Not everyone has trust over love at first sight or rather the word LOVE. The Hero of this book is someone who made sure to never write a Rom-Com but then the situation forced him to write a tale on the Genre he kept avoiding.

Was a good short and sweet read. The plotline was unique. I truly wonder if people like Harrison exist in reality. Somewhere the perfect writer he is, made me fall for him.

Hayley's stubbornness was cute in its own way. The girl is too determined to make Harrison believe in love.

Tropes:-
Grumpy and Sunshine
Film writers working together
Third person POV
One Bed
Colleagues to Lovers

I would suggest the readers to not read the Blurb and go ahead with the story as I felt the Blurb being more extraordinary than the story. So the chances of you getting disappointed after reading the blurb and then reading the story are high.

Overall this book is still a sweet and cute read.

Thank you so much ARC @dmc_lean and @netgalley made my Christmas special

2.5 stars
This book shouldn’t have taken me as long to read it as it did. Not bad, but felt slightly rushed because it is so short. Supposed to be a novella. There are some parts that are kinda confusing/ I don’t understand how they worked into the story- Harry getting hit on at the coffee shop. No real plot or resolution. Chapter beginnings written like screen plays. When I first started this I told myself to just keep going because it might make more sense later on in the book. That feeling never really went away.

Story didn’t blow me away and it took me longer to get through the page count than it should have.

Like 1.5 ish spicy scenes. Not too bad. Descriptive and explicit. 18+
Check content warnings.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-Op for this digital ARC.

The overall story and idea of the story was great but the fact that it is a novella made it a lot less enjoyable for me. I always feel like in novellas everything is rushed because there’s obviously not a lot of pages to fit the story in.

In my opinion this story would’ve been better if it was around 300 pages, just so you’d have more time.

Overall, the story has a lot of potential. It was a cute (and extremely cliché, which I love) second chance romance. It gives off Hallmark vibes a lot, mainly because of the whole “magic” aspect and the “things happen here that can’t be explained and no one questions it”, that felt like Hallmark to me (but a little more 18+)

So I’d rate this book 3 stars. Thanks NetGalley for providing me with this arc!

This was a really fast read for me and I enjoyed it! The two main characters ARCs were well done, I enjoyed their personalities, and their challenges were well thought out. The format was really interesting and I enjoyed it.

I read this entire book in 3 hours. A fun, engaging and fast paced read. It was a joy to spend time getting to know the characters and watching them develop. Not a groundbreaking book by any means but absolutely a good one!

Thank you NetGalley and Set The Mood Publishing for this E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Not My Love Story focuses on two screenwriters who are contracted to co-write a romance book.

Kyle doesn’t believe in love, and Hayley is a hopeless romantic. This book shows their journey in writing a romance book together, as well as Kyle realizing that there is love after all.

I enjoyed reading this book, and watching the characters grow. Very cute, short book!

Dani, you’re a genius. I LOVED THIS STORY SO MUCH.

I think Harrison’s perspective added so much depth, to witness him finding a way past all his pessimisms about love to fall so very deeply for Hayley. These two together were beautiful.

The way Dani can pack such a punch into so few words is a gift I envy. Y’all NEED to be reading these novellas.

The story
Screenwriters Harrison and Hayley are forced to hole up in a hotel for a week around Valentine’s Day in the slightly magical city of Chance. He’s a bit of a cynic, not keen at all to write the romcom they have been tasked with. The two spent a night together six months ago and Harrison hasn’t been able to forget about it. Without knowing what Hayley’s feelings for him are, Harrison is determined to keep his feelings for her under wraps!

My thoughts
The story is the second novella in Dani McLean’s Movie Magic series. The story starts off slowly but quickly starts covering every romance trope there is. A plethora of meet cutes after one trip to a coffee shop, a couples shoot, a classic one-bed moment… this story has them all. I sense that this story is also the screenplay being written, the authors doubling up as characters being sketched as the two write the story. It’s a cute, easy Hallmark movie-type read. 🎬🍿🎞️

This book was really hard to get though. I had no trouble putting it down and picking it up again the next day. And I know the joke was that there were a ton of cliches, but it was SO unrealistic I couldn’t help from cringe. I didn’t get a good sense of Hayley and Harrison’s prior relationship and I was just very confused.

This novella is a cliche, but is that really a bad thing? Cliches are cliches for a reason, they work. This short story really leans in to it.. How many times have you heard someone say, "It's really cliche but I love this movie" like it's some terrible confession? Why apologize for watching or reading something that makes you feel good and happy? Sure, maybe it's not cutting edge and art noveau but why should that make it not matter? This little novella leans into all of the tropes while embracing them and asking that question. There's no need to apologize for something you love even if it's "been done".

Sometimes, some people just do it better--and this novella is one of them. By embracing what it is and asking some rather deep questions, it makes you feel warm and cozy in a way some longer novels or novella don't. Do what you love and don't apologize.

This book was a breath of fresh air….a short story that followed Harry a screen writer forced to team up with an ex one night stand for a screen play. I enjoyed the ‘history’ element and how the author dropped in subtle hints of their past meetings etc. overall an enjoyable story that I whizzed through!

Harrison has to write a romcom screenplay with an ex-lover, so what could go wrong?

I liked how there were pieces of the book that was like a script. That got my theater brain going. Harrison was very cynical and I loved that; however, he felt a little pretentious at times. Hayley and Harrison had good banter that kept me interested. The spicy scenes were enjoyable. This was a very quick read with a little over 100 pages and I do recommend it. The writing style felt fresh and unique. The prose, the diction of it all was lovely.

Fav quote: Loving Hayley felt inevitable. Like a purpose. Not to be wasted or treated lightly. But worked toward, reclaimed through action every day.

I am not a fan of the format being like a movie script.

This was such a quick read and I felt like because of that the pacing of the story was off.

I didnt feel the chemistry between the characters at all.

this entire book was very cringy and hard to read

Sometimes all you need in December is a cute little love story with some exciting fluttering moments. The story focussed on Kyle and Hayley who are forced to work together for a romantic screenplay. It was a fast read with just 117 pages and is pretty sweet. Highly recommend if you are looking for a short and sweet love story.

Cute with multiple tropes (second chance, opposites attract/enemies to lovers, one bed).
I like the scene setups at the beginning to tie in with the movie script writing theme.
Easy to read, likeable characters.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-ARC.

4/5 ⭐
2/5 🌶️

Another adorable novella from the city of Chance. This one is about 2 screenwriters, one a hopeless romantic and one a pessimistic hater of love, coming together to write a new romance production. It's a second chance, one bed romance with a slow burn and lots of angsty goodness.

I really loved Hayley. She is a lover of romance and happily ever afters. She gets a lot of flack for writing them from the snobs of the writing community, but she continues doing what's "beneath" her because it brings her and other people so much joy. She's very secure and strong, a great FMC. Harry is our pessimist. His sister was left heartbroken by a great love story and it left him hateful towards all the cheesy romance stories that couldn't possibly emulate real life. But while he's stuck in a hotel room writing with Hayley he can't help but fall for all the classic cliches himself.

I love how Dani accomplishes so much in so few words. I never feel like I'm left wanting when it comes to her plots, it's a full length storyline that fits snuggly in a novella package. I'm so excited to keep reading this series. The Movie Magic Novellas have been so much fun.

This novella was for me a meeeh. I didn't expected much because I knew it was a novella but for me this one fell very flat. I didn't feel that I was dedicated to this story at all. And it felt like I was missing something. It says in the description that you can read this one as a standalone, but I had a hard time to get into this story and understand what I was reading. It felt like there were some missing chapters... No unfortunately I didn't like it at all.

This is a very short second chance romance about two writers working together to create a script to save both their careers while overcoming their past. It is very reminiscent of “The Roughest Draft” set in a town where there is a romantic cliche around every corner. Literally. Each chapter is set up almost like the script itself but the writing in general didn’t feel as developed as I would have liked in order to truly feel for the characters and root for their love story the way I typically would while reading. The grump x sunshine trope in this book is wonderful and I would have loved to have a longer journey with these characters.

I received a free advanced review copy of this book wnd am offering my honest opinion voluntarily.

Such a good story. Grumpy/Sunshine. Forced proximity. Good character development. I loved the banter and the rom-com vibe. A definite recommend.

I read Dani McLean’s first Novella in the Movie Magic Series. I LOVED the first one. This one just didn’t live up to the hype I had for the first one. The writing is great. I think it must have been the story and all of these generic romcom meet-cutes happening throughout the entire book. Which, that’s what this book is about. So, she nailed it. I just don’t think this one is for me and that’s okay. I know others will love it!

Thanks again to Dani McClean and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the early Arc!