The book was cute, but I might just be stuck in a enemies to lovers romance cycle. I felt like there wasn’t anything new or exciting in this book to add in the romance genre. It was a quick read just not “omg love” worthy.

On the Same Page, are we on the same page? Sadly no. Not only could I not focus on this story, but it didn't hold my attention. A book has to hold your attention, draw you into the story and keep you entertained. This book did none of those.

As readers, how many of us have been judged for our reading choices? While there is no ‘proper’ way of reading, most people have their own ideas of what a person should read and feel judgemental towards those who don’t fit into that mold. As it turns out, it’s the same for writers.

On The Same Page by Penelope Janu follows Miles Franklin, lawyer by day and historical romance author by night, writing under the pseudonym of Emma Brown. When Emma wins a prestigious literary award in Australia, Miles has to decide whether to bring her alter ego into the light or let go of her forever.

This book is a defense of the romance genre everywhere and I am here for it. As a person from a literature background, I’m well versed with the snobbery and condescension literary types feel towards others and Janu explores this in a very real way. Miles’ parents are authors themselves; while her mother writes poetry, her father prefers literary fiction. Both these fields are apparently reason enough for their arrogance towards most other genres.

Bodice rippers have never been and probably never will be considered a part of “good” literature, especially when it comes to historical romances. The fact that Emma Brown wins the Stapleton Award is shocking to most and Janu comes to Miles’ defense. Her character is not perfect but that only adds to her persona. Miles tries to be as authentic as possible while writing her books and if that isn’t true dedication I don’t know what is. Her own chemistry with the love interest, aka Lars, is palpable and induced some toe-curling. Though I do wish Lars had had more character development and appeal to him than simply someone with a good diction, amazing looks, and his determination to find out the truth behind Emma.

Overall, the book is fast-paced and feels like vindication as a romance reader. Janu’s writing is hilarious and makes you wish the story could keep going forever.

On the Same Page is the story of Miles, a lawyer by the day and a Historical Fiction Romance Author by night. Sounds compelling, right? That's what I thought. However, it seems I was too early to judge. I've had this book on my NetGalley backlist for a few months. While saving my previously tanking feedback ratio, I decided to read this book. Worst decision

I know I come off as a little too harsh but think about it. Asking someone to pose for half-nude photos to sabotage a prior legal commitment isn't just immature; it's downright harassment. There is no actual plot, and the characters are also poorly crafted. As a lawyer, Miles is excruciatingly incompetent and unprofessional. On the other hand, Lars was akin to a fleeting presence in the novel, and he doesn't even have an on-page presence for more than half of his book.

The Romance angle was rushed at best and forced at worst. There was nothing believable about it. The character arcs were confusing as well. There is no ironclad reason why Miles doesn’t want anyone knowing that she’s Emma. And despite her unwavering need to keep her identity under the wraps, she doesn’t seem to be doing anything to ensure that. She is irresponsible, annoying and underwhelming as a protagonist. I never came to care about her at all. She was selfish, immature and annoying to the point of self-sabotage.

Plus, as far as Emma is concerned, she doesn’t have a voice throughout the novel. It’s abundantly clear that she doesn’t exist. Her novels, which are claimed to be the non-cliched and penned with exception literary prowess are subpar at best. The constant (and sometimes unnecessary) switch between the present and the novel Emma is writing was giving me whiplash. Miles was used to talking about her real life in terms of scenes in her not one, but three novels. This was very difficult to keep track.

The only redeeming quality of the book was the found-family angel from the pole-dancing class of all places. That’s all. This book was a cluster of event strung together with little relevance.

On the same Page by Penelope Janu was a monumental waste of time and effort and is downright the most insufferable book I've read this entire year. I like Rom-Coms as much as the next person, but this one missed the mark. It normalizes harassment in the workplace and romanticizes self-sabotage. I, for one, am not here for this.

I am never this harsh with my reviews, but this book warrants it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eArc copy of On the Same Page in exchange for an honest review!!

“By day Miles Franklin, named after the famous author, is a successful lawyer. By night, in secret, she writes historical romance novels under the pen name Emma Browning. When 'Emma's' novels win one of Australia's biggest literary awards, Miles's perfectly ordered life begins to unthread at the bindings.”

This cover first of all is so cute and the synopsis was extremely promising — both were things that initially drew me to this book!! I really really loved the concept, however when reading, I was disappointed by the amount of ‘telling not showing’. It didn’t make it as exciting as I had hoped.

Miles (the MC) was quite stubborn. I understand her wanting to keep her anonymity but she was just really rude to Lars and to some of the other characters throughout the whole book.
There wasn’t that much build up between her and Lars — so when things actually did happen, I wasn’t really expecting it at those moments. There just wasn’t much chemistry between them before any of the times they got together. I wish we learned more backstory on Lars and who he is as a character.

However, Jack was fantastic!!! I loved his side character and would have loved to see more of him. The fact that him and Miles choreographed scenes for Emma’s books was hysterical and I loved every bit of that.

There were snippets of Emma Brownings books shown throughout this story and I really enjoyed that bit. It told us a little more about Miles than we learned.

There were some references to Classic Literature as well which I thought was really clever and I liked the way they were added throughout.

Overall, it was cute, light and an easy read. I enjoyed the idea of the story :) 2.5 stars

On the Same Page is perfect for readers of Sally Thorne, Ali Hazelwood & Emily Henry!

I enjoyed every second of this feel-good novel, I wish it was longer so I could continue to be immersed in the world. It was a slow burn, forced proximity opposite attracts romance with a main character that was so relatable and unpredictable I found myself never knowing what she was going to do or say next.

I love books about authors, especially when we’ve got a secret author and a love interest who wants to publish her. I also love when books have so many literary references that my bookish heart gets to just explode! The banter between Miles & Lars was so perfect and funny, I found that most of my highlighted quotes were said by Lars because of how hilarious I found his overall personality.

This was my first novel that i’ve read by Penelope Janu and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more because her writing style is definitely something I’ll be raving about for the foreseeable future!

Rating: 3.5

Similar vibes to The Hating Game and The Love Hypothesis, which are two of my favorite books. While I really liked Miles and Lars, I was LIVING for Jack. Can Jack get his own book, please?
I LOVE the extents to which Miles will go to protect her secret identity as author Emma. Wacky hijinks that are at times completely unbelievable? You bet, but that's the trademark stamp of a true rom-com! If it doesn't require a large dollop of suspension of disbelief, is it really a rom-com?
This is such a fun, lighthearted read. I definitely recommend if you love witty banter, clever writing, and some good ol' enemies to lovers snark.

I love how so many things happened in the book. I could not keep myself from the book because it was so good

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lighthearted fun read. I loved the message of not being judgmental.

i was initially drawn to this book because 'lawyer by day and secretly a writer at night' is very much me, and i tend to gravitate to books i relate to like that. it was an easy and light read (couldn't put it down once i started) but i do have a couple problems with the book that i think kept me from being able to fully enjoy it.

while i understand miles's need to ignore/run away from her problems, it can get frustrating to read because her behaviour seemed very unprofessional at times. also why is her assistant Like That?

Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a free e-ARC of the book. All opinions expressed in this review are completely mine.

I felt the basic plotline and essence of characters was quite good, but I felt something amiss. I think this read won't disappoint if you dive in with lesser expectations.

On the Same Page by Penelope Janu follows Miles Franklin, lawyer by day, author by another name at night! When Miles' alter-ego wins a publishing award the publishing house CEO, the dashing Lars Kristensen, wants to meet the author thus throwing Miles' life into a tailspin.

This was a cute read, a little on the slow going side. I enjoyed how the author worked parts of Miles' own book into the story line. The characters are likeable and like any good romance, has a happy ending!

Rating: I'm going to be real honest; I can't remember because I read it so long ago and forgot to review it straight away!
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you NetGalley and Escape Publishing for the advanced reader copy for an honest review!

As a complete sucker for romantic comedy's, I was so pleasantly surprised by this book, and in the absolute best way. It was so much funnier than I anticipated and just really fricken nice to read.

Things I loved about this book:
- the characters! very well written, good about of depth to them and still very fun and relatable.
- the plot. I love reading books about books, I loved being in on the secret with the main character and I just loved how the subject of romance books and authors not being taken seriously as real literature was brought into the story.
- the romance was cute and sweet but also had its nice spicy moments. It wasn't necessarily a slow burn but it had some slow burn feel to it and was just enjoyable overall.

What I didn't love about this book (and the reason why it was not a 5-star read for me):
- the pacing... this book did something sort of weird with the pacing where the romance plotline advanced much quicker than the rest of the plot and I found it created a bit of a lull. Yes, I know that romance doesn't need to be at the forefront of the book at all times but the romance and the plotline felt so intwined at the start of the book that it just felt weird when they sort of separated? It felt like it took a bit for the plot to pick up again on its own afterwards.

Overall, very much enjoyed this book! Solid 4-stars plus a gold star for being a book about people who write and publish books because who doesn't love some good book-ception!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgally for providing me with a an ARC of this book in exchange for an honst review. All opinions are my own.
I usually love books about books, writing, etc. but it took me a while to get into this one. I liked the double life / hidden identity story line but there was a part of me internally screaming at Miles to own her writing- girl you are clearly successful, why not just own it! It took we a while to come around to Lars but we got there eventually. It's almost like I would categorize it as a slow burn but for me as a reader.

On the Same Page had a great premise but the overall book just missed the mark for me. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy the characters.

Thank you to Escape Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I enjoyed the behind the scenes look at the publishing industry but the love story did not grab me. Miles and Lars did not have much chemistry and the jump from being annoyed to being aroused was way too fast. Miles was extremely annoying after some time of self sabotage and was not a compelling protagonist. It was fine but not great.

Miles has a big secret: she writes historical romance novels under a pseudonym. Officially, she represents the author only as a lawyer, and her parents are already not thrilled about that. However, the books win an important literary prize, are to be republished, and worst of all, there are to be some appearances by the author!
Miles does her best not to get caught, but it is not so easy, because Lars Kristensen, CEO of the publishing company is not only pretty but also very clever.

My Opinion:
The cover is beautifully designed and I like it very much. The horse and the book fit Miles and Lars and represent the content very well.
I also liked the writing style of Penelope Janu. It took me a while to get into it, but then I was able to get well into the content.
Her writing style is detailed, fluid and pleasant, so I got through the book well.

At the beginning it was difficult to put myself in Miles' place, but after a few chapters it worked out quite well. She is intelligent, clumsy and knows exactly what she doesn't want.
And that is to be outed as Emma Browning. Unfortunately, that's why she keeps running into Lars, who cares about that exact thing.

The two have a special tension and their superficial dislike actually goes much deeper. The two attract and repel each other like magnets. This resulted in many funny scenes that I found very great.
Still, I kept wishing Miles would be honest. To herself and also to Lars. But that was difficult and made me shake my head again and again. Because even when Lars knew, Miles couldn't jump over her shadow. Lars is patient, looking for solutions and wants to understand Miles problems, I really liked that.

I thought the ending was very well done and I liked it a lot. I also liked the structure of the book, which adapted to Emma's novels with the short chapters and thus connected both genres not only in terms of content.

My conclusion:
A beautiful, funny and emotional book. I liked it a lot, even though Miles annoyed me a bit at some points. Still, I enjoyed reading it and like the connection with historical romance novels.

This book was ok but nothing groundbreaking. It wasn’t the best book I’ve read but also not the worst

I wanted to love this one as the premise sounded like something I would enjoy reading. Day job author by night though she keeps it a secret because her parents have convinced her that anything but literacy fiction isn't worth writing. However I couldn't find anything about the heroine that I liked. She kept getting on my nerves. I get that she had social anxiety but she came across as whinny. And the hero wasn't that much either. However I did keep reading because I liked her assistant. As much as I like rom coms this one was not for me.

I really wanted to like this book - based on the mc being a lawyer by day and secret historical fiction writer by night. Unfortunately it just didn't hit the mark for me. Too slow of a burn and I didn't love the characters/some of the plot.