4.5 Stars. i loved this! It was just the perfect, idyllic escape set in a small town. It made me smile and laugh and in general made my heart feel happy. I loved Nora and Leo so much and the romantic formula that their story followed. All of the supporting characters in the book were great as well. This was really an enjoyable romance. Thank you to Netgalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC.

3.5 ⭐️

Nora Goes Off Script wasn’t exactly what I expected it to be—which isn’t bad, btw! I personally enjoy the celebrity/normie trope, and was super excited to dive in. While overall it’s a cute romance that gave me all the feel goods, it took me a bit to get into and I didn’t really mesh with Nora.

Definitely binge-able and a good poolside or beach read!

Nora Goes Off Script had me smiling, laughing and pulled at my heartstrings! A truly perfect romantic comedy! 5/5 ⭐️ And 10/10 recommend!! My only hope when it comes to this book is that we get a sequel!

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the ARC!

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam , I was provided an ARC of Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

****Publishing June 7, 2022****

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Nora’s life wasn’t perfect, her husband had left her and the kids, leaving her to be a single mom. When her script was chosen to be made into a movie and filmed at her house, she jumped at the opportunity. Arthur, her son didn’t like all the attention at school it had brought, while her daughter Bernadette thinks it’s cool! When filming is over, one of the actors, Leo, goes missing. Nora finds him sleeping on her front porch. She is not pleased and is totally annoyed. Leo at first reminds her of her ex-husband. Eventually, he asks to stay for a week and is willing to pay $1000/day. Between what she was paid for the movie and this additional pay, this would help her out immensely with her financial situation. She agrees, but is uncertain of the situation. Will this cause further disruption or will this guest will help her to see what is missing in her life and get her to live life a little? A fun light read that will have you turning the pages to find out!

Definitely a great Summer read for those who love a good rom-com! A perfect book for your beach or pool bag!

From the jacket: Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it’s her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage’s collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it’s picked up for the big screen and set to film on location at her 100-year-old-home. When former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance, is cast as her ne’er do well husband Nora’s life will never be the same.

The morning after shooting wraps and the crew leaves, Nora finds Leo on her porch with a half-empty bottle of tequila and a proposition. He’ll pay a thousand dollars a day to stay for a week. The extra seven grand would give Nora breathing room, but it’s the need in his eyes that makes her say yes. Seven days: it’s the blink of an eye or an eternity depending on how you look at it. Enough time to fall in love. Enough time to break your heart.

Filled with warmth, wit, and wisdom, Nora Goes Off Script is the best kind of love story—the real kind where love is complicated by work, kids, and the emotional baggage that comes with life. For Nora and Leo, this kind of love is bigger than the big screen.


REVIEW: I adored this book. The fact that Leo reminded me so much of Kevin from This Is Us may have had something to do with it. With all the lighthearted romcom vibes that we love so much, I was also pleasantly surprised with a plot twist that I personally hadn't read yet. What drove them apart was a shock. Though Nora and Leo's relationship felt rushed (I started out unsure that I would ever like him and then loved him on a dime), I found their draw to each other entirely believable. I loved the theme of a woman learning to be ok with herself before being ok with someone else. I'd recommend this book!

I’m not gunna lie. I only read this book becuase of the name Nora in the title. It was cute but not something I would typically go for. All in all I wouldn’t recommend

To continue my celebrity dating romance kick...

This time with a relatable mom, who could easily be one of my friends. Self-sufficient and down-to-earth, Nora has two adorable, funny school-aged kids that participate in soccer and the school play. She even has an organized nightly meal schedule (think Taco Tuesday and Meatloaf Wednesday). Sure, she is a screenwriter for the Romance Channel, but she's also has that job down to a simple formula for success.

But then the former Sexiest Man Alive Leo showed up literally on her doorstep to shoot one of her movies. My heart melted when he wanted to stick around and then attempted to bond with her children. Often Leo seemed more interested in being part of their family than together with Nora, which is likely the root cause of the later "conflict" as neither person fought for their relationship.

Overall, I loved her style of writing with funny one-liners sprinkled in and a few over-the-top moments. It was easy to lose track of time reading this book, a sign of a good book to me. Thank you, Annabel Monaghan!

This book was quite the ride! It started a bit slow for me but picked up quickly. A few shocking moments, which made it so much fun! Would definitely recommend.

Nora writes movies for the romance channel but when a script about the collapse of her life is picked up for the big screen her life changes. The movie shoots partly at her house and the lead actor decides he wants to stay after the shooting wraps. Nora sees it as a way to climb out of debt, he's going to pay her $1000 a day to stay, but instead finds so much more.

Nora tells the story of her divorce in a screenplay which sells to Hollywood and now they are filming the demise of her marriage in her house. Filming wraps and the male star asks to stay and pay for his room for a week. Reading about Nora's growing strength and her positive relationship with her children is a joy. The romance part of this romance novel is light as the focus is primarily on Nora's growth and a satisfying read.

Nora was known for crafting low stakes HEA screenplays for The Romance Channel, but found herself working with A-list actors when she veered from her normal formula. When filming had wrapped, leading man, Leo, was not ready to leave. What started as an a way for Leo to experience “normal” led Nora to explore who she was, is, and would like to be.

Wonderful. Simply, wonderful. This book was such a pleasure to read. Yes, it was an emotional rollercoaster at times, but its humor, warmth, and joy had me overwhelmed with happiness. I think getting those glimpses into Nora’s past with her husband made me appreciate her present so much more. I was furious with this man, and like Nora, happy he was gone. Now Nora could shine, and I wanted to cheer with each new glorious thing that happened for Nora. Her budding romance, her screenplay’s success, and everything that followed was celebrated with massive enthusiasm by me. I absolutely loved where the story went for Nora as far as her professional life, and bided my time until her personal life was moving in the right direction as well.

I embraced this scenario full-on. An almost forty year old who had been left to raise her kids on her own met and fell in love with a Hollywood heartthrob. It’s a fantasy come true, and Leo was something else. He was a bit off-putting at first, but I beg you to be patient. Just wait for that sweet and tender side to be revealed. It, and everything that followed, was well worth the wait.

The romance was a major part of this story, make no mistake that this was all about Nora. Although she was not torn up about her husband’s departure, he left scars with the way he treated her. Nora slowly worked through her past while also coming to realize what she wanted from her life and from those she gave her heart to in the future.

Monaghan did an incredible job crafted characters that I care for, and I was extremely invested in the outcome for each and every one of them. They were presented with challenges and setbacks, but also gifted some stupendous successes. This book made me laugh, cry, and jump for joy. It was such a pleasure to be part of Nora’s journey, and I adored every second of it.

I was so glad to hear from Fabled Bookshop in Waco that this was one of their favorite summer reads - I was in the middle of reading it at the time. Thanks to Putnum and Netgalley for early access to this title! Nora is a romance screenwriter who suddenly goes bigger than Hallmark Channel-level when she writes the story of her ex walking out on her and their kids - the movie gets picked up by a major studio, scenes are shot at her house with a former Sexiest Man Alive. He decides to stay with her longer. I loved a real portrayal of mom life on top of the romance, and I loved Nora's and Leo's banter. It was fun to see small town life through Leo's eyes. I also enjoyed getting to know Nora's support system in her community - I could see other books written about those characters. This would be a great beach read!

I read this in a day which I never do so if that tells you anything it should be that it’s a very good one! This book started off so strong it made me nervous and I knew there was gonna be something to change everything up. And honestly until the very end I was very very confused and a little angry, but the ending made everything make sense and now I’m just happy everyone got their happy ending.

This has been the year of the recovering Hollywood Hearthrob and regular (or in this case, semi-regular!) person novel, and now that I've read five or so this year, this one does stick out because of how well the main characters are developed and interact with each other, and that there is more to the plot than just their relationship. Furthermore, the main characters children were also developed. I did like the touches of Los Angeles and the film development process, but it still have a very "too smooth" and polished vibe to it.

a romance screenwriter writing a screenplay about how her marriage collapsed? count me in! great story, great plot, great characters, great author!

This book, was so great. I easily devoured it in one sitting. I loved Nora and Leo and most of all I loved how much Leo loved Bernie and Arthur. I was a little nervous getting towards the end wondering how she could ever forgive him but I think the reason was sufficient enough. The ending tied things together nicely and I thoroughly enjoyed.

Synopsis : Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it's her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage's collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. When former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance, is cast as her ne'er do well husband Nora's life will never be the same.

Review: It was like a lifetime book about a lifetime movie. When you read it you'll understand what I mean. Anyway, it was super cute. There was a point in the first 3rd of the book where I was thinking come on already. I need more action. Then there was more action and I was happy. 😄 I laughed, my heart melted over and over watching the relationship between Nora and Leo play out. This is a perfect beach read or cuddle under your favorite blanket with a glass of wine read.

Read this is
✒️ you like when the MC is a writer
✒️ you like celebrity & normal people romances
✒️ you like happily ever afters
✒️ an easy read romance novel

Thank you to @netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an ARC of this book for my review.

“As long as I can keep getting men to leave me, I’ll be a huge success.”
““You’re a grown-up person,” I tell my reflection. “Don’t act like a teenager.””
““I’ll fix you,” he says, and I turn around to face him. He’s joking, but I love the idea of being on the other side of the fixing equation. I love the idea that he thinks I’m worth the trouble. I love that buried deep in that sentence is a hint of the future tense.”

My heart is so full. It took a whole day to even begin putting my feelings into words, but I’m still not sure they’re eloquent enough to truly convey how deeply this book gripped my entire being and forced me to feel just about every emotion I’m capable of experiencing.

Everything about this book, for me, was perfection. The writing, where I felt like not only was I getting to know Nora, but also like I WAS her. At times it almost felt like she was an unreliable narrator but then, she herself would feel like she was. When she over-romanticized a moment, SHE would be right at her heels, telling herself to cut it out and remember the facts. Her pragmatism and optimism were the on-again, off-again relationship of the book, each dispute between them being resolved by the interference of her friends and family, each having their own point of view to offer.

Every single character of this book was so mesmerizingly written, I know I’ll be thinking about them for weeks. Which I guess just brings me back to the absolutely brilliant writing. I was not at all prepared for the way this book consumed me so entirely. I’m always wary of single POV romance novels but I knew right away that the romance was secondary, a fact I was surprisingly not just okay with, but happy with. For this story, Nora’s story, it almost felt more real, to fall in love with Leo the way she saw him, without being in his head and knowing what was really going on with his feelings. Nora’s joy and hurt, her denial and acceptance, and the absolute humanness of her; everything, all the more rich because she got to tell it herself, on her own terms.

Stories where the partner becomes a total fool for the single parent’s kids are my kryptonite. Every part of Leo’s interactions with Arthur and Bernadette felt real and perfectly flawed in the best way possible.

I cannot emphasize enough how much I absolutely fucking loved this book.

MVP: Nora.

(Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Thank you Putnam Books and NetGalley for the gifted ebook.

Read for:
• Evvie Drake Starts Over meets Win a Date With Tad Hamiliton-ish
• Small town setting
• MCs in their late 30s
• Single mom with 2 kids

Recently divorced Nora takes a departure from writing her typical Hallmark-style films and channels her emotions into something much more serious. When a Hollywood film crew shows up to shoot a few scenes at Nora’s house, she’s confronted with ultra famous, Leo Vance who wants to stick around and experience some small town living.

Right book, right time. I flew through this very highly anticipated read and greatly enjoyed it! It made me smile, laugh, and even tear up at one point.

I loved the setting and the characters- I really felt like I was visiting Nora’s house. Nora and Leo are both navigating new chapters in their lives as each are recovering from different kinds of loss. The children, who are also navigating their own challenges due to an absentee father added so much to the story.

Was I ever so slightly frustrated with the lack of communication? Yes. But did I see where both characters were coming from? Absolutely. It worked for the story and tugged at my heart.

I’d highly recommend this for those that love literary fiction with romance. I so appreciate stories like this that can find such a nice balance between the heavy, the light, romance, humor, and heartbreak.

A rom-com about an author of rom-coma, what’s not to like? I read this book in less than 24 hours. The strong female lead drew me in quickly and while the other characters where equally engaging and entertaining. I loved the story, the relationship, the troubles. This book has it all.