Not How I Pictured It by Robin Lefler is a witty and charming novel that takes readers behind the scenes of a long-awaited TV reboot, blending sharp humor with heartfelt moments and a splash of romance. The story centers around Agnes “Ness” Larkin, a former teen star who reluctantly agrees to reprise her iconic role in a reboot of Ocean Views, the show that made her (in)famous two decades ago. However, what was meant to be a simple return to her past soon spirals into chaos when the cast, including her ex-fling Hayes Beaumont, finds themselves stranded on a remote island after a storm.

The novel is a delightful mix of nostalgia, self-discovery, and unexpected survival comedy. Lefler excels at portraying Ness's internal conflict as she navigates the baggage of her past, particularly her abandonment by her father and manager, and her attempt to reclaim some semblance of control over her life. The sharp dialogue and witty banter between the castmates—who have all aged and evolved in their own ways—provides plenty of humor, particularly during the "high school reunion" vibe of their first table read.

What truly shines in Not How I Pictured It, however, is the dynamic between Ness and her former co-stars, especially Hayes. The tension between them—still palpable despite the years apart—gives the book an extra layer of romance and emotional depth. As the group tries (and fails) to survive on the island, their interactions evolve from petty squabbles and old grudges to moments of self-reflection and unexpected growth. While the group may be the "most useless survival team in history," it’s their personal growth and the relationships they rekindle (or rekindle with a twist) that make the novel so endearing.

Lefler’s humor is clever and sharp, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments that balance the more heartfelt and introspective elements of the story. The book ultimately explores the tension between the expectations of youth and the realities of adulthood, and how facing the past can be both painful and freeing.

For fans of Lizzy Dent, Linda Holmes, and Katherine Center, Not How I Pictured It is a perfect read. It’s funny, heartfelt, and full of quirky characters you can’t help but root for as they navigate both the absurdity of their situation and the messiness of life. A delightful, light-hearted novel that’s full of heart, humor, and the kind of emotional resonance that stays with you long after the final page.

"Not How I Pictured It" by Robin Lefler is a poignant exploration of life’s unexpected turns. Lefler’s storytelling is both heartfelt and relatable, delving into themes of resilience and self-acceptance. The characters are vividly drawn, each facing their own challenges with authenticity and humor. This book balances emotional depth with lightness, making it a compelling read for anyone who appreciates stories about personal growth and the beauty of life's surprises.

pretty cool, pretty funny, pretty intriguing. a worth-it ride to take a bit of a look at and analyze

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Robin, a former actress of the hit tv show Turning Tides, returns to play the part of Hailey Grant.
After running away in shame Robin agrees to return to Bahama's resort as a Turning Tides reunion. Soon a storm leaves the cast stranded and trying to survive.

I ended up DNFing this book at 32% after I wasn't engaging in this story. I was distracted while reading this book and decided to put it down. The story was very told instead of read. I wasn't engaged with the characters and found them very surface level.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington for this ARC copy for my honest review.

Not How I Pictured It by Robin Lefler is a funny, quirky novel. This reunion of previous television celebrities goes awry quickly when they are marooned on a deserted isle and have to survive with no skills at all. This book is a comedy of errors and readers of this genre should enjoy this book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

A quirky and entertaining read that offers a mix of humor and heartfelt moments. I loved the witty dialogue and the situations the characters find themselves in. Some plot points are a little predictable but overall an enjoyable read.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The drama and twists in this one were on point! It was like watching a train wreck! I loved the rebuilding of friendships and relationships and the relationship angst.

Agnes, who goes by Ness, Larkin, has agreed to step back into the role of Hailey Grant, twenty years after the beloved teenage romance show, Turning Tides went off the air. After her father took off with her earnings, she pretty much became a recluse because of the shame she felt once her dad did what he did. Ness is ready to face her haters, her past, castmates and everyone else in their faces and show that she can absolutely do this. After their first table read, which was chalked full of awkward feelings and lots of side eyes, they take off to a really nice resort in the Bahamas where they plan on filming the show.
They get stranded on the island by a really bad storm & Nessa tries to reconcile her past with her future and what that looks like for her. The producers wanted drama and they will get it, both on and off-screen. The twists and the drama along they way were fire!
I think I wanted just a little more romance, but that is just my opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!! :)

Agnes (Ness), is a former teenage tv star who has fell out of the limelight since the show. Ness's dad ran off with all her money, so Ness is forced to start over.

The show naturally wants a reboot, and after some thinking about it, she joins in. Once the cast gets to the resort in the Bahamas, it gets to the nitty gritty and things begin.

This book was not what I thought it was going to be like. It sort of dragged for a bit, and was hard to get into/stay reading. I don't think I really liked the characters, and the book just kind of seemed a little all over the place. Thought this would read more like a Katherine Center style book based on what the plot is.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for my DRC in exchange for my honest review.

When Ness was at the height of her popularity as a teen star on a hit network series, life was brilliant. After her manager father absconds with her fortune, Ness runs and disappears into a life of a landlord always working to meet the never-ending needs of her tenants. In desperate financial straits, Ness decides to join her old cast members in a series reboot. From the word "go," everything seems off and Ness can't help but feel this was a horrible idea. Things go from bad to worse as their boat veers off course in a horrible storm with an untrained captain and lands on the deserted private island of a former playboy star. As the group tries to survive until help comes their way, they begin to suspect that the shipwreck/stranded on a desert island may not have been as accidental as they originally thought.

The book description caught my interest and I was expected a fun, somewhat silly summer read. I was disappointed as I struggled to get through this book. The characters are all slightly irritating, and what I think as supposed to be humorous made me roll my eyes at the helpless and entitlement of the TV stars. Ness, in particular, did not want to be a victim, but it seemed she was always willing to be one. I felt like Hayes was a self-absorbed pretty face who retreated into his own world while looking stoically into the distance as Ness kept trying to figure out how to help the group out of their predicament. All of them were slightly silly in that they could not figure out that this whole thing was a set-up.

The novel idea was good, but I could not connect with any of the characters and I felt like a lot of loose ends were left unresolved, and some of the past drama with Ness's poor public behavior were left out. It was difficult to see why the relationships among the cast members was so rocky.

shouldve given this review earlier but still, i will give it now!!
first of all thank you so much for the early access of this book!! read this book few months back and when i read the first pages i was hooked!
i was definitely not expecting the twists and turns!! stranded on an island and survival?? totally my type of book!!!

By Robin Lefler
Pub Date: Apr 23 2024

Not How I Pictured It is about a cast of characters that come together 20 years later for a reunion show.

Ness Larkin, the main character in the show, stepped away from show biz and started managing an apartment property in Toronto, Ontario. She was extremely reluctant to go back to Hollywood where she would be forced to revisit a time in her life that she was trying to forget and more importantly, she would be face to face with the people with whom she cut all ties

The story had some very interesting twists and turns and some jaw dropping moments!
Through flashbacks and learning the history about the characters, you begin to understand the challenges they faced and how they each grew over the years.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-arc.

I read this in one sitting in less than 2 hours (admittedly because my NetGalley copy expires in 19 hours) but it was super fun, The whole premise of Hollywood actors shipwrecked on the abandoned private island of a British porn producer was very entertaining and I liked the setup of Ness coming back to the business after 20 years away and eventually rekindling friendships and relationships. The inclusion of articles, books, tweets, etc. sprinkled throughout were great and it was nice to get snippets of what it was like back when Turning Tides was on the air.

Even with a large ensemble and a book that wasn’t too long (286 pages), I feel like all of the characters were fleshed out and distinct. I was wrong about who was behind it all, but in retrospect I totally should have predicted it. That’s good though, because it makes perfect sense and the part where they tried unsuccessfully to do an evil laugh during the villain reveal cracked me up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the digital ARC; all opinions are my own.

Our fmc Ness starred on a popular teen drama 20 years ago, and is reuniting in the present day with her co-stars for a much-anticipated re-boot. The now-42-year-old Ness has been out of the entertainment business after her Dad/manager absconded with her money, leaving her in debt. While struggling to make sense of the betrayal and feeling embarrassed and ashamed, Ness cut ties with the formerly close group of young adult co-stars and tries to pick up the pieces and move on with her adult life. The re-boot gives Ness a chance to start acting again, to try to re-connect with those she was once very close with (including former co-star Hayes), and have some fun in the meantime. Then everything goes awry when the boat taking them to their island shooting location is lost in a storm. Stranded on an uninhabited island, the group has to figure out how to survive until their rescue. But with the former friends being together again for the first time in two decades, lots of past issues and unresolved feelings rise to the surface. Will they be able to resolve past hurts without killing one another, or will the island do it for them?

So, I was expecting this to be more of a rom-com with a strong focus on the present-day relationship between Ness and Hayes, but what I got instead was a rapidly escalating who-dunnit ensemble caper that focused a lot more on Ness as an individual and a lot less on her relationship with Hayes (it is there, but it didn't feel like a main plot point). That said, I really did enjoy the well-developed supporting cast, and Ness's re-connection with her co-stars and former friends. There's plenty going on while on the island that I won't spoil, and I didn't anticipate some of the twists and turns. I really enjoyed Ness's sense of humor, and appreciated that she's mid-life (as is the majority of the group stuck on the island). There's a nice amount of tension with being stranded on the island together, both emotionally and from the unfolding events that they must navigate. It was a fun ride to see if I could figure out what was happening and how it would all resolve itself. I've read this author before and I didn't fully enjoy her debut story (there were a few character issues I didn't like). Her second book is much better and I enjoyed it so much more, I'm glad I gave her another try!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from NetGalley, and the opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was a little too dragged out but the overall plot was great. I finished it just so I could connect all the dots. There's some romance in between the mystery.

Love this rom-com take of Gilligan’s Island vibes. I hope we see more of Ness and how they fared after. Would recommend this book!

I'm not sure exactly how to sum up the story other than these people had everything thrown at them other than the kitchen sink. I mean, for so much to happen, it was still a slow read. It is definitely more of a mystery with a little suspense but I would not define it as a rom-com at all. I give it 3 stars.
Thank you to the publishers for an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.75/5 (rounded up to 4)
🌶️ 1/5 (kissing only, one closed door moment with no detail)

A huge thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC copy of this book to read and share my thoughts with others in advance!

I was so excited for this book when I read the synopsis, one of my favorite plot lines is a shipwrecked, stranded romance (especially a forced proximity, second chance). This had all the elements of that but definitely less on the romance. It was there but this book is more for those looking for a romance subplot as it definitely exists exclusively in the background. There were so many opportunities to dial up the steamy romance or even sexual tension between Ness and Hayes but it was overall quite subtle, not to say that the moments we got weren't good because there were some very good ones.

Each character was a complex little present waiting to be unwrapped. There was so much mystery that surrounded each character's intricate and unique story. Each main character, being in their 40's, included a lengthy past that was well developed considering the continuous development of the plot on the island at the same time. The interconnected web that was woven between each character was really well planned and executed, it must have been so difficult with so many! The author absolutely nailed this aspect.

The moments of danger were creative but also fairly PG for a scaredy cats like me, who love suspenseful and thrilling edge-of-your-seat moments but don't want to be continuously traumatized by anything too insane. Again these aspects were really well done, particularly the last 35% of the book which was a rollercoaster of narrowly escaped danger, wild secrets revealed and looming disaster. If you are ophidiophobic or claustrophobic, you may have to practice some deep breathing with this last part!

The blurb that sold me said this story was "The OC meets the Unhoneymooners" which I would largely agree with, but WAY less spicy. So if you are a sweet, closed door romance girlie who loves the added thriller/mystery vibe and are looking for this combo, you will LOVE this book!

I want to start by saying if you like Katherine Center this starts similar in style to those stories. I was very intrigued by the start of this story. A once famous starlet has been hiding for years from the limelight after her dad steals her earnings & embarasses herself in the media. Now the show wants to reunite everyone for a reunion show to which she commits. Not realizing her ex will be there too.

While the premise is strong, the story goes off the rails. Things get weird when they are caught in a storm, left on a deserted island and the only shelter is a former creepy porn mansion. Things continue to go off rails when they run out of food, find out someone in the group has been using them all, and extending their time on the island for their own good.

The writing was done well but I just felt the story had taken a dive too far. I really thought if things had been kept in tighter it could have been done so well. I would have actually loved to see them rescued early and then to actually have the reunion show unfold.

I'm not entirely sure I would recommend this one but will happily be sharing my reviews.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC on this!