When Jane claims she knows Jack Quinlan, the current hotshot in music, she tells her workplace she can get in touch with him to do a song for their production. What Jane fails to tell everyone is that she hasn't spoken to Jack in twenty years. Who knows if he'll even remember her! On a mission to track him down, Jane along with her work colleague and nemesis Dan decide to head to Dan's hometown where Jack will be playing at a music festival. Will they find him? Will he agree?

I'm not saying too much more about the storyline because I don't want to give too much away but I always know I'm in for a treat when Annabel Monaghan comes out with a new book and this one did not disappoint. With witty banter, a lot of laughs, fun family moments and the one bed trope (one of my faves!), this book will be a perfect addition to your summer reading list.

👩🏽‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏽💘🎥🎞️🎬

After loving Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan, I was really looking forward to this one, but unfortunately, it didn’t give me the same kind of feels. I’m not sure if it was the timing or the story itself, so I might revisit it someday to see if my feelings change.

I found it a little hard to get into at first, and I struggled to connect with Jane as the main character. Around the middle, it felt like the plot lost a bit of its focus, which made it harder to stay fully engaged.

That said, there were moments I truly enjoyed. I loved the way Jane and Dan’s first meeting was told—it was tender, funny and memorable. The Finnegan family brought a lot of warmth and charm to the story, and there were some beautiful quotes and genuinely relatable moments scattered throughout. While I didn’t fully fall for the romance, Dan and Jane definitely had their sweet moments.

Definitely loved this closed door romance. The writing kept me intrigued and made the story seem like it went by to fast. From the beginning to the end the romance was there. The tension was great the MMC was a gem. The FMC had some issues to work through but she got through it.

I’m always so thrilled when Annabel Monaghan has a new book out. She is far and away my favourite romance writer. Her books are charming and funny with lovely characters that you are gunning for from the first page.
Jane and Dan are another fabulous will they/won’t they pair. As they go from hate to love in Long Island there is so much to enjoy in the scenery and cast of supporting characters. As is always the case with romance the storyline is a little formulaic but that only adds to the enjoyment!
If you haven’t read Annabel Monaghan’s books, Recife that immediately - and I’m sure you will have read all of them by the end of summer….

This book was like a nice summer vacation for my brain! I actually felt like I was on the beach!
I loved the character growth and development in this book, the writing was amazing and I could really empathise with the characters!
The feelings, the humour, the slowww burn!
And the side characters as well! Dans family was so good!
I will note a couple of times Jane annoyed me but I can let it slide haha I really enjoyed this!
Thanks again NetGalley for the eARC!

This was such a cute, fun, summery read! It was so cool to get an insight into Jane's life in Hollywood too, in an era where child stars struggle or are dismissed with they turn eighteen. Such a lovely book!

This book felt like a warm hug! It tugged at my heartstrings, made me laugh and kick my feet at every single scene.

I loved Dan and Jane so so much, seeing them love each other felt like a reward. I think Annabel Monaghan is absolutely brilliant at writing very simple stuff and emotions beautifully and that is exactly what she did with Jane and Dan's relationship, their individual stuggles and dynamics, as well as the love they felt for each other. I also adored how Jane's relationship with her mum was portratyed and how realistic it felt to keep something to yourself just because you don't want to hurt someone's feelings. Their little family was a beautiful contrast to Dan's family and how they communicated and it just showed that family, relationships and love come in all shapes and sizes.

There were some lines that I want to tattoo on my brain and never forget.

After reading the last 3 of Annabel Monaghan's adult romances last year and loving them all, my expectations were pretty high for this one.
I wonder if maybe that was a problem because this one fell a little short.
It's not a bad book and I didn't dislike it. It was just very average. I still enjoy her writing and she has a talent to transport me to a summer beach like no-one else.
Having said that, a huge part of why I didn't love this book was because I didn't love Jane at all. She was highly immature and acted more like a teenager than a functional, employed, fairly successful adult.
I didn't buy into how quickly things went from we-don't-like-each-other to I'm-head-over-heels-in-love-with-you. Also, taking someone you don't really like to spend a week at your family's home, on the opposite side of the country, when a big celebration is going to take place? Implausible at best.
The whole Jack Quinlan subplot also ended up going nowhere and it was flimsy to begin with anyway.
I did enjoy the Long Island portion of the book and the Finnegans were great! I loved spending time with them.
Even if "It's a Love Story" didn't really work for me, I would still read anything Annabel Monaghan writes in the future.

Many thanks to the publisher for approving me to read this eARC.

This is a really fun read with strong romcom movie vibes.

We follow Jane, a former child star turned creative exec, and Dan, a cinematographer who torpedoed one of her film pitches. Dan and Jane had a really meet-cute moment just before the torpedoing occurred, but the connection fizzled out as Jane was furious at his takedown of her pitch. Ever since they’ve had a tense professional relationship but when Jane pitches a new project and in desperation name-drops a famous musician (and former crush) as a potential for the soundtrack, she and Dan end up on a road trip to his hometown where the musician is appearing in a music festival.

The set up has great romcom potential, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, small town charm, and whilst moments between Jane and Dan were cute and often funny, the pacing just felt a little off and the story fell a little flat for me. The whole point of the road trip had been to track down the musician however this took a backseat which was strange as it could really have been quite a fun plot line. Jane was quite emotionally reserved and as a child star she’d perfected the art of acting the part in any situation, which made her character a little harder to root for, especially in comparison to Dan who came across as much more fleshed out and relatable.

That said, it is a fun and quick read with plenty of romcom moments, including a kiss in the rain!

Sadly this book was not for me 😭 I love Annabel’s writing, and I had such high hopes! But I just didn’t like the plot of this book, nor the fmc unfortunately.

Starting with what I liked - the setting! Jane & Dan stay with Dan’s large & raucous family in Long Island , and the summer vibes are perfect ☀️ The descriptions of cycling down to gorgeous beaches & days in the sun made me feel like I was there! I also loved Dan’s family, who were loving and a lot of fun.

On the flip side, I didn’t love the plot. I get bad second hand embarrassment and I cringed SO many times whilst reading this book 🫣 There is an acceptable number of times to stalk someone in a book, and that number is 2 fewer than Jane does 🫠

Because of this I didn’t like Jane very much. I was hoping her character arc would be filled with growth and better decisions - but even by the end she was still immature and just mean, and her actions don’t feel justified by her history.

The irony of this love story is that many of Jane’s problems stem from her insta love when she was a teenager… but then despite being vehemently anti-love at the start of this book, her and Dan’s sweeping love affair takes place over one single week. It doesn’t feel like long enough for her entire mindset to change and for her to fall in love - especially with someone she claimed to hate at the start of the week.

I normally love Annabel’s books, but unfortunately this one was a miss for me sadly.

Unfortunately this was a DNF at 30% for me 😭

This was a book I was so so excited about, I’ve heard amazing things about this author and I loved Nora Goea Off Script. However, this one I found the writing felt so different and didn’t give me that wow feeling in the same way as Nora goes off script. The main character I felt constantly frustrated with and I just found myself not interested in her story at all. There were some funny moments, I think she writes good banter. But I just couldn’t find myself interested enough to continue, which im so sad about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for sending me this ARC. This was a great love story where you can watch the love grow between the two main characters. I really enjoyed the character development that Jane (FMC) went through and honestly I felt like I was on that journey with her which I loved! I struggled with getting into the story for the first 30% but as Jane was discovering herself and allowing herself to be vulnerable, I was enjoying it much more! There were a good mix of heartfelt scenes, sad scenes, funny scenes - would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a cute summery romance story, great for fans of Emily Henry and Laurie Gilmour!

Like all of her books I really enjoyed this one. I loved the connection between Jane and Dan and enjoyed the growth of their friendship into love. I found the memories they had of each other nostalgic and Jane’s determination to seek success in her career is something lots of women can relate to.

Dan has a lovely family and I enjoy books which showcase a caring and loving family for a male character and even though Dan’s job is across the country, his family have open arms for him all the time. They are welcoming to Jane and I enjoyed that aspect.

A slow burn romance which gives all the feels, set in a beautiful place and another success for the author.

Well I absolutely adored this, Annabel Monaghan can do no wrong in my eyes. Such delightful characters fully brought to life across a lovely heart-warming storyline, I wasn't ready to say goodbye!

I loved this!! Easy easy 5 stars!!

The main character is Jane, a former child star who appeared on a nickelodeon type show as the comedic relief character. She's now a creative executive and has found a script she loves and is determined to bring to life, but the film company tells her she needs to bring a little "something special" to get the go-ahead. She gets an idea to convince ex co-star/now-famous-popstar to record a song for the movie, even though she hasn't had any contact with him for years (and he's kind of a dick). He's going to be performing at a beach town where Dan, a cinematographer who also loves the script, lives, and Dan offers Jane to stay with him and his family while trying to get in contact with her ex co-star. The big problem? Jane dislikes Dan immensely.

We get a super fun, forced-proximity, workplace-enemies, romance with gorgeous summer vibes. I thought the pacing of the romance between Jane and Dan was perfect. Their relationship feels so realistic, and I thought they worked so well together. I thought the tension between them was perfect and I was rooting for them so much! I just love how Annabel Monaghan writes - these characters felt very real and flawed. Jane has a lot of self-doubt, from being the butt of the joke throughout her childhood, and struggles to be her real, authentic self. My favourite thing about this book was seeing Jane's character growth. I loved seeing her relationship with Dan, and the other characters, develop. All the relationships in this book were so special, and I did shed a tear or two during this book!!

I loved reading this book, it was fun and lighthearted, but also had a lot of substance! I think this is perfect if you're looking for a fun, Summer romance!!

For the most part I enjoyed this book, but I think I’ve come to realize I don’t like books about movies, actors, scripts etc for some reason. I also wasn’t a fan of the middle of the book as I found the plot a bit meandering and there was way too many characters. I loved the writing as always, and there were some beautiful quotes. I really liked the ending too, and the discussions on difficult family relationships. Overall a solid romance but not a favorite.

3.5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This was my first book by this author and I definitely enjoyed it. Whilst it was t a 5 star read for me I’d definitely revisit more of Annabel’s books. I loved the humour and how easily the writing flowed. I didn’t connect too much to Dan or Jane but I really enjoyed Clementine’s wittiness and would like to see a book about her as I felt I only got a little insight into her.

I admired Jane’s passion and drive to get her movie green-lit and found it humorous in regards to the length she went too. Dan’s character was warm and intriguing which made so much sense as we learnt about him, thus ultimately making the story line a little sweeter.

A workplace romance between rival colleagues in the film industry.
Jane was a child star and has a lot of trauma to work through, which bleeds into her romantic life and work life.
Dan is part of a big family but feels that he doesn't fit in.
When they both end up working together to get a film green lit, their feelings for each other get messy.
I loved Dan as a character and his family, the big boisterous and loveable feeling that came through the page.
I struggled with Jane as a character and wanted some of Dans perspective to shine.
Jane goes on a big journey which was good, but I found it frustrating at the same time.
A mixed bag for me.

This is my second Anabel Monaghan book and both are solid 4 stars (first was Same Time Next Summer). Her style of books crosses women's fiction with romance and the single POV focuses on the FMC's internal monologueing whilst the real life plot plays out.

Jane is a Hollywood movie producer and has landed a script she desperately wants to make. Having been a childhood sitcom star and the punchline of the joke, she yearns to be taken seriously in Hollywood and this script is her ticket.

Enter the award winning cinemetographer Dan, who poo poo'd her last project and now has opinions about this script. In a desperate attempt to save it, Jane says she can get a chart topping singer to write a song.

Jane has met the singer a long time ago but not spoken to him in years, overplaying her ability to get this sing written and script produced. Dan decides to help Jane out and they go to Long Island to a music festival where the singer is playing.

The best part of this book is the forced proximity where Jane stays with Dans' family in long island and watching them get to know each other and discard past assumptions. I loved Dan's family and how their interactions taught Jane about healthy family dynamics and the kind of relationships to aspire to. Dan is an all around good guy and it was great to see their HEA play out, interwoven with Jane's growth in dealing with her childhood trauma.

Solid 4 stars.

It’s A Love Story
Annabel Monaghan

This is my first Annabel Monaghan novel and I’m keen to get to her others on my shelf.
It’s A Love Story was fun and easy going but still had real depth and plenty of charm. Heartwarming and still relatable.

‘I want her to watch that love story and give up her tireless pursuit of the Hollywood kind. Love isn't a helicopter ride to Catalina; it's everyday care and treating the other person like they're your house keys.’

Rules for a love story: There are none. It’s all a lie.

Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth. Her mantra to get thru is fake it til you make it. Except she might have e faked it too far.

This fib sets in motion a wild adventure to do what she has to, to get her film greenlit and to save face for Jane. The magic of course happens along the way.

"I'm confused," he says.
"About what?"
"You sound just like Hailey Soul."
"No."
"You do. You've got me all worked up over here."

While covering up her lie, can they find something true?

All the usual trappings in a rom com are here and it’s done masterfully.

(Review posted 15th May 2025 on Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/41127816
and my instagram account - http://www.instagram.com/mycrimemysterybookclub )