3.5 stars rounded down!

Celebrity romances are so fun and this one didn't shy away from the spice! I loved the development of the characters and getting background of their story, but also
SO. MUCH. MISCOMMUNICATION.

This book was adorable and I truly couldn't put it down. However, once I was finished I realized how much still needed to be filled in. I felt like there was zero reason why they hated each other, and why Grayson was bombing his scenes in the beginning. It actually made no sense. The book needed just a little more fill-in of back story.

Right on Cue is about Emmy Harper, a nepo baby, who has grown up around the movie world. After dipping her toes into the acting world at a young age, the movie flops, convincing Emmy to change career paths. She then becomes a well known screenwriter who specializes in romantic comedies. After finishing her most recent project that is guaranteed to be a hit, Emmy is convinced to star in the movie. Though a last minute change has her starring alongside the "World's Sexiest Man" Grayson West, who was actually her first co-star in the unsuccessful movie ages ago. Emmy partially blames Grayson for the end of her acting career, so getting back on set with him for her first acting gig in over a decade for a movie she screen wrote put a lot of stress on Emmy. The two must try to move past their their history to try to make the new movie a success.

I really enjoyed this read! It was my first Falon Ballard book and I will definitely pick up some of her other books. Her writing styles was very enjoyable to read and very entertaining. I also love the on set/screen romance. It was fun to see a little behind the scenes of the film making world. The enemy to lovers trope was done very well. The relationship development between Emmy and Grayson was very fun, tons of banter, and very hot and steamy.

My only question about the plot that I don't feel like was answered during the book was why Grayson was so unwilling to be professional when he agreed to sign up for the movie knowing Emmy would be his co-star. I would have thought he would of been the first to try to talk things out instead of letting them both awkwardly shot scenes together? The miscommunication trope also is not my favorite, but I don't think it took up too much of the book for it to bother me.

Overall I am giving it a 3.5/5 stars. Thank you so much Putnam Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this story! Such a cute enemies to lovers romance! This is my first book by Falon but it def won’t be my last! Added backlist to my TBR 😍

Right on Cue by Falon Ballard follows Emmy, screen-writer turned actress. Emmy has not acted in over fifteen years due to a poorly received performance alongside her co-star, Grayson, on her last set. However, when Emmy agrees to play a character in her latest screenplay, Grayson is once again cast alongside her as her love interest.

Right on Cue has a super fun setting- I loved reading about the world through the lens of a rom-com film. I also greatly enjoyed the writing style of this book as I breezed through it. And while this book is not getting a glowing 5-star review from me for character-driven reasons, I found myself often thinking about this book when I was not reading it, and there is something to be said about that.

There were many fun interactions between Emmy and Grayson due to movie backdrop that should have led to the reader feeling an intense amount of chemistry between these two. However, this was not the case. I did not really "feel" the connection between Emmy and Grayson until over halfway into the book, and even then it was a lackluster connection. The writing constantly told the reader how much "chemistry" Emmy and Grayson had instead of actually showing their chemistry, and it was a huge downfall of the novel for me. The lack of chemistry was at least in part due to Emmy's child-like behavior and unlike-ability. Emmy is written to be around 30 but is still acting like she is 15 on her first set with Grayson. I did not hate her character, but I certainly did not sympathize with her and in consequence I was not truly rooting for the romance.

Right on Cue includes the trope "right person, wrong time", and I think that might be the same for this author and this book for me. Perhaps this is the right author, wrong book. I definitely want to read more from Falon Ballard in the future as I really enjoyed the writing style, but the characters and their chemistry together left something to be desired. I had fun reading this, but knowing what it could have been for me if Emmy was written more maturely greatly disappoints me.

Thank you to author Falon Ballard, publisher Penguin Group Putnam, and Netgalley for providing me the eARC in exchange for my honest review!
This title will be released on February 27, 2024.

3.5 STARS

Emmy Harper is fresh off an Oscar win and has just penned a new rom-com screenplay. Her director friend ropes her into resuming her long-dead acting career in order to play the female lead in the movie. Problem is, the male lead is Grayson West, a blockbuster hottie from her past. When they come together on set and on camera, it's awkward. And then there's the movie's sex scenes...

This was such a fun, fluffy romance between co-stars. I loved the tension between the two mains, the movie set setting, and light second-chance elements. The occasional media inserts (interviews, tweets, press releases) were fun and addressed the public part of their acting jobs.

I did think the way Grayson initially acted on set in scenes with Emmy was weird. I don't think it was fully explained why he acted so unprofessionally. And although I thought Emmy and Grayson were sweet together, I was not deeply invested in their relationship. They started sleeping together and then jumped to falling in love. I didn't get enough character details for them individually to even get a sense of their personalities. I also wanted more non-sexual intimate moments between them where I felt like they were confiding in each other and building a unique connection.

Overall, I would recommend if you just want a feel-good, light-hearted romance and enjoy actors/Hollywood in your story.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book to read and review. All thoughts are my own.

Will sparks fly or fizzle when Emmy and Grayson once again have to work together after a terrible interaction 15 years ago?

I couldn’t put this book down. I flew through this and was upset when I finished it. The main characters and side characters were so likable and fun. While I do hate the miscommunication trope, it wasn’t terrible in this book. I liked that the fall out and the make up didn’t take up a bunch of chapters.

Tropes:
-enemies to lovers
-forced proximities
-miscommunication
-movie stars
-he fell first
-coworkers with benefits

I think a lot of rom-com lovers with devour this book!

Releases February 27th, 2024

This was such a cute romcom! At first I was unsure about the main character being another Hollywood nepo baby but Emmy grew on me as the story progressed. This was my first book by Falon Ballard and it won't be my last. Thank you, Putnam and NetGalley, for yet another enjoyable eARC!

🔥🔥🔥🔥 Another spicy rom-com from Fallon Ballard! Enemies to costars to friends to benefits to.....??? I loved how the rom-com movie was brought to life in the book as well. So much 🔥!!!

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

Emmy Harper wanted to be an actress as a child, but after a disastrous first film at age 15 and the cruelty of the media, she grows up to live behind the scenes as a screenwriter instead. When her newest screenplay stalls with casting and a looming deadline, she gets looped into acting in the lead role. And with a twist of fate, her nemesis Grayson West from that awful movie all those years ago is cast as her leading man.

The tension between these two is palpable and almost tanks the movie before they even start filming. When they finally realize their behavior will hurt the many people involved, they decide to engage in some "co-stars with benefits" action to diffuse their tension off-screen and amp up their chemistry on-screen. It works a little too well because feelings develop, and it moves beyond a FWB situationship.

I really liked the progression of their relationship. We get tidbits of information along the way to fill in the gaps of what happened between the two of them all those years ago. Emmy and Grayson have many tender moments and open up to one another along the way, sharing their insecurities and vulnerabilities with one another. They seem to build a very strong foundation in a short period of time.

The third act drama did frustrate me quite a bit. I can deal with miscommunication when warranted, but when it's more of an assumption that leads to a dramatic break with zero room to explain or understand... I just dont love that in a book. We do get our happy ending eventually, though! I just think the third act drama could have been played off so much better and truer to these characters without the breakup and instead, revolve around those open and honest conversations Emmy and Grayson had always had once they established their relationship.

Falon Ballard continues to be an auto-buy author for me, and I love her books so much! I won't let the third act drama of this sway me because overall, I did love this book. It gave me all the feels and nostalgia of the classic rom com movies I grew up with and hopelessly in love with 🧡

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to read and review early!

Tags:
-enemies to lovers
-friends with benefits
-celebrity romance
-miscommunication

Spice: 2/5

First person/Single POV

3.5⭐️

This would make such a great Christmas movie! Or even a holidays read, I think it would have been better suited for that season. All the charming winter vibe, small town where the characters were filming, the skating, sweaters and hot cocoa... Perfect for a winter read.

And I love Falon. Just my Type was one of top Romance reads in 2023 and I love her writing, her banter, sweet, flirty and hot stories. So my expectations were really high for this book (though I had a feeling topping JMT for me would be hard). Sadly, this one didn't quite rise up to expectations and I'm sorry.

It's not easy to write a not so glowing review, as I followes her writing process and I was so pumped for the prospect, the tropes and the storyline. But I felt like something was missing all throughout and I had a hard time connecting to the characters and believing their Romance, so here we are.

The beginning was a bit off. My issue is not the writing, which is superb and transfers all the emotions and scenes seamlessly. My issue was the characters and their childish behavior, especially at the beginning. It was supposed to be enemies to lovers, but without a real base or history for the enemies part, it all felt forced and awkward.

This is some really fine story telling, so there is that. It's easy, upbeat, witty, sexy. I may not be a fan of how things started, but it's so well written, you can literally feel the feels and the awkwardness and tension between these characters. It took a while for Emmy to grow on me and Grayson was downright rude and unlikebale at the beginning.

Thankfully, things started to change as they started communicating, the story progressed, the sparks started flying. It still felt like the I love you's came out of nowhere. One moment there was a costarts with benefits situation and the next they were professing love and mooning. I needed more development on that.

The 3rd act was also cliche and resolved too quickly imo.

So, overall, this is a cute romcom for the winter. It has a cool vibe, what with the whole movie set and filming a romcom movie, fun banter and great supportive second characters. It is light, spicy and has great one liners. But it feels a bit superficial and everything happens too fast. The plot was a bit Hallmarky for my tastes too.

Thank you for the review copy

I'm looking forward to Falon's next stories.

I loved it! What a cute enemies to lovers romance! This is my first book by Falon Ballard but it won’t be my last! Writing style is just up my alley! 4 stars!

🎬Lights, Camera, and SO much STEAMY action! 🎬
Thank you NetGallery for providing me early access to this incredible title, for exchange of my thoughts on this book! Ballard shines, once again, in this sizzling, short but oh-so sweet, sexy STAR-STUDDED rom-com! The character development between our enemies to lovers is slow, then super spicy! I also loved seeing the relationships between Emmy’s best friend and her mother to push her to be her best self. Ballard reminds us to be the star in our own life, and to be the best supporting actress in the lives of those we love! ✨🎞️

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for allowing me the opportunity to read this in an exchange for an honest review.

Premise: Emmy is our FMC in this novel and we’re shown the entire story through her point of view. She’s a writer and wrote a movie and ends up acting in it. After an unfortunate accident between her original costar, she has to work with one of her greatest adversaries, Grayson West. After having a rough first meet after about of decade of no contact, they’re told they have to film the movie with each other and are forced to work through their past tensions and experiences.

General rant:
I sped through this one (mostly because I love the author and her work). This book was a six star book and I need a Greyson West in my life now.🤭 Also Emmy is one of the most relatable characters that I’ve read. I loved the enemies to lovers between the two of them so much. It is honestly to die for and this has become my new favorite Falon Ballard book.

Characters:
This book isn’t duel point of view, but you get a pretty good glimpse into the MMCs head from Emmy Harper, our main characters, point of view.

Emmy is relatable and witty and her overall mindset towards everything that she’s gone through was meaningful and I felt everything with her.

Greyson, if i’m being honest, was a douche at first (with his own charm). But after the first incident when he showed how much he cared for Emmy I fell more for him than Emmy did herself. And his own insecurities and how he expressed his emotions made me fall even harder. I was mad when he was mad, and sad when he was sad.

Between both of these characters I felt everything. And Ballard’s writing just has a way of pulling you in and holding you so close that you can hardly catch your breath. The chemistry between them was incredible and I will definitely be rereading this book.

3.5 Stars. Emmy is an Academy Award winning screenwriter whose one acting job as a teenage was a disaster due to her co-star, Grayson. When Emmy pens a rom-com the director insists she star in it as well, but when the scheduled male-lead drops out Grayson takes the part. The two can’t stand each other and it affects the quality of the shoot mostly because Grayson stops being a good actor every time they have a scene together. While filming a steamy scene for the movie, they figure out they are deeply attracted to each other and begin a no-strings fling that turns into something real and they are able to work through their animosity.

As always with Falon’s books, this was an easy read that moved quickly. I do think of Falon’s three books this is my least favorite. I had some mixed feeling about Emmy, but really struggled with Grayson. I don’t know if it would have been better if the book was in dual POV, but I did not get his character. His attitude toward Emmy in the first half(ish) of the book was just so childish and unprofessional, but Emmy holding onto a grudge from childhood is also childish. I was also deeply confused by how this film set was run, Emmy was supposedly a producer in addition to the screenwriter and lead, so the fact she was not informed that Grayson had been cast in the move made absolutely zero sense. And throughout the filming process Emmy is never treated as the producer. In the hierarchy of a set, the producers are higher up than directors and yet in the book it seemed like the director was the one running everything and making all the decisions. I know I’m more informed about how movie sets work than a lot of people, but I was left frustrated. Like I said, the book was easy to read and moved well so I never was frustrated to the point of putting the book down, but it was not my favorite.

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

This book was everything I’ve come to expect from Falon Ballard (in the best way!). Emmy felt a little immature at times with her grudge towards Grayson but that was just a very minor flaw in my eyes. The spice was great and the setting was perfect! I loved getting a behind the scenes look at filming at movie

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

I loved Falon Ballard’s first two books so I had to read this one! I’m not the biggest fan of romances on a film set for whatever reason but this was a pretty good one. I enjoyed the characters and there was more spice than I was anticipating(!!) but the book felt a little too quick for me. Also, if you’re not a fan of the miscommunication trope this is not for you. But overall I would recommend.

Alexa, start playing 'Hurt People' by Two Feet pls

🎶Hurt people just hurt people🎶

I'm not one to tell people they need therapy, but I'll believe that HEA when I've seen proof of Emmy and Grayson going to both individual therapy and couples counseling to work through their issues, because man oh man was this a tale of how people get stuck in old wounds and the emotional maturity they were at at that point.

A few things didn't work for me, but I was in a *very* forgiving mood while reading, which is the only reason why I pushed through (because I got bored around 50% and started thinking about dnf'ing around 70%):

1. I enjoyed being petty and dramatic alongside Emmy the first 30% (not sure about the exact %), but her emotional immaturity got old quickly. I can't help but scoff when thinking she told Grayson therapy would help him. Something about pots and kettles calling each other black, Emmy, honey.

2. Grayson. I couldn't get a good grip on his character throughout the book. He kept acting in ways that didn't feel like "him", if that makes sense? I started to think that the author maybe couldn't get a good grip on his character (which would explain why we didn't get a double pov) or that those inexplicable behaviors were just used to further the plot/conflict. Other than that, he was a sweetheart and I loved him.

3. The conflict. I kept thinking "just communicate with each other, ffs!". The third act break up just made me roll my eyes, and the resolution made me detach completely. It was very unsatisfying.

It's a shame, because I really REALLY enjoyed the setting and premise of this book. Seeing Grayson and Emmy reconnect and fall further in love with each other was really cute. I loved the 'other media' that was included, like tabloid articles and interviews with the main stars. It had a lot of potential, but sadly I have mixed feelings because of the above mentioned reasons that made it harder for me to love the book as a whole.

*ARC courtesy of Putnam through Netgalley, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for my free ebook copy.*

But now onto Right on Cue by Falon Ballard….I consumed this book. This went so fast (the first half more so that’s the last half). I absolutely loved this meta romcom. Emmy is a nepo baby whose first acting job turned into a disaster, she then pivots into writing. When they can’t find an actress for her newest movie, No Reservations, her friend an director encourage her to be the actress. However, when her costar gets replaced with none other than Grayson-fucking-West, the actor that ruined her first role, it gets complicated.

This book has a lot of my favorite tropes. Enemies to lovers, he falls first, sex agreements (costars with benefits in order to work on their chemistry), forced proximity. These mixed with the romance book, about a romance writer making a holiday romcom, and being silly and self referential (naming the romance tropes around their relationship) make it a really fun read.

Okay now about that 3rd scene miscommunication. This is completely unbelievable. From what you know about the characters and their relationship so far it just is far fetched and unnecessary. I also don’t love the miscommunication trope and I feel like it wasn’t done well enough to be justified here.

Other than that I loved Emmy’s mom, Liz and Sam. I did want more character development from her side characters but I guess Grayson and Emmy really are the stars of their show 😍

Also for a romance novel this contained more spice than I thought it would which of course I loved. It’s a 2-3 🌶️-level and spicy parts are pretty easily skipped without missing much content if you prefer a closed door romance.

This book is out February 27th from @putnambooks !

Thank you Putnam and @netgalley for my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. #RightOnCue #netgalley

Thank you to Net Gally and to Fallon Ballard for granting me this ARC.


Ugh. You guys. This book. Entirely up my ally.

I just love relaxing reads, and this was one of em. The enemies to lovers. To. Once to get it out of our systems. Twice for good measure. Three because why not make it even?
🤣🤣