written book. I loved the main character, Miles, though I couldn't really connect with her. I thought the other characters in this book were well developed and interesting. I enjoyed the plot and the story flowed well. This is my first book by this author and I would read other books by her.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I tried really hard to like this book. I read the first few chapters and then had to leave it alone, since I found nothing in the story or plot that I had any interest in. While I wanted to like Miles and Lars, I found myself repeatedly rolling my eyes at their actions and not wanting anything else to do with them. I thought that their relationship was not well written, and even the sex scenes felt like they were written by someone who has never had sex and has only read books and seen movies before. Nothing about it felt original at all.
The character development was horrible. I don't remember anything about characters other than Miles and Lars, and even though there seemed to be a lot of minor characters, Jack, Lucinda, Pippy, and Adam, I couldn't tell you one thing about any of them. All of them only seemed to be side pieces that were barely ever talked about and never truly brought to life. There was so much unneeded drama between the main characters, and it was so hard to follow that I was never really sure why they were angry at each other, or when they made up again.
I simply can not find any redeeming qualities about this book. There is nothing that would ever bring me back to this, and with a premise that could be so much fun to play with, it feels as though Janu was bringing nothing new to the table, and was simply writing tropes that had already been written.
Even the climax of the book was subpar. The ending was so contrived and weird that I had to read it twice to really understand what I was looking at. I'm not sure if it was the intent of the author, but part of the book seems to be about the stigma of writing romance, and to write a book like this without the ending being trying to undo that stigma, you fall into the trap of becoming the "trashy writer" that Miles didn't want to be by making up Emma. There's no resolution to her feelings at the end. There's nothing wrong with writing romance, and yet, the ending of this makes it seem as though Miles still fears people knowing who she is. It's not even about the anxiety about people knowing who she is, it's framed so that it's because she doesn't want to be a stereotypical romance writer. I would have much more respect for the book if Miles wanted to avoid the spotlight and was afraid of becoming famous and that's what caused her to do this, and she has to overcome her own neurosis in order to live her life to the fullest. But NOPE. Couldn't do that. Had to be because romance is trashy and you don't want your parents or colleagues to know what you do.

This is my first book by Penelope Janu and I can say that I like her writing style. Her story gripped me and held me until I finished it. I don't want to go into details just because I hate to spoil others reading experience.
The story is well written, main character is likable and sometimes I've found myself in her, but the other ones are irritating too. All that points to the writer ability to take us on the ride with the story.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1307820952

On The Same Page is a story about a woman, Miles, who loves to write romance novels but is ashamed of the genre because of her well known author parents. By day, she is a lawyer but her real passion is writing historical romance under the pen name, Emma Browning. Unknowingly, her assistant enters Miles' writings into a literary competition. When she unexpectedly wins, she is forced to think of creative and albeit stubborn ways to avoid being discovered as the author so as to not reveal her true identity.
The book has witty and enjoyable moments. You find yourself sympathizing for the "bad guy", Lars, who isn't so bad - he wants to meet Emma and use her to market his publishing company. The chemistry between Miles and Lars is nice and you cheer for them to finally see eye-to-eye. The problem lies with Miles. Her character comes off as stubborn, unbending, rude, and frantic. She is so obsessed with not revealing Emma's identity that she is willing to go to outrageous lengths to stop Lars. I found her lack of strength to stand up to her parents hard to swallow. I did not cheer for her - her actions did not connect with me. She seemed to turn against or use almost anyone she could in order to protect herself for such a silly reason.
While the story has twists and turns that are likable, I did not connect to the main character as I would have liked to. The writing is smart and witty, but I found myself frustrated with Miles and her over the top stubbornness.

This was a new author for me so I wasn't sure what to expect. I did like her writing style but for some reason I couldn't totally connect with the story. I found Miles a bit of a pushover and I didnt get much of a connection between the two leads.

That said it think the writing is well done and the story flows. I can see other people who are fans of contemporary romance and NA liking this. I just didn't connect with the characters this time.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks for the early review copy!

I picked this up because of the cover. It was a well-written book. I recommend this book to fans of adult comedy or romance.

Brief synopsis: Miles (a name that I think is awesome for a woman) grew up with two literary parents who are literature snobs. They think that her profession as a lawyer is an outrage and that romance novels are rubbish. What they don't know, is that for years Miles has been self-publishing regency romance novels under the pseudonym "Emma Browning." It was all going well, until her PA, Pippy, submits her writing for the Stapleton Prize, a literary award that will send her right into the spotlight with the promise of global publishing and one pushy CEO, Lars Kristensen.

This book did hook me right away, Miles drove me insane. She was meek and anxiety riddled. I get why-her parents were monsters. They were so dismissive of her profession and her interests. When they find her reading a romance novel as a teen, they make her go to counseling? Who does that? There was not one thing that I appreciated about them. I found myself constantly yelling at Miles to just open her mouth and speak! Stop lying! Stand up for what you believe in.

One thing that I enjoyed was the personality of Miles. She's clumsy, prone to blushing, and snarky. I have an affinity for snark. The comedy of the situations she gets herself into had me laughing out loud.

The cast in this novel is vast, so much so that I kept forgetting who was whom and I'd have to go back and try to decipher what was going on. Characters had nicknames and I just couldn't keep it all together.

With all that being said, I did like this novel. Penelope's writing is good. I liked the relation of the character to the novel she was writing/had already written. It was well put together and relevant. I've seen where novels have done this and it was not cohesive at all. I was engrossed in the story, even though I was constantly disheartened by Miles' lack of veracity.
3.5/5 (Would read again, and read other books by this author)

It was my first book by this author, so I didn't know what to expect. For some reason, I couldn't find a connection with the main characther. I really tried to like her, but it was just not happening. The story is sweet, though. I believe most ya readers will have a great time reading it. Thanks for the ARC!

I simply loved this book and was captivated from the first page. It is the story of Miles Franklin, lawyer by day and historical romance author by night. She writes as Emma Browning and her secret life is threatened when her assistant enters her into a literary competition that she wins. It is funny and well-written and I loved the various references to literary classics scattered throughout the book. The tension between Miles and her alter ego, Emma, really resonated with me in addition to the dialogue about literature versus reading for pleasure. Highly recommend.

I finished this book last night, but I am still thinking about how I feel about this book....

It is written really really well and I kept on reading. But I was so angry with the heroine most times, she is such a doormat. It is explained how Miles parents made her feel insecure, unloved and always criticize her so in a way I understand. But it frustrated me to no end!

So Miles has an alter ego, author Emma Browning, and she writes historical romance novels. And those sell like crazy! Like with 100.000s and Miles has a good living of them. But... her PA and friend Pippy decides to enter Emma for a prestigious prize and forges Miles' signature. This results in Miles being contracted to a publisher who will take most of her royalties AND demand 'Emma' to participate in all kinds of publicity. I would seriously have killed Pippy, but what does Miles do? NOTHING!!!

The publisher's CEO Lars is the 'hero' of the story but most of the book he just spends being angry with Miles as she ignores his calls, emails and such and he demands she comply with the contract.

I really felt for Miles and there were parts I liked the interactions between Miles and Lars. But I never felt they had some burning passion. Miles was being put down by people most of the book, never stood up for herself and just went on with her life and thinking of storylines for her book. No money because 'friend' Pippy screwed her living?? O, just borrow money and be quiet about your sorrows. GAH!

So overall I liked the writing, the pacing and most of the characters but the storyline did not give me the feels.

I absolutely, positively loved this book! The love / hate relationship between Miles and her publisher Lars, the debate about historical romance novels and " real " literature and the bits and pieces of literary royalty referred to throughout the book hooked me from the first page. I did nothing but read this wonderful book from start to end today!

The theme of this book immediately grabbed my attention: a lawyer who writes popular romance novels in secret? Love the premise! The writing did not really captivate me though, but I'm sure lots of other people will love this book.

This book was a joy to read. The premise felt original; I loved hearing the story of a closeted romance author. Furthermore, this premise allowed the author to lightly touch upon some real issues, including the dismissal of the romance genre as less legitimate because it is usually written by women for women. The characters were quirky and friendships Miles had with the people around her, like Jack, Pippy and the girls from her pole dancing class, added many fun scenes to the novel. I enjoyed the character of Miles and I found her to be sympathetic, relatable, and funny. There were quite a few scenes that caused me to laugh out loud!

The romance in the book was very fun to read. I appreciated the tension that was allowed to build naturally between Miles and Lars, it did not feel rushed in any way.

My foremost critique involves Miles' scattered behavior. I realize that a large part of her character is based on her being semi-out of touch with reality because of her day-dreamy nature, however, the extent of her unprofessional behavior seemed borderline unbelievable and a bit drawn out. It felt a bit repetitive at times and I wished there had been more of a purpose to some of the descriptions of her flakey behavior. Also, at times I didn't feel like I fully understood why Miles was so adverse to revealing herself as Emma. She underwent a lot of inner turmoil towards the end of the novel, but I did not always feel able to follow her train of thought or understand her actions, particularly towards Lars. It was at those moments that she felt a bit less sympathetic and more frustrating as a character. Finally, so much of the book focuses on how people in Miles' life put down romance writing as frivolous, and I wish the novel would have had a bit more exploration why this was the case.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to people who love romance novels and maybe even to people who don't! Because, as the book established, romance novels are nothing to be ashamed of.

On the Same Page is an incredibly fun read.

Miles, our protagonist, has been writing romance novels under a pseudonym for years. Her assistant enters "Emma" the writing alias into a writing competition and surprise surprise, she wins. Which means she is stuck dealing with Lars Henrickson, a gorgeous if slightly enraging publisher esque guy. While the book seems a bit unrealistic in the way that the publishers handle Miles/Emma this is an incredibly fun read.

Miles is incredibly protective of her alter ego which Lars is trying desperately to unmask for "marketing reasons." The back and forth can get frustrating at times. Miles is a protagonist who often runs from her problems, and Lars is a character who pushes at everything. But the banter in this book is constant and enticing, and the relationships in this book are so strong. This is a world where characters who show up briefly are likely to return later, which makes the world and the story feel fuller.

Some of the situations in this book are absolutely hilarious. Miles and her best friend Jack enact the sex scenes she will put in her romance novel which leads to the two of them squeezing into a carriage and attempting to figure out the choreography.

The book also has some other amazing touches. The descriptions of the books that "Emma Browning" wrote were so much fun that I wish I could read them myself. There are a series of strong friendships. It's made clear that one of the minor characters is a sex-worker and yet no one shames her for it. It was overall an incredibly positive book. While Lars was incredibly persistent, it never felt like the dogged wearing-down that so many romance novels feature.

On The Same Page is witty and funny and at times irreverent. I adored Miles and Emma—two complex halves of the one whole—and Lars with his clipped and perfect diction, blue eyes and floppy hair. The story had me laughing out loud at some of the antics Emma’s characters got up to, and wincing as one unfortunate incident after another beset poor Miles.
There is more than humour and empathy to this story though. Author Penelope Janu has demonstrated an extraordinary breadth and depth to her reading and understanding of literary classics through the ages, using them to good purpose at appropriate points in the novel. Add to this the clever link between the life Miles is leading and the story she is writing. I was utterly captivated and thoroughly engrossed throughout. This is a truly wonderful story from an exceptionally talented author.

This book is a page turner. If you love historical romance and enjoy reading books where characters make literary references then trust me, you'd enjoy a thing or two about this book. Here, the lead is Miles Hamilton who comes from a family of writers, and her parents do not have an ounce of patience and love for historical romance. She tries her best to write anonymously but when her PA, Pippy enters her book into a contest, she learns that she's got more than her heart to protect from the public. It's quirky, fun, enigmatic, light and full of suspense. Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.