This was really cute! There's a lot to love about this enemies to lovers/forced proximity/right person, wrong time romance. I'm immediately on board with anything set in a cozy small town and usually enjoy celebrity romances too. It was full of both funny and meaningful moments, especially in the middle act, but I decided to give this three stars because it struggled to do anything memorable for me within the romance genre. Unfortunately, it fell a lot into cliches and miscommunication.

There are a lot of interesting ideas in this material that just weren't expanded upon enough for my personal taste. Emmy spends a lot of time upset over an incident with Grayson that happened when they were teenagers because it ruined her confidence for years, but we never got to thoroughly dig into what those years looked like for her as a consequence of that encounter with him. She also has famous parents and the whole nepo baby thing is addressed on a surface level, but I think if the author dug into that a bit more that could have helped to set this apart from the plot of other similar romance novels.

There was also a third act breakup and resolution that felt like it happened too quickly and was just slotted in because people expect it to be there. It made very little sense with Emmy's character development up to that point and was due to miscommunication after we'd already spent a lot of the book hearing about this big miscommunication incident they had as teenagers.

Aside from that, there were also just some small things in the plot that bothered me, like the fact that the author chose to include an intimacy coordinator on the set of their movie but didn't seem to do much research as to how filming that scene with an intimacy coordinator there would have worked. Emmy and Grayson had a pivotal bonding moment over something that never would have actually happened if the intimacy coordinator was doing their job well.

Falon Ballard gives readers another romance with heart! I was initially attracted to this book because of the description. Enemies-to-lovers is my favorite romance trope and I love that Emmy and Grayson get a second chance after their friendship ended.

One of the things I enjoyed about this book is that even though it’s implied both of these characters are successful in the industry, they still feel grounded. I mean, Emmy drives a Prius. Famous actors usually aren’t relatable but these two still are. I think sequestering the characters on a film set was a smart move when because even though they’re working it puts more of an emphasis on their relationship and less on their profession. Readers also experience the anxiety of going public with them since we are kept in the bubble with them until their first event together.

I think it was a lot easier to understand some of Emmys issues by the end - her way of thinking and tendency to jump to conclusions seemed a little annoying throughout the book but it is eventually revealed why she feels the way she does. I don’t typically love drama over Simple miscommunication but Falon navigates this well and I like that she also holds Emmy accountable.

Overall, this was a fun read with well written characters and plenty of spice! I will definitely be recommending this!

became a fan of Falon when read Lease on Love! still think that's her best book. However I went into this book with high expectations. Although it was a good book, it feel a little flat for me.
There was a lot of smut and not enough plot. A lot of conversations that needed to be had was just tip toed around. Important conversations were replaced with smut. It didn't make sense that they both were holding onto something they did as teenagers. And if Grayson had feelings for Emmy, it didn't make any sense why he was acting the way he did. I didn't enjoy the third act breakup because it part seemed to rushed. It felt a little childish because they are grown adults who could've talked but instead she acting like a child and didn't give him a chance to explain. I wish they stayed broken up. Also, I had no idea what Emmy looked like. The other characters were described and I could picture them in my head, however for Emmy, all I pictured was brown hair. However with all of this, I did enjoy reading it. I was a film major in college and then a high school film teacher so the subject of the book was right up my alley. I was def in my element in the film production world.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Right on Cue is another fun and cute book by Falon Ballard, the author of Lease on Love. It follows Emmy and Grayson's love story as they reunite for the first time on screen since their first (and Emmy's last) time on screen when they were both teenagers. The unfortunate encounter with Grayson, plus its fallout, during that original film was the reason Emmy quit acting, and now as she is forced to make a return, the career-ending culprit is her last-minute co-star.
I was drawn to reading Right on Cue because I enjoyed Lease on Love, and Ballard’s writing style makes for a smooth read, however, my issue lies with the pacing. For me, the air of hostility and tension between the characters went on too long and the switch into romance happened so fast I was struggling to buy it. Their relationship was definitely cute but too many things were left untouched/unaddressed for my personal taste. Solid ⅗ stars. All that being said, I always appreciate a cartoon cover!

In this story, we follow Emmy, a screenwriter and former actress, who’s reluctantly persuaded into starring in her newest romantic comedy after a 15-year hiatus. She’s nervous, but excited, until her co-star has to step down and in steps in the very reason she stopped acting in the first place: Grayson. We follow the characters’ love story and journey’s with their own personal problems, and I ADORED it. It really reminded me of Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman at first, but after finishing it I think it’s hard to compare it to anything because it’s SO unique. The writing was phenomenal, I flew through this and it flowed so nicely. It was simple and effective and made me want to keep reading. I also really loved the short little newspaper article-like chapters after a big bulky plot chapter, it felt like a nice reward for finishing the juicier chapters and added a lot to the plot. The plot was also great, each of the personal problems that the characters dealt with felt so real and I was really routing for them to deal with them on their own, and I was especially rooting for the resolution to these problems when Emmy and Grayson got together. The chemistry between them was insane, they felt so real to me and I really, really loved them.

I think my ONLY (and I do mean only, I loved this so much) is the way that the conflicts between Emmy and Grayson felt too low stakes for me to warrant them breaking up. Both in the first time when they’re teenagers after their first kiss, and later on with the “fake feelings” thing. The miscommunication in these just didn’t make sense. I think there are MANY cases where people don’t communicate about issues when they just don’t want to deal with them, but in this story, the problems were SO SMALL and they just immediately bolted and didn’t talk for SIGNIFICANT amounts of time, first 15 years then 3 weeks. I think the miscommunication COULD work, but with more stakes. In the “fake feelings” plot, Emmy herself even thinks to her self “this doesn’t make sense, but…” and then continues to not talk to Grayson for 3 weeks, so maybe a (fake) news article coming out to support her theory that Grayson used her would give her evidence and justification at least to leave him, because it feels so stupid for her to leave after overhearing Grayson’s conversation. I think readers will need a little SOMETHING to make it more believable, because where it’s currently at, it’s just stupid. But to me, these were really small parts of the book, and despite them, I still LOVE this. Overall, a fantastic read, one that really stuck with me after reading and inspired me after reading what Emmy and Grayson overcame. Also, the author has performed some magic, because never in my life would I have thought that I would be sympathizing and empathizing for and LOVING a nepo baby, but here we are.

I really really wanted to love this book because I love Falon’s other romance books but this was a slight miss for me. I just felt like it wasn’t anything special, and it reminded me a lot of Ava wilders recent book “will they or won’t they”

I think this book was well written and it definitely kept my interest piqued throughout, I just was never fully convinced of their romance, it felt kinda rushed and don’t get me started on the rushed breakup in the third act being a miscommunication trope 😫 I’m so over the forced breakups just to add some last minute flare only to have the characters get back together 10 pages later.

Like I said, this book wasn’t awful it just doesn’t feel different from the hundreds of other romance books out there.

I absolutely loved this book! I love how Falon is able to write such loveable characters with depth but also provide the rom com energy that literally makes me laugh out loud. The tropes in this one were so good: enemies with benefits, enemies to friends with benefits, movie costars, celebrity romance. Definitely recommend adding this to your TBR, especially if you loved Lease on Love and Just My Type by her. Big thank you to Netgalley and Putnam books for the e-arc of this book, I can't wait for it to release!

loved this romance of a writer of a rom com who falls ends up acting in her film and falling in with the lead. Loved the past history of their 1st kiss and how they ended up falling in love and trying to be adults with this relationship. loved the friend and mom . Great sexy times and loved that they figured things out.

I’m obsessed with Fallon Ballard I’ve loved every book she has out there and I will be reading everything else she writes!

I'm a fan of all of Ballard's books so far. It was a fun and light read with characters I really enjoyed. Looking forward to the next one.

OH MY GOODNESS I COULDNT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN and as a mom of two small kids that’s saying something. Emmy and Grayson are so cute and the writing was so good. Would definitely read other things by this author

Right On Cue was a super sweet, short romance. It’s told entirely from our FMC, Emmy’s, POV, as she works with a boy who hurt her deeply as a child. The book is short enough that the pace is quick, and we never sit stagnant in any relationship for long enough to get bored.
Along with the central romance, which is spicy and sassy and oh so adorable, I loved Emmys secondary relationships with her friends and family. They love each other so much, but manage to maintain a realistic pattern of behavior. They get frustrated with her when she messes up, and forgiveness is just an ask away.
Definitely a great summer read.
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book early.

This was a feel good book, start to finish that I devoured in one day. The characters were all likeable, the writing was witty and relevant and the story line was pitch perfect.

Right On Cue by Falon Ballard is a Hollywood romance and the story of Emmy and Grayson.
 
Emmy is very beloved in Hollywood, and she follows the footsteps of her famous parents. She is a screenwriter and wrote a lovely romcom, but when they don’t find a good cast for the heroine, Emmy must step up and be an actress. I really liked her bright personality, and she is such a good person.
 
After the originally casted hero gets injured, Grayson gets this role. He is still unknown and new to the film industry and trying to gain ground. He is the opposite to Emmy in a lot of ways, but they definitely have this undeniable chemistry.
 
The beginning is very slow, and they need some time to warm up to each other. I was a bit skeptical how they would work together, and they even needed an intimacy coach. But at some point I felt the sparks between them at least in front of the camera. I feel like the transition from being a film couple to being a real couple didn’t work that well. It is definitely a cute story, but I didn’t get fully excited over their romance.
 
Overall, if you like Hollywood romances or stories with acting, this might be for you. 3 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

🔸 ARC REVIEW 🔸

Rating: ⭐️⭐️

I read Lease on Love about a year ago and absolutely fell in love with it. Since, I’ve jumped at the chance to read any of Falon Ballard’s books, hoping to find that same feeling, but unfortunately that hasn’t happened yet. Although I did mostly enjoy Just My Type, Right on Cue was definitely not for me.

This book follows two actors who are cast in a romcom together. Emmy has absolutely hated her co-star, Greyson, since she was fifteen years old when he “ruined” her acting career over a misunderstanding. Literally from the first chapter, this book was FULL of miscommunication or Emmy just absolutely refusing to communicate at all and I am so tired of it.

Until about halfway through, I still thought this could be a 3 star read for me. Definitely not a fave, but still entertaining. But the farther we delved into this couple’s budding relationship, the more I felt like I wasn’t getting anything from them that was more than surface level. Emmy is claiming that they’re soulmates, that they know each other even better than they know themselves, but all I’m seeing is her constantly objectifying him because he’s conventionally attractive. Their banter was also just not funny to me at all and largely consisted of sexual innuendos.

The friendship in this book also felt very lacking. I don’t feel like Emmy and Liz really showed up for each other until about 80% through the book, and by then I was pretty much over it. After absolutely adoring the friendships in Lease on Love, this was an absolute letdown.

Overall: Right on Cue was not my cup of tea. The negatives outweighed any positives I found while reading it. Hopefully I’m the outlier and other readers enjoy this one more. 🧡

TROPES:
🔸 second chance romance
🔸 small-town setting
🔸 celebrity romance

Thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for the chance to read this ARC. Pub. date is February 27, 2024!

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! :)

I! LOVED! THIS! BOOK! I will almost always love a romance that includes a celebrity. Both celebrities? Awesome, even better. The MC was given a Nora Ephron vibe and it absolutely translates. I also really liked that the main characters had a past conflict, but instead of being a dual timeline, it stayed in the present and building back. I also adored the characters and felt very attached to them throughout the story, their personalities and back stories are wonderfully built out. I love Falon and I will literally read anything she writes. Send me that grocery list, girl!

This book was a super fun and quick read! I read and liked Just My Type by this author, and I think she's stepped up her game with Right on Cue! I really liked both main characters, and their connection felt very sincere and organic. They are both in the film industry (he's an actor, she's a writer/actor), and they are thrown together as love interests on her newest project. Because of their past, they start off as enemies, but as time goes on they find each other hard to resist! I recommend this book to anyone, and I will be looking for Falon Ballard's future books to add to my list!

Thanks to Putnam Books for my ARC!

I really adored this! Thank you NetGalley for the chance to review!
This story covers Emmy, a screen-writer turned actress, as she brings her newest screenplay to life alongside Grayson, the 'villainous' man from her past who upended her career in their teens. As expected, these two on-screen lovers slowly fall in love off-screen, learning to trust each other again through the trials and tribulations of the movies.
What made this adorable to me was the vulnerability of Emmy and the genuity of Grayson. He was incredibly well written: smart, funny, wholesome, but clearly slightly damaged from always being seen as not quite the 'best' choice. Emmy is also so clearly jaded and tries SO hard to not let herself fall in any capacity. I think both of the leads are so very real on the page, which is hard to do. I DO wish Grayson's actions as a teenage were a bit more fleshed out, and miscommunication is NOT my favorite way for two leads to fall apart, but luckily the writer knew better than to keep them apart for very long. Grayson's motivations were actually the strongest, and I wish that was the main separation reason.
As another kudos: I LOVED the intimacy scene in the movie (the spicy portions are great too). This was SO well done: you were so heavily in scene with the leads, but also learning about the business...it might be one of my favorite scenes in a recent book. Excellently done!

Emmy Harper was an Oscar winning screenwriter who was excited because casting was almost complete for her latest script, a rom com called No Reservations. Her best friend, Liz, was set to direct the movie and another close friend was going to play the male lead. They still needed to cast the female lead. Every actress they auditioned didn't fit the image they wanted. Time was running out and so were the actresses they wanted to read for the role. Liz and the executive producer thought Emmy would be perfect as the star of her screenplay. Emmy tried acting once before as a teenager. It was a disaster and she vowed to never act again. Emmy's memories of that time still hurt when she thought of them. She had a crush on her male counterpart, which was not was reciprocated. Emmy realized he didn't feel the same when she overheard him talking about her. Her acting suffered and the reviews of her performance were brutal. Filming for No Reservations was set to begin very soon. The executive producer said he would pull the movie's funding if filming didn't start on time. It looked like Emmy had to take the leap and try acting once again.

Grayson West was a well loved star of action movies. He wanted to broaden the types of roles he played and asked his agent to find him more dramatic parts. Grayson was cast for a movie at the last minute when another actor had to pull out due to an injury. He was nervous about acting in a rom com, but excited to bring this new character to life. The only potential problem Grayson saw was that he would be playing opposite the woman he made his screen debut with years ago. He didn't know what had caused her to dislike him so much back then. Grayson hoped the filming this time would go more smoothly.

I enjoyed reading this story. Emmy struggled to get past her memories from her last acting performance. It didn't help that she still found Grayson extremely attractive. Initially, they brought out the worst in each other. Their acting was abysmal. When they eventually stopped thinking so hard about what they were doing, the magic started to happen. I enjoyed the secondary characters very much. Liz was great. Sam, the hair stylist, and Amanda, the make-up artist, were so much fun. I loved the banter between them and Emmy. I read Fallon Ballard's second novel, Just My Type, earlier this year and gave it five stars. This one is almost as good and definitely one I enjoyed.

I received an e-ARC for Right On Cue and want to thank Fallon Ballard, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and NetGalley for the opportunity to voluntarily read and give an honest review of this book. Right On Cue will be published on February 27, 2024.

4.5 // Definitely my favorite book by Fallon so far! I absolutely loved Emmy and Grayson together. The only reason I couldn’t give 5 stars was because of the miscommunication and the dreaded 3rd act breakup. Other than that, this was definitely a solid book and would totally recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!