'Nora goes off-script' is a light romance about a writer (Nora) who meets and falls in love with a Hollywood superstar (Leo), when he stays at her house, whilst filming a movie (written by her), based on her life and where he plays the part of her ex-husband. And no, it's not as complex to understand the happenings in the book - my opening sentence was just awful, sorry!

Nora is a likeable FMC. When we first meet her, she's a single-mom with 2 children, an old house in need of fixing up, and a practical, "don't worry, i will sort it out" approach to life.
Sometimes, this means that she is taken advantage of - mostly by her ex when they were still married, but also by the PTA head, by the Hollywood crew running roughshod over her lawn, and also by the handsome Hollywood leading man who feels free to drink her booze, do her crosswords and sleep on her patio.

Luckily, this drinking, brooding version of Leo doesn't last very long. When the crew leaves Nora's home, Leo decides to stick around a little longer and he's quite sweet. And handsome. And rich. And loves Nora's kids (Arthur and Bernadette). And maybe Nora too?

Their relationship develops very quickly - but it feels quite organic. I liked how the author shows and doesn't tell us this bit. Leo starts to get involved in Nora and the kids' lives by helping with errands and chores, helping with the school play, getting to know her best friends. They fall in love and everything's coming up roses.

Of course, there is now conflict.
Leo has to leave for work, but is going to come back in time for Arthur's play.

***Spoilers***
. Not only is he unable to get back in time, he ghosts Nora.
He then is dating his co-star, something that is splashed all over the news.

***End spoilers***

With conflict, comes growth. Nora begins to understand herself more, and the depth of her feelings for Leo. She also pushes herself for success and allows herself to live, rather than merely exist. Conflict is resolved and voila, HEA.

Like Nora's writing for the romance channel, the novel does follow the "math". However, much like Nora's films, sometimes all you want is the happiness from a simple, sweet romance.
And 'Nora goes off-script' delivers.

Many thanks to the publisher for the free ARC. This did not influence my review.

This book had so much potential. It could really have embraced the glamour and drama of the film industry to create an epic love story between Nora and Leo. Instead, their romance was afforded little build-up and there were no signs of tangible attraction, making it seem to appear out of nowhere. This meant that their connection felt neither natural nor believable.

The first section of the book rushed through the romance, leaving the remaining majority to dwell on the couple’s separation and Nora’s disappointment. This put a dampener on every event that occurred and sucked all the excitement out of what could have easily been a dramatic plot.

The characters themselves weren’t particularly likeable. Initially, I did find Nora to be charming but as more and more time was spent with her while she wallowed in self-pity, she quickly became quite tedious. Leo on the other hand never sparkled with the charisma of a true leading man. He maintained an air of entitlement throughout his time in the novel. He was actually rather absent from much of it, with more time spent focusing on Nora pining after him. This meant that his character was given no depth and I couldn’t sympathise with the few personal details randomly dropped in about him.

With such a promising premise, this book had the potential to be a fun, engaging read. Unfortunately, the romance was underdeveloped and the couple’s inevitable separation was too drawn out.

I absolutely adored this book which ticked all of the right boxes for me. One of my favorite tropes is where a movie star meets a regular person and falls for them - and this is coupled with a character who is a Writer - another love of mine, so a real win-win. The writing is great, the characters are all likeable and the story felt unique to me. I am usually less keen on books where kids are involved, but I absolutely loved Bernadette and Arthur, who really added to the story. The twists to the romance were a real surprise and you do get the sense of being on a rollercoaster at times, but when I finished I got such a warm happy feeling and a smile on my face. This book is a real feel-good read which I highly recommend. If you liked Holywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre you should love this book too when it is out on 7th June. Many thanks to NetGallery and Hodder & Stoughton for allowing me to read this book early and for introducing this Annabel Monaghan's work - I'm definitely going to be reading her other books now.

Now might not be the best time for me to be writing this review, or it could be the best; I’m unsure. I’ve just finished reading Nora Goes Off Script; I am emotional because this story made me cry, and I feel like I could slip back into tears at the slightest provocation. There may be some spoilers in this review, so please stop reading if you don’t want to know!

I know nothing about being a mother, single or otherwise, and Nora, our main character, is a single mother of two who writes television romance movies. She has recently written a big-screen film about her perspective of her marriage and her husband walking out. One part of the film is set to film in her tea house, which the film is named after. In swoops, Leo Vance heartthrob of the big screen.

Leo isn’t in a great place and needs a little time in the quiet life to get reacquainted with who he is. This leads to Nora letting him Bunk in her tea house for a week after filming wraps up so he can recalibrate. One week turns into three and holy heck, am I swooning.

Nora is a badass mum; she’s determined and strong; she gets shit done while writing movies and providing for her family. I enjoyed reading from her point of view and getting to know her and her children. Leo was also a wonderful character; once he resets into himself after so much time spent filming and on movie sets, he settles into this down to earth guy who loves the little life. I loved them together. But. And this is where the tears came in. There are multiple conversations about how Nora sets up her scrips for her television romances; the characters meet but heads, work together on something, fall in love; one leaves before the last advert break and then comes back right at the end, realising that what they want is right in front of them. Reunion kiss and fade to black. Do you see what I’m getting at?

There is a portion of this book where Leo leaves, he’s going to shoot a new blockbuster film, but he’s coming back. He reassures Nora, her kids and us that he is coming back, and then he doesn’t. This isn’t what caused my tear ducks to rebel. It’s his coming back, and the circumstances of his leaving that killed me (I’m tearing up again).

I enjoyed Nora Goes Off Script; it was surprisingly easy to get into, and I read it in a day, so it’s easy to read (until it makes you cry). The characters are well written, and the story is excellent; I would definitely recommend it.

I love Nora and I love the writing style of this book. I enjoyed the first half more than the 2nd but overall had a great reading experience.
I think the characters are great and the story just fantastical enough to suck you in without being too farfetched.
I have a couple of issues with the book that I’ve highlighted to the publisher (via NetGalley) so hopefully they get addressed :-)

This was a quick, easy and lighthearted read that I read in one sitting. It was well written with an engaging storyline and well developed characters that were relatable. I would highly recommend if you are looking for an uplifting read.

I blitzed through this book over the weekend as I just could not get enough. Light and witty I enjoyed every second. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nora is a screenwriter who's husband has walked out on her and their two children. So, write what you know - she writes a movie about it. And then agrees to let the film makers use her home as a location . . . Putting her family in the path of leading man and Hollywood heartthrob Leo.

The book was very slow paced and I struggled to stay engaged. There were some sweet parts, but overall it wasn't really my thing!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and penguin group Putnam for the chance to read this book before publication. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I love books that are set in small towns and focus in on a location and this really did that. I was able to feel for the characters and I was very satisfied with the conclusion. This was a fast read for me I was hooked from the start, read it in a day.

This book is good however it was a little bit slow for me. The characters in the book were good thou and at times it is very emotional. Overall a good storyline and written well.

I absolutely loved it! There were times I thought it was a little slow but I think that was more my reading speed than the pace of the story. The end of this book had me moving my eyes across the page as fast as possible and it had a fantastic twist that I didn't expect.

It was a really nice reflection of a relatively normal family who get to live part of a fantasy and I fell in love with all of the characters. Annabel Monaghan's descriptive writing allowed me to image such a serene and tranquil setting, while also being transported to those moments of luxury.

Definitely pick this one up when you have the chance! Publication date 7th June 2022

Just lovely. A proper emotional ride as Nora discovers herself and that she isn’t poor Nora but a fabulous person with a future and great kids. The love affair with famous actor Leo is central to the script and somehow you love Leo, Nora and the kids despite the meddling and attention seeking. Such a feel good story, perfect.

Nora Goes Off Script, Annabel Monaghan

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance,

Well, Wow. I loved this.
I read a lot of different genres including good old romance, but for me the story has to have more than the light and cute, couple meet, fall in love, quick bit of sad then the HEA. Lately somehow that's all I seem to find, books like the Hallmark afternoon films my late husband adored. He'd have a tear by the end, I'd be “ What? Really”. Millions of folk love these sorts of reads, I'm not knocking them, but they're not for me. When Nora talks about her TRC stories, it made me smile, that's exactly what I mean.

Nora was wonderful, picked herself up after her husband left “ to find himself, she was holding him back” or some such nonsense, leaving her with debts, house needing repairs, and of course two adorable kids. She just knuckled down and wrote a story about it. She usually writes romances for The Romance Channel ( as above!), but this one is a bit darker and more intense than her usual, and her agent pitches it elsewhere...cue a whole life change for Nora.
I loved Nora, she's been through so much, supporting the family on her own long before Ben left. In fact she's financially better off without him, something many of us know about. Arthur and Bernadette, the kids, are great. Sensible, almost adult at times but with the kid bit bursting through at others. She has some great friends too, plus of course the small town folk that are always around, those who most try yo avoid, who have a way of manipulating others, or saying things in a double handed way.
Then the film crew. I loved Wheezie, and of course Martin, and his ever younger girlfriends...Leo though, I didn't like him at all to begin. I was thinking “ really? This guy is the one she falls for?” Over time though, as he settled I grew to see a different side of him, and fell in love along with Nora. And then came the big crash. Huge, but very quiet crash.

What I loved about when it all went wrong is that it was fully explored, drawn out, there were times when I thought “is this the time they get back?” only to find it wasn't. That part was perfect for me, I like the drama to be fully wrung out, every bit of emotion explored, pulled out, not over in a couple of pages as so often happens. Then when things finally did work out it was just so so satisfying, again there's still upset and hurt, its not “ wow, OK, all is wonderful now” There were some very real reactions.

Stars: Five, a fabulous story for me, felt very real and had drama in bucket loads.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

This is a book that you need to make space for in your holiday suitcase, a fun light read for on the beach, I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be looking out for the author in future

Nora Goes Off Script was, for me, a somewhat unexpected delight. This is a book I picked up on a whim, based on the cover and blurb. And it’s a book I ended up loving.

The story follows Nora, a scriptwriter whose latest work, based on her failed marriage, is being made into a film. For three days, the film crew and actors arrive at her home, and it’s here she meets Leo. Once the filming is done, Leo asks her if he can stay one week longer, to the tune of $1000 per day. Nora, confused, accepts the offer.

In general, I would say this book falls somewhere between romance and women’s fiction. There is the romance between Nora and Leo, but the focus is less on that than Nora herself and the pacing of the romance is a lot different to in a conventional romance novel. The reason I would say it’s not wholly women’s fiction is because it does hit the romance beats still, just at a different pace.

Which is actually what I really liked about this book. To say this vaguely, in an attempt to avoid slight spoilers, the way events unfolded I think gave time for the conflict to breathe, so that, by the end, you could believe in the characters’ development. I’ve often mentioned in reviewing romance novels that I struggle with late third act breakups, in believing in a couple’s ability to get past whatever precipitated that breakup and thus become a healthier relationship. Because that breakup and subsequent forgiveness is always rushed and sudden. Here, though, there is ample time for it all and, honestly, that was probably my favourite part of this book.

Where I think perhaps the balance of romance to women’s fiction worked against this book was Leo. This isn’t entirely a criticism, I think, because it’s a personal one, really. I just thought Leo came out too vague as a character. I couldn’t tell you a whole lot about him. In part, I think this was down to the fact the book focused more on Nora—the women’s fiction aspect of it, instead of the romance. Nora’s journey was the big event in the plot; Leo was simply a facet of it. But, as such, he felt quite indeterminate.

However, that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story. This is a book I picked up on a whim, expecting nothing from it, really, but I ended up loving it. And honestly, isn’t that the best sort?