This book will for sure be one of my favorite romances of this year! I loved everything about it 🤩

I didn’t realize, until reading this, how much I like reading about main characters who are moms. Being a mama myself, while reading definitely helps me escape, I also feel like books about moms are really relatable for me too.

I really loved the relationship between Nora and Leo in this! Leo was for freaking sure new book BF material! He was probably one of my favorite male leads in a book that I’ve read in a long time. I think a lot of what I loved about him was how amazing he was with Nora’s kids. He loved them like his own and that just tugged at my heart 🥹

Nora’s kids cracked me up so much throughout this book, and I just loved reading about them. This had me feeling all of the emotions, from laughing to almost crying, and being mad! Then that last part of the book?! Omg I didn’t see it coming at all and my jaw dropped!

This book was amazing in my opinion. Well done @annabelmonaghan !! I cannot wait to see what else you come out with! 💗💗

Nora is a screenwriter who usually writes cheesy hallmark movies but her latest script based on her real-life messy divorce gets picked up for the big screen. The man playing Nora’s husband, Leo, is a major heartthrob known for his irresistible smolder and Nora is most definitely not immune. Surprisingly, Leo’s life is not as wonderful as it may seem and he falls in love with Nora’s small town and cozy home. He offers to pay Nora rent to temporarily stay after the movie has wrapped so he can escape the spotlight and watch the sun rise from her porch in peace.

This was refreshingly different from most of the other rom-coms I’ve read. Nora was a mature protagonist and I think that’s why I loved it so much. She’s a down-to-earth single mom who works hard to make ends meet and provide a happy life for her children. Nora, her children, Leo and all of the side characters were charming and lovable. Despite the outrageous plot, everything felt very realistic. I also want to add that I normally loathe the miscommunication trope but this book gets a free pass from me and if you read it you’ll know why. Overall, a really enjoyable romance full of humor and heart.

This screenwriter romance made me think of the best Meg Cabot from the mid-2000's. Really enjoyed the humor and heart.

"Evvie Drake Starts Over" meets "Beach Read" in a charming tale of a single mom whose Hallmark movie-writing life is crashed by a playboy actor who refuses to leave the set (her garden house) when the shooting is over. From the loser ex who inspired her break out movie script to the kids who steal every scene to the PTA power dynamics in her small town to the "how the other half lives" glimpses of realness — this is a fast, fun read with rom-com vibes and unexpected depth.

I enjoyed the single mom, writer's life perspective and the self-referential meta-Hallmark-movie-ness of it all but I was hoping for a little more depth to that aspect. Something a little more subversive. Still — plenty of amusing and relatable lines and scenes.

Synopsis: When script writer Nora decides to write a story based on some of her own traumatic love story events rather than the perfect Hallmark meet cute she ends up learning much about herself and more to her own romance story than she ever thought possible. Just because the perfect meet cute does or doesn't happen, doesn't mean that the romance isn't meant to last forever.

Thoughts: This was a cute story and I loved how it talked not only about Hallmark romances but also real life and how things don't always happen like in a Hallmark romance in fact most of the time they don't but that doest mean your romance story isn't true. This book was a great read and I enjoyed the characters and the family aspect of it.

I loved this story. I love stories about writers and this was really a nice tender one. Well it was also sad at a point. But I loved how Nora deal with everything. She lived in a perfect house that has a spot for sun rising watching. Perdecf right?? I thing I would do the same mistakes as her. Well I have not fall in love with an actor but anyway I liked everypage of this book. A perfect combinations of feelings. Simple but deep if I can say.
The money makes you happy if you are already happy.

Thank you PHR and Netgalley for this arc and thank you Jennifer for the lovely buddy reading🤗

3.5 ⭐️
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Thank you so much to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam + G.P. Putnam's Sons for the e-ARC of this book! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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This was...an odd one for me. I REALLY wanted to love it, but it just fell a bit flat? I'll try to put it into words...

Annabel Monaghan's first adult fiction title opens with a recently divorced heroine who's turned her mostly-drama-free breakup into an entire Hollywood-level film. This isn't unusual for a writer who's written over 30 formulaic romcoms for "The Romance Channel", but this IS Nora's first movie without a happy ending...or so she thought. When the handsome leading man, Leo, asks if he can stick around her house for a week (at $1000 a night!), Nora reluctantly agrees, but she doesn't realize how he'll charm the hearts of pretty much everyone in town, Nora's kids, and maybe even Nora herself.

This starts out like one of the predictable romances Nora would write for herself: big time Hollywood star comes to the suburbs and accidentally finds love with a single mom! But it is wonderful to watch their romance grow and see both Nora and Leo develop as people in the real world when no one is there to write the script for them. However, there is always a foil and *without giving spoilers*, this is where the book fell flat for me. I get having miscommunications as a plot device, but when the reader is also left out of the loop, it's not fun to read anymore. I think this could've benefited from a dual-POV to fix that issue and I would've enjoyed it more.

I rounded up to a 4 to be a little generous since I enjoyed the characters and storyline for the most part, but this was a solid 3.5 for me. I wouldn't be opposed to reading another one of Monaghan's books, but I won't be running to the library to read the rest of her titles anytime soon.

A absolutely delightful heroine leads this romantic comedy about a single mother and a movie star. Nora lives a quiet life writing romance scripts, but in dramatic turn of events, she writes the story of her fraught marriage, The script sells and the movie begins filming at her house. This is when she meets Leo, too handsome for his own good. Only she feels seen, and appreciated, and all the things you are supposed to feel in a good relationship. But things can't go that smoothly... Sweet, funny, and charming, Nora Goes Off Script is exactly what a romcom should be.

Read this is ONE DAY. Love love loved Nora. This is the second of Monaghan’s I’ve read and I’m a fan for life. The perfect summer feel good but keep the tissues near by (just me??) read!! Will highly recommend to all my friends- if I’m not personally already sending them a copy.

Thank you SO much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I've never read anything by this author, but I was intrigued by some Nora Ephron parallels.

Nora Hamilton has had any some personal life hits as of late. Her recent divorce was channeled into a script that is being turned into a major motion picture, with some big names, including Leo Vance. Leo Vance shows up at her house one day and decides to take up residence, much to her chagrin. While Nora struggles to write her next script, Leo presents an obstacle in the most unexpected way and throws Nora's whole life off balance.

First and foremost, when this book was marketed, I could help but feel some Nora Ephron/Heartburn parallels. But you know, this is nowhere near the same person. Nora didn't write things like this as an author. Her work was smart and it was not Lifetime movies. Some marketing somewhere did make the comparison and they shouldn't have.

Beyond this, the book was quite interesting. I mean, Nora had lived a life that I can commend her for. I don't know if I would have the willpower to keep writing love stories as my marriage was crumbling around me. It shows her heart as a true romantic. But it also shows that she was trying desperately to hope for more. I think that's why her character was so open and ready for Leo Vance.

I felt like Leo was supposed to be a version of Leo Dicaprio back in the day and while I found him interesting, he was an idealized version of him. I liked the dynamic of having him coming into the family and really having to kind of shape up. I think it was good for him as a character to grow.

Overall, this was an interesting read. Thank you for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and all for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.
This book was so much fun! Classic mis-communication trope but done really well. Enjoyed the character development and the plot moved along at a pace that kept me saying, "just one more chapter!"

A perfectly sweet and enjoyable romance.. This was pretty much perfect for me. I bought into the storyline, even though it sounds unbelievable it worked for me. The writing made it feel natural and '"meant to be" vs. this crazy, unreal romance. It was just the right amount of sexy for my taste. Not so much sex that it takes away from the actual romance or story. I will definitely be picking up more by this author.

I felt it was very predictable and not very unique. There’s a lot of books with this type of plot coming out lately.

Hate to say it, but I only got a quarter of the way in then skimmed. I know this is meant for older/divorced women who might love the fantasy of a movie star hunk showing up and actually taking an interest in their kids and domestic life (unlike their a**hole ex-husband); but reading about a relatively nondescript movie star turning up on a woman’s porch after the filming’s all done, then offering to pay the homeowner a substantial amount of money to stay for a week (but I think it was a few weeks??) wasn’t a grab for me. I had wanted to blame it on the audiobook but then realized the narrator was just reading what was on the page, and again, I’m not enthralled by listening to domesticity. It was all just very low energy to me. There’s fade-to-black intimacy halfway through the book—blink half a second and you miss the maybe half dozen words that imply it completely—then they’re apart again for another 40% of the book. There was nothing to root for. Just not what I had hoped for.

One of my favorite romcoms of the year - so sweet & couldn’t put it down. A bit more depth than I was expecting. The perfect ready for a flight! Thank you for the opportunity net galley!

Nora has been left by her loser husband, but she doesn’t really care. In fact, she’s written a movie script about it and the movie is about to be filmed in her backyard. This book felt unique. I loved the play on the Hallmark movie formula. I usually don’t like kids in romance stories, but I found Nora’s to be charming. Leo didn’t feel fully formed. He felt like a cliche Hallmark movie hero, but I loved his puppy dog vibes. The story felt a bit rushed at times and could have benefited from more character development or more dialog, but in general I found it endearing and sweet. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC to review!

I loooooved this book! Nora and Leo were an absolute dream. Arthur and Bernie's love for their mother was adorable but also very relatable. I would 100% recommend this for any readers that enjoy a small town, feel good romance quick read.

This book was so endearing! It was not hard to fall in love with Nora and invest in her love of Leo. Overall, it was a little predictable, but the overlap with the discussions of how rom-com’s are predictable made it an excellent read for a rom-com lover like me!

What a fun and positive read! This is a perfect relaxing summer book to read on vacation! I liked how the characters were flawed and believable. I loved all the characters, even the side characters. Great twist! One of those books where you fly through it and then regret reading it so fast later when you finish. I highly recommend it and can't wait to read more from this author!

This book truly gave me all the feels. Nora is a script writer who strays from her usual The Romance Channel writing to tell the story of her divorce from her husband and how it is okay to not feel upset when something falls apart. When her movie sells to a big network and the hottest stars are cast, Nora’s house turns into a set for the movie that will change her career and her life. I loved that this book focused not only on romantic relationships, but on family and friends as well. I appreciated that I didn’t find this book predictable at all, but was still completely satisfied with how it ended. Would 100% recommend this book.