Jess has been hurt in the worst way. she has been cheated on by the man she loved. he cheated on her via their relationship and then via stealing her work. so she steps completely away from both these things and finds herself adapting to life in tv work. but there might now be someone else in her way. enter screen left Nathan who seems to be getting in her way with every suggestion she makes...but is their also more to his actions. yup.

both of our characters are really well developed. both on their own and then together. you are rooting from them from the very beginning. you want both of them to have a "happy ending" and go on to wanting them to have this together. they have both been hurt in their pasts. and how they navigate that is witty and refreshing in equal measure.
this book doesnt become cliche. its doesnt just add in tropes. it well thought and and realistic enough for a quick read like this. i stormed through the book happily spending more time than i should reading it.

dnf, too wordy and garbled in the beginning that ultimately didn't grab my attention enough to want to continue.

Absolutely loved this, Jess and Nathan are brilliant characters with enough flaws to make them relatable and draw you in to their story. Nathan is gorgeous yet vulnerable - the opposite to his glamorous playboy public persona- and the fact he falls first has you rooting for him from the off. The writing is brilliant and captivating, the story engaging and it took a matter of hours to fly through the pages. The tv adaption background story gives color to their relationship and helps up the tension levels between the pair. Can’t recommend enough!

Jess should've known better than to get involved with the English departments silver fox. Now she's left picking up the pieces after she discovers him cheating and taking the credit for her research paper. Looking for a fresh start and some time away she agrees to become a script consultant on a tv adaptation of Anne of Arden and since she's the authors biggest fan she knows there's no one better suited for the job. But standing in her way is the director Nathan, who's also just been cheated on and is trying to take revenge on his ex-wife by sabotaging her latest project. As the two fight over the script, unexpected chemistry soon arises, but can the two put their differences to get their own happy ending?

I loved this! I flew through this in a couple of hours as I couldn't put it down. Jess and Nathan are both flawed in their own way, and I think that with them both dealing with the same trauma in their previous relationships, it really brought them together. I enjoyed seeing parts of the tv adaptation and how well it was written into the story. I loved that he fell first and that this was a slow burn with no spice and that there was a lot of pining and glances before they admitted how they felt about each other. The writing had me gripped and the character development was done so well watching Jess take charge of her own life and realise that she'll always be the main character of her own story was very empowering. I highly recommend.

This was an okay book that started strong in the beginning but really just fell flat toward the middle and end as it was slow and felt repetitive. I also didn't care too much about any character.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC copy. This was my first Laura Starkey book but it definitely won’t be the last!

Set in the world of television and academics, this romance was a breath of fresh air - our main character, Jess, a literature academic, suddenly ends up as the script consultant for a period novel TV adaptation, with a grumpy director that won’t say yes to any of her suggestions.

Romance novels can be a bit of a cliche these days, but this was actually so interesting - both Jess and Nathan are well developed characters, and I really appreciated that the plot focused on them as individuals rather than solely the romance.

4⭐️

Love off script comes out 11th March!

Jess is dumped by a real jerk and Nathan is out for revenge against his cheating ex-wife. Their meet-cute is sweet, but boy oh boy, does Nathan become a different person once he realizes he’ll be working with Jess. And Jess cares very much about this project, which Nathan is attempting to ruin. I liked this one, even when the characters were unnecessarily hot and cold with each other. They both really needed some therapy, but I liked the cast around these two - they both had some solid friends in their corners.
3.5 stars, rounded up.

Swoony, snarky and sparks were flying! A lovely little romance read that’ is perfect to refresh a palette!

It’s a cute romance set on a film shoot, the lead characters are easy to like and I enjoyed reading about them. It’s an easy read about the romance of two people that didn’t really match, will it be everlasting love.
Jess works as a script writer and Nathan the famous director work together, but the ex wife is still in the background. A cutesy 4 star read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

I loved the dynamic of this book- Jess and Nathan were fun with incredibly well-written humor and that so so special aspect of pining that I just love in a romance! I had never read a romance with a film/screenwriting aspect before, so this was a first for me. I felt like there was a clear pjysical attraction between the two main characters, which I feel could have been developed a bit more (insta love isn't my favorite but it worked fine here). Thank you NetGalley!

I thoroughly enjoyed this trip to northern UK and the idea of a brilliant academic trying to repair a hilariously bad adaptation of a revered Jane Austen-esque novel while the hunky and beleaguered director thwarts her at every turn.

Jess experienced the worst kind of betrayal by her doctoral mentor turned boyfriend. Rather than attempt to report the situation to the board of regents, she accepts a script supervisorship several hours away from her small university. It will at least cover her bills for the duration and give her some much needed time away to lock her wounds and avoid her clueless overbearing parents who make Elizabeth Bennett's mother and father look positively normal by comparison.

Jess immediately butts heads with the director who sees the potential epic failure of the project to be a serious blight on his philandering - and absent - ex-wife’s attempted departure from acting to screenwriting. But Jess is discovering her voice and her spine, and she will not sit back and allow the misguided and coolly magnetic Nathan to make a mockery of the author on whom Jess defended a glorious thesis.

Along the way, however, the pair become drawn to each other in a delicious slow burn romance but will their baggage keep them from reaching for happiness?

I was fortunate to have received an advance reader copy from NetGalley, and I’m happy to share my honest review.

There is a lot about this I enjoyed but I didn't love it. The initial issue and frustration between the two was resolved so quickly that it made the rest of the book feel a too slow.

A cute book though and I loved Jess' character growth.

Thank you NetGalley & Embla Books for this ARC!

Overall, the book was fine. The beginning of the book was strong and I couldn't help but feel for Jess. I was rooting for her the entire time. Our secondary characters, her best friends, were great and added a perfect balance to the story. I like the foundations of the story, but as the book went on I struggled with the relationship between Nathan and Jess. For most of the book, all we really see is their physical connection. We don't get nearly enough emotional attraction. It was hard to understand them as a couple. There was a ALOT of dialogue and over explanation of feelings, to the point where my eyes felt like they were glazing over.

This book will be a quick read and enjoyable.

Jess is an academic whose cheating professor boyfriend is stealing her work. When Jess catches her boyfriend with another student, she leaves the academic world for the film world. There she meets Nathan, whose ex wife wrote the script of the latest show he (and now Jess) are working on together.
Overall this is a sweet romance with a slow burn! Jess and Nathan had interesting backgrounds, which the author told very well. The different locations featured were intertwined within the story well.

Thank you Embla Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. Love Off Script by Laura Starkey is a charming and heartwarming romantic comedy that explores the magic of love and second chances. The story follows a woman navigating her personal and professional life while dealing with the ups and downs of relationships. Starkey’s writing is witty and relatable, with well-developed characters and a sweet, feel-good romance. The plot is fun and light, making it an enjoyable read for fans of contemporary romance. Overall, Love Off Script is a delightful and uplifting story perfect for anyone who enjoys heartwarming love stories.

It's a 3.5/5

Loved the writing and the setting overall! The dynamics between Jess and her parents was wonderfully set up, and each of the characters were very well fleshed out.

The premise was also unique! This is why it was partly frustrating that it sort of gets resolved too quickly, IMO! There was a lot of potential to play with the initial premise- Nathan's goal is to work with a lackluster script for a main reason! Going in, I thought that would the whole crux of the story, however sadly that wasn't the case.

I liked the tension between the two characters. For the most part, it seemed like there was mutual physical attraction between them but I really didn't feel the romance develop between the two. Also, there was a lot of tell and less "show", with respect to their internal conflicts, how they feel about each other etc.

Lovely side characters, including Jess's friends!

I like the author's writing style and although this book wasn't my absolute favorite of hers, I do look forward to reading her next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#LoveOffScript, #NetGalley

Absolutely brilliant! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending it.

Love Off Script is a fun, yet somewhat predictable, rom-com by Laura Starkey. It immediately pulled me in and I easily finished it in a lazy afternoon/evening. While not a deep, thought-provoking read, it was enjoyable and satisfying. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited to read this based on the description, but it just didn’t meet my expectations. I found it really slow and repetitive and felt like every other romance I’ve read. I also hate the miscommunication trope 😭

I was excited to pick up Love Off Script after really enjoying another book by Laura Starkey, but this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The premise had so much potential—academic drama, a fresh start in the TV world, and a romance filled with tension. And to be fair, the beginning hooked me right away! Jess’s situation was messy and compelling, and I was eager to see her navigate the world of script consulting.

But somewhere along the way, the story lost its spark. While the banter between Jess and Nathan had its moments, I never fully connected with their romance. The chemistry felt more forced than natural at times, and the plot started to drag rather than build. I kept waiting for something to reignite my interest, but it just didn’t happen.

That said, I can see why other readers loved it. Starkey’s writing is engaging, and if you enjoy a slow-burn romance with a bit of Hollywood drama, this might work better for you than it did for me. Unfortunately, I just didn’t feel that same magic this time around.