Thank you Netgalley for this ARC! I was so extremely excited for this release as I LOVED Ballard's previous contemporary romances. What I enjoy about her writing, and was looking forward to most in this release, was the way she brings realness and humility to the characters relationships both between the love interests and in their friendships.

With that being said, Right on Cue was veryyy heavy on the romance and relationship between the love interests. There were a few story lines that I would have loved to read more about, namely the loss of Emmy's father in conjunction with Grayson's struggles in his relationship with his father. The latter was briefly touched upon, but I would have loved to see Emmy and Grayson's relationship taken onto a level where they could have bonded over deeper and more meaningful things. I found their relationship very unbelievable, superficial, and immature.

I would have also loved to read more about Jenna. Emmy actually admits she forgot about her in the last two pages of the book and I was like huh, me too. Jenna deserves better.

Emmy Harper is an award-winning screenwriter coming off an Oscar win and getting back to her rom-com roots. Grayson West is a certified superstar who is known for his action roles and being super hot. When they unexpectedly end up cast as the leads in Emmy’s new film, those ingredients should equal a recipe for success. But throw in the fact that they starred opposite each other as teenagers in a film that tanked and may or may not have been each other’s first kisses all those years ago, and you’ve got a ticking time bomb. What starts out as a means to an end turns into something real after they start hooking up to better their characters’ chemistry. But can it last in the real world? And was any of it real to begin with?

This is my second novel by Falon Ballard and I enjoyed this one just as much as the first (Lease on Love). There is a lot of miscommunication in this story and that really drove me nuts in the beginning, but Ballard let her characters BOTH grow and develop - and I feel like sometimes that’s only happening for one character in a story, so I really appreciated that. I liked the pacing and I think my feelings for the story and characters grew throughout the story. I found myself really invested in the ending - which I think was very well done! There were some really sweet mother-daughter moments hidden in here as well. I really liked this book and I need to go back and read Just My Type now!

A rom-com about a screenwriter who specializes in rom-coms ending up having to act in one of her own opposite the actor who made her stop acting as a teenager is the perfect setup for enemies-to-lovers goodness. I loved every single word of it. There's banter and passion and the prerequisite misunderstanding that leads to heartfelt confessions and happily ever after. It's everything you expect from a rom-com written with skill and originality.
There's something to be said about a story that you know pretty much every point it's going to hit still feeling fresh and pulling you in. Emmy and Grayson fit every single rom-com cookie-cutter stereotype and their story follows a script that's been done hundreds (thousands) of times before, but I was still glued to the pages wanting to know what came next. It's good to sometimes just enjoy what you know is coming and take pleasure from knowing that it's all going to be okay in the end.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the fantastic romance read!

I’m not a huge fan of movie-based plots or romances that involve acting or on-set relationships, but leave it to Falon to write one I really enjoyed!!

Emmy Harper is a script writer and daughter of two very famous actors; she originally started in the industry as an actress, but after a failed YA RomCom and embarrassment over the gorgeous male lead saying she was not that great of a kisser, Emmy swerved into being behind the scenes. So, when she is forced to take up the lead role in her scripted RomCom, last thing she expects is to see that same male lead staring opposite her again.

Grayson *effing* West is gorgeous and has won Man of the Year TWICE OKAY! And he is a BIG action movie star, but he wants to be seen for more than his hot bod and his Golden Retriever personality. Staring alongside Emmy in her new romance will help land him other roles; their old awkward tension from when they costarred as teen…it’s water under the bridge. Maybe.

Their on screen chemistry is stilted and awkward and they are forced to FIND the chemistry they are both so obviously denying and next thing you know WE HAVE REAL FEELS OKAY??? But the will the won’t they isn’t the conflict in this story; nope, it’s will Emmy learn to let people in and stop making wild assumptions and cutting people off before they can even offer up their side of the story.

I think it’s interesting that Emmy is the person in the relationship that is so closed off and afraid of something deeper and we do get that explored a bit, but I will admit that I did find that personality flaw of hers to be grating and wish maybe we got a dual POV so we had some tension relief when she started to show those painful moments of stubbornness.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story and Falon’s writing moved the story along in a beautiful way and I really loved her heartfelt acknowledgements at the end of the book.

I was able to listen to an early audio version of this story and it has three narrators…..for one POV. Sometimes Emmy’s director and BFF got her own voice actress, but not always, so the inconsistency felt off. And same with the male narrator. I’m not sure if they plan to give more dialogue to these voice actors in the final version, but it’s felt random and jarring to have them so inconsistently, especially with how talented our main narrator is with so many different voices.

This is a romantic comedy about the filming of another romantic comedy. There were some very cute and funny moments happening. The hair and makeup crew were entertaining and my favorite support characters. There was a good balance of light and fun mixed with conflict, but even the conflict wasn’t super high in angst. The whole story definitely gave me Hallmark movie vibes, which is a nice light-hearted reprieve from the outside world.

I love Falon Ballard, and this one did not disappoint! Emmy and Grayson are two of my favorite characters, and I found their love story to be perfectly sweet and spicy. I love an enemies to lovers story, and the chemistry between the main characters was undeniable. I finished this one so quickly and almost wanted to go back and read it again. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Falon Ballard is a quick autobuy author for me - I’ve loved every book of hers that I read and this one was no different - and I can’t resist a celeb romance.

RIGHT ON CUE is perfect for anyone who enjoys enemies to lovers with an emotional touch. i LOVED the tension, chemistry and connection between Grayson and Emmy. Falon Ballard always writes couples that have such a great emotional connection.

This one gets a solid four stars from me - it didn’t QUITE capture my heart as much as LEASE ON LOVE, but i still absolutely recommend and can’t wait for romance readers to get ahold of this one.

I absolutely LOVED this book. I am a huge fan of Falon Ballard's writing style and Just my Type was my favorite until this book. This was a cute, steamy romance between Emmy and Grayson. Two Hollywood stars that fell out when they were younger to meet again years later to film Emmy's script. Grayson continued acting and Emmy stopped due to what happened in the past with Grayson and become an award winning film writer. Both characters were grumpy and mean to each other. You literally felt the anger through the pages, I hated Grayson during several chapters. It was steamy, romantic moments and third act breakups, but it was written so well, you won't be able to put this book down. I preordered as soon as I finished the book, cause this deserve to be on my shelves for a reread. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for this ARC

I enjoyed this book and the story of Emmy and Grayson. It's a good lesson on things not being what you thought, especially when they happened years ago. Emmy and Grayson worked on a film when she was fifteen and he was seventeen. It was her first acting job in a film and she felt pressure because both of her parents were movie stars. She was also crushing on him. She overheard him say she was a terrible kisser and that caused her to become severely insecure in her abilities and the film ended up tanking. She never acted again and started a writing career. She mainly writes rom-coms and while casting her newest one, she ends up being the best choice for the lead. When their first choice for her co-star gets an injury, she's appalled to find that Grayson is the replacement. This leads to a great storyline. I found it had a lot of warmth and honesty and was well written. Highly recommend reading this one!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

Fast paced, celebrity romance, forced proximity, enemies to lovers to enemies back to lovers, easy read with drama, steam and some life lessons.

Emmy is a Hollywood writer who can't find the right leading lady in her most recent screenplay, so her bestie, Liz, also the director, convinces her to take another shot at acting and be the leading lady.

All is well and good with this plan until the originally casted male main character is injured and his replacement is Grayson who Emmy has history with.

The forced proximity makes them address their issues with a bit of meddling from Liz and also Emmy's mom. The banter and chemistry and TENSION is palpable. And quite spicy.

3.4

If you like to play the Hallmark Christmas movie bingo/drinking game but wish there were steamy scenes and a lot of innuendo, then this is the book for you. That’s not a slam dunk for me, though I will admit to the occasional guilty pleasure.

This is not actually a Christmas book, but if you’ve seen one Christmas movie or all, you know that a snowball fight, going for hot cocoa, and an experienced skater helping an awkward beginner on the ice rink are all plot staples, not to mention the quaint inn. That’s not including the regular Hallmark standbys where, as sure as your dog and the street of your childhood are your stripper name, there’s always quaint town named after a two-word geographic feature, in this case Pine Springs. There is of course a history from back in the teen years that has kept the heroin despising the male heartthrob ever since, which turns out to be a false assumption (at least eventually in the eyes of the main character). You now know already that she is ridiculously successful at her job (in this case an Oscar-winning screenwriter) though the evidence within the book only reveals a made-for-TV-movie type of script and absurd events events placing two characters in close proximity.

But I did mention sex, so you know this is not a regular TV movie within a movie. I won’t tell you the events leading to that sex or when it first occurs, but, when it does, at least for the cameras, it is described in detail. And they even both have their own rooms! No last-available-at-the-inn room sharing here!

All that aside if you can get behind most of that, which I was surprised to do once things got going, it’s a quick enjoyable romcom for whom I felt an affection for most of the characters most of the time. That’s not the easiest thing to do and I mistakenly thought I had read and loved one of the author’s previous romcoms, not hard to do given the quantities of them and the similar names, so my bar was probably raised more than if I’d gone in cold. You know whether you’re one who can’t be pleased or loves anything with a enemies-to-lovers trope, so proceed accordingly!

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam in exchange for providing an unbiased review.

Emmy Harper is Hollywood Royalty. She had a lead acting role in a movie when she was 15 with Grayson West. The movie bombed and Emmy never acted again. Instead she became an Oscar winning screen writer. Her latest screenplay is a romcom. Her best friend Liz is the director of the movie. They are having a hard time finding the perfect lead actress. Emmy does a read-through with the lead actor. Liz tries to convince her to act, the investors threaten to pull the funding. Emmy decides to do it. When they get on location she finds out the lead actor they chose is out. Grayson F***-ing West is in. He is the reason she stopped acting. Sparks fly.

This book was so much fun to read. I loved it. The author is now an auto-buy author. Her writing style is fantastic and hooks you right away.

I love, love, loved this book. This definitely gave The Hating Game vibes with all the angst and steam that comes with enemies to lovers while bringing such a sweet and yummy cinnamon roll MMC.

While the book was filled with cliches, that didn’t stop me from rooting for the characters and staying glued to the page. My only disappointment with this book is the third act break up which is so overdone and a cliche that I despise. I find the lack of communication gives the relationship a trivial feel when in reality these two characters are meant to be adults with feelings.

Really enjoyed this read! I loved the enemies-to-lovers vibe and the movie set setting. I thought Emmy and Grayson’s story was charming, fun, and spicy.

The 3rd act break up was a little off putting. It felt like it was a repeat and overly dramatic and childish. But overall, an easy and enjoyable read!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

Enjoyable in the moment while the fast-paced tale unfolded, yet the flaws became evident upon stepping away from the book and mulling over its events. I loved the premise of these two individuals who had a terrible experience filming a movie years ago being forced to work together making Emmy's penned screenplay come to life, and it was fun to see the spark between them reignite with the various asides from the entertainment world outside of the film set between chapters. However, the story lacks depth, with subplots that could have made the book a richer read quickly falling away once the romance kicks into high gear and many milestones between the two that would have been fun to read about occurring off-page. I didn't feel a ton of chemistry between Emmy and Grayson, and she was frustratingly stubborn in insisting that he was the sole source of the production's problems. My biggest problem is that miscommunication is used twice to break these characters apart; it makes perfect sense while they are inexperienced and immature teenagers, but not when it spurs adult Emmy to hastily cut someone who she loves out of her life without giving them a chance to explain themselves. This didn't ring true with everything that preceded it and the supposed growth that was experienced, souring the final act for me. Fine, but given my middling experiences with both this book and Just My Type, Ballard may just not be the right author for me.

As I was reading this I felt like I was watching a rom-com movie. I did love the setting being a film set, and liked the characters and the concurrent themes of worthiness, honesty, trust, and loyalty.

Unfortunately, I found myself being annoyed by the main characters and their miscommunication and lack of communication. I don’t like miscommunication tropes or a third act breakup, so that’s on me. But other than that, it was a cute lighthearted read.

🎬 enemies to lovers
🎬 movie stars/Hollywood
🎬 close proximity
🎬 some spice
🎬 HEA

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3.5 rounded to 3 stars

I have mixed feelings about Right on Cue; at times I really liked it and at others I found myself quite frustrated.

The conflict at the start of the story is that Emmy hates her costar Grayson due to an interaction when they were teenagers. Instead of having a conversation about the past, Emmy is mean to Grayson and he in turn is a terrible actor on screen. There seems to be resolution once the two give into the tension and become costars with benefits …and eventually more. They share sweet moments and the spice is great! I really enjoyed the book at this point, but then came the third act break-up!

The third act break-up was as if the whole middle of the book hadn’t even happened. The character development of Emmy went out the window. I could tell there was meant to be a lesson in this type of lack/miscommunication, but it ultimately made the book a miss for me.

Thank you Putnam for the digital ARC. 4.5 stars
Right on Cue is my third book to read by Falon and I love that all three of her books are completely different. This book is a mix of enemies to lovers and celebrity romance. Emmy and Grayson are filming a romcom together, a romcom that Emmy wrote and did not plan on starring in. They have major troubles filming together because there is so much tension and negative energy between the two of them from their past experience with each other, until they have to shoot their spicy scene. Here's where the story really takes off and I loved seeing the back and forth and the build up between them. There are some really fun side characters too that add some humor. I also liked the little celebrity gossip where people are discussing them on social media. This was a fun story and I was really invested in their relationship.

I. LOVE. FALON. BALLARD.
Right on Cue was everything I needed it to be. I love a Hollywood setting and the second chance romance was a perfect add!

This workplace romance was filled with everything a reader could ask for.... a good plot, fast paced writing, and drama!

Emmy Harper is our leading lady in this story. She comes from a well known film industry family, and is known herself for writing screenplays.
Family tragedy strikes causing her to take some time away from the industry. Upon returning for her next project, Emmy finds herself both writing the screenplay... and starring in it! What's more... her co-star/romantic interest is an old foe in the form of Grayson West. He was her first co-star as a teen and the last person she would have chosen to do this with.

Naturally, as the two find themselves working together tension builds. Giving readers (and viewers in this book's world) the drama we all crave!

Read if you love:
-Hollywood/ Entertainment plots
-Workplace Romance
-Enemies to Lovers
-Rom-Coms
-Miscommunication
-Third Act Breakups

Favorite Quote:

"Love is only complicated when we make it complicated."