What a wonderfully exciting and immersive story- it perfectly combines romance along with historical fiction so effortlessly whilst keeping the reader engaged throughout the book. The book focuses on a lady known as Frankie (with her pen name of Georgina Justice a renowned romance author) and her decision to take a break to England after her life in New York takes a turn for the worse. Frankie's editor and friend Ashley instills that the break away will inspire her writing process and give her a new lease on life and it may in fact do just that- (with a few bumps along the way).
This was such an enjoyable, humorous book that I absolutely devoured in two sittings.
A huge thankyou to both Victory Editing Co- Op along with Net galley for the opportunity to read the ARC of this wonderful story.

I was so excited about Kimberly Duffy’s switch to contemporary romantic comedy! Georgina Justice, famous American romance author, heads to England for research under her real name Frankie. She rents a room in a British manor house from the lady of the house-unbeknownst to the brother in charge, Graham, Viscount Rosebury. Jilted by her long-term boyfriend, Frankie seeks inspiration from manor’s history and even heirloom clothing in hopes of convincing herself to believe in love again-perhaps with the shy, practical, trebuchet-loving viscount. It did take me a little bit to get into this story but once I did I could NOT put it down. What British romance-loving American woman doesn’t daydream about what it would be like to fall in love in the British countryside?? Frankie and Graham have so much chemistry- there’s plenty of yearning in this slow burn romance! Between a gorgeous manor property, meddling younger sister, treasure hunting, ghost stories, and a villainous ex, The Meet Cute Manuscript has more than enough fun to keep you on your toes! I definitely recommend this book for Duffy fans and new readers alike!

*I was provided a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed above are my own and I was not required to give a review.

✉️Review: The Meet-Cute Manuscript

🍫Rate: 5 Stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

💞Praise: So so so so adorable! Frankie is my new favorite book character! Our beautiful regency romance author is trying to heal from a breakup from an ex-fiance. Yikes! She decides in order to continue working on her next novel getting inspiration by being in England is the ticket! (Yes please!) Graham is the ultimate grumpy recluse and I could not get enough of them! Men who tend to be grumpy definitely have the most secrets! LOL

☕Characters: Another character I absolutely without a doubt adored was Graham's younger sister Eleanor! She definitely has a good heart and her meddling I considered the most entertaining! Her personality is kind of like a tiny dessert you couldn't get enough of and just wanted more! While Graham and Frankie are navigating a romance you definitely sense a lot of whimsical moments and a lot of heartfelt moments leading up to each page. That definitely grabbed my attention!

🥃Extra: I have read Kimberly's books in the past and I was so excited she was writing a contemporary romance! I knew I had to pick it up immediately and I was so glad I was picked to read it!

🍵Bravo!

DNF at 36%

This book sounded very cute and ticked several of my favorite boxes (Regency, enemies to lovers). But the execution just wasn't there for me. I found the characters to be flat and I found myself not wanting to continue reading the story.

This book was the perfect blend of romance, history, and self-discovery. Frankie—who’s secretly bestselling author Georgia—is hiding out in the English countryside after a very public breakdown. She’s supposed to be alone, focusing on her next novel and healing... but then the grumpy older brother of her host unexpectedly arrives.

What follows is a slow burn filled with witty banter, emotional depth, and a setting that makes you want to book a trip to the UK immediately. I loved watching Frankie figure out who she is outside of the public eye—and the romantic tension? Chef’s kiss.

It’s heartfelt, charming, and completely unputdownable. If you're a fan of hidden identities, forced proximity, and emotionally satisfying love stories, this one’s for you.

The story follows Frankie Brown. She is better known as Georgina Justice, best selling regency romance author. Unfortunately she has a very public break up with her fiancé, who is also well known. Ashley, her best friend and agent convinces her to get out of the country so she can focus and finish her manuscript. She books her a place in the English countryside for two months. When her driver pulls up to basically a castle called Crestford house, she thinks she’s traveled back in time.
Crestford house is a private residence with a brother and sister in residence, Graham and Eleanor. Graham was perfectly content in doing his projects and hobbies, Eleanor is tired of living in crumbling remains. With the money coming in from someone staying two months, they can make lots of renovations.
The beginning with Georgiana and her break up started off strong. Once she arrived at the castle, I loved the description of the surrounding area and the introduction to Eleanor. Unfortunately I did not feel a great connection with Graham. Yes, I know he is supposed to be the grumpy recluse, but it just didn’t sit right with me. I thought the descriptions of the ancestors was interesting, but there was just too much bland rambling in the middle of the book. The saving grace for this book was the last 25% and I really enjoyed it. A great conclusion and happily ever after made up for all the downtime. This is a clean contemporary romance with a little bit of historical flair. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

4.5 stars ✨

"... Every life is self-contained. We all make our own choices about what we want our story to be.' "

👠 Release date: Tuesday, April 22nd; it's available now! 👠

I couldn't stop reading this amazing novel. I cried. I laughed. I giggled - quite literally over the grumpy engineer Graham and bright, beautiful writer, Frankie. This contemporary romance knew what it was doing, giving me all the feels and swoons - and! The fact I got my regency historical romance as well!

I love the fact this story has a story within it (as Frankie writes her new manuscript).

If you want both contemporary and historical romance, this hits the sweet spot!

The internal conflict of Frankie is totally relatable with how she struggles with the lies and tension with her family (especially towards her father). The fact, she wants to separate her identity with Frankie and wants to be Georgian Justice (her pen-name), but now she's realizing she is Frankie and she desires her own story. Then there's Graham, he was relatable with grieving his parents and having to grow up soon to take her of his sister and wants nothing to change.

I highly recommend this wonderful romcom with deep emotions and sweet, hot kisses! 💕

Thank you Victory Editing Co-op, via NetGalley! I received a copy from Victory Editing. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

The Meet-Cute Manuscript by Kimberly Duffy sounded like a book I could enjoy and spend a few hours reading. I was struggling as I read to connect with the characters. I really wanted to like Georgina/Frankie but I could not see her as someone I could meet in life. I want a romance to be a story that makes me swoon and cheer for the romance to fill me with emotions.
This is the first book in the series and I will read the next one to give the series a chance.
Thank you NetGalley, Kimberly Duffy and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the copy of The Meet-Cute Manuscript. This is my personal review.

A few issues
Brett coming back at the end seemed out of character. I would have much rather seen Frankie fly back home to help her family.
I did enjoy getting to read some of her manuscript though the book. A nice touch.

The wedding dress is kind of unbelievable. Did I miss her getting the dress fitted to her right then? Hard time believing the dress was so custom they wouldn’t do any form of return when she was still in the shop when wedding was over.

While I enjoyed the premise of this story and some of the characters, I felt that there was a certain depth lacking in a lot of the interactions and the plot overall. I felt like the most significant moments were cut short, the growth of the characters restricted at the last second. It was overall an enjoyable, fun read, but probably not one I'd pick up again.

This romance is such a delight! I have a soft spot for novels about writers, but this one really stands out as special. I love the premise of the story - that a Regency romance novelist gets to live out a Regency-style romance in the present day - and Kim Duffy executes it masterfully. I enjoyed Frankie and Graham both as individuals and as a couple, and I loved the role Graham's sister Eleanor played in their budding romance. The setting was also fascinating, and I enjoyed the freshness of Duffy's writing voice, which is distinctive and different from a lot of other writers in the best possible way. This is one of the best romances I've read in 2025, and I hope Kim Duffy will write another contemporary book!

Historical romance author Georgina Justine escapes her reality by moving into a dilapidated castle in England. There, she becomes Frankie again, the daughter of Reneck, whose impoverished family still lives in a godforsaken backwater.

Graham is a superb English gentleman, and his little sister Eleanor is the perfect matchmaker for this unlikely couple.

I'm not a fan of historical romances, but I really liked the passages written by Georgina, which really bring out her state of mind.

I loved the story of Graham's family; it's very romantic.

Georgina's ex is truly detestable! We love to hate him :) Even though she expresses it at one point, we still wonder how she could have stayed in a relationship with him for so long, let alone gone so far as to buy a wedding dress.

Thanks to Netgalley and Kim Duffy for providing an eARC in exchange for a honest review.

This was such a sweet book! The main characters were so cute together and I loved how much they cared about each other. I would highly recommend this book!

The Meet-Cute Manuscript is the kind of story that winks at the reader while embracing every romance trope - and I was absolutely here for it.

The book follows Frankie, a romance author escaping to England after a very public breakup, where she hopes to write her next novel in peace. What she doesn’t expect is a real-life meet-cute with a certain grumpy, brooding Brit. Told in dual POV, we get to see both sides of the slow-burn unfold, which adds a depth to their dynamic.

There are some delightful layers here: snippets of Frankie’s own manuscript are sprinkled throughout, adding a clever “story within a story” feel. The setting is modern day but filled with charming nods to Regency-era fiction, making it perfect for fans of historical romance.

One standout is Eleanor, the sister character, who adds warmth, humor, and a bit of matchmaking chaos. She’s the kind of secondary character who steals every scene she’s in and makes you hope for a spin-off book.

Another thing that really worked for me was how self-aware the book is - it plays with common tropes and pokes fun at itself in a way that feels fresh and playful. If you've ever watched Bridgerton and thought, "I wish I could recommend this to my mom," this is your answer. It's low spice but still swoony and satisfying.

The only thing that knocked it down a star for me was the repetition in Frankie’s backstory. At times, it felt like we were reminded of the same emotional beats a few too many times. But once I moved past that, it was a lovely and cozy read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

thank you, netgalley, for letting me read this. I really liked it. Frankie, aka Georgina, was a cute character to get to know, and Graham was very interesting to know when we got to see him open up. I liked this cutesy grumpyxsunshine romance. It was nice to see that Frankie wasn't happy go lucky all the time, we got to see her ups and downs, and she helped Graham come out of his own world while she was also coming into her own and accepting being just Frankie instead of both Frankie and Georgina.

This is the first book I have read by Kim Duffy. She really brings her characters to life.

Frankie is a historical romance author who was just cheated on by her fiance. She is not really feeling the romance so her friend/manager books a stay for her at a old manor house in England. There, Frankie meets an actual viscount who is hot and grumpy.

I loved the back and forth between Frankie and Graham. Graham came off a little dense but still very sweet and tender.

I know this is the first in the series and I am looking forward to the next book.

American Georgina (Frankie) Justice is a writer facing a very public breakup with New York’s most attractive trust-fund darling. Mortified that he can attribute the breakup to her when he is caught cheating on her. Unable to write her latest romance novel, her agent sends her to England to rediscover her inner romantic.
The last thing Georgina expects to find is Graham Michael Phips-Harington, Viscount Rosebury—a brooding, emotionally repressed engineer who spends all his time building trebuchets and trying to preserve his crumbling Georgian manor. While they initially clash as Graham is determined to keep his life private and simple, they begin to enjoy each other's company. Yet, his family’s curse only promises heartache to those that find love.
I love when I find a new author, and this was such a delightful storyline. The telling of Graham’s family ancestors and their love stories was well interspersed into the budding romance between Graham and Frankie. Their enjoyment of each other’s company is so obvious, and the happiness when they are together was contagious. I so loved Eleanor, Graham’s younger sister, who is so wise, clever, and sweet and also young. I found her story very touching. A great read!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This story about Frankie and Graham is wonderful. I love how they discovered and accepted their love and changed who they thought they had to be, to who they actually were. Eleanor was probably my favourite character! She was young, but so smart beyond her years. This was a great story of two very different people coming together and finding and accepting love.

Overall it was a really cute story, which I enjoyed. All of the characters were quirky and it came together well.
However, it was a very slow read for me and took a lot of time to get into. The chapters were long, and it switched back from each character in each chapter that was sometimes hard to follow.

This book was the first story I’ve read by this author.
What a fun story, set in a delightful setting.
I loved all the “Regency/Austen” theme stuff and the sweet romance! It was also fun to read about the many clothing choices Frankie(Georgina) made for some of the craziest adventures.
It was fun picturing the mansion and all the buildings and grounds where this took place. Oh, to live in a place like that!
Kim Duffy is a new author to me, and I enjoyed getting to know her writing style. In her book, the characters are sassy and full of life—some are even swoon-worthy—characters you will come to love and enjoy. Her book is full of fun dialogue that will make you chuckle and keep you reading!
I highly recommend you pick this book up for a fun, delightful book that’s easy to read.
The publisher gave me this book, but this did not influence my review in any way; all thoughts and opinions are my own.