I absolutely love the celebrity romance trope, and I was excited to read Nan Campbell's latest book because I'm familiar with her writing style. However, I have to admit that I didn't enjoy the first few chapters from Fran's point of view. Fran's behavior and way of speaking were quite unlikable, and I almost gave up on the book(especially compared to Chelsea's POV ). But I decided to keep reading because I knew that Campbell always delivers a great story, and I'm glad I did because she did not disappoint! This made me wonder if Fran had a slightly different personality from the beginning; I might have enjoyed the book even more. Because I sure do love Fran from the middle of the book.

<i>Thank you Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! </i>

The books has two narrators.
Chelsea, a very famous actress with a fancy house and two kids. I imagine her to be a cross between someone like Gwyneth Paltrow and Reese Witherspoon.
Fran, a former journalist, who wrote gossip columns to get by, and is now Chelsea’s PA.
The inherent dynamic of a PA treating their employer in an infantilizing way is creepy to me. Sure everyone can use help, but the level of PA Fran and Lorraine (the PA Fran replaces) provide is like what a 10 year old would need.
The books consists a lot of first world problems. A lot of problems are just not that deep, but treated as that.
It’s pity the book doesn’t have more diversity.
The pacing is pretty slow, and really not that much happens.
I find Fran more palatable (but barely) than Chelsea. Although she is a feminist I don’t really understand why she loves old movies that much.
Both are skinny/slim, and that is mentioned several times which I found odd.
The fact that it has a bi and lesbian character is what has it going for this book.
Without spoiling the book, the script Fran writes, is a movie I would absolutely want to see.
It is a very low stakes book, so if that’s what you’re looking for than this is the book for you.
Maybe this genre is just not really my thing.

This spicy and funny age-gap slow-burn hooked me from the start.

Fran is a screenwriter who pays the bills by writing for a celebrity gossip site. She decides to go undercover by applying for a job as an actor's personal assistant. Chelsea is an Oscar-winning actress, mom of two, and divorcee of an alcoholic actor. Fran and Chelsea are not at all what the other expects.

This story has so many layers. Fran's journey away from gossip writing is so fun to read. Chelsea's situation with her ex and her trust issues and what she does about them are all handled so well. I loved how many dimensions all the characters had; even the side characters all had their own motivations and lives outside of moving the main characters along.

This is a first for me by this author but would absolutely read another.

It’s probably no surprise to anyone at this point that I love sapphic celebrity romances. When I saw Nan Campbell was writing one, I was thrilled. This story has the reader peeling back many layers of each MC while also getting an in depth view into Hollywood. I read this book in a day and enjoyed their story, even when they were being difficult. Would love to get Trina’s love story *cough with Lorraine cough*, and also see Woman of the Match.

Wow! So I sat down with every intention of taking my time with this book and it was gone in one sitting. If you love the celebrity setting like me then this book is perfect!
The pacing was great which led to you needing to know what happened at every turn and the characters were well developed.
While some plot points were slightly predictable, the romance between the two characters was everything I could want and I loved all the angst and drama that came with this rollercoaster ride.
Both characters had flaws but that’s what made them so realistic.
Overall I look forward to reading more from this authour going forward.

I do love a good celebrity romance and this one is about as yummy as they come. Employee falls for celeb boss, lies by omission, f’s up but her heart is already lost. If that doesn’t draw you in immediately, make a doctors appointment 😉

I received an advance review copy for free from Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Fran Underhill is a fledgling screenwriter. She loves rom coms and almost got to the stage of selling one of her scripts, if it weren’t for the fact that the studio wanted her to change her Paula and Pauline to Paula and Paul. She won’t do it. Fran wants to make a movie that she herself would have wanted to see growing up. To make ends meet she starts writing for a gossip website. She hates it, but it’s money. When she gets the chance to become a personal
assistent to Hollywood star Chelsea Cartwright, she thinks she found a sure fire way to increase her gossip posts. That is until she actually meets Chelsea…

Chelsea Cartwright’s star is firmly planted on Hollywood soil. When she discovers her assistent fed information about her whereabouts to the paparazzi, she fires her and needs to hire a new PA asap. Fran is new to the business but is the best worst option from all the available candidates. It doesn’t take long for Fran to prove her worth and her dependability. Slowly Chelsea learns that her life without Fran would be bleak as hell. Until she finds out the one thing Fran didn’t tell her about her career experience.

As I said before, you can wake me in the middle of the night with a celeb love story as good as this one. The relationship Fran and Chelsea build is so full of respect and warmth. They actually see the other exactly for who they are, with all their strengths and insecurities. These two women felt so real to me. They are fully formed, three dimensional characters. If science would let me add a fourth dimension to this description I would!

Nan Campbell’s writing style flows easily and grips you so you just have to keep turning the pages. It’s lighthearted and funny when it can be, and sensitive and vulnerable the next moment. Let’s just say I will be doing a double take whenever I see a pizza delivery person on a scooter for the foreseeable future.

I loved the way Chelsea just can’t seem to stop herself from loving Fran, even though it takes a while for her to admit it. Fran on the other hand never hid her growing feelings, but instead of pushing she allowed Chelsea to get there in her own time. Then when they finally get together, whoa boy, it’s sizzling off the page!

The relationship between Chelsea and her kids and the struggles she faces with her addict ex-husband feel so real, you just want to hold your arms out and give her a hug. I love it when celebrities get to be actual humans. There is even a tiny bit of a whodunnit woven into the story.

Of course it’s a romance trope, of course there is a HEA, but Campbell absolutely nailed this one. What more can I say? It’s just freaking good! And, now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to dive right back in for a re-read.

𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗦: 𝚂𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙷𝙸𝙲. 𝙱𝙸𝚂𝙴𝚇𝚄𝙰𝙻. 𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙶𝙰𝙿. 𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚂. 𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙸𝚂𝚃𝚂. 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙿𝙾𝚁𝙰𝚁𝚈. 𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴. 𝙲𝙴𝙻𝙴𝙱𝚁𝙸𝚃𝚈.
📚 ᴀʀᴄ 🏳️‍🌈⁠
⁠

I have conflicting emotions about this one. And it all has to do with the angst. I love drama, but it has to be well placed. I do understand Chelsea being mad. Though I have to admit, in the first half, I wished Fran's POV was not there because she was rather narrow-minded about the whole celebrity life, it was very off-putting. Yet at this very first half, Chelsea was amazing and her POV complimented Fran's so well until that revelation by Petal (what sort of name is that, do't even get me started with Forge). Angst built out of something that could be avoided can lead to rather underwhelming emotions. It is understandable Chelsea being mad Fran and not Peeta or Beau (again with weird names), but her not forgiving her was just extreme. I had really conflicting emotions, I did enjoy a lot of scenes, it was just the angst that didn't feel compelling to ME.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙫𝙞𝙖 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.

I liked one main a lot more than the blurb had me expecting. Good start!
I'm enjoying this and I know from the blurb that one main will find out what the other used to do, but of course the opportunity to confess keeps being squandered. Even though that is a common plot turn in romances I am actually really tense about what will happen.
Things naturally go awry but I loved the plot twist solution. Yes the circumstances to the surprise reappearance were telegraphed but I am delighted that with 30% of the book still to go we are now on a second chance arc.
I enjoyed this book, I liked there wasn't an immediate connection with the daughter, that the plot played out over a decent length of book and another reason I can't quite verbalise. When I had to stop reading I was impatient to get back to it. 4.5.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. You will find my honest review below.
I found this novel to be a real mixed bag. On one hand, some fragments were beautifully written and easy to get lost in - ultimately, these were the ones that carried me to the finish line.
However, there were some things I struggled with, such as the fact that the character of Chelsea was quite challenging to like: most of the time, instead of traumatised, tired or scared, she came off as self-absorbed and self-pitying, out of touch and a little selfish. I get not having a grasp of one’s emotions or being afraid of what you’re feeling, but she was described as losing all sense of proportion while swept up in her feelings, which led her to behave rudely towards others. While quite realistic, it did not make me like her.
Besides that, two notes:
Smashing a phone to bits with a hammer is NOT something you should ever do at home, if only to prevent damaging the battery and risking battery acid leakage.
Also, and this is my very personal standpoint, I found it strange to be describing other queer people in general population as 'family' - seeing as the s is traditionally a group you would not want to be sleeping with ;).

Like they do in the movies by Nan Cambell just fulfilled every movie buff, celebrity obsessed and wlw people around the world. This was really adorable and genuinely intriguing. When script-writter and gossip columnist Fran gets the chance to be a celebrities assistant, she thinks this opportunity will gain her access to juicy intel that could make her money. This all changes when she realizes the celebrity she now works for is a major celebrity crush that does nothing but grow the longer they work together. I loved this plot and how it manifested all my delusional fantasies of dating an actor. Just about everything i dreamed of happened to fran and Chelsea. This was so cute and well written! It wasn't just a simple love story, but one with great quirks such as family bonds and an insider look at an actresses life and their priorities. It was really enjoyable and the connections between each character felt genuine.

I love celebrity romances and Nan’s writing so I was excited to pick this one up. Unfortunately, my feelings are mixed about it. Good first - pacing was great, I wanted to know what happened. There were some good twists and turns that kept me reading. I liked Chelsea’s children a lot, though they seemed young. And I liked Chelsea- she seems like a genuine person. On the other hand, I couldn’t wrap my head around Fran - I think other people will like her, but she didn’t do it for me. Because of that, I had a hard time believing their chemistry and sinking all the way into the book. Nan is still an autobuy for me, if you haven’t read her other books, go get them!

Short summary: Fran is in a rut and thinks working for a celebrity could fuel the stories she writes for a gossip rag. But then she meets her employer and Chelsea is far from trashy. The more Fran works for her, the more she admires Chelsea. But what will happen when Chelsea learns the truth of Fran’s motivations, made more complicated by burgeoning feelings?

Thanks to Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

Jaded, stubborn, blunt Fran Underhill is tired of having her screenplays turned down for not being mainstream enough (read: gay). This disenchantment quickly turns into resentment for all those who benefit and in order to make ends meet she starts writing celebrity rag gossip. When the opportunity to get close to the Hollywood elite presents itself in the form of being employed as a personal assistant, she jumps at the chance—would it be so bad if Fran used this to her advantage? Her plan quickly falls apart after getting to actually know her employer, actress Chelsea Cartwright. Of course she knew she was beautiful (duh), but Fran also discovers that Chelsea is so much more.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did which is disappointing. I was very excited to by the premise, but struggled with feeling satisfied with the arc of the story. I’m not sure why it is, but I just wasn’t very convinced with the chemistry between the two leads and the pacing of certain events made it hard for momentum to build. By the end I didn’t feel as invested in their story, but I could see why this book would work well for others.

I did enjoy Nan Campbell’s other works and I continue to keep an eye out for future stories. Maybe this was just a miss for me personally.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5. This has easily become one of my newfound favorite celebrity romances. What I thought would be a leisurely read turned into a binge read. The blurb sets the stage for everything that could possibly go wrong, and trust me, it does. Fran, a celebrity gossip writer, becomes a personal assistant to a well-known actress. The banter between characters is something I truly loved. While some plot points were predictable, the story unfolds in unexpected and delightful ways. Without giving away any spoilers, I can confidently say it exceeded my expectations. If you're a fan of witty banter, well-developed characters, and the celebrity troupe, this book is a must-read. I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Chelsea Cartwright, a actress, hires Fran Underhill as her new assistant unaware she's actually a gossip columnist.

As Fran works for Chelsea she develops sympathy and a attraction to her, unaware that Chelsea is noticing her too.

Of course, when Fran's secretrcomes out, everything changes...

Good, solid read. I liked the heroines and found their romance both exciting and entertaining. And the author kept things unpredictable, too, a nice change of pace.

AND NAN CAMPBELL HAS DONE IT AGAIN! ‘ Like they do in the movies ‘ is a fantastic quirky, bingeable book that has quickly became my book of the month. Fran - a secret celeb gossip writer who has no gossip- becomes Chelsea’s PA - a movie star stuck in roles that she doesn’t particularly want but she takes to provide her sweet kids with a good life- thinking it would give her insider celeb secrets and a decent pay. But what happens when Chelsea seems more human and relatable ? When Fran realised that this woman is HOT but also sweet and funny? 🤩I love the dynamic between Fran and Chelsea and the changes Fran goes through, the self discovery journey. I laughed, fell in love, got heart broken and sleep deprived all in one book. It’s such a brilliant read that once you pick it up, you won’t want to put it down. If you find yourself needing to get lost for a few hours, this is the world to do it in. Thanks @nancampbellwrites and @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review