The romance genre is never a home run for me. BUT..... this one was such a surprise! It's A Love Story had characters that arc, vacation-but-with-a-purpose vibes, Hollywood childhood actor throwbacks, Long Island visuals, and realistic emotional tugs at the heart. This is my first Annabel Monaghan book and I'm officially a fan. 

Genre: Romance
Spice : Tough for me to rate seeing that I don't normally read romance, but the answer is yes.
4.75 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Annabel Monaghan for this arc!

Annabel Monaghan does it again! I’m such a fan of everything she writes, and It’s a Love Story is no exception.

Jane and Dan’s dynamic is the perfect mix of tension and tenderness, and their journey from almost-a-first-date to enemies to lovers to something so much deeper completely stole my heart.

Jane, a former child actor best known for being the punchline of a hit TV show, struggles to be taken seriously as an adult. She’s constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, and watching her navigate that anxiety breaks my heart.

When she sets out to convince famous musician Jack Quinlan—her former co-star and the guy that broke her heart all those years ago—to write a song for the movie she’s trying to get off the ground, she knows it’s her last shot. The stakes are high, and Dan, her unexpected companion on this journey, might just change everything.

This story made me laugh, ache, and swoon in equal measure. It’s more than just a romance; it’s a beautifully written exploration of identity, vulnerability, and what it really means to let love in.

I wish I could experience reading this book for the first time again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Annabel is a consistent writer; I have enjoyed all of her books. She writes the best characters, too. And although I liked both Jane and Dan, the plot to this one was just okay to me. The beginning of the story was slower but it picked up in the end. I would recommend this book because I think everyone deserves to have their favorite AM novel. Summer Romance will just be hard to beat for me!

My favorite part of the story was when Jane and Dan are in New York. Jane doesn’t have siblings and Dan has four. I love a big family dynamic and the Finnegan’s definitely deliver. Jane & Dan are both sort of oddballs in their own way. Jane was a goofy child actor and Dan is the opposite of his brothers. I didn’t love this book like I’ve loved Annabel Monaghan’s other books. 3 stars for this one because it’s just an ok love story 💕

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest review

I very much enjoyed her newest novel. The characters were easy to root for and read about. I will recommend this to friends.

It’s a Love Story Review

I will be posting this review in full on my goodreads profile, featuring parts of this review on my Instagram account story, and placing the story into the highlights portion of my Instagram page under ARC reviews (or page) on 3/15/2025. I also posted a story and dedicated post on 4/2/25 highlighting this book!

Thank you so much to Net Galley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC! I received this copy in exchange for my honest review and as always I’m so appreciative of the opportunity.

It’s a Love Story follows Jane a former child star trying to make her big break with developing and producing a script. While trying to get her production company to make the film she inexplicably bursts out that she knows a rockstar level famous singer, Jack, a man from her past who can help her develop a song for the film. She then has to enlist the grumpy help of Dan, the cinematographer, with whom she has a tumultuous relationship with to try and make this small white lie a reality.

Y’all, this book felt like a warm hug to me. It was so sweet, compelling, and charming. I loved the witty banter, the teasing about the movie The Notebook, and Dan’s family dynamics and adventures. This book gorgeously describes love in the beautiful nuances it holds and I felt it really handled the fears of truly opening yourself up to someone for the first time so well. My favorite quote was when love was described as “everyday care and treating the other person like they are your house keys.” When you find your other half they truly do feel like home and this book really encompasses that feeling so well.

I teared up, I laughed, and just genuinely enjoyed this book. I will definitely be reading more of this authors books in the future!

Also side note Jane and Clems texting conversation were some of my absolute favorite parts of this book. Clem is hilarious and I need a love story for her ASAP!

3.75 ⭐️
Jane is a studio exec trying to make it in Hollywood after years of not being taken seriously for her past role as Janey Jakes. To prove herself, she tells her boss that Jack Quinlan (the guy that rejected her as a teen), will write an original song for the script she’s trying to get green lit. To pull it off, she enlists the help of her nemesis, who ironically, is just as determined to make this movie happen. The catch? He is also the guy who get her first script rejected.

I really liked how Dan and Jane’s relationship developed. They had previous chemistry, but things got tense after he shut down her first script. You could tell there was something there from the start, but their love story really takes off in his hometown, Oak Shores. Being in Dan’s hometown allows Jane to finally drop the act she’s been holding onto for so long. He really helps her break down her walls and shows her that she’s not only capable of loving but also capable of being loved in return.

I also enjoyed Jane’s dynamic with Dan’s family. It felt like they carved out a space for her so naturally, which was really touching given her struggles with abandonment and feeling like she’s never enough. Seeing them accept her so wholeheartedly was such a sweet part of the book.

I’m not usually a fan of third-act breakups, but I get why it needed to happen. Jane had a lot she needed to unpack with her mom. That moment of reflection and growth was important for her, even if I wished things had played out differently.

Final Rating:
3.75 ⭐️ (rounded up)
0 🫑 (Fade-to-black, with no explicit scenes).

Read if you like:
🎨 rivals to lovers
🎨 small towns
🎨 found family
🎨 summer romances
🎨 second chances

This is my first Annabel Monaghan book, and I really enjoyed it. Once the story got going, I couldn’t put it down! Thank you to Penguin Group and Putnam Books for the opportunity to read this advance copy through NetGalley. All opinions in this review are entirely my own.

I have been a fan of the Author's past works and I was excited to get an ARC of this book. But my hopes for this being a read that would stick with me were Dashed. This a 3.5 star book rounded up. This is a enemies to lovers story. Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth—you can’t fake a belly laugh. Jane should know, she spent her adolescence as "Poor Janey Jakes," the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America's fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and she’s living by a new mantra: Fake it till you make it. Janey puts her foot in her mouth and works with a one time crush turned Enemy, Dan Finnegan to find her Janey Jakes co-song writer from her teen years so he can write an original song for her new movie she is pitching. In order to do so she joins Fin in Long Island where Jack is playing in a music festival, but Jack and Jane haven't spoken in over 20 years.

I wanted to like this book. But I found myself bored through much of it. I would have liked to see more of a workplace buildup before they went to Long Island. Their banter did not pick up until about 65% in and while the story peaked it wasn't enough for it to recapture my attention. Also a lot of this book was based on misunderstandings Between Dan and Jane that could have been resolved with a sit down conversation.

It was a good plot but it lost it's way in the story. If you are looking for a quick cute beach read of enemies to lovers, this might be a good book for you. If you are looking for an Epic, hard to put down romance, I would recommend looking elsewhere.

thanks to netgalley and putnam books for the arc.

annabel monaghan is an instant buy for me. i look forward to her books every spring. needless to say i am a fan. this is 100% my top book that she’s written and i’ve already (very prematurely) declared it my favorite romcom of the year. i love the characters in this book and i was rooting for all of them (except brooke of course.) everyone was so developed and fully fleshed. i will reread this just to spend time with dan and jane. i loved reading that the character of jane came about after reading jenette mccurdy’s book because that is exactly who i pictured as jane the whole time. 10/10 could keep gushing but wont.

Rating: 5 stars 🌟 (but I would give it a million stars if I could)

Thank you to @netgalley @annabelmonaghan and @putnambooks for the opportunity to read the eARC of this book!

Spoiler free review :)
Wow!!! This truly is a beautiful love story. If you love a second chance romance, found family, finding your most authentic self in an unexpected place…this book is for you. I found myself clutching my chest at so many points in this book both from my heart hurting so bad and also from my heart being so happy for the characters in this book. Jane is so imperfect and relatable, and Dan is so authentically and unapologetically himself. The other characters in this book also play their own special roles and bring so much heart to this book. Annabel has SUCH a way with words, and I felt each of them to the very core of my soul.

You need to read this book when it comes out on May 27th so you too can feel every true and beautifully overwhelming emotion this book will evoke from you 🫶🏻

📚It’s A Love Story by @annabelmonaghan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Available May 27, 2025

I finished this almost two weeks ago, and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. I’ve read a few of Annabel’s other books and loved them, but this one might be my favorite.

Jane “Janey Jakes” Jackson, former child star who was always the punchline of the joke, is now grown up and trying to make it as a movie executive. Unfortunately her number one work nemesis, cinematographer art boy Dan Finnegan, is also working on this new script. Desperate to get the project green-lit, Jane tells a little white lie and ends up spending a week with Dan’s family on Long Island chasing down a superstar from her past. Being forced into his family dynamics, Jane starts to wonder if she was wrong about Dan and questions everything she thought she knew about love.

The quiet, subtle love in this book was so beautiful. The main romance between Jane and Dan was special, but the love between Jane and her best friend Clem and Jane and her mother, the love of Dan’s family and all of their dynamics is what really put this book over the top for me. It felt like that scene in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days where Andie goes to visit Ben’s family and she instantly falls for them, but so much better! I want to have dinner with whole Finnegan fam!

I also loved Jane’s journey of learning to accept love and accept that she is worthy of love. I laughed out loud, I cried, I held a hand to my heart. 10/10, all the stars. My heart is still recovering from this one.

This comes out May 27, just in time to pack it for your beach trip this summer. I read it in snowy Oregon and loved it, but I think it’s meant to be enjoyed in the full sun, sitting on a blanket with a basket of strawberries and fresh baked muffins. ☀️🍓

I have been a fan of several of Monaghan's previous works and was excited to receive an ARC of It's a Love Story.

I am not sure I could have loved this book more unless maybe it was longer. I love that Dan and Jane were not perfect. I love that they worked through their "stuff" to become healthier emotionally and mentally.

I loved Dan's family and how Jane stuck up for Dan.

Yes, I would consider this a beach read but had some meat to it. It was about real love and not fairytale love.

Jane and Dan gave me all the feels. <3

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book did not go in the direction I thought it would. I pictured Dan to be someone different then he ended up being and wish he was separated from his family a bit. Coming from a large, close-knit family, I thought Dan's blended together and was a bit to keep up with. A lot of character introduction at once but in the end, they could have stayed blended together except for little Ruby.
I wanted more from her friend, almost felt like could have done without her except she pushed Jane to her mom and work that out before she could fully be with someone.
I love the east coast beach vibe, these never get old.

i stayed up until 2 am finishing this while crying bit fat tears!!!! i know i’ll leave stuff out so i’ll just say this book touched my heart and jane is going to stay with me for such a long time <3

i would like to thank my past self for seeing a single glowing review of this book and automatically requesting it! i had no idea what it was about going into it and i definitely didn’t know it was going to effect me so deeply! this book looked at all my insecurities and said i’m going to write a book so diabolically relatable you’re going to question your existence.

the writing is compulsively readable, i couldn’t put this story down! i would be reading and then check the clock and an hour had gone by without me even knowing it! the romance sucked me in and was so deliciously slow burn. the way that the romance is written had me feeling the yearning down to my bones!

jane, the main character, is so unbelievably relatable and easy to love. she’s starts out filled with shame and self doubt and believes no one will love her if she lets her guard down. she tries to be this perfect woman men want to date but she’s being untrue to herself. in a turn of events she ends up staying at her nemesis’ family home with his larger than life and loud family trying to convince her old acquaintance to write a song that will help fund her script. during this time she grows so much. she’s able to relax and let her true self shine through. her inner monologue was so honest and sad i was brought to tears by the negative way she thought about herself. seeing her thoughts slowly shift and reading the way her confidence and self worth grew during her time with dan and his family made my heart burst.

dan was such a great mmc! he had to be for me to love a man named DAN! he’s serious and grumpy and funny. he really pushed jane out of her comfort zone which was what she needed! i loved him and his family so much. his family is loud and in everyone’s business and i had so much fun reading about them! they added so much life to this story, they’re totally and authentically themselves and i was wishing i could stay with them for a week. they were so kind and inviting and so loving towards jane, they made her shine!

dan and jane’s romance literally had me begging and pleading for something to happen. it was sooo slow burn and we would get some movement then go backwards 10 paces. i just wanted to push them together but when they eventually happened i was on cloud 9! i was squealing and crying and laughing. their dialogue was so intimate and they meant every word they said to each other. they pushed each other to be better and made each other more courageous. they stood up for each other when they needed it, and had such a beautiful companionship!

this is all over the place but god i loved this! i love stories where someone thinks they’re hard love but for the other person it’s as easy as breathing. this story at its core is about being scared to let people see you for who you truly are because you think you’re too much but when you find the courage to let even one person in, you’re rewarded with the love you never thought you could have.

thank you to putnam and netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book so much. I will be honest, there was moments where I was rolling my eyes at the MFC but by the end I understood her and found her endearing. I can understand her insecurities and felt so much of her fears about herself and love. I adored the MMC and his family. I would love a family like that. Also all the talk of the notebook. One of my favorite movies. This was definitely a love story.

very fun and likeable romance with generally good vibes and well-written / realistic characters. 5 stars. tysm for the arc. would recommend.

Jane Jackson knows how to get a laugh. Spending her childhood as the “butt of the joke” on America’s favorite television show, she believes in laughter, not love. Now she’s a creative director at Clearwater Studios and is trying to get her first project green-lit. But when she overpromises a song by the hottest popstar to sell the screenplay, she must ask for help from the last person she wanted to work with, Dan Finnegan. Dan is not only Jane’s former crush but also a cinematographer who dashed her dreams of getting a previous screen play made. However, Dan is the only one that has connections at the popstar’s next tour stop in his hometown. Will a week together chasing down the elusive pop star change things for Dan and Jane? Can Jane face her past and change her tune on love?

It’s a Love Story is a quick-paced, enemies to lovers, rom-com read. I can imagine being fourteen years old and going through some of the same things as Jane. As women, we often question our self worth so I love how Dan’s family showed Jane she was valuable. Dan’s family was so fun to read about as well. I think most people with siblings can connect with the back and forth between them. Overall, a great read.

4⭐️’s

Thank you to NetGalley, Annabel Monaghan, and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge Annabel Monaghan fan, and It’s a Love Story did not disappoint. It’s a story that felt good in my chest - the romance made me smile then settled down into comfortable content. Great chemistry, lovable side characters, and a relaxing setting made this a perfect book to curl up on a rainy day or at the beach.

I find Monaghan’s style similar to Emily Henry in that it’s more mature and character-driven than a lot of contemporary romance, which I enjoy. That said, it took me 50-100 pages to really connect with the main characters and get past surface level. This book also features similar themes, plot events, and settings to her other works, which is fine (her most recent three books were five star reads for me), but it did give a weird sense of deja vu a few times.

Overall, really lovely read perfect for this summer!

4 stars. ARC provided by Putnam via NetGalley

This is absolutely my new favorite Annabel Monaghan book! The story and characters had me captivated from the very beginning. Jane and Dan! Oh, how I love an enemies to lovers trope! Their lives and problems were just so relatable & just beautiful to see them fight for the lives they want.
Jane Jackson is a former child actor who is now working as a studio executive trying to get a script made into a movie that she so deeply loves. She makes a wild claim that her former child costar who is a hit musician (but he is also the guy behind her most humiliating teenage moment) will write a song for the movie … cue a trip across the country to speak to him!
Dan Finnegan is a cinemographer who also falls in love with the script but unfortunately he and Jane do not get along!! It turns out the musician is in his hometown for a concert so Dan and Jane decide to fly across the country together to get the song for their movie.
The story is so beautifully written watching both of their walls come down and letting each other see their true selves. The witty banter is top tier and you will be highly entertained with all of Dan’s family. You will definitely not want this book to end, but when it does, you will be smiling. Truly a five star read for me!
Many thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for sharing an early digital copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! This book felt a bit different than Monaghan's previous books, but the writing was absolutely beautiful and made me feel allllllll of the feels. I'd love to spend a summer with Dan's family. Here's to letting go of your plans and finding the one who sees the true you and loves you even more for it.