Melissa Ferguson is one of my favorite romantic comedy authors, and this book fits the bill for a great rom-com. I particularly liked the concept of the protagonist as a ghost writer hoping to get her work published in her own name in order to save the ESL school started by her grandmother. It made me wonder just how many books are actually ghost written. The banter between the two main characters was witty and charming.
Thank you to the publishers for an ARC of this novel. The opinions in this review are my own.

Aspiring author Bryony gets offered the opportunity to be a ghostwriter for Amelia Benedict, popular rom-com novelist - she agrees as long as the agent, Jack, works to sell her own book too.

This was a quick, cute read but I almost wish it wasn’t a romance and was contemporary fiction instead. I loved that Bryony was career driven - her self doubt was so relatable and I loved reading about her personal and professional journey which was written to be so heartfelt. In this sense - there was a lot of emotional depth. Where the depth lacked however, was the romance, which mainly happened off page. This in my opinion, led to some romantic plot holes and I didn’t really care if they ended up together or not.

-Agent x Ghostwriter
-Slow Burn
-Closed Door Romance
-Forced Proximity

Thank you Thomas Nelson Fiction & NetGalley for the arc. Available now!

I would have liked to see chapters with alternating viewpoints from other characters. It was perfectly ok, but nothing overwhelming.

3.75 🌟

Very cute, laugh out loud funny moments. Love the ESL aspect and mentions. For some reason, didn't like the FMC name! Love the hype sister. We all need that in life!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson is a light, witty, romantic novel. Bryony Page dreams of becoming a best-selling author. One weekend, when away at a conference, she has a meeting with Jack Sterling, who doesn’t seem to give her this time of day. However, once he reads the beginning of her manuscript, he sees an opportunity for her to explore her creative side by becoming a ghost writer to a popular best-selling author. Over time, this just doesn’t seem to be enough for Bryony and just as she’s ready to throw in the towel the most unbelievable thing happens. Will she be ready for it? Will she be ready to go out on her own? Will she make it big or will she just keep walking in the shadow of her ghost writing self. Overall, a great novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Recommended for: people who are looking for a cozy romance with zero spice but a cute story

Summary: Bryony wrote a book about a school her grandmother made that helps immigrants learn English. She desperately wants it published in order to help raise the money to keep it open. So she hunts down the infamous book agent, Jack! He sees something in her and offers to help her if she becomes a ghost writer for another author of his. Jack and Bryony grow close over the time she spends helping his other client. But will she ever publish something in her own name? And will they get together in the end?

Review: This was a very cute, sometimes funny, cozy romance. I actually got a little emotional by the end of the book. At one point in the book, they all go on a book tour with the famous author, and I believe the tour bus is the new “one bed” trope! The only thing I found annoying was that they kept referencing Bryony’s mother’s death, but didn’t fully explain what happened until near the end of the book. I didn’t get the references because I (as the reader) didn’t know the details.

I was really excited to read this book, but the format that was provided via NetGalley was incredibly hard to read. It looks like its a PDF that was saved from the INDD book layout file, and includes all sorts of trim marks and extra white space, and the text was very small and unable to be customized via the Netgalley app to make it easier to read. Unfortunately due to the format, I was unable to read this ARC.

Very cute story. Enjoyed the characters and had a great time reading. That is all I was looking. It did the title justice! 😊 Would recommend it to everyone who is looking for a fun little rom com.

I found the premise of this book to be different and sweet and while it didn’t not turn out exactly as I thought it would, it did meet those expectations. I found Bryony to be a standout main character and I was so pleased that she finally got her moment in the sun by the end of the book.

Unfortunately, I found this book lacking in several areas. I did not feel the chemistry between Jack and Bryony. I was also extremely frustrated with Jack and his massive betrayal of her trust from beginning to end. I think my biggest disappointment was in the conflict of the book between Bryony and Amelia. Amelia was portrayed as such a one note, rich, entitled bully. There was no nuance to it. I was disappointed in a woman (or any character for that matter) being portrayed so stereotypically.

Overall, I wanted to like this book more than I did. It has a unique concept and I typically enjoy a book centered in the book world. Sadly, this simply didn’t work for me.

If you’re craving a feel-good rom-com with heart, humor, and a swoon-worthy slow burn, “The Perfect Rom-Com” (very fitting title, lol) is a must-read! Bryony’s passion for writing—and her determination to save The Bridge, the ESL program her grandmother started—makes her an easy heroine to root for, and watching Jack fall first (and hard) is the icing on the cake. With witty banter, an epic grand gesture, and a story that balances laughter with heartfelt moments, this book delivers all the feel-good vibes. It’s sweet, uplifting, and the perfect escape for any rom-com lover!

From reading the title "the perfect rom-com", I thought it would be a good-feel-cute romance book, that would make you giggle and kick your feet, but alas nothing that sort happened here. The title was deceiving.😒 This was my first book to read by the author. For the majority of the book, up until 55%, it was hard to get into the story because there was simply nothing happening. If anything this book was made of 99% FMC's lengthy monologues (her exaggerating & off-the-plot thoughts) and only 1% romance between the main characters, Jack & Bryony. I'm not talking about spice, let me be clear, I don't like reading them. But for a closed-door romance I can at least expect some budding romance, right?😃 I really didn't feel connected to the characters. There was no angst, the kind that would make you sit at the edge of your bed, biting your nails off in anticipation, but no my expectations were too high apparently because the premise sounded promising and the cover felt too cute to pass.😬 As soon they start dating just after dinner one night, they fall off due to miscommunication and then viola they are back in the end. That's it. If anything, I'm being pretty generous with the rating here. This book had so much potential, only if the lengthy monologues were reduced, and we could see some real romance between the main characters.😞 For what's worth it, I still liked how the ending was made up, seeing the entitled so-called author Amelia being served what she deserved for mentally harassing Bryony and all the staffs.😌🙌🏻

Super cute and fun read! I LOVE books about authors/publishing/book tour world. Adorable read, cute cover, super fun rom com. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Bryony is an aspiring writer, who is trying to sell her manuscript to a publishing company. For the first few interviews she is really excited but after she gets turned down by almost every publisher, she starts to lose her excitement. There is now only one publisher left. When she goes in for her interview, she sees Jack Sterling, who is a gorgeous and famous publisher. Jack turns down her manuscript as well but Bryony doesn’t want to give up and tries to convince that she is a great writer.

Then Jack offers Bryony to work as a ghostwriter for Amelia Benedict. Bryony accepts but only if Jack also helps her with publishing her book. After she writes one book, one ghostwriter after another leaves the team and eventually Bryony is the only writer left. She writes bestseller after bestseller and makes Amelia one of the best writers of her time.

Amelia, who is now a famous and bestseller author, is going on tour but Bryony and Jack have to come with her because she hasn’t read the books and doesn’t know what they are about. Bryony and Jack are there to avoid that Amelia will uncover that she is not the actual writer. Bryony and Jack are always together on tour, and they slowly start to catch feelings for each other.

This is my first book by Melissa Furgeson and I was very impressed. It’s a cute and cozy book that had me laughing out loud at times. I read this book as an ebook and an audiobook at the same time. The narration was very good because the narrator has a nice voice and it's very clear. The book is written very well and easy to read.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Super cute story about aspiring writer Bryony who meets with literary agent Jack in hopes of getting her own book published but ends up a successful ghostwriter for one of his other clients.

Bryony cares deeply about The Bridge, the organization/school where she teaching ESL to adult immigrants and refugees and only agrees to be the ghostwriter to help fund the school but somewhere along the way her relationship with Jack begins to change. They go from a strictly working relationship to a budding friendship to something more without Bryony even realizing. When she’s forced to go on tour with the author she ghostwrites for, Bryony begins to question her sanity and starts to really push Jack to get her own book published but he’s hiding something. Could what he’s hiding create a rift neither of them can recover from or will it be that miracle Bryony and The Bridge is searching for?


Thank you publishers and netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this arc copy.

I’ll say the first 20% of the book went by a bit slowly for me but I’m SO glad I kept on reading!

I love romance books set in the publishing world and this was actually so wholesome - I found myself giggling and smiling throughout multiple passages. Definitely recommend!

3.5⭐️

I enjoy Melissa Ferguson's stories and the premise of this one was very much up my alley.

Overall I enjoyed it - thought at times it was a bit uneven and predictable.

Melissa Ferguson’s books always put a smile on my face ☺️

Bryony Page is an aspiring author who is given the opportunity to be the ghostwriter for a popular novelist. Bryony is hoping that while she ghostwrites these books, her literary agent, Jack Sterling, will work to sell her own book.

As Jack and Bryony spend more time together, their agent-author relationship starts to blur the lines into something more.

I love reading books set in the literary world 😊 I found Jack and Bryony’s connection to be believable, and it was fun watching the two realize their feelings for each other.

THE PERFECT ROM-COM is another swoony romance from Melissa Ferguson, with great banter and characters you’ll want to root for!

I wanted to love this book, I really did, but it fell flat for me. It put me in such a reading slump, it took me a whole month to read it and I usually read 4-5 books per month.

The story really had potential : a young author, Bryony, (who also works with immigrants and refugees to teach them English) wants her manuscript (about the organization she works at) published and try to associate herself with Jack, a known agent. After an interesting first meeting, he does take her on, but as a ghost writer for a Kardashian-like celebrity. We follow them as Bryony tries to convince Jack to publish her manuscript.

First of all, the time jump at the beginning just didn’t fit for me. We don’t see them establishing their relationship at all, which makes it hard to see the romantic part of the story for a long time. It was clear that Jack would be the love interest, however nothing romantic remotely happened between them in the first half of the book. There was not really any hint at slow burn either, it just fell flat for me. They felt like friends, nothing more.

I also felt like nothing was really happening before like 60% of the book. I was kinda bored and it took me forever to get into it because nothing felt important or interesting to me. The last 25% of the book was good and I liked it, hence the 2 stars, and the plot twist at the end was good (though predictable) but it really was too long of a start. It got me unexcited for the end, even if that part was interesting, because I just couldn’t wait to be done with it. If I didn’t have to write a review about it, I would have DNFed the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Perfect Rom-Com
3.5 ☆

° Forced Proximity
° Friends to Lovers
° Workplace Romance
° Slow Burn
° Closed-door Romance

The Perfect Rom-Com follows Bryony, an ESL teacher by day and aspiring writer by night, who takes on the role of a ghostwriter after receiving a proposition from Jack, a literary agent at a writer's conference.

The novel provides a fascinating look into the challenges of being a writer while highlighting Bryony’s efforts to save her grandmother's school, which supports immigrants in learning English and adapting to their new lives. Bryony writes a manuscript with the hope of securing a book deal, using the proceeds to save the school from closure. As an immigrant myself, I found Bryony's dedication to teaching, her strong bonds with her students, and her drive to protect the school while prioritizing her students' needs truly inspiring.  The story also portrays Bryony’s personal growth as she navigates her journey of self-discovery.

Jack's quiet encouragement of Bryony’s dreams, his recognition of her potential, and his attention to the small details of her life were truly touching.

I enjoyed alternating between the beautifully narrated audiobook, with Karissa Vacker bringing the characters to life, and reading the book.

Favorite Quotes:
ᥫ᭡  "..It takes a great deal of courage for
someone to come to this country,
often with nothing, and make a
new start for their family. They need
to feel proud of themselves."

ᥫ᭡  "The Lion King was the first reminder that we could get through this.  That life, while at times terrible, hard, and unpredictable, could never keep goodness from poking through the ground too."

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher Thomas Nelson Fiction and HarperCollins Christian Publishing for the audiobook, and the author, Melissa Ferguson for the complimentary copy of the book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Great easy read. Super cute story about an aspiring author who ends up ghost writing for a diva all while trying to pitch her own story. It was lighthearted and would recommend for a sweet read.

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