Nora Goes Off Script

like a maestro, arranging the magnolias and the forsythia beneath them to announce the beginning of spring. After a long gray winter, these first pink and yellow blooms shout, "Something's happening!" By May they'll have gone green with the rest of the yard, a quiet before the peonies and hydrangea bloom.
 
I knew I'd do anything to live here when I saw the tea house in the back. It's a one-room structure the doctor had commissioned to honor the ritual of formal tea. Where the main house is flimsy white clapboard with peeling black shutters, the tea house is made of gray stone with a slate roof. It has a small working fireplace and oak-paneled walls. It's as if Dr. Faircloth reached over the pond and plucked it out of the English countryside. I distinctly remember hearing Ben use the word "shed" when we walked into it, and I ignored him the way you do when you're trying to stay married.
 
The first morning we woke up here, I got up at first light because we didn't have any curtains yet. I took my coffee to the front porch, and the sunrise was the surprise of my life. I'd never seen the house at six a.m. I didn't even know we were facing east. It was like a gift with purchase, a reward for loving this broken place.
 
I stand on the porch now, taking it in before the movie crew arrives. Pink ribbons, then orange creep up behind the wide-armed oak tree at the end of my lawn. The sun rises behind it differently every day. Some days it's a solid bar of sherbet that rolls up like movie credits and fills the sky. Some days the light dapples through the leaves in a muted gray. The oak won't have leaves for a few weeks, just tiny yellow and white blooms pollinating one another and promising a lawn full of acorns. My lawn is its best self in April, particularly in the morning when it's dew-kissed and catching the light. I don't know the science behind all of it, but I know the rhythm of this property like I know my own

Lost

I loved this book with my whole heart. It's smart, fresh and romantic, full of humor and warmth. I didn't want to put it down. Beth O Leary, author of The Flatshare

[A] funny, clever, and joyful rom-com. Business Insider

Likable characters, smart humor and a didn t-see-it-coming ending makes this novel a must-read for summer. The Augusta Chronicle

Irresistible With pitch-perfect characters full of foibles and flaws, the work taps into genuine feelings as the characters fall in love. This is a winner. Publishers Weekly, starred review

Five starry-eyed stars for Nora Goes Off Script!...I honestly didn t know how it would end. Pins and needles! I loved the small-town setting, Nora s chance to start over after a bad marriage, and Nora s children and best friends. Highly recommend! The Southern Bookseller Review

Brimming with compelling characters .Readers will connect with the warmth and humor of this relationship-fiction gem. Booklist, starred review

Warm, witty and wise, Nora Goes Off Script tells the truth about all of love s ups and downs: family love, friendship love, romantic love that comes to a wrenching end and love that triumphs so beautifully, you ll still be smiling over it long after you ve put the book down." BookPage

This funny and charming new novel tells the story of a divorced screenwriter who pens a script about her failed marriage and finds that it might just provide the fresh start she's looking for." Southern Living

Monaghan s warm, accessible prose will draw readers right into this novel about a romance-channel screenwriter whose script based on her marriage s demise gets picked up for the big screen. Woman s Day

Hallmark meets Hollywood in this gorgeous, fast, and poignant read that will keep you invested from the second you pick it up. A book to savor! Abby Jimenez, USA Today bestselling author of The Friend Zone

Funny, heartwarming, dreamy everything I crave in a Hollywood rom-com is right here. I loved it so much I had to read the ending twice once to see what happened and again to savor it. KJ Dell Antonia, author of The Chicken Sisters

With Nora Ephron-level wit and smarts, Annabel Monaghan performs something of a literary hat trick in Nora Goes Off Script. While sending-up the romance industry, she chronicles the very romantic (and oddly believable) love affair between a handsome film star and a divorced suburban mom and she turns tradition on its head. Because in this wise and funny novel, it s the Hollywood hero who needs rescuing and a grounded single mom who saves the day. Nora Goes Off Script is sexy, heart-warming, and intelligent, and I loved it! Karen Dukess, author of The Last Book Party