It’s a love story
by Annabel Monaghan

From the publisher

From the USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV punchline who has left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror thanks to a fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra that has her on the cusp of success, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash-course with her past, spending a week in Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love.

Rules for a love story: There are none. It’s all a lie.

Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth—you can’t fake a belly laugh. Jane should know, she spent her adolescence as “Poor Janey Jakes,” the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America’s fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and she’s living by a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.

Except, she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she opened her mouth and a big fat fib fell out. She claimed that Jack Quinlan, hottest popstar of the moment, has promised to write an original song for the soundtrack. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years.

Now, Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown on Long Island, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan while facing down her past is Jane’s idea of hell, but Dan just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true?

My Review

For summer romance done right, look no further than Annabel Monaghan. I’ve read all her books and this one might just be my favorite to date.

While, yes, the characters are technically on a work trip, that is just and excuse to force them to spend time together. They’re staying in a childhood bedroom (only one bed? Please! Try three twin beds!) in his parents house on Long Island while the family gets ready for their 40th anniversary party. It’s sheer welcoming chaos around them, which stirs up its own issues for Dan and Jane.

I’ve been on a kick lately (accidentally, but I’ve been enjoying it) of contemporary romances where the main characters’ issues are mainly being told that they’re not unique, compelling or desirable enough to deserve love (sometimes explicitly by a jerk ex, sometimes, in Jane’s case, by the legacy of the TV character she totes around), which feels so real and relatable. Not every lead in a romance novel needs a complex history of trauma and/or abandonment to have issues. Sometimes, their very self-perceived ordinariness can be a hurdle to overcome in and of itself.

Five stars. Easy, breezy, beautiful, cartoon cover art. And check out Monaghan’s back list, too. They’re all worth it!