Name: Not in the Script
ISBN: 9781619633988

Amy Finnegan

"There's something about Emma's co-star on her new TV show Coyote Hills that is irresistible. But she's sworn off on-set relationships. They always end badly--don't they?"--

An If Only Novel

Not in the Script

If only he wasn't my costar! Go behind the scenes on a hot new TV show in the latest irresistible read in the new contemporary romance line, If Only . . .

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I've only read two books in the If Only... standalone series, but I've been totally taken with both of them. They're light-hearted young adult contemporaries with a ton of heart and little angsty drama. I can always count on them to give me smiles and swoons. 

Not in the Script is Amy Finnegan's debut novel and I have to admit, I'm a fan. She definitely hit my radar with this novel. I'm a total sucker for Hollywood stories, but some of the ones I've read recently have fallen fairly flat. There's always a certain amount of predictability to a story like this, but it doesn't matter to me as long as I enjoy the characters and how they find their happy ending. Not only was this story fun, but it was sweet and swoony and the characters – or most of them, anyhow – were easy to like. 

Emma was a great, song heroine. She was pretty level-headed and far from the diva you might expect a teen star to be. Her walls were up tight because she'd been burned in the past and she definitely believed all relationships with co-stars were off limits. Jake could be the one to break through, however. They had a ton of chemistry and he was far from the guy she thought he was originally. He was every bit as down-to-earth as she was. I adored them together. Their banter was great. The attraction was evident. They just made me smile when they were together. 

The side characters in this story were interesting, too. They weren't as likable as I might have wanted, but they were well-written and a little more complex than I would have expected at the beginning of the story. Kimmi and Brett both grew on me in time. Emma's best friend Rachel, however, was a different story. I didn't like her one bit. She was far too self-centered for me. Bad friend alert. 

While it might seem strange to call a Hollywood love story "realistic," I feel that's exactly what Not in the Script Was. Emma and Jake, despite their Hollywood star status, came off as normal teens who were trying to find their way in the world and falling for each other in the process. Each of them struggled with their fame and the situations they were put in. This book could have taken place just as easily in middle America, without the Hollywood connection, and I would have loved it just as much. It wasn't the setting that made me love this book, but the characters and their story. 

I'll continue to look to the If Only... series and Amy Finnegan's upcoming work when I'm in the mood for a sweet, light young adult romance with well-developed characters. Any story that leaves me hugging my iPad with a giant, goofy grin on my face is a winner book. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Not in the Script An If Only Novel

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