Acting Up

Center Stage #1

by Adele Buck

The stage is set for the play of a lifetime: but it’s the romantic drama backstage that has everyone applauding.

Paul and Cath are the perfect creative team. He’s an up-and-coming theater director and she’s his unflappable, rock-steady stage manager.

If Cath’s had to bury her unrequited affection for Paul for ten long years to keep things professional, it’s just the price she pays for a career she loves, working with her best friend by her side.

Until he hires her old nemesis as the leading lady for a new play that’s their chance to make it big.

Handling temperamental actors is one thing, but watching this diva throw herself at Paul makes Cath miserable. It’s another complication when the leading man shows his attraction to her. Suddenly, an unexpected new job offer seems like a good idea.

But then Paul upends her world by declaring his love and sparking a passionate encounter.

It’s both a dream come true and a nightmare as Cath is convinced that personal and professional relationships don’t mix and getting involved could jeopardize the play—and both their careers.

Can Paul flip the script and set the stage to convince Cath otherwise or is their love always destined to wait in the wings?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Friends To Lovers, Fiction, Amazon

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2021

About the author

A New Hampshire native, Adele still has membership card number 430 from her hometown library even though she has lived in the D.C. area for over 20 years with her fantastic husband and the requisite number of melodramatic cats.

Having worked as (among other things): a bookseller, a server, a communications manager, an actor, and a stage manager, Adele is currently employed as a librarian at a Washington, D.C. law school.

To keep up with the latest, please sign up for her newsletter on adelebuck.com.

(Photo credit: Brian Adams PhotoGraphics)

Reviews

[reeder (reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me just quote from the book's description:

Paul and Cath are the perfect creative team. He’s an up-and-coming theater director and she’s his unflappable, rock-steady stage manager.

They've been best friends since college (14 years) and have put on countless productions together. Now Paul is directing a new play that could rocket their careers to a whole new level, and he casts Cath's college nemesis in the leading female role.

I really wanted to like the book but friends-to-lovers is a difficult sell for me, especially when we're dealing with 14 years of no romance while the main characters were supposedly attracted to each other all along. I honestly don't see why Susan would be the catalyst here, even though her reintroduction to their lives gives Paul the chance to clear up Cath's longstanding misunderstanding that he had sex with the other woman during college. The protagonists have been working closely together for ten years. Surely they've both had other relationships in that time. None of those sparked sufficient jealousy to push them out of the friend zone?

Then there's the scene where the pair are walking to the theater together and revealing the reasons behind their career choices. Fourteen years of friendship and professional partnership, and they're only now sharing their career origin stories? That discussion is literally what college friendships are for.

To make things worse, the heroine has a giant chip on her shoulder. During their career story swap, she notes that she always loved the theater but knew she didn't want to be on stage. So she looked for a position where she could contribute. When Paul compliments her for finding the right fit (because Cath is excellent at her job), she gets hyper-defensive about her "un-creative" role. Later, the leading man will take her out to lunch and he has to spend the entire meal buffing her self-esteem while she denies and self-deprecates. It's exhausting and unappealing.

Fans of theater might enjoy the setting. Buck hits on a wide range of topics including casting, rehearsals, set design, lighting, stage management, union regulations, and the practical business of uprooting oneself to live temporarily in Connecticut while putting on a regional theater production with hopes of taking it to Broadway.

The best part of the book? Susan. She's a catty, undermining b*tch (look at me, mixing my misogynistic animal metaphors), utterly true to her own self-destructive narcissism. I suspect Buck may be building to a book where Susan is the protagonist. (Where "suspect" = fear, dread, anticipate. Susan is a great secondary character, but I don't want some whiny backstory to try to redeem her awfulness.)

[Adele Buck]

"There’s nothing like joining a found-family, inclusive community of like-minded and quirky people to create live theatre, and Adele Buck’s Acting Up, the first book in her Center Stage series, captures the very essence—the warmth and heart—of that world in this charming friends-to-lovers story. I can’t wait for more!"

– Suzanne Brockmann, New York Times Bestselling Author

"With wry humor and innate warmth, Acting Up pulls you into a world of rapid-fire banter, relatable challenges, and very human reactions—and a gorgeous romance that you'll still be thinking about long after the final page. Buck has an adept handling of both internal and external conflict, and the knack of writing characters who immediately jump out and come to life as real people—they make mistakes, they sometimes react out of tiredness, or jealousy, or fear, but they take ownership of those actions and they grow together. The intricate layers of characterization, the emotional arc of a heroine and hero navigating the transition from friendship to forever love, and a setting that plays out with almost cinematic detail—it all leads to a profoundly satisfying, rock-solid happily-ever-after, in the hands of a very talented writer."

– Lucy Parker, Author of Act Like It and The Austen Playbook

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review on goodreads & wishfulromancing (review will be published there once the cover is revealed).

lucy parker said that this was "a gorgeous romance that you'll still be thinking about long after the final page" and as always, lucy chose her words carefully and she was right.

a gorgeous romance it is, as often the case with the trope of best friends of long time turning to lovers. since cath and paul have known each other for so many years, their relationship already has this soft and warm side. they know each other, they have worked with each other, they relied on each other, they can read each other emotions and they trust each other. it offers delicate scenes when a look exchanged, a hand touch carry more than dialogue as well as delightful sparkly scenes with their games of quotes and guess throughout the book...

(i adore literature so discovering the quotes, so well chosen, and seeing them turning slowly more romantic as paul and cath let each other reveal their feelings and their deep love for one another... i found myself grinning more and more).

... but back to the romance. despite the fact that one could want to slap Paul's face to make him open his eyes and see much earlier what a lovely, charming, smart and kind woman Cath is, i also enjoyed the fact that we see him sort through his feelings and how he is the one taking the leap and offering a relationship to Cath despite her being secretly in love with him for so many years. their relationship and the way it grew made so much sense and had that rare thing of feeling real, of making you believe that this romance story has happened, is happening and will happen. as a difficult reader of modern romances, it's not often that i find a modern romance to be well written enough to make it believable but Adele Buck wrote cath and paul's emotions and their intimacy perfectly, thus making me believe.

"All i want is for that to continue, but i want to take care of you too. Make it mutual. Make it fair. And maybe i feel even more strongly about it now that we're more than friends. Does that make sense?"

adding to this "gorgeous romance", a nice theater setting (theater nerds can only enjoy this setting as it was very interesting and made you feel like you were spying behind the curtain as the play is being rehearsed and put into place), a lovely casting of second characters (all characters minus one villain lady and all the relationships happening throughout the book were the right amount of brilliantly written but not overshadowing the main romance) and an original writing with point of views switching and the use of emails, made it a compelling story with the perfect rhythm that makes you eager to turn the page.

i would simply say that this romance, as lovely and gorgeous as it is, was just missing a bit of a sparkle to be a "coup de coeur". however, i am really excited about romance number 2 and i am really glad to have discovered that Adele Buck writes the right kind of modern romance that makes my heart swoon.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know. This was an interesting one for me. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t fully love it either. I enjoyed the setting and I liked reading a romance novel where the hero and heroine had a solid friendship and there wasn’t a huge dramatic *event* towards the end to tear the them apart until they make up at the end...and yet...something felt like it was missing a little bit.

Maybe, some flashbacks to their time in college would’ve fleshed it out a bit more for me. Like I wanted to see where their feelings for each other grew from. And I wish there’d been a bit more exploration of Paul. I feel like I knew a fair bit about Cath and her doubts and struggles but not so much about Paul.

One thing I did really enjoy is how Cath and Paul communicated with each other. It was nice to see two characters really talk through their issues. I don’t mind some drama in a romance novel but sometimes I am mentally screaming at the characters to please! Just! Talk! And these two...were great at communicating. So that was lovely to see.

[Liz]

I had really high hopes for this series. Then I read a tiny fraction of "Acting Up." The only reason I’m not giving it one star is I’d feel obligated to try and finish it first, and why would I do that to myself?

It arguably starts off somewhat problematically, then (still in the first scene) the FMC recites a George Bernard Shaw quote advocating violence against women. And y'all, the she’s not condemning it. She and the hero are discussing a “bitch” of an actress, and the heroine is saying that the woman in question deserves physical abuse.

(I looked up the quote for context. A character named Amanda says, “I was brought up to believe it was beyond the pale for a man to strike a woman.” A character named Elyot responds: “A very poor tradition. Certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs.”)

I’m still horrified.

[Trigger Warning Database]

Trigger & Content Warnings

Familial estrangement
Bullying

[Brontesruleromance · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 34%

Bought this on pre-order - should have trusted my instincts and waited to read a sample first. Didn't hold my interest.

[Lauren loves llamas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content warnings: bullying, verbal abuse, estranged family

I’ll say right off the bat that I honestly don’t know anything about what goes on behind the scenes of a theatrical production. But I’ve been a big fan of Lucy Parker’s work, and when I saw that this was a friends-to-lovers workplace romance, I couldn’t request it fast enough.

Paul and Cath, theater director and stage manager respectively have known each other for ten years – 14 if you count college – and have worked together for most of the time. They’re best friends and seamless work partners. So it’s with quite a bit of trepidation that the return of Cath’s nemesis from college – Susan, a talented actress who’s notorious for her diva ways – Cath also feels some of her buried attraction to Paul resurfacing. But the last thing she wants to do is ruin their friendship…

“Stop being so rational.”
“It’s my turn,” she said. “If we keep taking turns being rational, we may finally add up to one whole functioning adult.”

Like I said before, I know next to nothing about the backstage operations of a play, but I found everything accessible. In super simple terms, Paul handles the actors and sets the vision, while Cath is responsible for making sure everything that supports that runs smoothly. And Cath absolutely excels at her job. She’s thorough, calm and even-keeled, a perfect compliment to Paul’s more energetic and mercurial personality. She’s used to being independent and it’s a point of pride for her. She’s the person who solves problems, and she thinks anyone who tries to help views her as incapable. While Cath’s had a thing for Paul since college, for Paul, his feelings are a bit more of a surprise. But it’s not long before he’s willing to put everything on the line and try for a relationship with Cath, even if that means being vulnerable about his feelings.

“We’ve always been great together.”
“As collaborators. As friends.” Cath’s stomach fluttered and her heart began to thud heavily.
“Friendship is a great foundation to a romantic relationship.”
Cath swallowed hard. “Is that what you’re asking me for? A romantic relationship?”

Cath and Paul have been friends for years, so they already have a solid foundation to build their romantic relationship on. The banter is amazing and I especially loved the quote game they played with each other. I found the barriers to their relationship very relatable. Cath knows she’s not built for one night stands or flings – she gets too attached – and she’s worried that when it ends it’ll ruin their working relationship. But once she confesses that to Paul, he reassures her that he’s interested in a longer term romantic relationship. And that’s an example of another thing I loved about them: when they had a problem or misunderstanding, they communicated about it. That’s also evident in how thoughtful they were about announcing their relationship to the rest of the crew.

“Collaboration. That was the essence of theater, one of the major reasons why Paul loved what he did. So many people coming together to create a unified, ephemeral piece of art. So many people working so hard at their craft, whether the audience recognized their contributions or not. Like the proverbial duck, seeming to waft in serene unconcern across a pond, while all the work happened under the surface of the water, unseen feet paddling like mad.”

Which segues nicely into another one of the things I loved about this book: the gorgeous found family. Most of the theater group has worked together for quite a while, and they all care for each other and appreciate that they’re integral pieces of the production. Though tempers may fray due to long hours, they reconcile and move on. The book covers the entire process from auditions to opening night, so we also get to see how well (or not well) everyone interacts. I especially loved Freddie, Cath’s assistant, and Karl and Laurie, an absolutely adorable couple. And then, of course, there’s Susan. I’m not usually a fan of the evil woman plot line, but for whatever reason it really worked for me in this book. One of my favorite parts, actually, was the end-of-chapter emails between her and her frenemy, rehashing the events of the past chapter according to her distorted point of view. They were hilarious and gave a little more insight into Susan’s character, or lack of it. As for cons, I wished there had been a bit more about Cath’s background and why she was so independent. It was touched on briefly, but I think having that fleshed out more would’ve made that portion of her personality – and how it came in conflict with Paul – clearer.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and I will definitely be picking up the next in the series!

I received an advance review copy of this book from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[Rellim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I preordered this the minute I spotted it on Suzanne Brockmann’s Twitter and am so glad I did. This debut novel by Adele Buck is absolute perfection. I love the friends-to-lovers trope as well as authors who do a fantastic job of mixing strong character development, humor, romance, and just a bit of angst. I was a little nervous because I have no experience with theater production other than a semester in High School (( mumble mumble )) years ago and sometimes books about play productions leave me feeling like I’m missing all the inside scoop. Not here – I never once felt lost and managed to curl up on the couch and finish this in one day!

I found Cath and Paul relatable and endearing and spent the entire book cheering for their HEA. These two have spent 10 years as best friends and professional collaborators and their chemistry just jumps off the page (or ereader as it were). Their banter had me laughing out loud several times. I especially enjoyed that I didn’t have to wait for the entire book for Paul & Cath to move past merely friends. I love stories where I get to enjoy the couple, being a couple – a mature and communicating one at that. Most of the drama is created by a spiteful woman from their college days who has landed the leading role in their play.

There are several secondary characters that are a fun addition to the world and I can’t wait to experience everyone Buck gives a story to. There’s a little teaser at the end sharing a chapter of the next book in the series, Method Acting, and I’m already hooked.

Extra note: I love this cover by Marika Bailey. It perfectly captures Cath & Paul.

[Jen (mrs-machino) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. A lot to love about this book - I enjoy theater so it was really interesting to see the work that goes into getting a show onstage. The side characters were great. Cath and Paul's story was sweet but it was hard to understand why they'd been best friends for so long without taking things further.

[Seantheaussie]

2 star DNF due to boredom at end of unengaging sample.

[Devon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Excuse me, hello. I am going to try my best at writing a review that doesn't include profanity.

So, before I start, I want to state that all of my reviews are entirely based on my enjoyment of a book. I want to mention that there is nothing wrong with this book. I think it is a great debut book; it has everything needed to be such a good book. It just didn't totally work for me, which is a shame because I know so many people will love this book.

I have rated this book at 2.5, why? Because it landed somewhere between my '2 stars - it was ok' and '3 stars - I liked it'.

Here are some things that I liked:
- The setting. I worked in a theatre. Theatres are my happy place. I can read any story that has a theatre setting.
- Our leads' roles within the theatre. How refreshing to have leads who aren't actors and actually have other roles within the theatre?
- The first page. Those first lines had me. I love an opening with profanity and comedy.

Some things that didn't work for me:
- The pace? I ended up skim reading a portion because the pace just wasn't working for me. I don't know whether it's because it felt rushed? maybe? I do tend to like a longer book with more of a slowburn romance.
- The constant swapping of POV's after a couple of paragraphs - I think this is what caused me to not connect with our leads?
- The emails between two side characters. I feel like we had these to introduce the character in the next book? But I just didn't find them necessary.

So, yeah, 2.5 for me. It was ok, I enjoyed aspects of the book. I do recommend reading this book, I know some of my Goodreads friends are going to love it.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhere between a two and three stars. The concept has a bunch of tropes I like (unrequited love for a best friend, celeb/actress, jealousy, romance building between people who are already pretty much life partners) but it never really played on them in a way that felt satisfying to me. Paul hires Susan as the leading lady for the play he is directing and Cath is stage managing. Susan went to college with them and was mean girl awful to Cath and also may have had a fling with Paul. This is such a good set up for some strong emotions and delicious jealousy, and eventually you get the catharsis of them getting together. But instead, Paul starts snipping at Susan right out of the gate, making Cath have to defend her, because he is being unreasonable and a bad director.

The very idea that Paul knows Susan has always been awful to Cath and hired her anyway, risking their important partnership (or alternately is so clueless and unaware of Cath or her feelings to notice them then or now) should have been full of angst to exploit but it's quickly written off as "he didn't know about it and honestly you should have told him because he would have defended you! And not hired her now!" Cath mentions once how mean girl behavior is often laced with plausible deniability and can go under the radar of men and people not directly involved, which is so so true, but there aren't many examples and he just sort of goes oh ok. We don't even get to see him dismiss something then be proven wrong so he can grovel a little.

The feelings feel very abrupt on Paul's side, I would have liked some more insight into his growth, his recognition of Cath as a romantic possibility, but it all comes on quick then happens quick then they try to figure out what they are and then get engaged within like, two weeks? I dunno.

I just didn't get Susan as a character, either. Now, I love a "bitchy for little to no reason" antagonist, but I could not get a read of her as a person. She acts childish and unprofessional but is supposedly amazing at her craft. I might even believe it more if she was used to screen acting? But for a theater actress it just seemed like she should know better if she is meant to be decently successful. There are emails included between her and a friend, and the text eventually tells us they are frenemies, but honestly? They didn't really read like it in these letters. It seemed more like not super close friends who are in the same field and therefore a little jealous of each other, but mostly chill with each other. Alicia felt comfortable enough calling out some stuff that I don't think a frenemy would.

I've read great antagonists/villains/foils where they weren't actively narcissistic, they were just very used to getting all the attention and being the most beautiful person in the room that they just expect it, and maybe lash out if they don't get that attention. That sort of unthinking narcissism with a touch of mean girl purposeful stirring the pot would have worked better here.

So, all in all, it passed the time just fine, but I'm not leaping at any others of the author's works. There were plenty of tropes and situations that could have been angsty and satisfying but weren't used.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished a book in a single day! And a work day at that. That is practically unheard of for me lately.

I'd seen people saying plenty of good things about this one on Twitter and couldn't help but be interested, but I'm always a little hesitant trying something from a new author as I don't know what to expect. The theatre setting intrigued me, I instantly thought of Lucy Parker's London Celebrities series and this is definitely one for fans of that series.

Paul and Cath have been friends for years, working together very successfully and neither has taken the step to be more. But something about this new play, the actors they've cast in it, and the small town in Connecticut all seem to work in pushing them to reconsider that. Won't lie, friends to lovers is actually one trope I almost actively avoid. It's why I was so shocked I wanted to read this when I didn't have any other bloggers reccing it to me, just authors talking about it. But there was just something that clicked for me and I needed to read and I'm glad I did.

I flew through the book so easily. The pacing was perfect here. There story flowed through and I did worry about how the romance would progress. There was tension with some of the other characters and I thought the obstacles between Cath and Pauk would be too much for them to get together but I was easily convinced they were meant to be. I worried when they seemed to have been driven apart and was probably as bad as some of the crew working with the couple anticipating then getting together.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 Stars

This was very average.

First and foremost I want to address the use of the word "straightjacket" in reference to the MMC feeling off. I did not love this. I think we've progressed in society past the need to use antiquated references to mental illnesses and such.

Overall, I had read a review that said the plot didn't add up but I was willing to give it a try anyways. I did consider dnf-ing at 5% then again at 25%. The only thing that kept me going was that those two moments were not far apart and that this book must be short. I powered through simply because I could not be bothered to find another book to read tbh.

That being said. I agree entirely with reeder (reviews) review. (Please forgive me for being incapable of tagging LOL I cannot figure it out.) But yeah it was very hard to relate to the best friends to lovers aspect of this. In fact it was giving a lot more of a coworkers to friends to lovers read, which would have been fine and probably rated better. But the fact that it was supposed to be a best friends to lovers book and was constantly attempting (and failing in my opinion) to be one ruined the book for me.

I am considering reading some of the other books simply because I liked the characters of those other books as they were introduced in this one. But I am not entirely sure because this book was so disappointing it was mildly upsetting.

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be the first to admit that I haven't read a lot of theater romances (like sports romance, it's a subgenre that I need to become more well-versed in as a reader), but what made this stand out for me was the fabulous friends-to-lovers dynamic between Cath and Paul. Longtime pals and professional collaborators, they embark on a production of a new play at a Connecticut theater with dreams of ultimately taking it to New York; they know each other so well that they can anticipate what the other needs before they need it, but they've also been repressing deeper feelings for each other for years. When the catalyst of a disruptive actress forces them to confront their relationship, they have to decide whether or not they're willing to risk their professional compatibility to explore their romantic potential. As a trope, friends-to-lovers doesn't always work for me but when it does, it really does; Buck's debut is witty, delightful, sweet, and emphasizes the theme of theater as family.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Maryjanezigzag · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-1/2 ⭐ Quick & dirty review:

Loved the theatre setting that was awesome.
The main protagonists tho... I have questions.



14 years cheek-by-jowl & he's oblivious to her?
And she's *only* bothered by what she believes she saw in college - that it appeared at one time that he slept with her nemesis?
So you're telling me in the intervening ten years as they worked together neither of them dated other people...or if they did those relationships were just accepted?
I find that difficult to accept especially from Cath. That's boss level grade masochism there...this guy Paul who you've crushed on 5-eva just ... dating and sexing other people.
Also, the evil nemesis Susan was a huuuuuge boxed lunch to everyone for reasons never explained. I mean people can be complete dicks, but you kind of have to tell us why...at least in fiction it has to make sense.
God knows it rarely does out here in the world.

Bonus epilogue was hella cute.❤

[Beth P · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is probably somewhere between a 3 and a 3.5 overall for me. With the friends-to-lovers trope and theater references galore, I wanted to love it. I’m a little sad that I only liked it.

All the theater stuff is marvelously portrayed. Competency abounds. The main characters, Cath and Paul, behave like adults. They communicate well (most of the time). They felt like real people. And I truly enjoyed that. The theatre setting kept me thoroughly entertained the entire read.

Unfortunately there was something that prevented me from experiencing much emotional connection to or investment in Cath’s and Paul’s HEA. The friends-to-lovers trope usually hooks me with a certain level of angst that I just didn’t feel here. I’m neither a writer nor an editor, so I have no idea if this was an issue with pacing or word choice or something else.

I will definitely pick up the next book in the series.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a costume designer for my local community theatre, I was excited to read this book. The theater is my happy place and I miss being there with my theatre family (Covid has been rough on the arts!) and so this book seemed to offer an opportunity to experience some of that magic again.

And I did enjoy it - especially all the glimpses of the workings behind the scenes. I definitely related! The characters were fun and felt authentic. The main romance made sense- directors and stage managers do tend to rely heavily on each other and become very close. Add in sexual attraction and you get Paul and Cath!

I am looking forward to Center Stage #2!

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodreads is yet again malfunctioning and won't show me how many stars I gave this title, but it's an easy 4-5 from me. I was lucky to read this manuscript in an earlier iteration and I love what's been done for final publication. It's hard for me to review a book with this plot as it is too close to my own life but ended much more pleasingly than my own similar storyline. I'm really looking forward to the next two in the Center Stage series, as I really enjoyed one particular couple this go-round.

[Paula Zettel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was hard to rate because the first half of the book was mostly good, almost perfect even. The main characters are interesting and the chemistry is so on point. I LOVE the idea of having a love story set during the production of a play, using the surroundings as part of the build up on their relationship. However, by the second half the book lost its pace. All the problems seemed to get easily resolved and any problems that came after this point in the book seemed to be plain, uncalled for drama.

[Truusje · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF (50%)
I didn't enjoy this. The focus of the first half of the book is the play they're working on, and in particular the female lead. She's the antagonist in the story and everything seems to centre around her. There's also a male lead who we see a lot of, but I don't know anything about the actors. I don't know much about the director and the stage manager either, who are the main characters of the romance and whose POV we get. Not keen on the prose either so I'm going to exit stage left and leave the characters to their own devices.

[Harriet M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a big reader of romance, generally, but I found this delightful. If you’re a theater nerd who enjoys quippy dialogue, this is for you. With some creative storytelling (I enjoyed the epistolary interludes), dialogue that can be laugh out loud funny, a central couple worth rooting for and secondary characters in danger of stealing the show, I look forward to meeting them all again in the next installment.

[Lindsey Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how the characters were really relatable, how they made mistakes and weren't suave (Paul stumbling when he picked up Cath). I also really enjoyed the side characters, they were such a lovely varied group.
I loved Paul and Cath's relationship and how it changed, really enjoyed their 'quote game'.
It appeared to me that the author had done a lot of research into theatre productions as there was lots of detail that added to the story context.

[Ana’s passion is HEA · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a love letter to theater and it’s community as well as a sweet romance between a stage manager and director. A friends to lovers story which seems like it starts out as an unrequited love story. I’m definitely going to check out the next book in the series which features a minor character in this book.

[mel (cardan’s bff (real)) · Rating 1 out of 5]

i have so much to say but also nothing at all. i loved the concept but the progression of the book felt off. it also felt like almost nothing happened in the book. the ending felt very rushed. might not have been my cup of tea, but i can see the appeal

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too cute

While friends to lovers isn’t one of my favorite tropes I still loved the adorableness of Cath and Paul coming together, with a couple of nudges from their friends. Plus, Cath’s competency was so incredibly hot.

[Kaetrin]

pre-order from Amazon.

[Avadareads · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF - 61% reading
I've read most of the book but could not connect with the characters...

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun idea. Author knows a lot about stage theater. Characters a bit too much in their own heads, too talky and sex far too graphic and detailed for me.