Review: On the Same Page

Title: On the Same Page

Author: Penelope Janu

Publisher: 1st April 2022 by Escape Publishing

Pages: 368 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: women’s fiction, romance, contemporary

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

By day Miles Franklin, named after the famous author, is a successful lawyer. By night, in secret, she writes historical romance novels under the pen name Emma Browning. When 'Emma's' novels win one of Australia's biggest literary awards, Miles's perfectly ordered life begins to unthread at the bindings. Especially when Lars Kristensen, CEO of the publishing company contracted to publish the prize-winning books, insists on meeting the author.

Besides mutual antipathy and sexual attraction, socially anxious Miles and supremely confident Lars have nothing in common. Nothing. But the more time they spend together, the more blurred the lines between fact and fiction and love and hate become.

Miles is determined to both protect her privacy and to keep writing-even if it means mastering pole dancing, choreographing a love scene in the back of a horse-drawn carriage, and confronting the prejudices of her parents and publishers.

Like the heroines in her books, Miles has the grit to stand her ground. But Lars has the smouldering looks, arrogance and pride of all her romantic heroes rolled into one. And he is good at reading between the lines. Who is going win this battle of wills? Can Miles and Lars ever be on the same page?

My Thoughts

On the Same Page is a light hearted and easy to read book by Aussie author Penelope Janu. Fans of romance fiction will really enjoy this novel with some much needed escapism; how could I not pick it up with the lead name of Miles Franklin (aka My Brilliant Career!) However, being the author Penelope is, delve a little deeper and you will find some interesting themes.

‘My Brilliant Career was a love story, Maurice.’ I force a shaky smile. ‘But it wasn’t a romance.’ ‘Of course.’ He smiles sympathetically. ‘The heroine Sybylla refuses the hero’s proposal. It lacks the secret ingredient.’ ‘There is no happy ending.’

Firstly, I loved the exploration of the romance genre and the supposed/probable/likely flack it receives from the ‘more respected’ genres. The underlying innuendo here was on point. I appreciated how cleverly Penelope brought under the spotlight the many styles of writing. 

‘Historical romance novels are extremely popular.’ ‘They’re formulaic rubbish for simple-minded women,’ Dad says. ‘What were the judges thinking?’

I loved the many references and nods to famous literature, characters and quotes. Not only did it demonstrate Penelope’s great love for these books, it was like a love letter for those of us who adore some of the classics. The inclusion of the writing of a Regency romance in parallel with the main story interspersed throughout was fun and again demonstrated Penelope’s finesse.

‘I wonder if Jane Eyre’s Mr Rochester had perfect diction? Is that why she fell in love with him, even though he was bad-tempered and kept a mad wife in the attic? Did Persuasion’s Anne Elliot fall in love with Captain Wentworth’s military stance and impeccable manners? Wentworth put his hands behind his back when he was cross. Lars puts his in his front pockets. What about Wuthering Heights ….’

Front and centre, of course, this is a rom-com with all the comedy of errors and encounters. It’s light, fluffy and fantastic. A truer example of the enemies to lovers trope would be hard to find. Penelope includes a subplot of teenage crisis - a bit too much? …. hhmm … I’m not sure. Whilst I applaud the statement being made here, I don’t think it needed to be included. 

On the Same Page has everything romance readers look for from the witty and fun banter, to a swoon worthy leading man. With memorable literary references and a solid case for the respect owed to romance writers, I suggest all lovers of this genre get On the Same Page.

‘It supports my view that love stories count, that romance novels are important and should not only be celebrated and admired, but valued and respected. Romance novels care for readers, just as readers care for them.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.