I really like Kate Watson's writing and adaptations, in Off Script she brings the adaptation of the amusing Emma with her cupid and control syndrome.

Emma remains very attached to her brother Harlan and will need to adjust the mood between him and their friend, Liam, as they will need to work together. Harlan betrayed Liam's sister and even though he apologized, it still feels uncomfortable when he's around Liam.

Between recordings, parties, interviews and a busy schedule, Emma will need help and that's when she finds her new project, assistant Brittany, a dazzling country girl who quickly becomes a must for Emma and become her faithful friend too.

A cute story about love, friendship, strength and about knowing the right moment to support or not a loved one.

4/5 stars

A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s classic Emma, this is a Hollywood-inspired take on the story. Now, before I start, I’m going to say that Emma was actually my least favourite Austen novel and in my opinion, Emma Woodhouse was Austen herself’s least favourite heroine. Pretty, rich and spoiled? You bet Miss Austen really quite enjoyed writing that scene where Knightley takes Emma down several dozen pegs.

That said, there have been some great retakes on Emma over the years, the movie Clueless being the best-known example, where Alicia Silverstone managed to charm all of us with her pretty, charmingly naive Cher. It’ll definitely help if you imagine the same actress playing the lead character of this novel with that same energy; it’ll help you like a character who could come off as a spoiled little rich girl a lot better.

This isn’t a straight ‘plug and play’ of characters from the original into the modern setting. Here Emma has an older brother, Harlan, whose best friend Liam is her love interest. Emma and Harlan are child TV stars growing up into full on Hollywood megastars, buffered from the real world by their wealth and privilege. Emma’s matchmaking is more targeted at helping people find stardom than love. Social media plays a big part in the story, and so does the very timely topic of sexual predators in the entertainment industry, as Emma mentors her assistant Brittany and explains ‘the rules’ all women in the industry abide by as a matter of course… but shouldn’t have to.

It’s easy to write Emma and her friends off as shallow and entitled, unaware of the real-world struggles faced by the rest of us every day, and I admit I struggled to feel much sympathy for her as a Poor Little Rich Girl until the big reveals started coming later on in the book. But come they did, and by the end of it, I really cared about Emma and wanted her to get her happy ending with Liam, who seemed like a real sweetheart.

The book does need trigger warnings for grooming, sexual predation by those in power, parental gaslighting and financial abuse. If these are difficult topics for you, you might need to give this one a miss, but I do recommend it as both a timely read in this age of #MeToo and a charming romance. Five stars.

Look, I know absolutely nothing about Jane Austen and her stories but every time I read a Kate Watson book, I get a little more curious. Not going to lie, Off Script in combination with the latest Emma movie trailer has me even more intrigued!

We live in an era of Instagram influencers and the #MeToo movement, which Kate appropriate explores in her story. Yes, Emma is a celebrity and comes from celebrity, but she feels equally as down to earth and real as someone who lives next door. She could be your best friend (Emma, call me) yet she has some work to do (oh, and does she do the work) as a precocious young adult. Perhaps what I love most about this story is that Emma has actual thigh muscles on the cover and the diet to match. I’ve never read a female character who goes through a muscle growth period. As a person who has been in a growth period for almost 3 years, I can tell you: it’s fucking hard. The stigma around having muscles as a female is real so to have Emma as a role model for youth is *chef’s kiss*.

Oh, and that last chapter? Seeing old favorites will never get old. Thanks for keeping these stories in the same universe!

This is a Netgalley ARC review. All opinions are solely my own.

This book was just kind of ok for me. I think part of the problem is I hadn’t read the other 2 books in the series. The other problem is I really don’t like the busybody that is Emma. I realize that’s the point of her character but I think it co7ld have been done differently.

Overall, the writing & story are good. I think if I read the other 2 books I might enjoy this one more.

Since our main character, Emma, is a celebrity, the entire story is set in that world. It made for a very interesting read since I feel like we're often confronted with the consequences of celebrities' pressure. It also shed some light on things we might not immediately realize, like eating disorders often being the consequence of pressure agents put on their clients. Emma's way of dealing with those things is admirable to say the least and I loved seeing how she tried combining the harsh demands while maintaining a healthy lifestyle anyway.

Apart from Emma, there are some other important characters as well. Not in the least Harlan, her brother, who has an aweful influence on pretty much everyone surrounding him. We might not get his point of view, but his growth - and often lack thereof - is visible nonetheless.
Then there are Liam and Brittany, who couldn't be more different. Liam knows what he wants, knows himself and owns up to it as well. Brittany, on the other hand, is new in the world of celebrities and has a hard time finding her way. With the help of Emma, she tries doing that, tries staying true to herself and overcomes certain things I hope none of us ever have to deal with.

As mentioned in the triggers above, this novel contains a lot of hard subjects, difficult events and even harder truths to deal with. This made for an emotionally rough, but still enlightening read. If you need a book that proves how people's pasts and thoughts aren't always visible and known, this is one to pick up for sure! Not only that, but the important of raising your voice and speaking up is definitely a lesson learned as well.

I don't know if this is something that's based on Emma - since this is still a sort of retelling and I never read the classic - or not, but I got really frustrated with our main character at times. She's simply so.. close-minded and judgemental. Even more so when it comes to things that happened in her past, people who have supposedly wronged her. It really did annoy me how she couldn't seem to understand she's not the only one struggling with life as a celebrity. She, of all people, should understand how it is for women in that industry?! It didn't make sense to me at all, to be honest.

4 / 5

Except for the one characteristic of Emma I just couldn't wrap my head around, I did enjoy the story and all its layers. As far as retellings go, I don't read contemporary ones often but if I do.. You can rest assured I'll be grabbing something Kate Watson wrote!

I didn't read the first book of this series and was a little scared if that would be a problem. Turns out, it isn't!

The first part of the book was hard to get through. The writing style (lots and lots of dialogue and not a lot of action) combined with a bratty selfish main character made it a little difficult. But it gets better! Emma goes through a real development throughout the book and especially in the end.

The slow-burn romance and the #metoo-theme were a great addition to the book. I do think that there could've been more. I missed a little depth sometimes.

Overall, I ended up enjoying it!

A genuinely enjoyable retelling of Jane Austen. I found the main character, Emma, to be enjoyable, for the most part. At first, you may not enjoy her as much -- but after you get through the first few chapters, she's easier to digest. A great Fall read for anyone who is interested in a heartwarming story. The narrative was easy to read, one of the books that we would recommend for the narrative and writing style as well.

You must remember this is a modern retelling of Jane Austen's "Emma" or you are not going to be a fan of Emma Crawford in this story.

I feel like this book started a few chapters later than it did - I felt a bit dropped in the middle of a whole lotta drama llama but not quite enough backstory. That being said, this is a really great modern retelling of Emma.

Deserving it's own paragraph/section thing of my review: Kate Watson has put a really important message in here whilst staying really true to Jane Austen's novel. I'm not going to say what the topic is because that's part of the plot, but it is important and it was a brilliant addition to an otherwise well-known story. I think because the plot is so well-known, the reader can focus on this message even more intently. Good job doing that!

Thank you to the publishers for a copy of this in advance of publishing.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.


The writing isn't memorable, but Watson writes well and the dialogue, especially, is fantastic. It's entertaining, witty, and clever. Sometimes it veers into cheesiness, but generally it's strong. The dialogue is easily my favourite aspect of this novel.

Unfortunately, the plot is extremely dull. There's no sense of urgency, no truly exciting scenes, and I struggled to keep reading. I never disliked the story, but it never hooked me, either. The combination of merely filler content and unfocused themes messed with the pacing and sapped the thrill and tension from the plot; it's a timely and commendable decision on the author's part to bring the #MeToo movement into the story, but that only became the main plot about halfway through the book...Why? Why was the book's message never clear until then?

If the story was tightened and the plot was injected with high stakes, deeply compelling scenes, and had focus from beginning to end, I might've loved it.

The characters are fun and interesting. Watson's Emma is the perfect tribute to Austen's, and she has the same energy and compelling personality traits that make us love to hate the original Emma. Watson nails her heroine's personality.

As for the rest of the cast and their relationships, everyone is interesting in their own way and they all add something valuable to the story. Emma and Liam's romance is wonderfully nuanced and they have great chemistry, Emma's relationship with Brittany is the perfect parallel to Emma and Harriet's problematic relationship, and Emma's dynamic with her brother Harlan is a thoughtful and layered addition to the plot.


With strong dialogue and colourful characters, Off Script is a feisty retelling of Austen's Emma.

In the third installment of the Seeking Mansfield series, Watson gave us her spirit on Emma by Jane Austen. This Emma was still a matchmaker, but instead of love matches, she was making career matches.

One of the things I always do, when I read a retelling, is to get a refresher on the source material. I am always curious to compare the old and the new, and I was really surprised by how much of the original Emma existed in this very NOW, very timely take on the original story. She also did a fantastic job capturing the spirt of Emma. That to me is sign of brilliance, and I must acknowledge how well the author accomplished this task.

This Emma was a successful actress, preparing for an upcoming blockbuster film, and therefore, a bulk of the book focuses on being a women in entertainment industry. Here, we saw the dark side of the entertainment industry - exploitation, lack of privacy, gossip, backstabbing, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. The MeToo movement rocked Hollywood, and therefore, definitely earned its part in this story. It's a timely topic, which deserves attention, and I liked all the different ways Watson tackled it.

I also adored all the people, who were part of Emma's life. The importance of friendship and found-family was strong throughout this book, and Watson gifted Emma with an amazing bunch of people to help her navigate this unpredictable world. I especially adored Weston. That man oozed love and support through his pores, and I could totally imagine him as the next Ellen.

Another character, who deserves a big mention, is Liam. Liam was a fantastic love interest for Emma. He was so sweet, kind, and swoony, but he also challenged her, a LOT. They had great chemistry, and their shared love of Finely was just another thing to strengthen their connection. I liked that he was often a voice of reason, but also there to remind Emma of who she was, when she sometimes lost sight of that.

I was beyond delighted that Watson reunited all three Seeking Mansfield couples for the final chapter of this book. She not only brought them physically together, but she also reminded us of how much each of these young women had overcome and accomplished. If this is her final retelling set in this world, it was a find send off, which, by the way, left me shedding a few tears

Okay, why didn't i read this book before? This was one of my late netgalley reads and honestly... i'm beating myself about it because it is so so good.

This book is a retelling of Emma by Jane Austen (which i haven't finished but as a Jane Austen fan i can say that Kate Watson captures the essense that makes Austen what she is) set in Hollywood, we follow two siblings that are stars since they were kids and now, after a disaster with their parents, they are back at the acting scene.
This book also deals heavily with topics such as sexual assault and eating disorders so if you a triggered by any of this topics please go with caution, as they are discussed plenty in the novel.. The MeToo movement and the Eating Disorders i think are handled very well, although sometimes it feels a little bit in your face, i really loved it anyway.

Now, what did i like about it? My favorite part is probably the characters. All of them (even the ones you are not supposed to root for) are real people, each of them represent a person that even if you are not in the Hollywood space you can pin point. Emma, our main character, falls under the morally gray spectrum and i love her for that. She is also one of the few female protagonists that has made me feel like i'm understood? It was a breeze of fresh air to read about someone who isn´t perfect and who makes mistakes but also that wants to be better.

Some highlights on the characters: Liam (my precious baby), Britt (must be protected at all cost) and KeyAra (our favorite classy hoe).

The other thing that i loved about this book so much is how it handles the topics of family divorce and breakup, the grief and healing of recovering from you family, how it changes you. I haven't ever read something that could nail exactly what i was feeling towards my parents and my family, It had my CRYING at 2:00 am because it hit too close to home. I'm serious. I'm so thankful for this book and the moment it came into my life. Am i bias because this book made me feel at home? Yes. But, isn't that what books are supposed to be about?

DNF; the setup and writing isn't working for me unfortunately but YMMV. Check out the excerpt and other reviews to see if the book interests you.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read Off Script by Kate Watson. This is a YA modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma, and although it is book 3 in the Seeking Mansfield series, it can be read as a stand alone. Emma Crawford is preparing for the role of her career, when she meets Brittany while searching for an assistant. She knows that Brittany can be a star; but can the two of them make it to the top in Hollywood? I must admit, I couldnt really get into this book. Whether it is because I am not a Jane Austen fan, the writing style, or because I just couldnt like the characters, I don't know. It was almost a DNF

I enjoyed this! I love modern adaptations of Jane Austen stories, and this one was a unique take. I hope to read more by the author in the future!

I couldn't get into this one. I usually adore this trope, but the characters weren't likable enough for me.
I am sure it will be a lot of people's cup of tea though, because it was well written.

Jane Austen's Emma meets the #metoo movement. I was sceptical, but I have to admit that it does work. But I nearly gave up on it twice. It took me a few weeks to get through the first third of the story. I wasn't interested in reading about how hard life is for a famous young actress, and the main character Emma was pretty obnoxious most of the time. I also had issues with the writing style and the pacing, with scenes either being dragged out or characters suddenly jumping from one scene to the next within a few lines.

But I pushed through. I somehow managed to finish the rest of the book in 3 days, which is all to do with the story moving away from Emma's career and her meddling in other people's lives to sexual harassment and abuse in the movie business. The story picked up pace, it became relevant to our current culture, and the harassment and abuse was tackled in a fairly nuanced manner. On top of that, the story also focuses on the exploitation, gossip and lack of privacy celebrities have to deal with.

My main issue with this book is the casualness with which eating disorders were used as some sort of comic relief. Even the more acceptable disordered eating pattern Emma has to follow to bulk up for her next movie role is never really examined as harmful. It just feels like such a let-down, especially in comparison to the way sexual abuse and harassment is discussed.

There is a romance aspect to this story too, of course. The chemistry between Emma and Liam was great, but they mainly worked because they challenged each other and they helped each other face some hard truths. I also adored the friendships and the found family elements of the story. Emma has a troubled relationship with her relatives, but she does have a family around her.

This is the third book of the series, and I haven't read the first two, but there are plenty of references to what happened before the events of this book to sort of piece together enough of a backstory. I never felt truly lost without all the information of the first two books, which proves that this one can be read as a standalone.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flux for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Off Script by Kate Watson is a modern retelling of Emma by Jane Austen. It takes the well-known story and places it in Hollywood, taking on misogyny (internalized and societal), emotional abuse, and #MeToo. I liked the take on this story but struggled at times.

I have to admit that I struggled through about 50% of this book. It took a long time to get a handle on the characters, who was who and how they knew each other. Likewise, the plot didn't really take off until about halfway through as well. I don't remember Emma very well, but maybe it's a similar situation in that. I'm not sure.

I think this was a good attempt at a modern retelling and most people will like it.

There wasn't really anything wrong with this, it just was not holding my interest in the slightest. The writing felt off to me - just very simple and stilted, so it wasn't pulling me in either. A miss for me, but I'm sure other will fnd this story fun.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I fell in love with Kate Watson's writing with Lovestruck, which came out this year. So when I found Off Script on Netgalley, I snapped it up immediately. And I'm SO glad I did! This book was so much fun!

Quick Thoughts
-Full disclaimer, I think I've seen the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma once...a very long time ago—and I shamefully haven't read the book yet. So I'll probably reread this book once I've done that :D until then, I can't say anything about the actual adaption side of this book.
-There must have been a ton of research that went into this book to portray what the lifestyle of a celebrity is like. I was really impressed by the details, no matter how small, that were fit into this book to show Emma's glam life.
-The DRAMA in this book is absolutely delightful! The plot was fun and fast-paced, with plenty of tension to keep me turning the next page.
-I love Kate Watson's writing! It's descriptive without feeling purple prose-y, direct and straight to the point, with hilarious dialogue and fun banter. I can't get enough of it!

Lasting Impressions

I want to talk about so many things! I just don't know where to start!

Probably with Emma herself. I was worried I would dislike her in the beginning, but her charm and earnestness, her selflessness, really wiped those worries away for me. She seems like this sassy, successful, perfect person on the outside, but on the inside she just wants to be needed and loved, the way she loves and needs those around her. Her development in this book from hard shell with overconfidence—while hiding her worries and vulnerabilities—to a person who feels she can take control of her life and dreams...is just perfect and beautiful.

The way Emma responds and interacts with the other characters around her too feels so realistic. Brittany Smith is a gem of a person, and Emma immediately taking to her makes so much sense. When Emma takes care of her brother Harlan (goll, he's such a dirt bag, isn't he?) her love for him really shows, but so does the complexity and toxicity of their relationship. Ditto with the relationship she has with her father. There are several secondary characters in this book, so I'm not going to hit upon all of them, but I never felt lost in a sea of names and connections. The author does a good job of helping the reader keep everyone straight.

But gasp I haven't mentioned the romance yet! Shame on me. The romance is SO sweet and cute and heartwarming. Liam is such a wonderful guy who can call Emma out on her BS. I loved their interactions—and that ending... swoon it was to die for.

Along with all of this, Kate Watson takes on the themes of sexual harassment in the film industry. I wasn't expecting this, but I really liked how it was handled—with sensitivity and a strong sense of righteous injustice. The way she wove this into the story works so well with Emma's character, and the characters that surround her. I loved it.

Overall Feelings

I was seriously spending every spare second reading this wonderful book. It's romantic, hilarious, and thought-provoking, and I highly recommend it to fans of contemporary romance, especially those who enjoyed Emma. You won't be disappointed.

Opening line:
"Emma Crawford was a genius."

Emma is a lose, but fun, retelling of EMMA by Jane Austen. The difference with the two heroine's, is that Emma Crawford makes career matches instead of love matches.
Emma left her life to support her brother, Harlan, through his mental breakdown after a nasty break up with one of their mutual friends. They both were on track for big movie premieres, both seemed happy and ready for the next script of their lives. Until they meet the soccer star Harlan is supposed to shadow--Liam Price--the brother of the sister who broke Harlan's heart.
Emma hires a new assistant, who wants to be a weather person. Brittany has a degree in meterology and is offered a job in the state where she wants to live. But predicting the weather isn't good enough for Brittany, according to Emma. She must aspire to bigger and greater things, like being a star on a soap opera! LOL
Liam is a great Mr. Knightly. He has just the right amount of wisdom and talking Emma into being a better person, without coming off better-than-thou. The love interest arc is drawn out and just right.
Much of Emma's journey, and those of other females in the business, showed the ugly side of the acting industry: gossip, backstabbing, sexual harassment, etc and the way different women dealt with it. Some of the backstabbing are people close to her, and Emma has to decide if she will take a stand and set her boundaries.

Thanks to netgalley for the early read and to @fluxbooks for the arc!