┆ ⤿ 💌 4.25 stars!
I really enjoyed Laura Wood’s first book in this interconnected series, Under Your Spell, so I was super excited when I got approved for this ARC! I LOVE LOVE LOVE a good celebrity romance, and this one had some of my favorite tropes: second chance romance and fake dating? Yeah… sign me up 😭

I’m usually not the biggest fan of timeline shifts, but I actually didn’t mind it here. Getting to see Cynthia and Jack go through similar experiences at two different points in their lives was such a interesting way to show how much they've grown, not just in their careers, but as people too! Jack was way more mature in the 13 years later timeline, and Cynthia was way more confident and experienced with her acting. They’re not in their early 20s anymore, and it shows! Which made me actually enjoy the later timeline even more than the earlier one.

Also, it’s dual POV which is almost a must have for me when it comes to romance. Getting inside both their heads added so much depth especially when it’s also enemies-to-lovers. The tension between them was palpable (I WAS SQUEELING), even when they were at each other’s throats, which made the spicy scenes even more intense. Overall I had a great time and can’t wait for Laura Wood’s next book!

Thanks so much to Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If rom-com hallmarks like second-chance romance, enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, and forced proximity are your jam, this is for you!

I hesitated to get this one since it was a companion novel to her previous one. Glad I took the chance because this was really cute. I liked the characters and enjoyed reading about them falling in love. Overall a good read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of Let's Make A Scene in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately I was unable to read it before the archive date. I look forward to finding this book at my local library or independent bookstore!

I really liked this one! This is one of those books that had a lot to appreciate about it. There’s great panic attack rep. There’s a great storyline about people and women specifically feeling safe in the work environment. I really loved that overall storyline a lot. There’s some really swoony moments and also some pretty funny moments too. The friend group is perfection! I was smiling while reading this. The ‘grand gesture’ at the end was so sweet. Highly recommend this series!

4/5 stars
This was a fun enemies-to-lovers romance with a unique production set backdrop and a compelling history between the two main characters. I especially enjoyed the chemistry and tension throughout—it was easy to get caught up in their dynamic. That said, I had a bit of a rocky start. I wasn’t fully connecting with the story at first and even had to take a break, but I’m so glad I came back to it. Once it found its rhythm, I was hooked.

4.25 ⭐️

Cynthie and Jack were really cute together. I liked the switching timelines from the first movie they filmed together to the sequel 13 years later; it built up their relationship and the story well. Their prank wars were pretty hilarious (lengthening the sleeves and telling Jack he was losing muscles was my favorite). The cast of side characters were also really fun, and I loved the friendships that were built on set and turned lifelong.

The only thing I wish we had gotten more of was Cynthie and Jack actually being together at the end. I felt like we hardly got any of them as a happy couple, or even as friends with benefits. I wanted to see their relationship for longer because it was very sweet and Jack was kind of obsessed with Cynthie (in a good way).

This book can definitely be read as a standalone from book 1 about Theo, since he was barely in it at all. A lot of times I feel like I’m missing out on so much backstory by not reading interconnected series in order, but this could have easily been the only book in the series and I wouldn’t have known the difference. I haven’t read Theo’s book yet, but I’ll go back to it at some point.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I liked this book, but it didn't fully work for me. I thought it was a little too descriptive about the filming a movie process and the storyline and interesting parts of the plot were a little lost. It was a bit hard for me to keep track of the past and present timelines. I did think this was cute and I liked the enemies to lovers and banter parts. I just got a little bored at parts.

Give me everything about this enemies to crushes to fake dating to lovers to forever! I loved this, I love the writing. I loved how you really got to know the characters.

THE GRAND GESTURE IS THE BEST SCENE. I need to watch a few movies after this (apparently, theres a Bill Pullman Lean I need to see?).

One part I didn't like as much was the sections of thirteen years later, thirteen years earlier- it was a little hard for me to keep up. But it was good!

My favorite is arguing rivals to lovers it’s beautiful to see them fall in love. Their chemistry absolutely insane

This book went from zero to 60 FAST. It started out so slow and o was second guessing and then OMG it reeled me in, I was in love with the characters and the story and just HOOKED. I spent most of the weekend wishing I didn’t have plans so I could just devote all of my time to this book and also Jack is the best book boyfriend EVER!

This was my first Laura Wood book and I can’t wait for more!

Thank you to the publishers for an e-galley of this book. It was a really cute romcom and i enjoyed every second of it.

i love the idea of the "pr couple' reconnecting and discovering their feelings years later it was a really cute and fun read

Let’s Make a Scene was such a charming, feel-good read! 🎬✨ It’s the perfect mix of lighthearted romance, witty banter, and those rom-com vibes that just make you smile the whole way through. Laura Wood’s writing made me feel like I was watching a comfort movie in book form—fun, sweet, and impossible to put down.

4.5 stars rounded up

Let's Make a Scene by Laura Wood is my first Laura Wood book but it will not be the last. This book is sort of a dual timeline second chance romance about two people (Cynthie and Jack) who deeply misunderstand one another and act up to save face. Some might describe this book as enemies to lovers but this was instalove all the way with a misinterpretation trope tossed in. Although, I do have to say that when I first read what Jack did to elicit the response from Cynthie... well, I thought the man needed to be jailed. They made me change my mind though! The power of the written word, am I right? Anyway, there isn't much I can say without spoiling stuff so I'll just say this, read the book.

Now anyone reading my reviews knows that I've been accidentally reading a lot of books with dual timelines lately and I have stated in many occasion that I hate them. It turns out that if they make sense, I don't hate them. I thought that the dual timeline made a lot of sense and added some much needed context. Do I wish we had less? Yes, because I like the present better than the past but I'm telling you, if you hate dual timelines this book might change your mind on them.

What did I like about the book? First, I was actively giggling and kicking my feet while reading this book. Second, I loved the character arc of both characters. In the dual timeline we see who they used to be compared to who they are now. I like that Jack learned to be a better person and that Cynthie became the biggest star on the planet. Third, I ADORED the chosen family and how much they were present throughout the whole book. Last, and this is a spoiler but I loved the [ lack of a third act breakup because I hate those and I enjoyed that this book didn't have that.

Why isn't it 5 stars? The first thing was that the spicy scenes sometimes came out of nowhere. The second was that the ending was perfectly fine which was a little underwhelming for me. After such a great book, I was expecting a bigger ending and it was fine I did have such a good time reading this book that it doesn't make me want to reduce it more than half a star.

Who should read this book? Anyone who likes romance. Second chance romances sometimes don't make sense but this one does. Read it! It's so good!

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Laura Wood for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to love Let’s Make a Scene so bad—book one had me obsessed. But this? This was SO SLOW. So many random details that didn’t matter, just dragging the story out instead of moving it forward. Every time I thought we were getting somewhere, we’d detour into another scene that didn’t add anything. It lost all the charm and spark that made me fall for the first book. By the end, I was just pushing through to be done, not because I cared what happened.

At the start of the book I wasn’t feeling it. I wasn’t able to fully concentrate on what I was reading and wasn’t enjoying it. I took a small break and came back. I’m glad I did! Could most of the problems been solved by talking? Yes. But everything that happened felt organic and not just to create issues/tension. The grand gesture was a little awkward in my opinion but also a little cheesy and a little cute. This is book 2 in a series but I did not read book 1 and had no issues.

🎬 What a super cute, made-for-Hollywood romance! Thank you to @atriabooks for the #gifted ARC and thanks to @lucyslumos for the rec! This is out now, btw.

🎬 What you can expect:
- movie set behind the scenes
- celebs with back stories
- enemies to lovers but also second chance and also workplace (all the tropes)
- the grandest of grand gestures
- witty banter
- sweet, lovable MC’s you can’t help but root for

🎬 This was just super sweet and fun and an absolute joy to listen to. There is some open door spice if that’s a concern for you. Overall, I definitely recommend it.

Cynthia and Jack are costars who are great on screen, but off screen, they hate each other. This book deals with a dual timeline, which was a bit confusing at times. However, overall, the story of two co-workers coming back together after 13 years to do the sequel, they must pretend like they are dating.

There were a few instances of miscommunication throughout the book, which didn't make logical sense, as this could have been resolved with a simple conversation. This made the book less relatable, but didn't take away from the overall story.

Thank you, NetGalley and the author, for a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

✮✮✮✮

↬"...despite what you seem to think, it’s not hard to love you, Cynthie; it’s easy. It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done."

This book has pleasantly surprised me. Since I'm not the biggest fan of second chance romances I was a little unsure about this book but I can confidently say that it was very good!! I really loved the characters and how much they grew as people. It was amazing so see them both in the present and in the past, this helped us understand more about the characters and understand why they didn't work in the past.

I really LOVED Cynthie. She is a very powerful woman and was able to go through all the challenges that presented themselves in front of her. I also loved that despite being such an independent and strong character she was still able to be vulnerable and open up around Jack.

Their romance was also really good. I really liked how they were TRULY enemies in the past but slowly started to become more familiar around each other and then started falling in love with each other. It was vey sweet to see how their relationship started and why it did not work. Seeing how much Jack changed and how open he is now makes us understand that now is the right time for them to be together, it would never have worked in the past because they needed to grow.

Overall, I really liked this book and adored their romance. There are so many quotes that made me giggle and jump around my room. I am very happy that I liked this book as much as I did.

This was a fun enemies to lovers type of romance! I enjoyed the production set setting and the history of the two main characters. I had a hard time sometimes with the dual timeline since both were the same characters filming almost the same film just a decade or so apart. Other than that I enjoyed the plot and chemistry throughout!

Thanks to Atria for an early copy!