Director’s Cut by C.G is a colleagues-to-lovers romance that takes place within the intricate workings of cinema and Hollywood.

Valerie Sullivan, or Val, is a renowned gay actress who is out of the closet. Hollywood life is not as glamorous as it seems, and she is tired of the glittering falseness of it. Now her attention is elsewhere, directing and teaching. She gets a teaching gig at USC as a guest professor, but everything is not as smooth as it seems, for Maeve Arko, brilliant and beautiful as she is, seems to be not fond of Val. As these two clash, they realize that everything is not as it seemed behind each other’s walls. Val considers returning to academia, where her passion is, and most importantly, where her now girlfriend Maeve is. But her other life interferes, making her choose between Hollywood and the life she wants. Would she be able to find a way to keep them all, or is it something that wasn’t meant to be in the first place?

This was a fun read which I enjoyed very much. Director’s Cut deals with issues of conflict between private life and celebrity life in a realistic way. There are no dramatic breakups that tear each other apart. Communication issues caused by fear do exist, but there is no drama here. They find a way to support each other’s dreams and achieve their own dreams by communicating with each other in the end.

The story is mostly narrated in the view of Val, and I do wonder about Maeve’s point of view. Did her brain melt when she first saw Val in person? How does she see Val as a lover? She is a character that is as captivating and charming as Val, we need more of her innermost thoughts (c’mon I have a crush on Maeve as Val did!).

Also, the phrase gay lizard brain made me giggle while reading Director’s Cut. I’ve never heard that phrase, but I get what that feels like!

I received an ARC for an honest review.

Such a cute story! I cannot waaaait to read what this author writes next. I do wish we got a little more backstory on Maeve & Val but overall this book was such a cute read

I like when I can learn something from a book, but the first half of this book contained way too much pedagogy. The film studies class was boring and the story was unengaging and slow moving. Obviously written by a film school grad, way too technical about film. Neither thrilling nor romantic, as one reviewer stated. I liked the main character, Valeria and became sympathetic to her struggles and issues, so her character development was good. Otherwise, this was a long read for me. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

Overall this was a good one! Valeria is a Hollywood actress in the midst of a career crisis. She was a fun main character and I really liked the different aspects of her acting career and her new teaching possibilities. There was way too much miscommunication and that always brings a book down for me. Too much could’ve been solved if Val just told Maeve what was going on- it’s so frustrating! I liked the little bit of enemies to lovers vibes between Val and Maeve and the romance is super sweet. It’s a bit of a slow one to start and get in to but once you get a few chapters in you’ll be hooked until the end!

I like how unapologetically film nerdy this book is. It gets deep in the weeds of film theory and history, which is extremely my jam. It definitely feels insider-y and like a lived-in world. That being said, it sometimes weighed the narrative down. I'm always happy to see Jewish rep and queer rep in romance.

This is a sapphic romance. Valeria Sullivan is an actress and director. She is at a crossroads in her film career. As she decides whether to continue acting and directing, she accepts a teaching opportunity as a guest professor at USC. Maeve Arko is a professor at USC. She is the co-professor working with Valeria. Their first meeting does not go well. Maeve feels Val took on this teaching opportunity as a distraction until her film career gets back on track.

As they become comfortable with each other and begin to respect the other’s teaching, sparks start to fly.

I enjoyed the film discussions in the classroom. I liked that both main characters were strong women. Their story also emphasized that strong established individuals can still have mental health issues.
The miscommunication trope does jeopardize their relationship.

“I want each of us to be each other’s solace amid the insanity of the careers and lives we’ve chosen.”

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to receive an EARC in exchange for an honest review.

Val is trying to navigate Hollywood, her transition from actress to director, and also pursuing her teaching career in higher education. We learn of her past toxic relationships and her attempts at pursuing being a director in an industry where actors are often told to stay in their lane. Her Hollywood experience in conjunction with her commitment and interest to academia, getting her PhD even with navigating a past relationship and other roadblocks, leads her to co-teaching with Maeve.

The initial interactions with Maeve set the foundation for an enemies to lovers arc and I’m not mad about it! Both Val and Maeve became likeable and relatable as we unpacked where each of them was coming from and how the scenario had come to fruition. It was a bit fast, I would love loved a bit more drawn out angst before diving into the forced proximity trope, which again I’m not upset about I just wish we had a little more buildup.

As their teaching and relationship progress we learn more about Val and her mental health and her avoidance of meeting her own needs head on.

This leads to some miscommunication and I did find myself silently screaming at Val to please communicate with Maeve. While it drove me a little bananas it did also add additional layers and nuances to their story.

This is a fun Hollywood x Academia read with mental health rep and supportive friends and family!

4 gooses, 3 honkin peppers

DIRECTOR'S CUT is a fun, sexy, wlw romance about an actress who wants to get out of acting, so she accepts a guest-teaching position at a local college. She then falls for her co-professor, and things quickly get steamy.

It was supposed to be enemies-to-lovers, but seemed to rush through the "enemies" stage and jump right into the "lovers". While there was plenty of angst and secret pining during their relationship as well, I love the "enemies" stage and wanted to see a little more of those scenes!

I really enjoyed learning about the film studies topics that Maeve and Val were teaching in class. It was a fun background to this romance, along with the discussion on how celebrities get put under a microscope and aren't allowed to have privacy.

Director’s Cut by Carlyn Greenwald is an enchanting and emotionally resonant romance that delves into the worlds of Hollywood and academia, exploring themes of personal growth, ambition, and love. The novel follows Valeria Sullivan, a 29-year-old Oscar-winning actress whose career hits a snag. After a disastrous interview and a failed attempt at transitioning to directing, Val decides to take a break from the Hollywood limelight and accepts a guest professorship at USC.

Valeria, or Val, hopes that teaching will provide her with the fresh start she needs. However, her new role is anything but easy. She is immediately challenged by her co-professor, Maeve Arko, a woman whose intelligence and beauty are matched only by her initial disdain for Val. Their interactions are filled with tension, as Maeve is skeptical of Val's commitment and capability. Yet, as the semester progresses, Maeve's frosty exterior begins to melt, revealing a complicated and passionate woman underneath.

The chemistry between Val and Maeve is palpable and forms the heart of the novel. Their relationship evolves from mutual antagonism to deep respect and eventually to love. Greenwald expertly captures their emotional journey, making their romance both believable and compelling. The dynamic between them is a rollercoaster of emotions, filled with witty banter, heated arguments, and tender moments.

While navigating her growing feelings for Maeve, Val is also confronted with the resurgence of her Hollywood career. Her directorial debut, Oakley in Flames, starts gaining traction, forcing her to juggle her responsibilities as a professor and her lingering desires for fame and success in the film industry. This tension adds a layer of complexity to Val's character, as she must decide what truly matters to her and what she's willing to sacrifice.

Spoiler Alert: The climax of the novel sees Val at a crossroads, torn between staying at USC with Maeve and returning to Hollywood. Her decision is complicated by external pressures from both worlds, making the resolution both heartfelt and satisfying. In the end, Val's choice reflects her growth and the strength of her relationship with Maeve.

Greenwald's writing is vivid and engaging, drawing readers into the glamorous yet cutthroat world of Hollywood and the intellectually stimulating environment of academia. The novel is not just a romance but also a commentary on the challenges faced by women in both fields, making it a thought-provoking read.

Director’s Cut is a beautifully written story that blends romance with personal and professional struggles, offering a nuanced look at love and ambition. It's a must-read for fans of LGBTQIA+ romance and anyone who enjoys a well-crafted story about finding oneself and embracing love against all odds.

I would like to thank Knopf, NetGalley, and the author for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Read if you like:
🎥 Movies
🔥 Hot professor
🏳️‍🌈 Sapphic romance
🧠 Mental health rep

Oscar- winning actress, Valeria Sullivan, is trying to make the transition into directing but a bad interview puts that at risk. She thinks her time in Hollywood may be over and decides to pursue her academic interests and accepts a guest professorship at USC. The professor she’s assigned to work with, Maeve Arko, is brilliant, beautiful, and doesn’t trust that Val got the position based on her merit. Sparks fly, Val’s directorial debut is selected for a film festival, but Val has to decide which life she wants: fame and movies, or academia and Maeve.

As a professor, of course I love an academic setting! I really enjoyed this rom-com. I read Sizzle Reel last year and liked it but I liked this one even more. I loved the relationship development and seeing Val’s growth, there were also a lot of heavier topics which were handled very well. There were a few spots where the character development was a little confusing, like with Val’s academic background. But I liked the characters immediately and loved rooting for them.

Loved getting to know more about the film industry in this book. The enemies to lovers trope was well executed and there was tons of chemistry between the characters.

I DNF’d at 6% because I just wasn’t feeling the writing. There were weird internalized homophobia vibes and CONSTANT talk about coming out. & It felt like the writing was trying to hard to be quirky and funny and different that random phrases were thrown in that made no sense. I think I was supposed to feel like it was an inside joke between the reader and the main character but it just came across as nonsensical and took me out of the story.

I want to thank NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for a copy of this book.

Brief Summary: Valerie Sullivan is lost. She has an Oscar, but her directorial film debut is not going to plan. Instead, all of the press is focusing on her recent coming-out. Concerned that she will never get to make the types of queer projects she dreams of making, Val decides to step away from Hollywood and into her first love, academia. When her first week as a professor does not go according to plan, Val works to find her groove and develop a working relationship with her co-professor, Dr. Maeve Arko. However, as the term unfolds Val finds more than her confidence in the classroom as things between her and Maeve begin to heat up.

Thoughts: Articulating how I feel about this book is a bit of a struggle, so I think I'm just going to try and bullet point what I did and didn't like.

Things I liked about this book:
The fact that Val was in therapy and working on finding anxiety medications/treatments that worked best for her.
There was an honest discussion of how sometimes even in therapy you can backslide or not know how to articulate things, making Val feel more like a real person throughout the book.
Val and her best friend Charlie's relationship
They were so honest and supportive of one another. I truly loved the part toward the end when Charlie went to Val and was honest about how he disagreed with her approach to her problems, without being accusatory
The fact that we got to see some of the first characters from the book make a reappearance.
I love that Romy and Luna are still together and thriving.
The sibling dynamics of Gwen and Val.
The way that Gwen brought lasagna over, stuck up for Val at dinner, and was mortified at potential sex scenes in a movie made her have a supportive, older sister vibe.
Things I did not enjoy as much about this book
The weird callbacks to Luna and Val's relationship. Maybe I don't understand because I am not friends with any of my exes but sometimes things felt incredibly forced. You can fully be friends with an ex, I understand that, but I'm not entirely clear for this book why Luna and Val remain friends or why Val is taking career/relationship advice from her as the depth of their friendship doesn't feel fleshed out. I felt that for many of their scenes, it would have made more sense with Charlie or even Mason.
If I were to make a list Val and Maeve are a good fit, but this book felt more like a coming into adulthood book rather than a romance novel. I think part of the reason I feel that way is because everything is from Val's point of view throughout the book and it didn't feel like Maeve got as much time on the page as a character. I think at the end of the book I can name five things about her, but I didn't feel connected to her. I was invested in Val's gesture for Maeve at the end of the book, but I didn't feel the same excitement as I did when Val got her big news. Overall, I was most invested in Val and her story arch and that just happened to have a love story peppered in.
Overall, the heat felt like a 2.5 out of 5. The scenes were there, but it always felt like things would start to heat up and then they would stop abruptly or the author couldn't quite decide if it was going to be a closed or open-door book.

I enjoyed this book as a book about a woman finding her joy in life, and transitioning from wandering into a more mature place. The love story however didn't give me what I wanted out of a romance. The writing does draw the reader in and you can sympathize/empathize with Val throughout the book.

Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Classism and Medical Trauma
Minor: Outing and Vomit

When renowned actress Valeria attempts to move from in front of the camera to behind it after tired of being typecast into queer characters, she has a rocky start. During that transition, she decided to adjunct teach a class on LGBTQ cinema to help people take herself more serious. But when her co-professor Maeve turns out to be stunningly beautiful but also not her biggest fan, she's not sure what to do with herself.

Guys, I tried. I really did. I love celebrity romances and I love enemies-to-lovers, but I just could not get into this one. I think it really lost me when I essentially had to sit through an entire film studies class. Couldn't that bit have been skipped? I also wasn't particularly sympathetic to Valeria, much of who's backstory is explained through exposition that slow unraveling. I'm going to assume this book gets better, or at least more interesting, but life is short and there's too many other books out there, so I had to DNF it.

Thanks to Viking for my eARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 stars - 4/10

I’m a little biased because like Val, I love academia and really do miss it a lot, even if I never went as far as she did. So the in depth lectures and analysis of everything was an added bonus for me, but I can see how that might bog the book down for other readers. Val’s anxiety spirals were deeply relatable and while it was sometimes frustrating to see that affect her relationship with others, it was still heartwarming to see how hard she tried to use her clout and resources help out to the others around her. Maeve was wonderful and I loved her academic badassery, her energy, and her patience. She was always so respectful of what Val needed without feeling like a blank slate for her.

That said, I really do wish we’d gotten more time in the transition from rivals to lovers. It takes maybe a chapter and a half for the bad blood to be cleared away and they friendship to start, which had me double checking the synopsis thinking I’d misread the premise. Also while Val being unsure what she wants from her career and future is a big part of the book, as a reader I never felt I knew what she wanted either, even when she claimed to be having her eureka moments. I’d have to go back and forth double checking what her decisions were. Maybe that was just me being a little slower, but it just felt like it was going on in a vacuum at times.

Overall, though, this was an enjoyable read and I’m a sucker for queer romances with a Hollywood backdrop.

When actress Val falls for her co professor, she begins to envision a happily ever after she never considered,but does her new love feel the same? Very good sapphic romance

Super cute and really fun to get to see Val get her happily ever after!! I loved the therapy element & the conversations around mental health.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This was a pretty solid romance! Both of the main characters are endearing, and their individual problems/storylines realistic and engaging without being overly complicated. The main issue I had with this book was that Valeria and Maeve confessed their feelings and got together pretty early on, and I wish it had been more of a slow burn. From the time they got together, the conflict seemed to mostly be on Valeria's side, when there could have been more tension between the two of them.

At first, I also didn't understand just WHY Valeria was putting off telling Maeve her news for so long - I don't like the miscommunication trope, and this wasn't even really miscommunication but omission. But then the scene with Valeria's therapist at the end put a lot of it together for me, and I think that scene is sort of the crux of this novel. It tied everything together, and kept the momentum going until the end.

Overall, this was a good read that didn't drag on, and I liked all the characters' dynamics with each other. If you want a sapphic romance that has a focus on the film industry...here ya go!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. This review reflects my honest opinions.

What a fun book this was, I deeply enjoyed it and had a great time. It was light, airy, and fun. The setting in the entertainment world was great and the romance had me invested.

Thank you to Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The premise of this book really grabbed me. I loved the premise of the actor-turned-director-turned-academic, and the circumstances in which she found herself: successful, but kneecapped by coming out. The exploration of how women are treated in Hollywood, and how that kind of attention gets even more invasive after coming out, was really interesting to me. I’m also a huge film lover, and I really enjoyed the small insights we got into the lesson planning for Val and Maeve’s course. It seems like one I would have loved to take!

I have anxiety myself, and the approach to it felt very honest. As a reader, I always find miscommunication to be frustrating, but I understand how Val got into a spiral and couldn’t figure out how to share the news with Maeve until it was literally forced out of her.

Their romance was exciting and fun to read about. It’s the heart of this story and I never get tired of reading about women falling in love, especially when they’re all-in immediately, moving so quickly even as they’re worrying about moving too quickly.

I didn’t find out until after reading that this was a sequel; and I wish I had known that/was able to read the first one before this. But overall, I really liked this romance!


Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and NetGalley for making this ARC available.
Pub date: 21 May 2024