Tag: Annabel Monaghan

This Chick Read: It’s A Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

Jane Jackson has built her adult life on the mantra ‘Fake It Until You Make It’. Her childhood was spent on a sitcom as the sidekick “Janey Jakes” but now she’s trying to make it as a Hollywood Executive. When she claims to be able to talk a popular musician, Jack Quinlan, into writing a track to help them launch a movie she’s pitching Jane has to ask for help from her one-time crush Dan Finnegan. Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown and she needs Dan’s connections to help her, well, connect with Jack. A week in close quarters with Dan is Jane’s idea of hell, but stranger things have surprised her.

I recently discovered this author when I finally listened to an audiobook that I’d purchased of one of her other books, and fell in love. I love her style of writing, her lovable yet flawed characters, and most of all that slow burn romance. Annabel Monaghan believes in that big build-up in tension and I just love how that makes me eagerly turn the pages. It’s a Love Story had me feeling all that pent-up emotion that I remembered from the first novel of hers I read, Phoebe Goes Off Script. When combined with humor, charm, and an emotional punch you are left with one stand-up novel that’s just really easy to sit back, read, and enjoy.

Dan was set up to be this kind of co-worker jerk who had stood in Jane’s way on another project but by the end of this novel he was the sweet misunderstood hero that every woman wants to meet. On the flip side, Jack Quinlan is the trauma from Jane’s past that serves as a tool for the conflict Jane’s character needs to overcome to believe in love. The juxtaposition of her past and present with the men from her present and past really gave this novel a punch of feeling. I loved Jane’s journey but especially when she and Dan finally work things out. I can’t wait to listen to this book on audio because I think a great narrator could make me love it even more the second time around.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* It’s a Love Story

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate – if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Same Time Next Summer

Sam is taking her fiancé Jake to her family’s summer home at the beach in Long Island to look at a wedding venue, but as soon as she arrives she senses something is off. She hears guitar music playing and realizes that Wyatt, the boy that broke her heart, has returned to his house next door. She hasn’t seen him since she was seventeen and doesn’t want to see him now. Unfortunately he’s everywhere and all of those memories from long ago come flooding back. Sam remembers who she used to be, and as Wyatt reenters her life their connection is as undeniable as it always was. She will have to make a choice.

This was the last of Annabel Monaghan’s books that I hadn’t read and I was excited to get a copy from the library. The weather is turning and I’m in the mood for a summer beach romance and this one looked to be a perfect fit.

I liked Sam a lot. She was conflicted over bringing her fiancé to her summer home because she was a different person at the beach then she was in the city. There she was buttoned up and had closeted all of her feelings behind a safe wall, but at the beach she let her feelings come alive. Her true person came out and because of the heartache she faced when she was young she was afraid to let that person come to the surface. A little unfair to her fiancé because he didn’t know the real her, just the person she wanted to show him. When she was faced with Wyatt again and all of those old feelings surfaced, as well as her connection with Wyatt she was faced with the choice to stay in her safe world or take a chance and face her true self. That was what I loved about this story. She didn’t allow herself to hide away anymore, of course, she needed a good reason and that was the love of a good man. Unfortunately for her fiancé it wasn’t him.

These summer romance novels have such a warm, golden feel to them. I love that easy, relaxed fit that a beach read brings to my heart and this book was no different. Was it my favorite book by this author? Nope. It was probably my least favorite, actually, but it was still enjoyable and I loved the journey it took me on. Now that I’m caught up with her books I’ll need to find another new to me author with a backlist of novels to read and love.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Same Time Next Summer

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

Ali Morris organizes people lives for a living but when her mother dies and her husband leaves her, her own life starts to spin. She hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in a good long while. One day, she takes a big step, puts on semi-structured overalls and takes her dog to the dog park where her dog pees on a man named Ethan who looks at her like she has her act together. He looks at her like she’s her much younger self. There’s no harm in a little summer romance is there?

I have come to love this authors’ summer romances. The characters are always a bit messy but with the heat and beach humidity a little anxiety and disorganization seems to fit just right. What I liked about this novel was that Ali’s messiness was caused by grief and self discovery while learning how to live through that grief. This story felt very real, especially with how her two children coped with a mother who kind of stopped living for awhile. Ethan brought a little fun and laughter to this woman who hadn’t felt those emotions in quite a long time and you could almost feel that exhalation of grief and inhalation of life in each scene he was in.

An interesting side plot was how Ethan dealt with his own messiness. In this small town they were both from, he had a bit of a crazy reputation that people had trouble seeing past. Everyone but Ali, who saw the man he had become vs. the troubled youth he once was. I liked the dichotomy of his past and current lives and how he needed to overcome his own anxiety. I like when both characters have a bit of work to do to make it to their happily ever after. Their journey felt like the breeze wafting in from the water, whipping around slightly before settling down. Refreshing.

Click this link to purchase this book! *Summer Romance

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chicks Audio Review: Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan

Romance channel screenwriter Nora Hamilton knows the formula for romance, at least writing the screenplay for one, but when her own marriage ends in a long-time-coming divorce, she write the best script of her life. When it’s picked up part of it is filmed in her backyard and the very sexy actor Leo Vance is cast as her dead beat husband and her life is changed forever. The day after filming wraps she finds Leo on her porch asking to stay. He’ll pay $1000 per day for a week to just hang out in the back cottage. Seven days is enough time to get to know someone, love them, and break their heart.

Well, this novel was a complete surprise! I found it on a Best of 2022 list and I bought the audiobook a while ago because it sounded like a light read. It was and it wasn’t light-hearted. It certainly had moments of joy, frivolity, and heart but it also held a lot of depth, emotion, and heart break. I truly did not know where this book was going at times and wasn’t sure how it would end. It held quite a sucker punch and I felt everything Nora felt and cried my cold dark heart out. LOL.

Nora was one of those characters that is kind of hard to get to know at first, but slowly the authors lets you into their mind and then their heart. She is not looking for love at all- after all she just got rid of the dead weight husband and is trying to raise her kids as a single parent. Under all of that constancy, Leo plants a seed of hope. At first she is confused by his presence and kind of annoyed that he foisted himself on her family, but she needs his money and is willing to put up with his presence to have that security. He inserts himself into not only her life but her kids lives too. She teaches him how to grocery shop, make dinner, pick up the kids from school, etc. He’s charming, sexy, and good looking and is interested in her? It makes for a very compelling story. Yes, there’s a bit of that famous person loving an ordinary woman fantasy element, but this author makes it feel very real, not fantasy-like at all. Maybe hearing it voiced helped make that connection to these characters feel immediate too. I need to give a shout-out to the narrator, Hillary Huber, who really made everyone come to life and helped me fall in love with them.

I love novels with young kids. Which I find pretty funny because I don’t have children myself and mostly find them annoying. However, in novels they are used as a construct to add humor, emotions, sadness, and help move a plot along. Nora’s children give life to this story. They provide a connection with Leo and Nora that really give heart and push the momentum forward. I loved that Nora’s son was in a school play and Leo just kind of took over coaching him giving her child that father son relationship that he needed. Moments like this create joy and in this case gave a roundness to the story. Sometimes it doesn’t work but in this case it worked so well. In fact, I think I loved this love story more for the family unit than I did for Nora and Leo themselves. If you’ve not read this one, please give it a shot. I’m so glad I finally did! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this audiobook!* Nora Goes Off Script

Copyright 2022 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads