Nora Goes Off Script: Monaghan, Annabel: 9780593420034: Amazon.com: Books

I thought this was a well written story with interesting characters who were well developed. And they weren’t your standard rom com characters which I found refreshing- especially the children. But one of my pet peeves about romance books is the “breakup due to a misunderstanding.” That fully took up 1/4 of this story and I found myself skimming past it out of frustration. It just wasn’t believable that at least one of the main characters wouldn’t have at least initiated one more clarifying text or phone call before falling silent for so long. There was also an event that was important in the story that I just do not believe the MMC would have missed, come hell or high water. That plot point didn’t work.If “big misunderstanding” breakups don’t bother you, you’ll probably really like this book. If they do, you might want to skip it.

This book has my heart completely! It's all the best parts of Funny You Should Ask and Evvie Drake Starts Over with a huge helping of Emily Henry, all rolled into one funny, heartwarming, emotional story.Nora Hamilton is a divorced, single mom of two, and a screenwriter for made-for-tv romance movies. When she writes a screenplay about the demise of her marriage instead of her standard formulaic happily-ever-after script, it is sold to a Hollywood studio who plan to make a big screen movie about it - complete with former sexiest man alive actor Leo Vance playing her ex - and pay her to film it at her home. The pair butt heads from the moment he steps out of the trailer that's ruining her lawn, but the morning after the cast and crew leave, Nora finds Leo on her porch watching the sunrise. He offers a proposition - let him stay on for a week in the tea house where they filmed, and he'll pay her $1000 a day in rent. As a single mom keeping her family afloat, with no help from her too-good-to-ever-work ex, she knows that the money will help pad her meager finances. But it's the raw and desperate emotion she sees on his face that makes her agree to the arrangement. As the days go by, they find a familiar and comfortable pattern, which evolves into a whirlwind affair. When Leo has to leave Nora to go back to L.A. for an audition, he promises to be back in a week. But life gets in the way and once a week passes, and Leo doesn't return, and then disappears entirely from Nora's life. What follows is the aftermath of a quick and intense love, heartbreak, and soldiering on for your family when all you want to do is fall apart.A beautiful and emotional love story, with a happy ending. Nora is relatable - she's a wonderful mother, writer, and doesn't allow her past hurts to jade her to opening her heart again. Leo is complicated but is open hearted and generous. The pair balance each other out so well, they truly have a great relationship. The emotional ups-and-downs between them are well portrayed and entirely believable. My only wish is that we could have seen some of the story from Leo's point of view! This author is now an automatic buy for me!

I’d seen another reviewer say that they thought the love story didn’t really build and just seemed to happen, so I had lower expectations on the romance front. After the first chapter, I decided it would be fine if this book wasn’t much of a romance because I connected to Nora and I liked her kids, which I figured would be enough. Turns out, I fully bought into the romance side of it as well.Things between Nora and Leo do seem to just fall into place, but I found that comforting. Nothing over complicated. Leo likes Nora, Nora likes Leo, he takes to her kids right away and they like him. It’s really nice. However, I’m so used to romcoms dragging out the first kiss/romantic elements that I was thrown by how soon it happened. Also, this isn’t really a romcom. It’s more women’s fiction meets romance. There’s humor, but it’s dry. I appreciate dry humor, so I enjoyed the writing style. However, it does create a different rhythm. Nora is more matter-of-fact, so it’s like a calm wit.Halfway through, I got a little stressed. Things were so good between the characters that I began waiting for the other shoe to drop. It’s not like books where the characters don’t get together until the end, where the anxiety comes from wondering if they’ll ever figure it out. It’s stress from seeing that Nora and Leo have something really good, really nice…and hoping they’ll be able to keep it. There were higher stakes in the game. I’ve never read this author before and didn’t know if she was a happy endings person, so I didn’t know if this would be a La La Land situation.Then things took an unexpected turn. And honestly, it was kind of cathartic because it meant that Nora got a chance to really feel her feelings, and also a chance to determine what it was she really wanted. Plus, with the catharsis came several laugh-out-loud moments for me in the conversations Nora has with her friend Kate and with her parents. I will say I found myself really confused for a huge chunk of time in the middle because I was trying to figure out what caused the shift in the story. When the penny drops and all is revealed, the light bulb went off and my mouth actually fell open for a few seconds.I can’t explain why I loved this book so much because doing so would cause spoilers. It turned out to be so much more than I thought and there are so many good things about it. Nora’s kids, Arthur and Bernadette, are amazing. Her friends, her sister, her parents, the town…all great.For those who take this into consideration - this is a closed door romance and there is some very light cursing, including the use of the F word a smattering of times. Also, those reading the kindle version should be prepared that the kindle percentage showing how far you’ve made it through the book may throw you off. I was pacing myself wrong because it turns out the book ended at the 87% mark since there are things like discussion guides after the book.

I needed a palate cleanser after the heavy and dark books I've been reading. This is a pleasant escapism book. Yes, it is a bit cheesy and unrealistic, but I greatly enjoyed the writing, storyline, and characters.It is a fun and sweet rom-com, although it was just a tad witty with not much comedy. I found it heartbreakingly romantic, and I appreciate the focus on the children and their feelings. I felt the most for the children, I think, because I'm a mother of a boy going through the same as them.There is a bit too much alcohol consumption and miscommunication.I did finish this book with a smile on my face.