I love movies especially older movies. So this book was definitely a win for me! I enjoyed the banter and the chemistry!

This is the first book that I have read by Heidi Rice and I would definitely read more by her in the future.

I voluntarily reviewed this book.

Normally I adore books like this, it's why I requested a copy from NetGalley, but I struggled with this one. It was a slow burner that I felt I had to push myself to finish, feeling relief when I was done.

A good character is key to any story, and while the leads had some good qualities and moments together, they weren't strong enough to hold the story for me. A well-written character is subtle, with their personality being seeped into each page, but in this book the author seemed to need to draw explicit attention to the traits she wanted the reader to focus on.

[SPOILER] There were a few sex "scenes" throughout the story and the graphic nature of them caught me off guard at first. I'm not bothered by that kind of thing in a book, but those who aren't should be warned. For me, some of the language used during these particular pages felt juvenile and took something away from my reading experience - terms such as "bonkfest" and wanting to "feast" on someone made me cringe rather than buy in to the story at that moment.

I did enjoy the movie references throughout, and how each part of the story tied together with a well-known movie. The parallels were cleverly done and played a large part in keeping me reading to the end.

I'm sure there are plenty of readers who would thoroughly enjoy this book, but it wasn't for me on this occasion.

Fun romcom book for fans of film. If you are in the mood for a fun story then this is the book for you.

This book had so much potential, but I found the writing style so off-putting and I had to force myself to finish — it ended up being just one-and-a-half stars from me (which I will round up for Goodreads).

Just Like In The Movies by Heidi Rice is set in a quirky theatre in North London, where Ruby Graham is coming to terms with the death of her boss, and father figure, Matty Devlin.

She is now half-owner of the Royale, with Matty leaving the other half to his elusive nephew, a property developer from Manhattan. 🎥🎬🌌

I knew from the blurb how this was going to end, but it still seemed like a fun read anyway and that doesn't normally put me off. It started off averagely well, however, about a third of the way through the novel I found myself completely losing interest.

There was very little substance to Ruby, and we find out very little about her back story — instead, the focus was on Luke, and the 'dramatic family secret' was just a little predictable.

Some of the descriptions, particularly of the women, made me audibly cringe; I lost track of the number of times Luke drooled over Ruby's 'bounteous curves', and the less said about the sex scenes the better.

[Thanks NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review]

[Thanks Netgalley for the ebook. This review is my honest opinion but just another opinion, you should read this book and judge it by yourself]
The blurb seemed great but I couldn't connect with the story. It's easy to read and without tension, a light reading, but I think we need something more, everthing felt plain, superficial and too cliche for me.
I love classic movies and I thought I was going to enjoy the references but that didn't happen, I found them forced and even distracting to me.
I didn't love the MC, Ruby is weak and almost always crying. Luke is more complex but he seems lost in his own book. I didn't like them as a couple, therefore I didn't enjoy the book.
------
//REVIEW IN ENGLISH SHORTLY//
2,5 estrellitas
Otro chasquito colorinchi. Como todas, tiene un buen planteamiento y un desarrollo, mñe. Lo mejor del libro es que tiene poco conflicto y de verdad que agradezco una relación de pareja con poco drama entre ellos, pero es que tiene tan poca sustancia todo... La gracia de todo, que se supone que son las referencias cinéfilas, están muy forzadas y metidas con calzador.
Los protagonistas son clichés con patas. Él me ha gustado algo más, es el personaje que más evoluciona. Comienza siendo un poco estirado y acaba menos estirado y con un trocito de nuestro cariño. Ella no tiene remedio y es un personaje inconsistente por todos lados (para repetirse hasta la saciedad que es una mujer fuerte que no llora he perdido la cuenta de la cantidad de veces que lo hace).
No es un bodrio y no se lee mal, alguna escenita hot bien lograda hay pero es un libro al que le falta una vuelta y que a mí no me ha convencido.

After Matty, the owner of the cinema where Ruby works and lives, dies she finds herself co-owner of the cinema with his nephew Luke, an American billionaire property developer. He is adamant that he won't financially back the cinema despite the outstanding debts, however he does end up helping her out.
Not quite enemies to lovers this is a story with some spicy moments, slower paced but with some humorous parts. There are references to films and Ruby's obvious affection for them in memory of Matty, who was like a father to her. It was interesting seeing how the emotional, friendly Ruby developed a chemistry with the outwardly child, emotionless Luke who had his own reasons for not starting any relationships.
A book to sit and quietly read on a Winter's evening, or even buy the side of a pool in the sunshine when we are finally allowed to go out again.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

Just Like in the Movies by Heidi Rice

****This ARC was provided by NetGalley for a free and honest review.**** Ruby has just lost her best friend, mentor and father figure, Matty. He owned an independent theatre in Nottingham and it was his pride and joy. Upon reading the will, she discovers she was given half ownership in the theatre. The other half has been left to Matty’s grumpy nephew he’s never even met, Luke. Luke’s parents are both famous and beloved actors. He wants no part of the limelight. He’d rather sell and be done with the whole thing. Ruby has other ideas. She’s made it her goal to save the struggling theatre and intends to show Luke just how important it is to the local community. I thought this book was adorable. Ruby was so lovable as well as some of the supporting characters. I loved the storyline of Luke’s famous parents and the little bit of mystery as to why he was included in the will. This book is set to publish March 12, 2021.

I was ecstatic to be given an ARC for this book, from the synopsis I pegged it for being something fun and light- and that was exactly what this book was.

It was something fun to take my mind off of the worlds current events and take a breather. It was the perfect book and the romance was fluffy but not nauseating

I think I was expecting this book to be a little more focused on rom-coms then it was.

This is a book that follows Ruby, a woman who loves movies and worked in a cinema and Luke, son of movie stars who now works in construction and hates movies. When Ruby's mentor and Luke's uncle dies, he leaves them both the cinema and Ruby has to convince Luke to help her keep it open.

I didn't like Luke very much. I understand he had a hard past and that he has things he needs to deal with. Seriously, I did feel sorry for him, but I still just wasnt a fan. And I didn't like Ruby much either. I found it difficult to care about what was going on to either of then, and that made this book a slog.

What I did like were the little movie opinions at the start of some of the chapters. The first one was my favourite as a lot of the others...well, they were just boring. We get that Brokeback Mountain is sad already! But they were a little bit of movie related fun, and I wish all the chapters had featured them.

Overall, not a book for me.

Cute, fun, and perfectly lighthearted! I really enjoyed this read, I absolutely loved hearing from both perspectives. It really helps understand Ruby and Luke as characters. Overall, this one is a light, fun, rom com that flowed well and had me engaged from page 1!

This was a super cute read. I thought this book gave a lot of realistic portrayals of relationships, and I enjoyed getting to know the characters. I really enjoyed the main characters, and I found them believable and likable. I also identified with their struggles, and I liked the pacing of the story. There were parts I felt like the author rushed, but that didn’t detract from the overall story. Overall, this was a nice addition to my February reading rotation, I would like to read more books by this author!

This was such an enjoyable book from start to finish. I loved Ruby and Luke as separate characters and together as well. Such lovely, surprisingly hot chemistry. Ruby was so relatable and you could not help but root for her to succeed throughout. Luke was wonderfully complicated and broody but still likeable. I appreciated the alternating POV’s as they gave us proper insight into both Ruby and Luke, letting us get to know them properly as they got to know each other. I enjoyed the movie theatre setting and eclectic mix of supporting characters. The mini movie reviews of Matty’s classics were great too. A really engaging, fun and romantic read.

Took me a little bit to get into this book as it does drag into parts but once I was into it I was hooked. The characters became loveable and I loved seeing their relationship grow. Good plot twists. Wasn't a big fan of the random metaphors being repeated IE meteor in her throat , mariachi band in her stomach etc , as it felt a little out of place to me and was repeated so much in a short amount of time.
But this is a good enemies to lovers romance novel . Very cute , funny , steamy. Great ending too! Also good representation of LGBTQIA+ in the book.

Such a perfect story, I flew through this book in one day, I loved the plot the characters and the writing style.

The perfect story for a bit of escapism!

This book gave me all the feels. I enjoyed it so much. Loved all the Wizard of Oz references, as it’s my favorite movie. Enjoyed all the additional movie references thrown in as well.

Loved the banter between Ruby and Luke. It was just the right mix of cute, flirty and steamy. Also enjoyed seeing the story from both of their viewpoints.

This was my first book by this author. But I will definitely be reading more immediately!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for allowing me to read this e-book.

The story - ⭐
The writing - ⭐
Overall - ⭐

The characters felt wooden, the sex scenes were cringey, the plot was just fine but not massively engaging.

I did enjoy some of the movie references but it felt like the author was just nicking bits from their fave romcoms and smashing them all together.

Fave quote - 'Luckily she had tons of time, because tonight’s film was The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which lasted well over three hours thanks to its twenty-five endings.'

Fave moment - Scattering Matty's ashes

I thought this was a cute enemies-to-lovers romance. I liked the connection between Ruby and Luke. I thought they had great chemistry. It's the kind of story that you would find on the hallmark channel, and I loved that. I did find parts of the story a bit slow and repetitive. I think that there is definitely some info that could be edited out. It was, overall though, a solid romance, and something that I think readers will enjoy!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

3.5/5.
What a cute, easy read! Just Like in the Movies centres around our main characters, Ruby and Luke, as they take on the ownership of an independent movie theatre. It tackles grief, addressing your past and of course, romance.

This was a solid story. It was a little heavier than I figured given the cover, with quite a few heavy topics discussed well like grief and past incidents that affected our main characters. I will say the highlight for me was our main male character - Luke and his family. I loved his growth in this and how he was portrayed, his backstory of coming from movie star parents was so interesting.

The story did lag a little in the middle and there was some dialogue that I found cringey, but overall this was a solid romance. Quick to get through and sweet.

Big thank you to NetGalley, the author and publication team for sending me an arc for an honest review!

I just finished reading Just Like in the Movies and thank NetGalley for an advance copy. This is the first book I have read by Heidi Rice and it is well written. I wasn't sure about Ruby, the h, at first, but after a few chapters she really grew on my and I really liked her. Luke took a bit longer for me to like, but that was because we were in his head a lot less that Ruby. Ruby is a very fleshed out character and we really understand her and her motivations-I really wish she had shared more of them with Luke, but I can understand why she didn't. I also don't think it would have actually helped their relationship to have shared. I do wish the pace of the book was a bit faster. It isn't that this is a slow burn, it really isn't, but it felt like some of the book was repetitive when it didn't need to be. Still, I enjoyed the book and would most certainly read more by this author. 4.5 stars rounded to 5.

I received an ARC through net galley for an honest review

This book is everything that I want in a romance book, it had the reluctance at first, the silent pining, and the fantastic blow up at the end. At first I wasn't sure what to think of Ruby, it seemed as though she would a typical "film girl" and be kind of annoying, but she was much more than that. She has such a passion for movies and really wanted to save the place that was her home. Seeing Luke help her with that and fall in love at the same time was amazing.

The love story was so cute and I don't think I will ever forget the scene where Luke washes her hair. I would have liked to see him actually say I love you. At the end he says to himself that this must be what love is but he never actually says it out loud to Ruby which kind of bothers me.