Member Reviews

Listen, when I tell you Falon can do no wrong, I mean it. I usually struggle a lot to finish celebrity romances but this one, I couldn't put it down so buckle up because here's my review.

"Right on Cue" by Falon Ballard brings us the story of Emmy Harper, a Hollywood nepo baby and queen of writin romantic comedies, and Grayson West, the man of action movies and owner of great abs. In a series of unfortunate (or lucky) events they end up being co-stars of Emmy's newest romance film. But they've met before, they have been co-stars before, and now they hate each other. As the days go by and filming begins their friction becomes unbearable, but also their very obvious sexual tension. They have to come up with something fast before they ruin the movie and everyone in it, and a no strings attached, one-night-only offer seems like the solution. But what if one night is not enough?

Now let me tell you, Grayson West is my new book boyfriend and I will defend him to the world's very end! Everything was absolute perfection with amazing characters, great banter, lots of (open door) spice and cozy vibes. I really loved the relationship Emmy had with her mom and their conversations sometimes brought tears to my eyes.

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Thank you to the author, publisher and @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Enemies-to-lovers/co-stars with benefits?! Gah it was kinda perfect! I loved that there was a personal history to their ‘enemies’ phase and that there was an actual discussion about it!

Emmy is a famous screenwriter and mostly her fames come from being the daughter of two Hollywood icons that had the ‘happily ever after’ story that she loves to put in to her screen plays. But she’s since made a name for herself after a failed acting debut and prefers to be behind the camera.

Grayson was Emmy’s first kiss on her first acting job, and let’s just say that teenagers say and do dumb things. Emmy stops acting because of him and they don’t see each other for years.

Then, Emmy steps in front of the camera when no other leading lady fits the part she wrote. But, lo and behold, her leading man has a nasty accident and who do they recast in that role but her arch nemesis: Grayson.

The heat is on from the beginning and their bickering and snarkiness turn into some fantastic chemistry and banter. Falon did a wonderful job and I highly recommend this!

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If I never have to hear “Grayson F—king West” again, it’ll still be too soon. This just was a bunch of unlikable characters being unlikable.

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Thank you to @netgalley and @falonballard for this ARC copy of this new book!

This book has a lot of tropes all in one: it’s a second chance romance, it’s an opposites-attract, it’s a little bit of an insta-love, and there’s some hurt and comfort wrapped up in there too.

Emmy is a screenwriter. She’s also the daughter of Hollywood royalty, two actors whose marriage withstood the test of time. Her father died a few years ago, and instead of her usual fun and lovely rom-com fare, she wrote an Oscar winning story about feminism and grief. She’s returning after this Oscar winner with another rom com where she’s personally invested in the FMC, so much so that she ends up starring in it as the lead. This is her first acting role after her disastrous flop as a teenager. Her teenage crush and costar, Grayson West, was such a freaking asshat that she turned away from acting for the rest of her life.

Shenanigans ensue, and without her knowledge, the lead in her new romcom is swapped out for none other than Grayson West. And it is a disaster.

Grayson is a big action hero whose manager wants him to break out of that genre, but it’s unclear if Grayson himself wants to be something other than a Fast & Furious style series actor. He does want to be taken seriously, which he usually isn’t: he’s been cast as a himbo and can’t shake it.

This book is fun and sweet as Emmy and Grayson learn how to get over themselves, while they learn they never got over each other. It’s got some definite spice to it, because they have a daily secret friends with benefits situation that escalates to feelings being involved.

It’s got a rare “she has her irregular and heavy period” mini-plot where Grayson acts like all men should aspire to act. I think periods should be in more books involving so much banging, honestly.

Overall, it’s a quick read with a lot of heart. Even though it isn’t a holiday book, it felt like a holiday book, and that charmed the hell out of me.

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My four star rating is generous due to in my opinion disastrous miscommunication/third act. Therefore I have torn feelings about this one. I have loved Falon Ballard and I loved the plot, I am a sucker for Hollywood romance, and characters, but miscommunication played a huge role in her latest and honestly I kinda expected better.

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Fallon Ballard us an instant purchase/read for me! I thoroughly enjoyed this one the romance started off with enemies vibes but turned friendly pretty quickly. Fallon wasted no time getting this romance started! Where I love when the romance takes off, there wasn’t quite enough build for me.

I related to the insecurities that the characters went through. How they handled those and their struggles both togethers and separately.

This book had so man laugh out loud moments that I loved and I can’t wait to read her next book!

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Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC of Right on Cue by Falon Ballard.

I’ve never read anything by this author nor heard of her before, but I’ll be checking out more of her books. So many rom-com-ish like books that focus on writers lately but this one has a twist as Emmy or Harper as some call her, is not just a writer, but also gets roped in into acting. And has history with her co-star Grayson. I would say it falls into the enemy to lovers troupe. However, as all books of these style goes, you are waiting for the issue or shoe to drop where they realize they still hate each other. I really felt like this one was done so much better than some books. This book falls into a category I really love to read and it held my interest and kept me wanting to know how it was going to end, even though I figured I knew!!

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✔️ Second Chance
✔️ Enemies to Lovers
✔️ Workplace (half Hollywood but also small town)
✔️ It's Just Sex

-summary-

Emmy and Grayson were teens
when they starred in a movie together. Her performance was panned and she retreated offscreen and focused on screenwriting while he became a household name, famous for action movies and a killer bod (why do I want to call him a beefcake?😆). Years later, she's a successful screenwriter who's convinced to all star in her script. Unfortunately, her leading man is Grayson, who she blames for tanking her fledgling acting career.

-my thoughts-

This is my kind of book - lots of snappy banter that is super funny but
doesn't feel cheesy; strong fireworks and steam from both characters; a swoony love story from start to finish.

I loved Emmy and her journey from being like Grayson is ruining her life to seeing how she's also contributing to the negative energy around their performance but also all of their interactions. What also made me like Emmy? Her killer group of supporters like her mom (maybe an all time fave book mom) and her bff, the director of the film who both loves and can do tough love when needed.

I loved Grayson too and yeesh, do I wish Hollywood leading men were like him - down to earth and not smarmy or slick in any way. He had a Westley from the Princess Bride thing about him - like, he's hot and athletic so he got whooshed up into the Hollywood thing but he's still kind of down to earth (like Westley still being at heart a farm boy even though he got swept up into the Dread Pirate Roberts thing). Either way, it worked for me.

5⭐️ - it was one of my most anticipated reads this year and it hit the mark perfectly.

Steam 🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕💕

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I have really a lot of mixed feelings about this one because I was absolutely loving it until the last quarter of the book. I loved the movie setting, enemies to lovers because of forced proximity, lots of chemistry and the right amount of spice without the cheesiness…and then enters the miscommunication trope. The most frustrating of all the tropes and just when you think there will be none of it, it happens in the most obnoxious way that just felt like it turned me off from everything I loved about the book!! I loved Grayson, I loved Emmy & I wish I could’ve kept my love going for their story but the last bit of the book left me sour. Thank you to Net Galley & the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

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I'll give it a 3.5 and round up.

This was cute, and I loved how the enemies-to-lovers trope wasn't forgotten too quickly. It burned (just like their chemistry) and was really fun to see.

I do think this book could have benefited from Grayson's pov. There is quite a bit of miscommunication between both characters, but it's really obvious from the reader's perspective what's going on, so giving us his pov wouldn't spoil any "wait, what?" moments that could occur. And that would add depth to their first movie history because she tells him how much it traumatized her and we never get closure or explanation or a follow-up for what really scarred a fifteen-year-old girl.

Other than the consistent miscommunication, this book was extremely cute. As they start falling in love, and when they fall, and when they finally get back together- ugh. Teeth-rotting stuff, really.

thank you Netgalley for the arc

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If you’re a fan of enemies to lovers, second-chance romance, and the main male character falling first then I definitely recommend you immediately run off and start reading Right on Cue by Falon Ballard. The love story between Emmy and Grayson had me feeling all kinds of feelings, and one might even say I was downright smitten with this book. Watching Emmy and Grayson reconnect and discover that the line between love and hate is very thin – even though Grayson definitely never hated Emmy – was very satisfying in this book and I think the author did a great job of portraying their relationship and allowing us as the readers to see them fall in love, as opposed to just telling us it was so. Another great read by Falon Ballard, and she’s a must buy author for me anytime I see she’s publishing a new book.

Would definitely be giving this one a 4.5 stars, if I could!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Falon Ballard and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

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The book was a bit rough at the beginning for me but I ended up liking it. I kind of wish it was dual pov, I wanted to know what was going through Grayson's mind. Emmy jumped to conclusions a lot which I can relate to but it was a bit annoying.

I received an arc through netgalley.

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𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗨𝗘 is a fun enemies-to-lovers Hollywood romcom about two former co-stars reuniting to film a romcom.

What I loved:
😍 Great banter
😍 Believable chemistry between the leads
😍 Some steamy scenes

What I didn't:
😡 The third act break breakup felt forced
😡 Miscommunication that could easily be resolved
😡 The audiobook narrator's voice for the FMC grated on my nerves

The pluses definitely outweighed the minuses with this one but my suggestion is to read rather than listen!

Thanks to Penguin Putnam for the copy to review.

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Thank you, Putnam, for this e-arc!

I love Falon Ballard. Lease on Love was one of my absolute favorite rom coms of 2022, so I was absolutely stocked to read this one. It did not disappoint!!

The premise is so fun: long time enemy actors turned co-stars turned lovers. Need I say more? I loved all of the movie star antics and the behind the scenes feel as they were filming their movie. Hollywood is so glamorous and you can’t pretend you don’t ship your favorite rom com stars together again and again. So here we get exactly what we’ve been craving and all tied up in one spicy package. No pun intended.

My only qualms were that the characters, especially our leads Emmy and Grayson, were 30 years old and yet so immature. Like holding grudges since they were 15?? Okay. And the way they dated for only like a week before declaring their undying love for one another. That just doesn’t happen. Or if it does, it doesn’t usually end well…

Other than those little things, I loved the plot, the premise, the SPICE, and the writing. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4!

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Celebrity romances are always fun. Make it one where they are both staring in a rom-com together and that's even better. Emmy is a writer and when she can't find an actress for her latest rom-com she decides to step in to play the part. The guy she thought she was going to star with ends up needing to back out and is replaced by Grayson West, an action movie star and someone from her childhood she never wanted to see again. They started in a movie together when they were younger but parted on bad terms. So seeing each other again brings back a load of feelings for them both. She's nervous to star in a movie again while he is trying to step out of his "typical" role into a new one. When their chemistry on screen is absolutely terrible they give in to some bubbling tension behind the camera in hopes that it transfers onscreen.

I really enjoyed this. It kinda gave me the whole childhood fantasy of staring in a rom-com and falling in love with the hot lead guy. Grayson was a cutie, gave very much himbo vibes and that was called out a few times in the book. He's a sweetie, cares deeply about people and what others think of him. Emmy I liked but didn't really have any strong feeling about. She was fine, I'm happy she got her happy ending with Grayson.

The bulk of the book is when they are filming the movie - that was the part I was more into. Once the movie ended I felt like things were being skimmed over that I would have loved to have seen more of. The third act breakup was a little bit rough with the miscommunication and then Emmy not really giving Grayson a chance to chat through things. Definitely one of those moments where you want to give the character a shake and say "just talk to them"!

🎬 celebrity romance
😠 dislike to lovers
❤️‍🔥 costars with benefits
👥 close proximity

single POV
4/5 stars ⭐️
1.5/5 spice level 🌶️

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This is a rom-com about filming a rom-com which had me giggling. 😅 I was a little dubious at the beginning because the MMC didn't seem like my cup of tea, but he grew as the book went on and I was definitely shipping them by the end!

This does have the miscommunication trope in it, which usually enrages me because it seems so silly. This one was very mild but still, frustrating. If miscommunication isn't your thing, this one might not be for you. The cuteness of the rom-com within the rom-com was enough for me to overlook that though.

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I started reading the arc last Friday and finished it this morning(I Know I’m procrastinator) and just had to to talk about it.
Of course I had to get a copy to put on my shelf. Finding a book a you loved reading is like finding a new friend. Right on cue was a fun story, full of moments that made made my heart turn into a puddle of goo.

This second chance,enemies to lovers, celebrity romance was everything I wanted and more. The mental health of both Emmy and Grayson was also handled with love and care and some of these scene took my breath away.

Right on cue was the perfect Hollywood romance story I needed.

Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

Thank you Netgalley for this Arc.

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This is such a great read, I didn’t want to put it down! It’s got great characters and a tight and well written plot. It also features some of my favorite tropes like enemies to lovers and second chance romance.

Emmy is a screenwriter who started out as a teenage actress. Her negative experience with her costar Grayson put her off acting until now that her latest screenplay is in production. Emmy was convinced to star but after the male lead is injured, none other than Grayson is hired. He’s become famous for his looks and his action hero roles.
Emmy and Grayson have a lot of baggage to unpack, and soon the sparks are flying between them.

You definitely need to read this one, you won’t be disappointed!
4.5 stars.

Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.Q

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3.5 stars
This book was really cute and I'm a huge sucker for a celebrity/hollywood romance. Overall, I liked it but it really took me a bit to into it. I had an extremely hard time liking the MMC originally because I felt like he was being a bit of a dick, I definitely think it would've been better if it was dual POV! I wasn't a huge fan of the third act breakup since I'm a big hater of the miscommunication trope and this one caused a lot of unnecessary drama. This was still really cute and I loved the main setting being a film set which I don't see very often!

Thank you, Putnam Books and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

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5⭐️

Really cute rom-com with a second chance romance set in a movie set. This is the story of Emmy Harper, former actress turned-screenwriter, that has not only found herself cast in her own movie as the female lead, but now she’s shocked to find out her lead man's role has been replaced with a man she cannot stand, who she starred opposite in her first film with and his first film with and it was a complete disaster.

Emmy is the daughter of Hollywood royalty, both of her parents have long film careers and Emmy has been in the spotlight her entire life, because of her parents fame, she's always felt she needs to justify that she's earned her right to be in the industry.

Grayson West is a mega action hero with gorgeous looks, that every girl dreams of having a date with and he has now accepted the role opposite of Emmy Harper in the lead love interest of Isobel, playing Josh in a small town setting. Let the sparks fly, Emmy and Grayson definitely have unresolved feelings from the past and maybe for the future.?

I absolutely enjoyed this story, it was very entertaining, full of emotions and the characters had a lot of depth, I felt the author did a wonderful job writing an enjoyable story.

I want to thank NetGalley for an advanced ebook copy and the Publisher: Penguin Group Putnam Books

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