REVIEW: It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

In It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan, Jane Jackson grew up in the spotlight as a teen actor on the sitcom Pop Rocks. She was the funny, awkward girl. The one who always got into messy dilemmas and had the audience laughing fondly at her gaffs. But over the years, Jane has instead focused on becoming the epitome of a Hollywood creative executive: looking just so, finding the perfect scripts to make into movies, and striving for success. Then she finally reads The Script. The one that she can just feel is going to be a hit. Too bad her boss Nathan–and a local cinematographer, Dan Finnegan–don’t think her project has what it takes. Well, Dan does very much like the script. He just knows it needs a little something special added to it. And that’s where Jane ends up sticking her foot in her mouth saying she can get a huge pop star she used to know to write a song for the movie. Just one problem: they haven’t spoken in two decades.

‘I do not believe in love. I do not believe in finding The One. All of that is nonsense, but this script has given me this tiny ache, the sneaky kind that attaches itself to hope.’

Jane would honestly rather do anything than track down Jack Quinlan for a favor. But needs must. Her work nemesis, Dan, actually ends up being the way to accomplish their goal. He knows Jack will be on Long Island the following weekend and it just happens to be very close to where his family lives. Jane isn’t sure a week’s stay on the island in such close proximity to Dan’s family will be a good idea. But a summer vacation doesn’t sound too bad. And it’s better than she could have imagined. The sun, sand, food, and great conversations have her relaxing for the first time in forever. And Dan is different from how he is in L.A., but not in a bad way. More like Jane can see every facet of who he really is. It has her thinking all sorts of wildly romantic things. Which might end up being a recipe for disaster…or not. Although it might be worth a chance.

‘I like the sound of his laugh and the way his eyes dance around my face before settling on my eyes. This is an odd thing for me to notice about a person I wanted to punch in the neck as recently as this morning.’

From L.A. to Long Island and back again, IT’S A LOVE STORY had the laughs and quirky characters of a rom-com, but the rest was all pure slow burn romance magic–something at which Annabel Monaghan most definitely excels.

‘Dan is that dangerous kind of person who can make you believe in anything.’

Since her very first novel Nora Goes Off Script was released, I have been hooked on Annabel Monaghan’s writing. So, I’m happy to say that IT’S A LOVE STORY absolutely met expectations. And I think it will be a great beach read for her fans. Between the sights, sounds, and beauty of Long Island itself as well as the interesting cast and long shot plan to track down a pop star for a favor, there was oh so much to be entertained by the whole way through.

I loved watching as Jane began to let go of her past–the embarrassment and hurt from her time as a teen actor–and learned to trust her instincts again. Throughout the course of the story we found out pieces of her childhood and teen years that completely changed her views on love and relationships. It was tough to see how closed off Jane became. She acted professional, serious, and when needed, could be passionate about her projects, trying to get scripts turned into movies. But when it came to her own personal life? She didn’t believe in love. And that was just tragic considering how caring and deserving she was of having someone who would dote on her.

Dan was such a great hero. At first, he was tough to read. I wasn’t sure if he was rather arrogant or if he was just always in his own head as well as being introverted. It wasn’t really until he and Jane traveled to Long Island and we got to see him interact with his boisterous family that I got a good read on Dan. And honestly my heart melted for him. And Jane. Because being in a (somewhat) quieter place without the pressures of their careers interfering really let them both just…relax. They could be totally themselves. That let the chemistry already between Jane and Dan grow to the point that everyone could see they should be together. It just took them a while–and a few funny and/or awkward predicaments–to get there.

QOTD: If you could spend a week on Long Island in the summer, what would you want to explore first? The beach, restaurants, art galleries?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: May 27th, 2025 | G.P. Putnam’s Sons |

From the USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV punchline who has left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror thanks to a fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra that has her on the cusp of success, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash-course with her past, spending a week in Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love.

Rules for a love story: There are none. It’s all a lie.

Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth—you can’t fake a belly laugh. Jane should know, she spent her adolescence as “Poor Janey Jakes,” the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America’s fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and she’s living by a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.

Except, she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she opened her mouth and a big fat fib fell out. She claimed that Jack Quinlan, hottest popstar of the moment, has promised to write an original song for the soundtrack. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years.

Now, Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown on Long Island, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan while facing down her past is Jane’s idea of hell, but Dan just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true?