"FRESH, FUN, FANTASTIC!

Nora is a screenwriter for a “romance channel�� but despite writing about Happily Ever Afters, her own marriage is ending in divorce.

Instead of letting that get her down-she writes the BEST script of her life-and it’s picked up for the big screen. It will be filmed at her 100 year old home, since it’s called “The Tea House�� and why replicate the setting when her house has the real thing-a one room structure in her backyard made of stone with a slate roof, a working fireplace, and gorgeous views of the woods beyond. It was built to honor the ritual of formal tea-but it is now the place where Nora writes.

Even better, when a former “sexiest man alive�� Leo Vance, the highest paid leading man in Hollywood, is cast to play the role of her ex husband, the film is destined for success!

When the film wraps, Leo makes Nora an offer she can’t refuse-$1000 a day to stay on for a week. She needs the money-and he needs a place to be anonymous-a place to reset and refresh.

A lot can happen in a week-as the synopsis says…you can fall in love or you can have your heart broken��

Maybe, Nora will get a HEA of her own��

❤️

Nora is a relatable lead, who has imperfect hair, an ex husband and two young children, yet we have FINALLY been given a leading lady who doesn’t need to turn to alcohol to cope because she is FIERCE, FUNNY and FORMIDABLE. And, her kids aren’t baggage-they are a BONUS!

How refreshing is that?

I decided to read this book after LOVING her new one which I received as an ARC from the publisher. It’s called “Same Time Next Summer�� and has an expected publication date of June 6, 2023.

See review for the upcoming title here: /review/show...

Annabel Monaghan has just become my latest AUTO READ author! Love her work! ❤️

I can highly recommend BOTH books and can’t wait to see what’s next!"

"I loved it, loved it, loved it, loved it, loved it, LOVED IT!

A love story blooming between middle aged romance screenwriter, with two kids and a highest paid-actor, 40, deliciously charismatic with his famous smoldering who loses the meaning of his life, suffering from grief.

Nora is dumped by her self absorbed, narcissistic husband Ben , who doesn’t have proper job to assist his family so he sharpens his over spending skills to buy himself for more unnecessary merchandises because HE CAN and it makes him feel SO GOOD! Finally he leaves his wife and his children to travel around Asia without offering alimony or any financial support!

Nora accepts this situation: she gets relieved because she’s better without him! She is famous with her special formula to write heartfelt- sweet-swoon TV romance movies! She changes the location, occupations, switching genders and write the same screenplays over and over again : conclusions are exactly same: one of the parties always come back- grand gesture and happy ending seal the entire deal!

But when she decides to write about her marriage, things get darker and instead of her TV channel, her agents pitches the script to the higher authorities and guess what ? a major studio buys the script. She’s not gonna only paid for her writing services, the production team will also use her home as one of the locations of the movie!

This means the leading actor- sexiest man alive- best smoldering hottie Leo Vance will be at her backyard with his trailer!

But she realizes Leo starts to invade more of her space than she expected. He’s at the her patio for watching the sunset with her, appearing in her kitchen to criticize her turkey meatball cooking skills, befriending her daughter Bernadette, giving advises her son not to chase his acting dreams when he becomes adult!

When the filming is over, he has no intention to leave. He even offers her to pay for one week for renting her tea house to stay!

Of course Nora has no power to resist this man’s charm, drooling over and daydreaming when he insists to join her run errands including grocery shopping, directing elementary school theater play, cheering for Bernadette at her soccer matches!

Nora thinks she finally finds something to hold on in her life! Could Leo be her forever? Could a movie star and an ordinary woman asking the boy to love her relationship last forever?

Well, at some parts, I truly bang Nora and Leo’s heads together! They acted a little stubborn to lose their chance for happiness! But overall , this is epic, lovable and Sooooooooo romantic to skip!

I’m still angry at myself for not reading this amazing book before! One of the best romances and women’s fiction of the year I highly recommend you to read!

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"Looking for a book that will leave you with a full heart and a smile on your face? Look no further, this is the book for you!

Nora is a screenwriter for a romance channel, as well as a single mom to two kids. When her lazy, entitled jerk of a husband left her and the children, she set aside her usual HEA stories and instead wrote a screenplay based on the disaster of her life, which is the opposite of what would be shown on the romance channel (thus, the book’s title). It’s her best yet and is optioned for a movie on the big screen. None other than Leo Vance, perhaps the sexiest man alive, is chosen for the lead. The film location is set in her very own writing studio on her property.

Rom-coms are all about the appeal of the characters, the dialogue, and the journey. Despite familiar themes, this felt fresh and new to me, and was simply delightful. I especially loved Nora’s relatability, her down-to-earth attitude, and her relationship with her kids and extended family.

When filming is complete, Leo asks to stay on for a bit and reflect on his life while experiencing normal simple family things with Nora and her children. Nora hesitates but could use the rent money.

You can guess where this is going��..

I loved the budding relationship between Nora and Leo. Witty banter and snark gets me every time. Nora’s children are adorable, but in a realistic way. Sure, there’s a misunderstanding that a simple conversation would have solved, but what would be the fun in that? Were some things unrealistic? Of course, but who cares?

Meanwhile, Nora finds a measure of peace and happiness and in the process finds herself. I appreciated the deeper message that she wanted love but didn’t NEED it to be happy or complete. Still, I was rooting for Nora and Leo from beginning to end.

This is a perfectly charming and fun uplifting read with a sweet message. The writing was great and the audiobook narrator, Hillary Huber, was terrific. But it was the characters that truly won me over and I was sorry to see the book end.

This is author Annabel Monaghan’s first novel for adults and I’m now officially a fan!"