ARC provided by Netgalley for honest review. The author takes a subject he is familiar with (writing for Broadway) and writes a fiction romance novel about it.
I was laughing from the beginning. I especially enjoyed that the author's descriptions make you feel like you are seeing the people, places, and things in real life.
Some readers many not understand all of the pop culture/theatre references; though it does not detract from the reading experience.
Overall, a well written, sweet, romantic read that had me crying at the ending.

One other thing I didn't put in my other reviews. For me what stopped this from being 5 stars was in section 1054 when the MMC is talking to the pregnant former friend from high school he says "Hey Fatty." I thought that was too far even if they ragged on each other when speaking. Especially since it said they haven't talked in 3 years.

Showmance by Chad Beguelin 2.5 ⭐️

“Maybe you and I have been hurtling towards one another our entire lives and we just didn’t know it.”

This was such an unexpectedly sweet book! We follow our main character, Noah, as he deals with the fallout of his failed Broadway playwright career and temporarily moves back to his small hometown. Noah as a character is hilarious and as over the top as they come. We get to watch him re-evaluate his life and see people from his past in different lights. The relationship between him and his father brought tears to my eyes. Watching Noah rediscover his love for theater was heartwarming. This book was also surprisingly funny! I actually laughed out loud at Noah’s antics. Overall, I enjoyed reading the book but I do wish the relationship between our two male leads was a bit more fleshed out. It felt a little rushed for the level that they got to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chad Beguelin for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The first half of this was so-so, but the second half MORE THAN makes up for it. Once we get rid of Chase and get Noah back in Plainview surrounded by his mom (hilarious), the amateur acting group (inspired, all of them), and Luke (dreamyyyy) - then we're off and running.

In the first third or so, you're just waiting for things to get going -- I think what could make this book even better is if Noah's implosion on Broadway & possibly even the demise of the relationship with Chase were compressed to a much shorter bit, right at the beginning - boom, done, they already happened, it was horrific, and then we get right into Plainview. I would have liked even a bit more of the theater troupe working on his musical, give some of these characters even more shape & detail, and slowly getting Noah to make thier changes, and to be honest, I really think a bit more of a slow burn would have worked better with Luke -- we needed a few more actual conversations between them as they begin to re-establish their relationship/understand their past relationship & misperceptions.... And then a little more tentative beginning to their current relationship to make it feel more real. To this end, I wish that the character of Noah had been portrayed as a LITTLE bit less of a bitch -- it feels like most of his character development in his early days back in Plainview comes through total meltdowns/angry-diva temper tantrums -- and I get that that's who he is, but it just makes his transition feel sudden -- it's like MELTOWN, then he instantly sees the error of his ways. I think just decrease the percentage of total meltdown/diva moments (but don't get rid of them entirely!) and exchange it a bit for some more gradual, thoughtful change.

But, overall, the second half was just beautiful -- Despite my quibbles, I enjoyed the Noah + Luke relationship; Noah's mom is hilarious; there's some really funny dialogue between Noah & his best friends; and his relationship with his dad is SO touchingly beautiful.

I was a little confused as to why Noah was back in NYC after his show in Plainview (I thought he had to go straight to Seattle?), and for a minute there I was CONVINCED Plainview was going to become his 'bad-musical-rewrite' testing ground - bring the bad musicals to the amateur gang & they (with his writing help) would fix them up.... That's not what happened, but still - I mean, just in case a sequel might happen, I'd be all for meeting this cast of characters again.

this was so cute! i really liked the theater vibes and romance overall! it was really fun! I love the characters and the writing style was fun