REVIEW: By Any Other Name by Lauren Kate

In By Any Other Name by Lauren Kate, Being an editor of romance novels is the dream Lanie Bloom chased in college and fulfilled soon after. Somehow she landed a job at Peony Press, which happens to be her idol, best-selling author Noa Callaway’s, publisher. Reading Noa’s debut romance changed Lanie’s life. And over the seven years she’s been at Peony Press, she’s built a bit of a friendship with Noa–albeit via email and online. But that doesn’t matter. Interacting with the person who churns out number one books full of heart and hope? Lanie will take any interaction she can get.

‘My idol has been desecrated. The very reason I got into publishing, pulled out from underneath me. Everything I loved about love is in question.’

Then Lanie finds out she’s up for a big promotion. It’s conditional on her being able to help Noa overcome writer’s block and get a manuscript turned in by the new deadline. Should be fairly easy, right? Wrong. As Lanie gets rocked to the core in her own personal life when a relationship suddenly implodes, she’s dealt another blow when she meets Noa face to face. Turns out there’s a very good reason the author never does TV interviews or meets fans. And that reason changes Lanie’s views on Noa’s books–as well as all she’s learned about love from between those cherished pages.

“Just because I can write love stories, doesn’t mean I can live them.”

Lauren Kate delivered a rock solid romance in By Any Other Name, a story that not only paid homage to true love and all things literary, but to family and friendship as well.

“If faith in love were a source of energy, you could power a small planet.”
It was the single most reassuring sentence anyone had said to me.

What a wonderful blend of humor, touching moments, sadness, hope, and pure love Lauren Kate used in this unique novel–and oh, that ending! It was a story insightful in a way that had me reading certain passages over again to let the depth of the emotions sink in. And there were even some sentimental scenes that will likely find readers a bit misty-eyed. But it was the book(s) within a book that really brought everything together for me, while our heroine Lanie worked with her client–best-selling author Noa–to cure a bout of writer’s block.

Without giving too much away, Lanie comes up with some ways to help Noa find that spark needed to get the next novel off and running. NYC became the catalyst. And it was watching as Noa fleshed out the characters and plot–with us readers getting excerpts from the book!–that brought what was happening in real life to Lanie and to Noa full circle. Parts of it were sweepingly romantic. Other parts explored how to let go and how to grieve over different types of losses or changes in our lives.

The friendship that grew and changed over time between Lanie and Noa was something that felt very real. Enough so that at times when one of them made a mistake or did something I wouldn’t have, it niggled at me that same way it would if one of my own friends or loved ones had made that decision. It made me more invested in Lanie, Noa, and the assortment of people in their lives as well as the offbeat pets they had. (lol) And what an eccentric but absolutely lovely bunch of family and friends it was! From Lanie’s BFFs Meg and Rufus to her grandmother BD to Noa’s mom and other close confidants, they kept me in stitches and sighing happily from the obvious closeness they all shared.

QOTD: Lanie loved Noa’s debut novel so much that she changed majors in college to work in literature. Are there any authors (classic or modern) who have made a huge impact on your life in some way?

Book Info:

Publication: Published March 1st 2022 | by GP Putnam |

From # 1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Kate comes an enemies-to-lovers romance about an editor, her bestselling author, and one life-changing secret.

What she doesn’t know about love could fill a book.

With a successful career as a romance editor, and an engagement to a man who checks off all ninety-nine boxes on her carefully curated list, Lanie’s more than good. She’s killing it. Then she’s given the opportunity of a lifetime: to work with world-renowned author and her biggest inspiration in love and life—the Noa Callaway. All Lanie has to do is cure Noa’s writer’s block and she’ll get the promotion she’s always dreamed of. Simple, right?

But there’s a reason no one has ever seen or spoken to the mysterious Noa Calloway. And that reason will rock Lanie’s world. It will call into question everything she thought she knew. When she finally tosses her ninety-nine expectations to the wind, Lanie may just discover that love By Any Other Name can still be as sweet.