This book was one big NOPE for me. There is so much writing here that serves no real purpose. Los Angeles and movie sets never need this much world building for an average citizen. The characters (all eleven million of them) all felt under developed and useless. There was no real conviction for either main character. I also didn’t buy the attraction between them. The tropes didn’t make sense and felt forced. There are several chapters that could be removed, and the story would read the same. I’m not sure what I was hoping for with this read, but it wasn’t achieved.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I will say it again I am a huge fan of fake dating in books. I think it is because I always know how these books are going to end. I enjoyed one but, it is very similar to other books.. I thought it was a really cute story. But it was just another book with the same plot to me. There are better books with this trope out there.

*Thank you to Netgalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

This book was fine. It was okay. I read 45% of it, then stopped because it didn’t hold my attention, and I was just… bored. The writing was clunky at times, and I didn’t really care about the two leads. I wasn’t invested in their story. But even though I was not a fan, it doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it!

I liked the idea and plot for the book. What can I say? I'm a sucker for Hollywood romance, the fake relationship trope, and enemies-to-lovers trope. Even though I do like those tropes, I still wasn't that into the book. The reason for them getting into a fake relationship was kind of confusing, to say the least. Their whole relationship was a mess and got me confused with how easily and quickly it was resolved. As much as I am happy to read a book about POC main characters, they just didn't click for me.

Off Script
⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romance
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 6/7/22
Author: Ashley Marie
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Pages: 360
Goodreads Rating: 2.81

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Jada Berklee is getting a second chance at acting. Despite Jada’s best efforts to keep her head down she accidentally walks in on leading man--and notorious lothario--Tristan Maxwell cheating on his latest fling. An intense and embarrassing showdown on set ensues and makes its way to the biggest gossip site in the world, it has consequences for both their careers. With their reputations on the line, they need public relations rehab, and stat. The perfect solution: fake relationship between them. Does this fake relationship have real consequences?

My Thoughts: I have read plenty of enemies to lovers trope and LOVE them, they tend to be one of my favorite. However, the way this one was done just did not work. I think it could have, had it been played a different way. For Tristan to be a SOB most of the book and then in the end is a hero? I just did not care for that. There was no work of tension and chemistry between them that you would typically see in these type of novels. It felt literally they went from enemies to lovers in a day with nothing in between but hate. The characters were one dimensional and not developed to their potential. I really wanted to like this book but it did not flow for me.

Ugh. I was so excited for this release. I had heard good things, the plot sounded good, the cover is so cute.

Jada Berklee’s acting career is finally heating back up after an on-set romance with her ex ruined her last job on a popular TV show. When she gets a second chance with a desirable supporting role in a hot new romantic comedy, Jada’s determined not to let on-set politics or her off-set ex get in the way again.

Still, despite Jada’s best efforts to keep her head down she accidentally walks in on leading man Tristan Maxwell cheating on his latest fling. Somehow this turns into them fake dating. It's not at all realistic. Tristan is a HORRIBLE main character. No matter what he wasn't going to be redeemed in my eyes. This one was not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Wattpad books.

DNF'd this one at 14%. I could not get into this one at all because of the writing style and characters.

Did I read a different book than everyone else? That’s the only explanation I have for why so many seemed dislike Off Script while I loved it. I actually binged it in one sitting, I’m typing this review at 12pm my time and haven’t gone to sleep.

Yes I’ll admit the constant miscommunication between Jada and Tristan did have me wanting to pull my hair out. Buuuut other than the dreaded miscommunication trope this book was a solid read for me! I saw a lot of people mention their dislike of Tristan and how what he did was unforgivable… Once again I am lost haha. I personally felt that Tristan and Jada’s personality’s meshed well together! At the end of the day neither of them is blameless and even they admit they aren’t perfect. They are perfect for each other tho and that’s what matters.

I’d like to add on as a “before you go” note that my favorite part of Off Script was Jada’s character development. She still has some growing up to do but when she saw her self worth and finally found her voice? That was the best part of the ending.

I honestly do not have the energy to hate read this book. It took two chapter for me to know this was not the vibe for me. Like I love fake dating trope as much as the next person, but I feel like the older actor with a bad reputation dating a younger up and coming star is can of been there done that. From the bits I did read like nothing was really grabbing my attention to keep me interested.

The whole reason why they start fake dating makes no sense to me. At least in "How to fake it in Hollywood" it make a bit more sense for them to fake dating, but here Jada catches him fucking someone else... like okay????

Idk, just not the vibes for me. Maybe some day I'll give it another shot.

Thank you Wattpad and Netgalley for an arc of this book. I'm sorry it wasn't for me.

𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇.

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much like a fair amount of people who read this book, the actions of the male protagonist called for an immediate DNF. he's not a character who's redemption is worth it to me.

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thank you to the author x publisher for providing me with a Reader's Copy to this book via NetGalley, in exchange of an honest review.

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I’m sad to say that it was not amazing, the main love interest (Tristan) is not a good character and I don’t think he’s worthing redeeming. The main character (Jada) i really liked her, but i felt the relationship had no actual chemistry beyond looks 😅 I do think the plot could have been tidied up more too. It was very sweet though and i liked the representation!

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited for this release and couldn't wait to read it but unfortunately, it did not live up to expectations. The writing felt extremely flat and the main character was written inconsistently throughout the book. The love interest had no redeeming qualities and should have ended up in therapy.

It was a shame because the cover art is gorgeous and the story could have been great.

2 STARS

I DNF-ed this book. The LI is not someone I can even root for. I was so excited to read a book starring two BIPOCS but that went into the garbage ASAP.

Thank you to Netgalley, Wattpad Books & Ashley Maria for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me, don’t get me wrong it has all the makings for a great romance novel but it fell short.
The story was nice & sweet but a little predictable and we didn’t really get an in-depth view into the characters. Tristen seemed one dimensional and Jada seemed closed off.
The cover art is amazingly illustrated though.
Rating 2 stars

Whoa! What a ride. It was very fast-paced. The writing style kept me hooked and I didn't find myself losing any interest. I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters and how real the story felt. The author did a great job painting the setting, so it was easy for me to visualize the scene played out before me. I recommend giving this one a chance!

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.


Well, I liked the beginning of this book? But the writing fell flat, with a lot of telling instead of showing. I liked the storyline and all, but it wasn't executed as well as I hoped. I also didn't really like the love interest? He justified his actions bc of his past, until the end of course when he changes his ways (boo). Pretty basic book.

2 stars.

Off Script
by Ashley Marie
2 stars
Wasn't for me I was able to read it and get through it but definitely not for me. Characters were just boring and there wasn't anything more with them. It was your typical fake dating enemies to lovers but with no personality. All I can say is the writing style isn't for me whatsoever. I have no other words for this book except not for me. Maybe her other book will be one for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Wattpad books for the eARC for an honest review

So. This was not great. It started off really interesting and then it went downhill after it's pretty much shown what a POS the hero (Tristan) is in the first part of the book. He never really recovers enough for me to root for him. And Jada (the heroine) is written very inconsistently. I needed to know why she was interested in Tristan outside of his looks. Cause there was really no there, there. The secondary characters were not developed very well. There's a slight plot point with Jada's cousin that is left dangling. I imagine there may be another book that follows her, but hard pass. I get that enemies to lovers is a popular trope, but you can't just write the male hero as a walking billboard for treats women like crap and want to root for him. The fake dating part of the book doesn't really work and or make sense. The ending was a happily ever after, but honestly one wonders.

"Off Script" follows Hollywood A-lister Tristan Maxwell and come-back kid, Jada Berklee. Jada has had a tough time after getting booted from a popular tv series when things came out about her and one of her co-stars. She's promised herself to never get involved with another person she works with again. Tristan has gotten involved with the leading lady of his latest film, but now he wants to end things and she doesn't. When Jada gets a part in the movie, she meets Tristan and he is his usual "flirty" gross self (sorry my words). Things take a turn though when Tristan gets caught in flagrante with a production assistant on the film by Jada. Jada wants to be left out of the whole mess, but when Tristan's ex questions her, things go from bad to worse with Tristan yelling at Jada and blaming her for people finding her. The moment goes viral though on a blind gossip site and Tristan's agent has an idea to have Jada and Tristan fake date to get Tristan back in Hollywood's graces and Jada being able to use Tristan's name power to get some acting jobs.

I was so happy to read a romance book with two BIPOC's as the main characters, but good grief I didn't root for anyone in this. Look, Tristan sucks. Marie tries to work in some things about why Tristan is the way he is, but it's BS and he sucks. He pretty much blames Jada, his ex, his estranged mother, etc. for anything that goes wrong in his life. I seriously don't think he had any self reflection in the book. He pretty much gets an 11th hour change of heart at the 98 percent of the book and I rolled my eyes. Don't get me started on his mother. No spoilers, but I booed that whole thing. 

Jada was a mess. I don't think she did much of anything in this book to even let me know that she's supposedly a great actor. Heck, Tristan didn't either. They are both a mess in different ways. I think I was officially done when she took some CBD gummies and hallucinated Billie Holliday and Hattie McDaniel. I needed to get an answer for why she needed/loved Tristan and I kept coming up empty. 

The two of them have negative chemistry. They just fight and then one day they are like sure sex is on the table and they fall in love in like nanoseconds. It doesn't work even a bit. 

I don't know if Marie is planning a series or what, but she left Jada's cousin story-line up in the air. Jada's other best friend was barely in this and just felt like a non-entity. 

The writing was just basic. I started to wonder who talks like this for portions of the book and just gave up.

The flow was pretty bad and I just pushed through. The last 1/3 of the book just drags.

The ending was a happily ever after so at least there's that.

The premise was great, the execution not so much.
First the things I did not like:
The writing stile, in my opinion, was not great. It felt uncomfortable and not very realistic.
Also, I did not like the realtionship between the main characters at all. Tristan and Jada were not even close to a believable couple in my opinion. Tritan is horrible. He gaslights Jada for things he did. Jada, on the oter hand, baely has any personality and never even tries to stand up for herself. Also, the two of them had abosultley zero chemistry. They do not talk a lot and when they do, they usually end up fighting, rather than having a good time together. Even at the end of the book it still felt like a PR stunt and not the real romance into which it apparently had evolved.

Now on to the things I actually liked:
The fact that they were both BIPOC characters is what drew me to the story first. But it is barely a theme in the story. Apart from the fact that Tristan speaks Spanish and Jadas skin color, it is not brought up. Also, the look behind Hollywoods facade was good.
So, in general, this book just was not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

Thanks @netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

Jada Berklee’s acting career is finally heating back up after an on-set romance with her ex ruined her last job on a popular TV show. When she gets a second chance with a supporting role in a hot new rom-com, Jada’s determined not to let on-set politics or her off-set ex get in the way again. However, when she accidentally walks in on leading man,Tristan Maxwell, cheating on his latest fling, an intense showdown on set ensues. When their confrontation makes its way to the biggest gossip site, it has consequences for both their careers. With their reputations on the line,Tristan’s agent suggests a fake relationship to get the press off their back and repair both their images.

Review:

The trope for this book seemed promising: fake dating and enemies-to-lovers, however, I couldn't quite get into it. The characters were one-dimensional. They lacked depth. We got to know a bit about Tristan , but close to nothing about Jada. I also didn't think Jada and Tristen had any chemistry. They barely got to know each other in the book. The story was fast-paced, but it did feel rushed at times. However, Jada's friends were fun and I liked how they were very supportive. Also, I think Mikayla and Ren need their own book! Overall, this was a nice enough read, but it could have been better.