Reel Love by Evie Browning offers a light, Hollywood-set romance with an intriguing reverse age-gap dynamic. Anna, a struggling director, and John, an aspiring screenwriter, have witty banter and some sizzling moments, but the chemistry feels inconsistent. The slow burn sometimes dragged, and the romance lost steam just when it should have soared.

The behind-the-scenes Hollywood setting is a highlight, though the heavy focus on filmmaking details occasionally overshadowed the romance. Anna’s internal struggles and John’s persistence were charming, but their growth felt underwhelming, and the rushed, surface-level ending left me unsatisfied.

While not a blockbuster, Reel Love is a cute, quick read for fans of workplace and forbidden romance. A solid 2/5 stars—fun, but it doesn’t quite hit its mark.

It was a great fun read!! Anna's character was definitely a sweet yet showed a very great character development. No offense but I do hate her ex-husband and it actually describes the actual truth of the industry. John's real struggles as a screenwriter then his way to charm Anna is one of the most sweetest and cutest thing ever. Overall the couple proved that overcoming difficulties is a great start and strengthens a couple. We all need a best friend like Jenny!! I love her very much
Thank you Netgalley for this quick yet great read!

Anna Kovác’s career as a movie director is over if she can’t jumpstart a failing production in Rome: a B-movie that’s over budget and behind schedule. She’s thirty-five years old, her best picture is ten years behind her, and her ex-husband, a powerful Hollywood agent, is still meddling in her career.

John Mills can’t get an agent to listen to his screenplay pitch, because they’re too busy casting him as Shirtless Werewolf Number Three. His part-time jobs are barely enough to pay his rent, and he’s done being thought of as nothing but a pretty face, by the industry and his dates.

On location in Rome complications abound on-set, but with each disaster that Anna and John overcome together, their burgeoning friendship develops into a not-to-be-denied attraction. Anna’s insecurities about being with John resurface when the press ridicules her for having an on-set fling with a younger man, showing John first-hand the harassment she has to deal with in her job. And John didn't realize exactly what kind of a devil he made a deal with when he took this job from a powerful agent, none other than Anna’s ex-husband out for revenge.

The two must find a way to navigate the rocky terrain of dating a coworker in an already tumultuous industry or lose their careers and their chance at a happily ever after.


Loved it. Will recommend to others.

Yep, this wasn't something that I will think about. Sure, I didn't like it that much, but it was a fun time. I would recomend it as a fun quicky book

Starts off strong with a meet cute, then falls flat. It feels jumbled and jumps around. The last 10% picks up

Thank you to NetGalley and the author of this book for giving me a copy of this to read 😊. This was an easy, fun and quick read. I love a rom com & this really delivered on that. It was quite unique too, I’ve never read a rom com based on a movie set. The characters were easy to get behind & Ioved their story line.

Would definitely recommend if you need a cute & quick read as a bit of a pallet cleanser!

This book had a great concept and was a cute romance. The main characters definitely had chemistry at first, but the rest of the story fell flat to me. Overall, it was just ok. I wasn’t invested in these characters and almost DNF’d a couple of times.

I struggled in the beginning with its writing style so I paused reading this and then picked it up again! Unfortunately throughout the book, I struggled with the writing style.

I did enjoy the characters and how they connected so fast when they met at the bar. I also enjoyed the reverse age gap! It was cool to see behind the scenes of Hollywood because I haven’t seen a lot of books in that sort of setting.

This book is fast-paced, entertaining and hooks you up from the start. I love cinema and I can't help but love the fact that the book jumps into the subject right from the start. 

The plot was so dynamic and all the characters so interconnected that I read the book in one sitting. Anna and John were amazing. 💜 💜 💜

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮! 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬:

A bit of a slow start in my opinion, but once I got more into it, I slowly started to enjoy it more and more.
 
While I liked the dynamic that Anna and John initially had, it felt quite forced towards the end, which was disappointing to say the least, seeing as at the start it had a great buildup and I expected a little more from this couple.
 
At times, it felt very insta-lust/love, which I really didn’t care for at all. There’s things I would do differently, but above all else, this was a light, fun, and insanely sweet read!
 
~ 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀
Age gap (she's older)
Forbidden
He fell first (SWOON!!!)
Workplace romance

2.5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I was left disappointed in this book; seeing that it was based in Hollywood in a romance set, it initially caught my attention big time but it was not carried out. The chemistry was not there. I give it 2.5 stars because some parts were great and it was a cute easy read.

This was a fun quick read. I really enjoyed the age gap with an older female for a change. I would recommend this to anyone who is fascinated with how things work in Hollywood that also still wants a cute romance.

DNF

I'd recommend this book if you enjoy:
- Reverse age gap romance
- Workplace romance (Director x Actor/Screenwriter)
- Forced Proximity
- Slow Burn
- Friends to lovers (kind of)
- A short romance

This book follows Anna and some guy who meet in a bar one night and enjoy talking to each other. They obviously feel an attraction to each other but they kind of don't want that to get in the way of possibly working together.

The premise of this book sounded cute but I couldn't get into it. I know this was an age gap romance but they brought up so frequent;y that it became the thing that stopped their romantic thoughts for each other and it got irritating after a while.

Overall, I might give another one of the author's books a go but this one wasn't for me.

A fun escape of a read. The characters are well developed and it’s an engaging story. An entertaining diversion.

DNF at 33%. I wanted to click with these characters and this story, but I did not. Instead of forcing self to read it and letting it negatively impact my perspective on the book, I stopped reading because it wasn’t for me, but I am confident this book will find its audience elsewhere!

Thank you NetGalley for access to this book in exchange for an honest review :)
⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was a cute and fun short read! I really loved how explosive their first meeting was and how they clicked so well! It was sad how John acted afterwords when he found out about her ex husband and who he was ( how did he know who she was and the exact movies she made but nothing at all about her famous ex husband?). Her ex husband by the way is evil! I’m really glad they managed to work things out with while working together. The whole deal with John’s movie was sad to see :( Tom’s terrible, but I’m glad both Anna and John were able to help each other out in the end, and despite their fight, were able to love each other honestly and have a happy ending :).

Much romance, little innovation

Evie Browning's latest, an age-gap romance between a down-on-her-luck film director and an aspiring screenwriter slash bartender slash actor slash AD is probably most firmly placed mid-shelf.

While Anna, a late-30s director struggling to pay her tab and get another job that does not make her want to drown her feelings in alcohol, is trying to break free from the hold her ex has on her career, early 20s screenwriter John is trying to get his first script made. But he also has a lot of demands and lofty aspirations. When they meet in a bar, their physical attraction is instantaneous, even if they do not quite get along on a personal level - mostly due to an unfortunate habit of not telling the truth, which both indulge in frequently over the course of the novel.

I have never read an age-gap romance before, though their gap in age was maybe less shocking (or less well written?) than what some might expect. The chemistry between the characters works, there is a whole host of quirky side kicks and secondary characters who get half a story arc, but I have big issues with the plot and the setting. Film sets are notoriously busy and as such make for little spare time. This book makes them look like vacation with your work laptop.
The plot twists, as well as the time jumps are sudden and it feels like the whole falling-in-love part is not fleshed out. Many things feel rushed, especially when it comes to characters' decision-making processes and dropping of plot twists.
I did not like the antagonist, fair enough, but he seemed to be a bit of a caricature rather than a decently motivated villain.
I think overall Evie Browning has a superficial, romantic idea of how film production works but skimped a bit on the research.

If you enjoy spicy romance, alternative work settings (no offices!) and a villain you can only hate, this book is for you!

I'd like to start by thanking Netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review.

I felt that "Reel Love" had potential, but it didn't quite meet my expectations. One thing I noticed right away is that the FMC is actually older than the MC. The cover is really lovely, and I was hoping for a nice, cute romance. Also, this eARC copy had some pretty obvious errors (in around 80% of the book) that should have been picked up during editing. Hopefully that'll all be sorted in time for the final version.

Anna, the film director facing career challenges, could have been an inspiring lead character, but she often seemed insecure and passive, which was disappointing. I enjoyed the insights into the Hollywood film industry, especially the parts where Anna directed a film. These moments showed her at her best – she was confident and professional, which was very different to her personal life. Her friendships were also a highlight, adding some much-needed warmth to the story. There are still a few things that I'm not sure about, like what really happened between her and her ex-husband and so on. She came across as a victim quite a few times, but didn't do much to show her relationship with her ex-husband, who did some shady things (it was still unclear what exactly happened there). I thought her interactions with John, who's trying to make it as a screenplay writer, were cute, but I was hoping for more emotional depth. There was never really a spark between them, and the tension felt forced.

As others have already said, the pacing wasn't ideal. The story was a bit slow at the start, and I wasn't fully invested in their romance by the time things picked up. I even wondered at the beginning if this was the right book (it took about 20% until everything improved).

Overall, the book had a few sweet moments, but overall I felt it lacked a certain spark, and I was left wanting more from the characters and the story.

#ReelLoveAstandaloneagegapworkplaceromanticcomedy #NetGalley.

This is a cute, quick read. I love a reverse age gap, he falls first romance. I enjoyed the FMC being a director in a male dominated career.

The book did move a bit too slow for me. I’m not sure if it was too much industry talk or too many characters, but I found myself wanting the MCs to interact more.

I also don’t love 3rd party POV, it made it a bit hard to connect with the characters.

Tha is so much for the copy! Although this was such a cute description, I could not get into this story and it was a Do not Finish for me. Appreciate the chance to read this one.