It's a Love Story : the heart-warming and joyful must-read summer romance for 2025

The most beautiful, perfect love story—it's my favourite Annabel Monaghan novel yet!' —Paige Toon, internationally bestselling author of Seven Summers *** Rules for a True Love Story: There are none. It’s all a lie. Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth: and having spent her adolescence as the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America's fifth-favourite sitcom, she's still trying to shake off that role. At least now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and 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 script. Jack may have been her first kiss – and greatest source of shame – but Jane 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 beach 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?

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Praise for Annabel Monaghan:

'Everything I want in a summer romance' - Beth O'Leary, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Flatshare

'Annabel Monaghan has joined my shortlist of instant autobuy authors. Her writing is packed full of chemistry and warmth.' - Paige Toon, author of Only Love Can Hurt Like This

'Anything Annabel writes, I’m reading it.' - Carley Fortune, author of Every Summer After

'Annabel Monaghan knows how to write romance, how to sweep you up and make you feel as though you, the reader, are falling in love.' - Sophie Cousens, author of Just Haven’t Met You Yet

MEDIA REVIEWS

Another brilliant holiday read from Annabel Monaghan - You magazine (Mail on Sunday)

The most beautiful, perfect love story—I loved it with my whole heart! I could have lived inside this book forever. It’s my favorite Annabel Monaghan novel yet, and made me cry such happy emotional tears! - Paige Toon, internationally bestselling author of Seven Summers

Annabel Monaghan has written a love story that is as laugh-out-loud funny as it is emotionally profound. Don’t miss this perfect summer escape - Emily Giffin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Pact

Annabel Monaghan has a direct line to my heart—and my funny bone. With It's a Love Story, she’s given us an enemies-to-lovers romcom that’s SO MUCH MORE. This is dopamine in book form. And don’t we all need that right now? - Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of Summers at the Saint

[A] bingeable beachy contemporary . . . Monaghan mines a lot of joy out of [a] close-knit family dynamic and the scenic coastal setting, while creating a heroine readers will root for. This is an addictive romp - Publishers Weekly (starred)

[T]here is satisfying depth to the story . . . Monaghan writes another charming rom-com, this time with enemies-to-lovers and forced-proximity tropes. Monaghan fans will not be disappointed - Library Journal