Thank you for author and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the eARC.

Blurb:
An aspiring and frustrated writer striked a deal with a publishing agent which led her to taking the role of a very valuable ghostwriter to a media-favorite author. Juggling the pressure of writing a book and hoping to secure her own manuscript being seen, she carried the burden of making sure her grandmother's legacy, The Bridge will not be closed before deadline hits.
°°°
What caught my attention in the first pages was the edgy persistent personality of Bryony and how she managed to grab the attention of the famous publishing agent Jack.
Then as their story progressed, amidst the chaos of book tour, writing deadlines, dealing with the annoying author Amelie who just craves the spotlight but doesn't even know about her books, the chemistry of Jack and Bryony's friendship was captivating to witness. It was a slow burn romance, one that got me giggling when Bryony finally realized his feelings for her all along.
His words "You weren't dating me. But I was dating you".

And when she thought he betrayed her about the manuscript, he just pulled off a reveal that completely threw me off, shrieking in excitement! Talk about an agent in shining armor, ready to save the day!

The comedic banter, the witty plot, the easy-to-love supporting characters, even the annoying Amelia brought so much emotions for me reading this. And if you're a writer, or aspiring writer, I think Bryony Page's story will hit you in the right spot. It did for me, and I'm just in deep respect for authors who are out there trying their best for their stories to be seen, heard and loved. ❤️

Another excellent romcom by Melissa Ferguson! I love that the characters are well developed. The struggles they go through are real and relatable. The way that Jack and Bryony's relationship grew and developed throughout the story was perfect. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fun, witty, lighthearted read.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Bryony Page is an aspiring author who catches a big break as a ghostwriter for a NYT Bestselling author. All the while, she continues to push her agent, Jack, to get her first book published. Bryony works to save her grandmother’s legacy and thinks selling her book will give The Bridge enough publicity to stay afloat.

I absolutely adored the dynamic between Bryony and Jack. Their relationship was everything! Highly recommend this book for anyone wanting a rom com with a deeper message inside as well.

This rom-com was such a delightful read. The cast of characters was one I was cheering for from the very beginning, and Bryony's love for the community at The Bridge made me fall in love with them too.

I enjoyed the love story and found Bryony easy to relate to.

Here's a quick synopsis:

Bryony Page is a author hoping to secure a deal for a book she's written about her grandmother and the organization she has built to teach ESL, The Bridge. And she really needs a deal soon, because The Bridge is in financial trouble. She has one last chance to secure an agent at a writing conference and that last chance is Jack Sterling, a notoriously picky agent. The meeting goes terribly wrong, but then, she unwittingly stumbles into a different kind of deal all together...ghostwriting for Amelia Benedict.

Flash forward a couple years, the Bryony's novels have rocketed Amelia Benedict to a household name. But Bryony is getting frustrated. Jack was supposed to be pitching her book while she wrote these side novels for no credit, and she's not sure he's holding up his side of their bargain. As secrets are discovered and relationships get involved, will Bryony be able to share her novel, and The Bridge, with the world? Or is she destined to write for Amelia Benedict forever?

I loved reading this fun, light-hearted book about pushing for your dreams and the beauty of community.

*Thank you to TNZFiction and NetGalley for this advance reader copy!

This while another promising idea I had to unfortunately DNF after only the first three chapters. I found it boring and force read chapter two and three before stopping.

[Due to this 1⭐️ I will not be sharing on my social media accounts.]

This was an entertaining read into ghostwriting. I loved Bryony's battle between wanting to write her way, but having to listen to the demands of the credited author. Jack was an intriguing character and I do wish we had had more scenes with him. More of the rom in this rom-com! I feel like if we had cut down on some of the internal monologuing we could have had more of that. I also really enjoyed all the references to Two Weeks Notice. Overall, another fun read by this author.

This was a cute rom com! The beginning of this novel really captured my interest. I loved the way the FMC fought for her dream in the beginning which led to the opportunity of ghost writing.

The slow burn romance between the two main characters was swoon worthy. I love a good workplace romance.

I really enjoyed Bryonne character development. I loved her passion for ESL and teaching and programming.

The increase in confidence she had with her writing was beautiful to watch

I also loved seeing the ruthless side of the publishing world and how the main character who was quickly thrown into it navigated.

Overall a good read. I did find parts in the middle a bit repetitive and slower. I’m a huge fan of a duel POV in romances and felt it would have been nice to see what was going on with Jack

I feel that though this book is marketed as a romance book but it equally can be put in woman fiction because of the personal growth and self discovery journey the mc goes through.

But for me there was so many technicalities in the book that I just could not get lost in it and had a hard time following through.

I really liked the character arc of Bryony and few chapters did have a good hold on me and my emotions.

Despite an intriguing start, this book just didn’t work for me. The pacing felt sluggish, with too many words and not enough meaningful action to drive the story forward. While there’s plenty of angst, the emotional depth felt lacking, making it hard to connect with the characters or care about their romance. The story became weighed down by side characters and subplots that felt more distracting than engaging. I really tried to stick with it, but I ultimately couldn’t find a reason to continue past the halfway point.

It was a sweet journey following Bryony as she unexpectedly became a ghostwriter on her pursuit to publish her own novel and save The Bridge.

I was initially captivated and enjoyed a different glimpse at the publishing industry. It felt so many truths were splayed on the page.

I was intrigued by Bryony’s transition to ghostwriter but didn’t love the two-year jump where we don’t see any of the growth in her relationship with Jack. We’re instead just supposed to buy into their relationship. Buy into her portrayal of him. And it left it all feeling hollow. Same with other characters. Her gran was portrayed as a more stoic woman than compassionate and dedicated. Her sister was very two-dimensional. As were all the characters really. Leaving the story to fall flat.

I think it just felt like a lot of meat was missing from the story. A lot of internal monologue and dialogue to carry the story while not feeling like much was happening.

I have enjoyed other work from this author and would read more of her work in the future. But this one just wasn’t for me! received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was rather cute exploring the rather miserable existence of a ghost writer. Our heroine is writing best-selling novels for an extremely obnoxious and arrogant flibbertigibbet of an author. Poor Byrony has ambitions to publish her own novel about her grandmother’s school for immigrants to learn English. I never get much of an idea what her novel was really about even though it’s described as magic-realism and romance and some other genres. She’s convinced that it’s destined to be a bestseller that will help save her grandmother’s school. Everyone tells her she has to edit it down, but she stubbornly doesn’t believe it.

She has become good friends with Jack, the super agent who is first portrayed as an arrogant guy, but suddenly becomes this great guy who will do anything to help his writers.

I was enjoying the book, but the last third becomes rather unbelievable. The agents force Byrony to travel with the witchy author who is so arrogant that she won’t ever read the books that Byrony has written for her and so, somehow, Byrony’s presence on the trip is supposed to help feed answers to the author when she’s asked specific questions about the characters in the books she hasn’t read. I’m not sure how that would help. And the final conclusion of the story was very unbelievable.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Wow. Just wow. I absolutely adore this book. I couldn’t put it down, and loathed when I had to.

Melissa Ferguson absolutely killed with this rom-com. One might say, it’s the perfect rom-com. In this book, Bryony Page is an aspiring author who just wants to get an agent and sell her manuscript to a publishing company. Things take a few wrong turns and she ends up being a ghostwriter for an insufferable person. She pours her soul into ghostwriting while still holding out hope that she’ll be published under her own name.

Now let me just tell you, I was hooked. Bryony is such a relatable character without trying too hard. I found myself smiling, laughing, and swooning, because yes there’s romance. It’s a true slow burn where they get to know each other as friends first, and I adore it. I’ll be thinking about this book couple for a while. Beyond romance there’s also a deep story line about teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults. This was beautifully told and made for wonderful character defining moments.

Do yourself a favor and pick up this book!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. I love this book.

Melissa Ferguson is a very enjoyable author. Her books are packed full of fun banter, interesting characters, and crazy events.
This story was such a charming, fun, and entertaining book to read! I loved every moment I was in it—so much so that I didn’t want to put it down!
I’ve never really known what it takes to be a writer or all the moving parts involved in putting a book out in readers' hands. This story truly gives us, the readers, a glimpse of what it takes.
Melissa Ferguson is a master storyteller, sharing all the struggles writers face when all they want is to tell their stories. This story is also packed with the relational tension between Bryony and Jack. What it’s like to want to write but not be able to write the story you want to or be acknowledged for your writing. All the banter between these two makes the story flow and move along so naturally. It’s all so relatable, and the readers find themselves very invested.
After reading a few of this author’s books, I know that I will jump right in and get it whenever I hear Melissa Ferguson has written a new book!
AFTER ALL, I now know all the ins and outs of what it took for the book to be in my hands!
I loved this story and will recommend it to anyone and everyone who wants a fun book to read.
The publisher and NetGalley gave me this book, but this did not influence my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for access to this e-arc! This was such a sweet and fun one from Melissa Ferguson, would definitely recommend to a friend!

this review will contain spoilers.

This book surprised me. I was expecting more of the rom-com feeling and giggling through the story rather than it being more about an author who writes rom-coms. I still enjoyed the story, even if it was different than I initially expected.

A few things I noticed.
when the story jumps ahead 2 years. It took me a couple pages to understand what was going on. I would have liked a smoother transition.
at 24% into the book, When Breyoni is being asked to up her timeline, in the story they are saying August 24th, but then the email sent said September 24th.

overall, it was interesting to see how someone can feel so passionate about something they have created and really need to take space from it before they can see within their own growth that the passion project can also use that same care.

I plan to share this book on my instagram, Monday, February 10th at www.instagram.com/robinashleyreads

This book contains one of my favorite tropes that, honestly, this story made me love even more: friends to lovers. Although, their relationship is technically author and agent and they don’t really acknowledge the friends part. Don’t let this throw you off though, they’re besties. There’s just something about a romance where you can tell that both characters really just know each other that makes the payoff even greater when they finally realize what was in front of them the whole time.

Aside from the romance, seeing the behind the scenes of the publishing industry as Bryony is a ghostwriter for one of the most popular (and insufferable) romance “authors” (cough cough she has only written one book on her own) out there. Putting out two books a year while simultaneously trying to get her own book published.

Overall, The Perfect Rom-Com was a cute story perfect for book lovers and aspiring writers!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This book was so cute! The romance was sweet, the characters were good and the plot was fun. The author really makes you dislike the antagonist and makes you love the main characters! I really enjoyed reading and watching Bryony’s story unfold. The second half really sucked me in, I was curious to see the outcome of the story.
I highly recommend this sweet, clean romcom.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Overall: 4.25/5
Craft/Writing: 4/5
Entertainment: 4.5/5
Spice: chaste, closed door
Profanity: none
Content Warnings: none

Well, I declare! Melissa Ferguson’s newest novel, The Perfect Rom-Com, is laugh out loud funny and full of southern idioms. This sweet, friends-to-lovers romance kicks off in Nashville, Tennessee when Bryony Page attends a writers conference to pitch the book she wrote to save her grandmother’s struggling business. After recently reading a book where all the male characters were villainized, it was lovely to meet Jack, a kind, thoughtful literary agent who becomes Bryony’s best friend. If you are looking for a chaste romance novel and have ever wondered how a book moves from the author’s mind to your bookshelf, this book is for you! Be sure to add this to your TBR and pick it up on February 11th just in time for Valentine’s Day!

This is a story about a ghostwriter named Bryony who dreams of becoming a published author to raise awareness for a struggling ESL organization where she teaches. Along the way, she briefly becomes entangled with her agent. The romance in this book is minimal and clean, with only a few kisses.

The plot was decent, though I wasn’t thrilled with how the author Bryony was ghostwriting for was portrayed. She came across as unlikable, which made me feel more sympathy for her than rooting for the main character. I also wasn’t fully satisfied with the ending.

Overall, I rounded up and gave the book 4 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reading copy.

Bryony Page is an aspiring new author and when she attends her first writers conference she is ready to promote her book and learn more about the community. When she has a run in with Jack she doesn't know what her future will hold.