Nora Goes off Script

Nora Goes off Script ~ Annabel Monaghan

Nora is a screenwriter for the fictional Romance Channel. She writes formulaic rom coms, and lives with her husband and their two children in a 100 year old house. When her husband deserts the family, she writes a screenplay, The Tea House that deviates from the formula, and instead tells the story of her marriage. She is surprised when it is picked up by a major studio rather than the ‘made for tv’ Romance Channel. She is even more surprised when the studio asks to film a few scenes in the tea house in her back yard, which was the scene of some pivotal moments in the breakup of her marriage. Her 8 year old daughter is thrilled with the idea of A list Hollywood actors coming to their home, but her 10 year old son is apprehensive.

The actor who plays her husband is Leo Vance, a former People Magazine ‘Sexiest Man Alive’. He makes a bad impression on Nora, of course. Rather than staying in the trailer provided for him, he comes inside the house and helps himself to her beer and her crossword puzzle, and it never occurs to him to ask, to say ‘please’ or ‘thank you’. When the film wraps and the rest of the cast and crew leaves, he ends up missing, and she finds him drunk on her porch. He needs some time outside of the limelight, time to just chill. He offers her $1,000 a day to let him stay in her Tea House for a week. She could use the $7,000, so she agrees.

Listen, this is a modern romance novel. We all know Nora and Leo are going to end up together. It’s how they get there that is the fun. I really liked this story. It was a fun beach read type book, I liked the characters, I liked the story, I liked that while there was miscommunication, it wasn’t stupid ‘we don’t talk’ miscommunication, it was grounded in a situation that made sense. Definitely recommended.