[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
After seven years at the business equivalent of “always the bridesmaid, never the bride,” Evie is ready for a change. She’s the assistant to an agent who manages screenwriters, including Oscar-winner Ezra Chester. The rude and arrogant writer is woefully behind on completing a contracted rom-com script. And Evie is sent to light a fire under him. Maybe if she handles this well, she will get the chance to be an agent to some clients of her own.
Ezra feels rom-coms are beneath him. He says he has no intention of writing the script. Evie knows if he backs out of this, her company is doomed. All of her years on grunt work waiting for her big break to move up to agent will be wasted. So she convinces Ezra to sign on for a challenge.
Assuming the real reason he’s not writing is writer’s block, Evie says she will test out all the popular movie meet-cutes and show Ezra they can work. And while she tries to find love like in a romantic comedy, he’ll start writing his script. Sure, it’ll be embarrassing to spill coffee on a stranger or go looking for a date at a book club meeting, but it’s worth it if she can wrangle a script out of Ezra, keep her job, and maybe even find love.
Review
Stories like this, whether in a book or a movie or on TV walk a fine line between humor and pain. I struggle to rate this one because several of the scenarios in this were painful for me. I wanted to close my eyes rather than watch Evie ruin something else related to her friend’s wedding or endure another disastrous meet cute. At the same time, I loved that Evie didn’t take herself too seriously. She set aside any humiliation and owned her disasters. And through them, she re-discovered herself as a writer.
Ezra was a piece of work. I wasn’t surprised by where things went regarding his script, but I was surprised by some of the choices he made in the end with Evie. Also, her work situation in general – not just the Ezra parts – was infuriating. I don’t know that the character ever communicated that she felt trapped in her work situation, but I felt trapped for her.
Evie’s friends had the patience of Job. They endured so much. I would have liked to see/read more of why they were friends. Sarah was an odd fit in the group for me. I would have liked to see some warm moments with Sarah and Evie, or Sarah and the group, to offset the shrill bridezilla moments. And I cringed every time Evie had to apologize to them yet again. They were awfully gracious.
I wanted more scenes with Ben and Anette. They were delightful! Yes, Anette comes across as older than her stated age, but I liked her so much, I didn’t care.
This has a particular sort of humor – disasters and embarrassment and quite a lot of sexual humor. For the right reader, this will be a hoot and a half. For me, it was sometimes more awkward than funny. I agree with other reviewers who have said this feels more “chicklit” than “romance” because that’s really something that only gets sorted out in the end. Once settled, though, I enjoyed the romance in the end. (Language, sexual references)