The first time I picked up this novel I stayed up until 3am to finish it in basically one sitting. The second time I did take more than one day to read it but it calmed me down after an anxiety attack. The third time, I couldn’t decide which new novel to read next (I had several piled up on my shelf) and it hit the spot.

It is heartwarming and written with a charm only Annabel Monaghan (author of Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big?) can bring to the written word Nora Goes Off Script is an adventure in love and life.

The dust jacket description of this novel couldn’t be more perfect so I’m going to share it with you.

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Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it’s her job. But then her too-good-to-work husband leaves her and their two kids, and Nora turns her marriage’s collapse into cash, writing the best script of her life. When the script is picked up for the big screen and set to film at her hundred-year-old home with former Sexiest Man Alive Leo Vance cast as her ex-husband, Nora’s life will never be the same.

After shooting wraps, Nora finds Leo on her porch with a half-empty bottle of tequila and a proposition. He’ll pay a thousand dollars a day to stay for a week. She could use the money, but it’s the need in his eyes that makes her say yes. Seven days: it’s the blink of an eye or an eternity, depending on how you look at it. Enough time to fall in love. Enough time to break your heart.

Filled with warmth, wit and wisdom, Nora Goes Off Script is the best kind of love story – the real kind where love is complicated by work, kids, and the emotional baggage that comes with life. For Nora and Leo, this kind of love is bigger than the big screen.

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Ugh! I’m like swooning just reading it! I might start the book over again.

The characters in this book are relatable and their banter is funny. Nora’s voice throughout the book is engaging and charismatic and I could clearly see her point of view in each scene. Like The Guncle the kids in Nora Goes Off Script bring dimension and levity to the novel while they manage the reality of life after their father has left.

I had a couple of cringe moments when Nora describes her ex-husband’s behavior. I don’t have the superiority complexes he does but I recognized his attitude towards a credit card as being similar to mine. It’s not often that I relate the the antagonist in a romance novel!

Nora is the mom I want to be. As a single parent she has to run a tight ship to keep everything moving forward and I am not a single parent so I can loosen the reins and rely on Danny quite a bit but her weekly meal schedule is appealing.

Her appreciation of her home is something I deeply relate to.

She also proves to herself over and over again throughout the novel how open she is to opportunities and possibility and even after the romance of her first marriage is gone she is a romantic at heart.

When you read it, tell me who you pictured as Leo Vance! I pictured Theo James. Yum.

If you love You’ve Got Mail, you’ll love Nora Goes Off Script.