Wonderful story as usual from a reliable author! Love the slow burn before they finally kiss. Write another, please! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you so much @netgalley & @putnambooks for the ARC of @annabelmonaghan upcoming book It’s A Love Story (release date 5/27). I was beyond excited to read this book as I’ve loved Annabel’s previous books. It’s A Love Story is a perfect spring/summer read, I loved all the scenes at the beach. It made me look forward to warmer weather ☀️🏖️.

I rated It’s A Love Story 5 stars, I recommend reading it if your in the mood for a fun, engaging romance with extended family members that you will fall in love with!

Jane is a former child-star turned wannabe movie producer who has found the perfect script to turn into a romantic movie. Only the studio she works for doesn't think it will bring in the money. So Jane pulls a solution out of her hat - they can get a song for the soundtrack from one of the hottest pop stars out there because he and Jane are friends from way back. Only that's a slight exaggeration because Jane hasn't talked to Jack Quinlan since they were 14 and she declared she loved him on their first date. But Jane has an unlikely ally in Dan Finnegan, the cinematographer who is just as invested in the script as Jane, and who happens to live in the Long Island town where Jack will be playing next weekend. Oh and he and Jane almost went on a date before she heard him trashing an earlier project. So Jane and Dan pack their bags for a week in Long Island where they will try to win over Jack and try to keep their growing feelings for each other at bay.

The first third of this book was a slow start for me. Jane is so traumatized by her childhood acting days that she doesn't know who she really is and therefore doesn't know how to act without a predetermined script to help her out. Her rules for dressing and acting and all the ways they come back to bite her is rather cringy. However, once they land in Long Island and she starts to let go, the book turns into really a great story of a woman who finally starts to see herself as other people see her and lets down her guard to fall in love. I loved her growth arc, and I appreciated that we did get some deeper back story for Jane that helps to understand why her guard is so up. Dan's family adds some great secondary characters (his parents are just the best).

Overall: 4.25/5 rounded down
Spice: 1/3 (open door but not explicit)

4.5 stars - Loved this one! It felt like her typical beautiful writing that left me kicking my feet with excitement over the romantic storyline. I did think the resolution with her mom went a little quickly given time spent on other storylines, but it wrapped up nicely. Loved her friendship with Clem as well. I always love an Annabel Monaghan book and can't wait for the next one!

4.5 stars: As a huge fan of Annabel Monaghan, I was super excited to receive this ARC. Overall, a highly enjoyable read. It follows Jane Jackson, a former child television star and current studio executive who is trying to get her first movie greenlit. After making some exaggerated statements, she has to rely upon her grumpy co-worker Dan Finnegan. There is an enemies to lover trope but the novel itself is so much more than a simple beach read. However, while it was a very fun spring read, it just didn't quite have the depth of some of Monaghan's previous novels (especially Nora Goes Off Script or Summer Romance).

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have come to look forward to anything that Annabel Monaghan writes since I have enjoyed everything she's written and this was no exception. The characters and their stories had me invested and caring about them. The pacing felt a little off at times in this one but for the most part I looked forward to reading each day.

First time reading Annabel Monaghan and what a delight it was!!

This one had all the emotion, a swoony MMC, and such quirky comments and banter. The off-beat comments from Jane were perfect for an ex-TV sidekick (also I appreciated how she was inspired by Jennette McCurdy's autobiography...I read it a few weeks ago and I'm glad this this doesn't completely sugarcoat the experience of child actors).

Some small things knocked it down a star for me, but it's still a great love story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. I loved the characters, including the main ones but also many of the side characters. I’d read an entire series on “the mob”. I also loved seeing behind the scenes in an industry I don’t know well. I flew through the book and could have read in one day should l have had that time.

Jane “Janey” Jackson is a former sitcom actress turned Creative Executive. She’s recently read the script for a romance that speaks to her and expresses all of the things she wishes to say to her mother about love. The only problem is that her bosses are looking to make the movie more commercial. In an effort to get the movie made, Jane blurts out that she knows Jack Quinlan, a chart-topping musician. While this isn’t untrue, her relationship with him is based on an embarrassingly fleeting moment from Jane’s adolescence. Now Jane must team up with her coworker/rival/almost lover Dan Finnegan by traveling with him to a music festival being held in Dan’s hometown on Long Island.

What wasn’t there to love about this book? Jane is goofy, infuriating, and a protagonist that feels real. Dan is headstrong, genuinely himself, and frustratingly, lovable. I love when an author creates a world so I loved that this story was set in Oak Shore and at the Owl Barn (if you know you know). I found myself losing track of some of the brothers, but I feel like that speaks more to the chaos the author wanted to express about how this family operates than a fault of the writing. The third act break up was done in a way that doesn’t rely on overused tropes, but instead seamlessly spoke to a larger conflict that existed throughout the entire story. Lastly, I love enemies-to-lovers, and this was a subtle version of that with one room/close proximity that was the perfection combination of angsty and sweet.

After reading Nora Goes Off Script and Summer Romance in one sitting each, Annabel Monaghan quickly became of my favorite authors. When I got the chance to read and review her newest book It’s a Love Story early I jumped at the chance and it did not disappoint.

This book follows Jane Jackson, a childhood TV star who is just trying to make her place in the adult world. As a Creative Executive for a movie studio she finds a movie that she thinks would be her career breakout film.

The only problem?

The only way to get it made it to talk to her first kiss who she hasn’t spoken to in 20 years.

Searching for Jack Quinlan takes Jane and her enemy, Dan, to his childhood home to hopefully be able to corner Jack at the local music festival. But, as always, nothing goes to plan and Jane leaves questioning everything.

This book was truly a sunny day in novel format. Without a doubt It’s a Love Story is going to be one of the summers best beach reads.

This was another delightful romantic comedy from Monaghan. While an enemies to lovers story, it's also about Jane's journey to self acceptance and moving past issues stemming from an adolescence spent on camera. The Finnegan family was a highlight of the book and I enjoyed every minute spent with them. This really is the perfect summer, beach read. Would recommend for fans of Katherine Center.

I loved this book--maybe even more than Nora Goes Off Script?? I loved the flashbacks to her childhood, Jane's complicated relationship with her mother, her love of her best friend and her need to be MORE. The best scenes in the book are the scene's on Long Island with Dan's family--you could feel so much come through in those scenes. The overwhelming love of a big family, but also their inability to truly see Dan. Jane's yearning to be a part of a love like that and her understanding of Dan's need for space from them. I will read anything Annabel Monaghan writes!!!

I enjoyed this book SO MUCH!!!! It had just the right amount of humor, strife, hope, and if course, love.

I feel like it author wrote it from heart. It was so refreshingly honest, and lovely. It's not often I read a book that touches me so deeply.

The main characters are adults. They don't have it all figured out, and they're both a mess, in their own ways.

Please read this book!! You won't be disappointed!!!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Right book and the right time- I cried more than once and loved each character. But I did hope Jane ended up writing and singing the song- Butterflies on the Beach.

3.5 stars This is a good comfy summer read or vacation read. I thought the story line was cute and I like how she found herself in the end without it being just about a guy suddenly liking her. I will say for a story that griped about instant love so much it was literally the definition of instant love but I would still recommend it to others!

My 3rd book by Annabel Monaghan and possibly my favorite! All of her books have been so great! I loved this sassy enemies to lovers romance and I’ll be recommending this to all my friends!

This was such a cozy, sweet, easy romcom. I loved the chemistry between Jane and Dan. Jane is no nonsense and just wants to find her practical partner. Even though she works in Hollywood, she doesn't believe she is deserving of the Hollywood love story with all the frills and meet cutes. Then she meets Dan who sees the world in a totally different way, who believes in the messy but perfect love story. I love that Jane starts to open herself up to Dan and allows herself to feel love and connection however I hated the self sabotage. However, I thought the author did this in such a way that makes Jane realize she can be happy and can be loved regardless of what she has been told. I love that she is forced to look inward and face all the ugly truths. And this makes her connection with Dan so much more realistic and easy to imagine. They accept the good and the bad. This was an amazing read.

Not my favorite of Annabel’s, but still cute and will make you feel all the things. My main beef is with the 3rd act miscommunication of it all… like it was silly to me, JUST TALK

Thank you thank you Annabel Monaghan and your team for this ARC! This is the most excited I’ve been for any of the ARCs I’ve gotten. I LOVED this book. Easily one of the best I’ve read this year so far.

Jane can’t stand Dan, but when they finally agree on a script that needs to be made into a movie, Jane must rely on Dan to help her do want needs to be done to get it made.

This was such a heartwarming story with real and raw emotions. How love is just as special if if it’s not love at first sight and how the wounds we carry affect more than we know.

I CANNOT wait for everyone to read this book!!
It’s a love story out May 27th, 2025

ARC REVIEW!!!
3.75⭐️

This was a very fun and easy read I loved Jane a lot I thought she was a complex character and i loved seeing her open up to the people in her life and actually fall in love. I did like Dan but I wish there was a bit more to him and we got to actually know him more I would have loved a dual pov for this book! Overall cute and fun with some good emotional bits!