This book started off slow for me and was hard to get into. I am one who likes to be engaged form the first chapter or two. I loved the idea of this book and thought I would enjoy it and I did! It's a cute story.

Cali is an up-and-coming director who was hired to replace the last one, who was fired after sexual assault accusations. She faces the challenge of coming in partway through a project as a female director (rare!) and establishing rapport with both the crew and actors. Jory, the grumpy hot director of photography (DP), starts as being resistant to Cali's unique methods of getting a good shot. But as the two spend more and more time together, they realize that there is a stronger connection that lies between them. A health scare and a visitor from the past challenges their relationship, but it is Jory who realizes what is needed to get the perfect shot: them together.

This was a super cute read that left me full of emotions. I laughed, cried, and burned over the love scenes. The beginning was slow, but necessary to create the slow burn between the love interests. Noel Stark's debut novel is gold. It is a film-centered, enemies-to-lovers romance to leave readers with all the 'feels.'

I kind of went into this one blind, I read the blurb and thought it sounded like a spicy romance idea. But actually this was so much more than I expected.

First off I’m a creative so I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the detailed writing from behind the scenes of making a TV series. It clearly comes with not just experience in this area, but a true love of the craft, and I really felt that came through in the writing.

The character development was great, without going into huge detail we still got a really good understanding of why Jory and Cali had their reservations about love. With Jory starting out as Cali’s almost idol who she’s loved watching his work, to quickly becoming work rivals. There was good banter and build up to their story beginning.

It was a delight to read. And although they started on a film set for a raunchy show, this book was more about love, grief, connection and relationship than the spice and actually, I felt it was the perfect mix.

Loved the emphasis on females roles in the film industry and how the me too movement has impacted that and shone a light on the “boys club” mentalities.

Shocked that this is a debut novel, really looking forward to seeing more from this author.

This was an ARC thanks to NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The tea ☕️

🤩 - idol to rival to lovers
🎬 - behind the scenes
1️⃣ - one time
🚫 - co-workers
🌶️ - 1.5/5

Thank you to Ntegalley for an ARC copy of this book.

This wasn’t like anything I’ve ever read before which is a really good thing - I loved how driven both our characters were to excel in their career.

Now we have a strong but damaged FMC and a MMC with some serious health issues (trigger warning alot of discussion of parental death). These broken people need to work through their issues or blow up their dreams because they can’t keep their hands to themselves.

It was a fun, funny and often heartbreaking story - I cried! Overall it made me feel all the feels

My only critique is some supporting characters felt like plot devices only which I dislike but incredible for a first book!

In “Love, Camera, Action,” we follow the journey of Cali Daniels, an up-and-coming TV director who is determined to make her mark in the film and television industry. She has been given a significant opportunity to direct a highly anticipated steamy episode of the popular series “The Demon.” This job represents her chance to elevate her career, and she is ready to utilize her hard-knocks experience and creativity to deliver an outstanding show.

This novel is tailored for fans of romantic comedies and features themes of enemies-to-lovers dynamics within a workplace setting. It gives a blend of humor, romance, and emotional depth that will resonate with readers who enjoy stories similar to those by Ava Wilder and Tessa Bailey.

I did not love this book as much as I thought I would. It appeared to start off very slow and was hard for me to get into. Despite that, the main characters were easy to fall in love with and I enjoyed the premise as well as the enemies-to-lovers troupe that made me keep turning the pages. I also learned a lot about the movie industry that I was previously blind to. I loved seeing a feminine heroine working hard to be at the top of a male-dominated industry.

Great story about two people working on movies. The woman is qualified to stage sex scenes! Ah! Spicy parts, too. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was an ARC from NetGalley. The good, this was a light easy by-the-book romance. It was a quick read, that was entertaining enough. The opportunities, this book jumps right into the banter and will they, won't they. It could have used more character development on the front end to get more invested in the story. Due to this, the book felt a bit long. The end was a bit chaotic, and the last challenge to their relationship felt a bit forced. Overall, okay but nothing memorable.#netgalley #lovecameraaction #romance #feminism

3 stars

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early read in exchange for an honest review*

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were well written and the story was really well paced. I enjoyed seeing the different sides of both characters and seeing how they both worked together throughout the book. The one thing I disliked was the third act conflict between Jory and Cali, as I personally believed it was more obvious how they felt for each other and that it would all be resolved. All in all, I really enjoyed this book and the whole director and tv show experience.

This was a cute story, steamy for sure, but nothing extraordinary about it. I enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It teeters on the edge of spicy rom-com (there is spice and banter), but it's also a book about what women experience in misogynistic work environments. This one takes place in the TV/Movie filming industry with the FMC being a woman relatively new to the industry, Cali brought in to direct a steamy episode of a TV drama, and a well respected Director of Photography, Jory. There are clashes in ideas and methods, family issues and traumas on both sides, and steamy attraction between the two.

It showcased the industry, and I always enjoy reading about new experiences that I did not know enough about, and was obviously told from the perspective of someone with true life experiences in the field. It also showed how standing behind someone, whether it's the actors, behind the scenes workers, or your rivals, can bring about change and admiration.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was so cute! The story was very well written and it was such a lite and fluffy book. But still had great tension as well.

Enemies to lovers
Workplace romance
On set directors x director of photog

Jory and Cali met on Calis first day of set and immediately had sexual tension. Will they won't they. Throw in some dramatic actors and higher ups and some on site fighting. A health scare and and you have love, camera, action.


Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

I enjoyed this book. I thought that it was a really interesting plot for a romance book, one that I haven't seen done very often which was refreshing. I enjoyed the characters a lot. I loved how we got to see Cali and Jory grow together throughout the book. I always love when characters have a good personal arc. I did though feel as though some of the pacing of the novel was not the best. I found myself struggling to push through some parts. Otherwise I thought this was a great book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this arc!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and it was a very quick and easy read! Perfect amount of spice, with a great blend of deeper and more lighthearted themes throughout. A great debut and can’t wait to read the next thing Noël Stark releases!

I love this book and read it in one sitting. I loved the banter, and the main characters - Cali and Jory. The pacing and writing style made for an enjoyable read. It was the light-hearted rom-com I needed after some other heavy non-fiction books.

Thank you to Netgalley and AlcovePress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a minute to get into this book I found the pacing to be a bit slow…but once I did it was an easy read. If you enjoy Hollywood romance type books this will be up your alley. I liked that the reader got to see the process of how being on set is and how the filmmaking world works. I liked how Cali interacted with the cast and crew and what went through her mind as a Director. She is a great FMC. Strong willed and passionate about her career and how she treats others. Jory in the beginning wasn’t doing it for me but then took me by surprise. (Especially in the bedroom scenes). The sexy time though did drag on a bit too long for my taste but I’ll live. I enjoyed the strangers to enemies, enemies to lovers trope of this book.

3.5 stars for me. Didn’t hate it but didn’t love it. Look forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the advanced ARC.

Firstly, thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. To sum up my thoughts, I was left disappointed.

I recognize that Jory and Cali have their own traumas and ways of dealing with them, but Jory was an insufferable douchebag for the first half of the book to the point where I was not rooting for him. Eventually I warmed up to him, but that was about 52% into the book.

52% is also where I finally started caring about the book - prior to that, I was rather bored and had to force myself to even pick it up. That last 48% was good but it shouldn’t take me that long to get into the story.

There were a lot of typos and continuity errors, in my opinion. So, hoping those get addressed prior to publication.

And finally, just a general comment, can we stop picking on Canada as in media? I’m so over it!

This book had a lot of promise but ultimately I found the pace dragged and I found myself skimming chunks.

For me, it was the romance that I couldn’t buy into. Jory was all over the place as a character. While I got his motivations, wanting to direct, his actions didn’t make me believe Cali should love him. This book was essentially insta-lust while being a jerk and then everything papered over with too many sex scenes. As such the pace dragged on and I honestly wanted Cali to stop wasting her time with him.

While issue of MeToo, sexism and toxic workplaces was touched on, at times the book undermined itself with Jory. He kept ruminating that he wasn’t one of ‘those guys’ and that he said the wrong things, yet he never properly apologised and undermined Cali, then took way too long to set Paolo straight. Also what was that with having the lead actors at the end secretly liking each other given the way Paolo behaved. It felt like this book tried to make excuses for two male characters poor behaviour.

What I did appreciate was the level of detail regarding the filmmaking process and how Cali makes her directorial decisions. I loved being in her head as she strove to create better scenes and how she handled her actors. This is something missing from all the movie romance books I’ve read. It lended to an authenticity to understand her motivations and love for her work.

Thanks to Alcove Press and NetGalley to the ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc!

I’m gonna start by saying that I am super conflicted about this one. Let me go first with what I liked; I loved Cali. Determined, passionate, and talented, Cali had everything I love in an fmc! I loved her drive to make each scene perfect, her vulnerability when it came to her family, and her dedication.

I also loved the filming aspect of the book, the details of getting a scene right, the art of working with the actors for a great delivery, and all the people involved to make things work!

What I did not like: Jory, as a whole. Jory’s motives and intent were all over the place. Is he avoiding a relationship with Cali because of his possible diagnosis? Is he avoiding it because they’re coworkers and it could affect them? Is he avoiding it because he is a little bitch? I don’t know; I just could not connect with him. He went on ramblings about how he was against harassment in the workplace but also how any “wrong move” could make him a target because of the #MeToo movement. He then rambled about not wanting to subject anybody to a short-lived love because he wasn’t even sure he was healthy, although he had been avoiding his doctor for months. He was determined to ignore Cali, but the moment she said they were done, he suddenly was determined to seduce her in the same workplace he claimed to be afraid of making a wrong move? Boy.

Another thing; the situation between Thalia and Paolo was handled so weirdly, all to end it with a “aww, they’re in love!” That made me feel icky as hell.

I don’t know, in my honest opinion Jory was the true villain all along, and Howard was the perfect scapegoat.