a not-hollywood hollywood love story

Nora Hamilton writes television romances. The formulaic ones that take place in a small town, where the big city woman has to come to the small down and falls in love with the local baker/vet/bookseller/fireman. And then she has to go back to the big city, but finds herself dram back to the small town, to the fireman/bookseller/vet/baker. Nora’s made a good life for herself and her family writing these movies.

Those television movies paid for the house where Nora lives with her two kids, Bernadette and Arthur. She bought the house when she was still married, and her husband Ben hadn’t fallen in love with it like she had. It has a tea house out back, which Nora uses as her writing nook. That’s where she wrote her latest movie, The Tea House. The script is basically the story of her marriage ending. Her agent had loved it and sold it not to the television production company Nora usually wrote for, but to a major studio. And hey decided to film it at Nora’s, in the actual Tea House.

And that’s how Hollywood heartthrob Leo Vance came to live in her tea house.

Leo was the male lead in the movie, and he and Nora struck up a friendship during the filming. She would get up every morning to see the sunrise, and when he found out, he would join her. He was fascinated at how she would go to the grocery store and make meatloaf and help her kids with their homework. He likes the quiet country life and Nora and her family, so when the movie wraps, he offers her some money if she’ll let him stay on in her tea house. They spend the next weeks watching the sunrises and going to Bernadette's soccer games and Arthur’s baseball games and talking about the price of bananas. And when Arthur gets a role in Oliver Twist, Leo gives him some pointers. And Leo stays on, helping direct the middle school production.

But then, Hollywood calls, and Leo has to leave. He’s up for a part in a big movie and has to go to Hollywood for a week. He promises he’ll be back. But he doesn’t come back. And Nora doesn’t know why.

As the weeks go by, then months, with no contact, Nora tries to figure out what went wrong. She knew what went wrong with Ben. That’s what she wrote The Tea House about. So she decides to try it again, and puts all her pain and confusion on the page. But is there any way this movie can have a happy ending?

Nora Goes Off Script is a smart take on romance, about a real woman and her ability to stay grounded when Hollywood drives up and parks in her front yard. It’s about falling in love without losing yourself. It’s about taking your heartache and making it into at. And it just makes you feel good. Nora is strong and devoted to her children, down to earth and hard-working, good-natured but flawed. She is very easy to root for, and I was rooting for her and her kids through the whole story.

I listened to this on audio, narrated by Hillary Huber, and I thought she was amazing. She voices Nora as a little dry, a little knowing, and it fits exactly with who I pictured Nora being. She made Nora sound smart and strong and determined but also vulnerable and emotional and honest. It’s a stellar performance, and I recommend listening to Nora Goes Off Script on audio, or listening to anything else Huber narrates.

I absolutely loved this novel. It was exactly the kind of romance I wanted. It was lovely and warm but also true to Meatloaf Wednesdays and kids with homework and having to pay the bills. It may not a typical romance, but I think it’s exactly the sophisticated romance I need in my life, and I will be watching for more books by Annabel Monaghan.

Egalleys for Nora Goes Off Script were provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley, with many thanks, but I bought the audio myself through Chirpbooks.