I received an ARC of this ebook from NetGalley and Putnam Books in exchange for my honest review. This author writes banter so well! I actually laughed out loud a couple of times. I loved all of the characters in this book and the enemies to lovers storyline was very cute. The timeline for “falling in love” was extremely short but honestly it pretty much always is unrealistically fast in romance novels.

Annabel Monaghan just one upped herself! I’ve enjoyed every book she’s written, they’ve all been 5 stars, but this one? This one is somehow even more special feeling and immediately became my favorite Monaghan!

Monaghan’s effortlessly beautiful and easy to read writing style, coupled with quirky Janey Jake’s and swoony Dan…my heart! I feel like my heart is a giant hot air balloon just floating high above on cloud 9…this story completely captivated me. I started and finished it in under 24 hours and that was me even trying to slow down and savor the special words.

I cannot recommend this more!

Took me a bit to get into it but once I did, I found the characters and their backgrounds, relationship and family dynamics to be enjoyable. Ending was predictable and wrapped up quickly. Not my favorite of her books (Nora Goes Off Script) but solid 4 stars.

Fun novel about a child actor trying to make it as a producer. Unfortunately one man keeps standing in the way of her projects.

Thank you to Netgalley for this eARC. Annabel Monaghan writes a nostalgic, quick read perfect for the beach. The female main character, Jane, a former childhood actress is working as a creative executive trying to green light her passion project. In order to get the green light, Jane and Dan travel to Long Island. Past meets present. If you are familiar with Annabel’s writing style, you will not want to miss this release. You will fall in love with the characters in this story.

It’s A Love Story - Jane is a former child star known for being the nerdy / geeky kid on the show. She is now looking to find that special script that will make a blockbuster movie and she thinks she has the one. Her boss doesn’t think so and so she tells a little lie about how she can make it what they want. She embarks on a trip with her nemesis (Dan), to his hometown, in search of a person from her past that she is hoping can help make that this movie happen. On the way she meets Dan’s family and falls in love with them all, and maybe changes her thoughts about Dan on the way. Will she be able to make this movie happen or will all of her effort be for nothing. 4/5 ***
Thank you to NetGalley, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and Penguin Random House for the ARC.

Cute rom com! This is my second book by Annabel Monaghan. I finished Nora Goes Off Script the same day I received this ARC!! I love her type of writing w/ modern day references. It adds humor to her books and makes them very relatable! I look forward to reading more by her. Definitely check this one out when released! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Jane is a childhood tv star is now working as a creative executive at Clearwater studio with a dream of bringing her passion project to the big screen. When her crush and pompous cinematographer, Dan, challenges her on why her film will be different she tells a teeny tiny white lie about her old co-star aka the famous pop-star Jack Quinlan. . . that quickly snowballs.

Tropes in this novel include workplace romance, forced proximity and only one bed. Annabel Monaghan does an incredible job creating a novel that is captivating, light and breezy, perfect for a summer read on the beach this year. The dialogue flowed and was laugh out loud funny at times. I really enjoyed Jane & Dan, their characters were relatable and authentic.

If you enjoy superstar/Hollywood romances you will love this romance!

A former teen TV actress goes on a week long trip with the man she dislikes the most to track down a former costar to try and get his help with a movie she's trying to produce.

Annabel Monaghan is an auto read author for me. I'll read her grocery list at this point. I loved Jane and Dan and everyone else. The best part? They all felt so real. I've also felt like I needed to practice how to be human in some capacities. Or this is how you fake it 'till you make it.

It was beautifully written and just all around wonderful.

5 stars is a feeling and this gave me the feeling. I loved everything about this. The family lore. The relationships. The boy trauma. DAN! EVERYTHING the author wrote on these pages I devoured.

Annabel Monaghan also is a great writer??? None of this dialogue felt cringy or out of place… very real in my opinion. AND IT WAS CLOSED DOOR! All the tension was MAGNIFICENT!

Read this in May! I’m begging!

This is sure to be another summer hit from Annabel Monaghan.

Jane is a former child actress, known for being the dorky background character. After an embarrassing moment with the boy who gave her, her first kiss and a secret come to light, she becomes jaded to love and grows up not knowing who she truly is, putting on a mask for everyone around her. Jack has always followed his heart and lived happily in the quiet he makes for himself, making him the odd man out in very large, boisterous family.

Working together on a film project, forces these two rivals to realize that maybe they can be exactly who they were meant to be with each other.

Tropes
* Enemies to Lovers
* Forced Proximity
* Opposites Attract
* Slow Burn

I have been a big fan of all of Annabel Monaghan’s books so far and this is no exception. Even though it happened in the span of a week, I loved how gently the main characters fell in love. The author’s writing style was so beautiful that even though it was an insta-love type plot line, the way they came together and supported each other was so effortless it didn’t feel rushed like most insta-love storylines do.

My favorite line (and a perfect example of the coziness of the author’s prose) is:

“He walks out with coffee. His hair is wild and his sweatpants are low on his hips. I have a quick thought that he looks like a bed you’d want to climb back into on a Sunday. Because it’s raining outside, and your body just wants to sink back into the warmth.”



Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for this Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love Ms. Monaghan's novels - they're all equally fun, frolicky and written well. I know I'm in for a treat when I read one - this latest was such a delight and perfect little contemporary fiction escape.

First of all, thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the digital ARC of It's a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan. I requested it because the promise of the title lured me in. The last month has been absolutely insane and, dang it, I NEED a Love Story. Spoiler Alert-this read pays off big time.

First, we meet Jane, strawberry pop tart in hand, trying to find the outfit that brings the proper energy to her VIM (Very Important Meeting). She is a creative executive that has finally found the perfect script to produce. She mentions that she sometimes laughs in her sleep, and just like that, I know I'm going to love riding through this story with her. She is funny and insecure and, honestly, so relatable that I can easily see myself as her. The entire book we are in her corner. We love her, honestly, more than she loves herself, and we want the best for her. She is so well written.

Next we meet Dan. Jane is sure that stupid Dan is the kind of know-it-all jerk that would blog about cruelty-free cashew butter. However, here I am already pretty sure their love will be one for the ages. She, though, has already decided she doesn't like him and he doesn't like her, so she is her free and full self around him, which is quite the treat for the reader. This book is SO funny, and most of it is from Jane's inner (and outer) thoughts. Dan is spectacular. His strength lies in his quiet noticing of things. In his open communication. We love Dan.

What follows are all kinds of fun romance tropes that somehow seem more realistic than they do in other books. Friends to lovers, Fake (but not) girlfriend, ONE ROOM, Loves his family.

Here's the thing about this book, and why I gave it five stars. It is really romantic-a slow burn romance. Monaghan makes me see what they see and feel what they feel.

There is no unrealistic moment where they go from hating each other to frantically throwing their clothes off. They get to know each other, then like each other. The whole progression is like a warm, fuzzy-but-not-scratchy- blanket around my tired and anxious shoulders. Dan is THE BEST MMC. He knows what he wants. He is patient. He freaking pulls a Mark Darcy and likes her "very much just as you are". Watching Jane slowly open up and slowly warm up and slowly trust that Dan might actually be for her is such a joy. The Finnegan family, loud and boisterous, and completely accepting of Jane from the first are so great. I absolutely loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who reads romance. I was engaged the entire time I read it, and could not put it down until I was done. I loved it.

A few other thoughts I'd like to share:
1) The third act complication was excruciating for me. I know it's a plot device all romances have, but I hated seeing it coming.
2) Clem. Oh Clem. She may be my favorite FMC best friend I've ever read and please, PLEASE, Ms. Monaghan, can the next story you write please be about Clem? I NEED her to get her own HEA.
3) Jack Quinlan. Hate to hate him. Would love to read about him hitting rock bottom and getting a redemption.
4) There was so much I adored in this book and so little I didn't. I am absolutely about to start on a journey of Annabel Monaghan's entire back catalog.

10* stars. This was exactly what the title says. It was a love story that was both beautiful and raw. This author has become a favorite of mine and she never disappoints. I loved these two characters and how they found themselves and each other along the way to their HEA. This was and is couple goals.

Yet another wonderful story from my favorite author. Read it in one sitting, Christmas prep be damned, and all I can say is I never wanted it to end and would love to live inside an Annabel Monaghan story. The characters are fantastic, the storylines and resolutions are perfect, and I really really want to see this made into a movie.

This might be my favorite Annabel Monaghan read so far. Like-able characters, enemies to lovers trope.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the advanced digital copy! Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

As always, Annabel Monaghan brings her witty banter to another fun romance. Jane Jackson wants to make a film that her mother will enjoy, doing something to be proud of other than a child star making people laugh. When she learns she has to work with her office nemesis she is determined to push through. What follows is a quirky family to fall in love with while perhaps finding herself her perfect match along the way. Monaghan spins a great story that makes you feel like you are in the scene, feeling the crowded bar, fun dinner table discussion, and smelling the sea breeze. Love the superb storytelling that always makes you wish for Summertime. Preorder this book fast, it doesn't disappoint.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced reader copy.

~ 4.75 stars

I love me a good entertainment industry romance, but this one is next level...

Let's start with our FMC Jane being a child-comedy-actor-turned-Hollywood-producer, that was inspired by Jennette McCurdy and her memoir. Me? Hooked immediately.

To get her first film green-lit, Jane needs to find and reconnect with someone from her past, not just someone, but Jake Quinlan, now a huge popstar. And for this to work, she asks her work-rival-past-one-time-crush Dan for help, since Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown.

«And I feel sort of ignored, like there's an arrogance to this quiet, like he's above the awkward silence.»

I loved every aspect of this book: from the Finnegan family dynamics to the comfort silence between the MCs.
I actually hate to rate to MCs when it's too raw and honest... But both of them? Jokes on me this time!

«This feels like wealth, I think. This is the thing you save up for. You live your whole life so that you can be surrounded by too many people in too small of a room and tell the story of how it all happened.»

Definitely a must-summer-2025-read right here.

“Love happens over breakfast.”

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆.25

I couldn’t get enough of this book. I sat down and read the whole thing in one sitting. Don’t get me wrong, Summer Romance will always be my favorite book from this author but this is a close second. I was completely expecting to read an easy rom com but tell me why this book has touched parts of my heart and gave me the feeling of the warmest hug.

I absolutely adore Jane. I love her and I love how she grows throughout the book. Dan was someone I had to get used to but once I got to know him, I couldn’t get enough! And I loveeee the friends and family we get to know throughout the book. If Annabel Monaghan isn’t an auto buy author for you yet, I beg of you to reconsider!

Thank you Annabel and Netgalley for letting me read and review this ARC. All of the statements above are my true opinions after reading the book❤️

I love the way Annabel Monaghan writes characters! You feel like you get to know and love them. I loved Jane’s growth and I actually appreciated this only being from her perspective.