Gemma decides to put a fresh twist on her latest romance by giving hero hero a less than honorable personality. But during a television morning show interview, she’s blindsided when the host (one of her high school’s mean girls) secretly brings in a famous hockey star that also went to school with them and insinuates that Gemma never got over him and he’s the hero. To make things worse, her publicist wants her to fake date him to sell more books.

Funny, sad and too crazy to put into words. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

After last years Finding Mr. Write, which I absolutely loved, I jumped at the chance to read and listen to Kelley Armstrong’s latest, Writing Mr. Wrong. I was hoping for another lighthearted and humor romance, especially as the cover matches the previously mention novel. Well, that’s not what I got. Oh, the romance is here, but this story has a more serious tone. Gemma is divorced, perhaps a bit jaded, but her novel is about to be a hit. She didn’t think anyone would recognize the person she’d based the male lead in her novel on, hockey sensation Mason Moretti, a man she’s had a history with going back to her childhood, and someone she has had mixed/resentful feelings about since high school. But people recognize him all right. And before she knows it the two are flung together, it’s great press for the book, but it also brings up bad memories. Mason is flattered, until he reads the book and sees how the main character acts. Is that how Gemma sees him? Is that how he really is? If so he wants to change…and he wants Gemma to help him. The book features one of my favorite tropes: fake dating, but as I said the story plays out in a more serious tone than I was expecting. That being said, it was still an enjoy tale, and I enjoyed both reading it and listening to it as both Patricia Santomasso and Sean Patrick Hopkins deliver solid performances. If you are a fan of Ms. Armstrong’s work (and you should be as she in incredibly talented no matter which genre she chooses to write) you’ll want to check this out. I’d like to thank Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC and Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of the audio version as well.

What a fun read! Gemma is a college professor and author about to make an appearance on a tv show to promote her book. What she isn’t expecting is them to connect the dots that her hero in her book was based off her high school crush “Mace” the professional hockey player. So imagine her horror when the talk show just brings him out during the interview. Mason remembers Gemma fondly as someone he crushed on in high school who was too smart and talented to be with the likes of him. When he realizes she is blind sided during the interview he gallantly protects her and promotes her book during the interview. Their PR agents love what happens and suggest that they fake date to help their publicity. But as they fake date, they real life connect and clear up a lot of misconceptions from high school. What a sweet second chance romance. I received an ARC, and this is my honest review.

I stumbled upon Writing Mr Wrong through Forever’s Forever Friends Facebook group. I had never read a hockey romance before and with the inclusion of a neurodivergent MC I was excited to get the chance to read & listen to Writing Mr Wrong.

After years of not writing and a recent divorce, Gemma has become a published romance novelist. The only problem is that the first book she wrote wasn’t getting any traction. With the encouragement of her online writing group, Gemma changes gears because Alpha Male Heroes are what's hot right now. Gemma doesn’t like asshole male leads and so she takes inspiration from the only Alpha Male Asshole she knows, her childhood classmate and kind of friend Mason “Mace” Moretti.

I loved that we jumped right into Gemma & Mason seeing each other for the first time in years on former classmate Ashley’s morning tv show. Of course mean girl Ashley told Mason that Gemma knew he was going to be there when she knew nothing of the sort. It actually made me a little sad that Mason was so genuinely happy to see Gemma again but doesn’t even realize that she is still holding on to hurt from when they were teenagers.

Mason is such an interesting MMC but he definitely had his head up his rear. His approach to dating is almost humiliating towards females that are not Puck Bunnies. The way he throws money around like it's nothing and didn't listen to what Gemma wanted for their PR date was super frustrating. I enjoyed seeing the way that Mason grew, that he wanted better for himself after he realized that the character that was inspired by him was such an asshole and that Gemma saw him in that way. This is such an on point character redemption arc. He wanted to better himself, not just for Gemma but also for the way he interacted with the public and for himself.

Gemma honestly frustrated me. I was surprised that she didn't seem to understand why Mason was the way he was with his childhood experience. You would think that when you have known someone since kindergarten that you would have more awareness of what the other person has been through. Gemma let a misunderstanding from high school color how she saw & felt about Mason for way too long. Gemma grew too but to me it was in a less dynamic way than Mason. She learned how to be herself again and not a stripped down boring version of herself that her ex husband wanted. She learned to forgive Mason for what happened in high school but I feel like it took way too long to get to that point.

I understand that this novel was a slow burn but I honestly didn't realize how slow that burn truly was going to be. I don't mind a novel with less spice, it is in fact a nice change of pace from the novels with heavier spice.

Writing Mr Wrong is in third person POV and I feel like it didn't work for this story for me. I feel like the dual pov would have worked better in first person because at times the third person was distracting.

Overall I enjoyed Writing Mr Wrong but there were a handful of reasons I chose to rate it how I did, a 3.5⭐ (rounded up due to the lack of half star avaliablity).

4.5 stars.

This was a solid hockey romance! It got surprisingly deep and I don't mean that to undercut sports romance, it's just that we get their history of childhood acquaintances/crushes/frenemies to estranged to now friends/maybe fake dating and it seems straight forward (and enjoyable!), but eventually the MMC really leans into his self reflection and that's what brought this from a 4 star to 4.5 for me. I loved the topics of self-sabatoge, avoidance, life after divorce, etc. I loved that they were mid to late 30s, nice to see in the subgenre as well. And that he was nearing retirement and the conversations around that were also interesting.

One gripe I have with this is when there are books that get meta about romance book and emphasize normalizing on page spice you'd expect on page spice later on right?? In this one it is very much fade to black. I can read closed/no spice books it's fine. But it's just a bit odd to me for characters to talk about it so much, for this FMC as a romance author write a very spicy book, but doesn't get an on page spicy life.

Thank you to Forever for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, Forever, and Kelley Armstrong for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Hockey romance fans- this is for you!
Fans of books about romance authors-- this is for you!!
Childhood friends to second chance/later in life lovers lovers--- this is for you!

I ate this up. I absolutely loved it enough to go back and read Finding Mr. Write- these are interconnected standalones but I simply want more of this world.

Narration was TOP NOTCH. Dual narration within the dialogue. Really enjoyed.

Gemma + Mason

-second chance romance
-hockey star x author
-childhood friends
-fake dating
-meddling grannies
-third person pov

there was so much that went into this story & i truly enjoyed it! i wish it was in first person, i just connect to the characters better that way but i still stuck it out with these two cause the story was so interesting!

This was a quick, precious read. I didn't realize until too far along that it was Daphne's sister in law, so that was fun!
I really liked how Mason grew and his heart was always in the right place. Gemma was great and I enjoyed it. Wholesome fun

While this was a very cute read, I found it lacking in depth. I loved the characters past but thought they were holding grudges that felt immature. I didn’t believe the “asshole” trope or fake dating; if I had been expanding on I would’ve enjoyed it more.

DNF at 14%. Kelley Armstrong is VERY hit-or-miss for me, but I liked her prior romcom, so I thought I’d like this. However, the two leads were so bland and boring, so I wasn’t drawn in

For some reason, this very much reminded me of my fanfic days. Gemma finally writes a romance that will sell, but the only problem is that the book is unofficially based of her first crush, Mason Moretti. She has high hopes that no one will make that connection and she can avoid the embarrassment. Mason also needs some good PR and finds himself in a cute reunion live on a talk show, so he convinces Gemma to fake date. This book was so fun! Mason's growth as a human made him such a lovable MMC. There were a few hilarious side characters that pulled the book together for me. Overall, a fun read featuring book lovers! Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the gifted eARC. All opinions are my own.

instagram post will be live 13Jun25

Writing Mr. Wrong is set in Vancouver with a professional hockey player and an author. Sports and second chance romance. Such a cute sports romance novel.

I like Kelley Armstrong's writing and this book did not let me down. I hope she continues in the series, because both have been great.
He's had a crush on her since kindergarten...I love this trope anyway, but just thought this was charming. Also, Keley's descriptions of bullies in high school were dead on....they made my chest tight while I was reading.

Second chances are sometimes worth exploring. Many times we get in our own way but with second chances needs to have significant changes prior to exploring. Gemma has finally published her first romance novel. She is invited by the host of a show she used to go to high school to and - is ambushed by the mean former cheerleader. Bringing up an old high school crush Mason enters as a prohockey player who dates once and moves on. The underlying issue is they both like each other always have but don't know how to talk about it to the other. The story is fun, deals wtih many issues but still leaves it light and great for a beach read or hot bubble bath. It feels natural. It feels authentic, flows well and who wouldn t want a Mason.... Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the oppotunity.

What would happen if you wrote your high school crush into your romance book, and he found out because he is a famous hockey star and the mean girl from your high school told him on national television? 😬 We find out in Writing Mr. Wrong by Kelley Armstrong.
Kelley takes us along for the ride while we follow Gemma and Mason through the ups and downs of high school crushes, public relations challenges, fake dating, and finding love.
Highly recommended!

Kelley Armstrong is one of my favorite authors now! I loved loved loved this!! I think the idea of them knowing each other in high school, only to have a falling out, and then running into each other in the future was so fun. I always love a fake dating situation. I liked how rather than give her a hard time about basing her book character around him and his look he just embraced it, helped her market her book and was just there for her.

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Audio | Forever for free e-arc and alc. My opinions are being left voluntarily. I loved book 1 it was an absolute 5 star banger and expected the same energy but it was slower and felt like a completely different book not part of a series. I still super lovednit. The audiobook was absolute perfection.

Definitely recommend giving it a try.

4.5/5☆

Rating: 4.5 Stars

While doing a publicity spot for her debut romance book, Gemma was reunited with her high school crush who *may* have been the inspiration for the alpha-hole hero. When their reunion took a surprise turn with the public adoring them together, Gemma and Mason were "encouraged" by their publicists to fake date and give the people what they want.

The premise of this book had me hook, line, and sinker. I was immediately yearning for more of this reunion between Gemma and Mason. They met in kindergarten and may have shared mutual crushes for years, and now at 36, they were getting a chance to explore their connection. I love that! And I loved them together. There was something special about how these two interacted, and I thought they were good for each other.

Gemma had spent years in a marriage with a man who only wanted parts of her. He wanted to shape her into the ideal corporate wife. That came at a cost for Gemma, and it was only now, post divorce, that she was finally able to recover some of those lost parts of herself. Mason was always a fan of sassy Gemma and was always attracted to her just as she was. Being reminded of how she could shine helped boost Gemma's confidence as she worked to rebuild her life and reclaim her agency.

It was great that Gemma could be her whole self with Mason, but Gemma was also a big supporter of him. Mason had been a standout hockey player for almost his whole life. People fully embraced Mason the Player and were quick to dismiss the other parts of him. Throughout his life, Gemma was one of the few people to see past that and see that there was more to who he was.

The reunion, and reading Gemma's book, opened Mason's eyes. He realized he had some work to do on himself, and he enlisted Gemma to help. The whole experience was one of growth and self discovery for them both. Not only were they figuring out many things about themselves, they were getting to know the grown-up versions of each other as they exorcised their demons and fell in love.

Overall, this book was a special treat for me. As a lover of second chance romances, I adored seeing these two finally get their shot at something real and was glad to see Mason redeem himself. I was also filled with glee with the cameos from Daphne and Chris from Finding Mr. Write. I hope we will be making more trips back to this world in the future.

Read two chapters and did not finish. I struggle with third person when it’s not character driven and told through the eyes of the characters. The switching POVs mid chapter was confusing for pacing, especially at the beginning of the story when not much plot had happened yet. Just not my cup of tea.

This book was cute and fluffy! It was a quick read and Gemma and Mason felt like they deserved each other.

I love a second chance at your childhood crush set up, and Mason has been piningggg for her. Gemma had some inner demons to work through post-divorce and boy did she. The fake dating aspects were cute as well.

I do wish the development went a bit further. I felt like the third act happened and the book was basically over. I was left wanting a little bit more from them.

Thank you so much to forever publishing and Hachette audio for the gifted copies!