🎬✨ On Screen & Off Again ✨🎬

I really wanted to love this book—it has such a cute cover and the Hollywood romance premise was everything I hoped for. Childhood sweethearts turned co-stars? Yes, please! But sadly, this one missed the mark for me.

The characters? Immature. The writing? Just not it. 😔 The pacing felt totally off, and while I was rooting for Wil and Dax to have their moment, their storylines weren’t fleshed out enough to pull me in. It’s a second chance romance with so much potential, but it needed deeper character development and stronger execution to really shine.

That said, if you’re into light, fast reads with a Hollywood vibe and don’t mind a bit of chaos, it might still be worth a shot. Not every book lands perfectly, but hey, sometimes we stay for the drama, right? 🎥💔

⭐ 2.5/5 (rounded up to 3 stars)

👀📚

Thank you to NetGalley, Caitlin Cross, and 8th Note Press for the eARC of this book.

Did I read a different book than most of the people on Goodreads?

Because while I love the description (which is why I requested this on NetGalley), the actual writing was...not good? There were so many threads that were mentioned and never explored fully. The story could have been so much richer if it took a closer look at the predatory behavior of Wil's executive producer, showed more of the toxic relationship with Katrina, spent more time looking at Wil's bling-ring type of crimes and the retribution for it. Seriously, the girl had 100 hours of community service, and she did it in a chapter. That was a HUGE part of the description, and it was so short. In favor of...another chapter in the past that did nothing to further the story? Other elements glosssed over include the trauma of Wil losing her mom, the fact that both Wil and Dax were nepo babies, and Dax's neglect from his dads. Not to mention their whole "pact" lasted about two seconds; the pining was never there.

The characters themselves were written in a super flat way. Again, the description of them sounds AMAZING on paper, but the book itself did not do the idea of them justice. Everything was told and not shown, and we are just supposed to believe the author when she says they have chemistry and connection and all that jazz.

Giving it two stars because at least it was a quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and 8th Note Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had a difficult time getting into this book. I understand what Cross was going for with the plot and characters, but I wasn't connecting with them. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Wil y Daxton trabajaban juntos en un programa juvenil, que fue muy exitoso hasta que se canceló. Semanas antes de enterarse de la cancelación, habían llevado su relación de amistad al siguiente nivel; eran felices, pero todo cambió cuando recibieron la noticia. Su futuro, que parecía prometedor, quedó en el aire, aunque para ella fue diferente, pues él ya tenía planes que no la incluían. Al descubrir lo que Daxton pensaba hacer, Wil lo percibió como una traición y decidió terminar la relación para enfocarse en su carrera.

Años después, Daxton gana cada vez más fama como actor, mientras que Wil se siente derrotada tras no haber sido seleccionada para ningún proyecto. Sin embargo, cuando él la llama para informarle que ha encontrado una película en la que sería perfecta para el papel protagónico, ella lo ve como una gran oportunidad y decide no permitir que su pasado interfiera con su carrera.

La historia alterna entre capítulos del pasado y el presente. Sin embargo, me dio la sensación de que no hubo un cambio significativo en las actitudes o el pensamiento de los personajes; ambos seguían siendo inmaduros.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.