By Any Other Name by. Lauren Kate | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: By Any Other Name

Author: Lauren Kate

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 304

Publication Date: 3/01/22

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Categories: Adult Fiction, Romance, Editor/Author Romance, Mistaken Identity

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Penguin Publishing Group for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

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.

Content Warning: Death of Parent

There is so much I loved about this book and I kind of went into reading this one forgetting about the synopsis.

Lanie is a great character and we see her in her element as an editor at a publishing house. She’s given a chance to be promoted but there are conditions that involve getting her favorite author, Noa Calloway, to submit her next book. But Lanie finds out Noa isn’t who she and all Noa’s fans, thinks she is. It is a case of mistaken identity. Noa is Noah. I found Lanie well-rounded and fleshed out. She’s smart, clumsy, ambitious, has the perfect boyfriend and loves her job. We even get to know some of her family history and we get to know her coworkers, some of which are her best friends.

Speaking of friends and family, I love Meg and Rufus, who are there for Lanie when she hits a rough patch in her love life. And Lanie’s grandmother, BD, is the best! She is so funny.

The romance that builds between Lanie and Noah is a slow-burn that starts off on the wrong foot but I wouldn’t call it enemies to lovers. They get along very well once they start to spend time with one another. I loved how the romanced progressed until the very end, and honestly I never wanted the story to come to an end! The whole thing tied into beautifully with the story Noah was writing and I loved how Lanie and Noah actually corresponded for years before meeting.

Some issues I had with it – Lanie is engaged for a good 30% of the book! And it’s not that I hated her fiance or anything, I actually liked seeing that Lanie had everything yet not even that made her happy. I thought it was important to the story, but I wanted more time with Lanie and Noah together. As I kept reading, I kept checking how far in I was into the book because their time in the book was way too short for me. I didn’t want the story to end even if it was such a good ending. And we only get one kiss, that’s it – it’s a perfect kiss though.

Why you should read it:

• an editor and author falling for one another, publishing house drama
• Meg, Rufus and BD are so much fun
• Lanie and Noah’s romance is so heartfelt and came full circle – I didn’t want it to end

Why you might not want to read it:

• book is too short, I wanted more of Lanie and Noah
• I didn’t realize it was pegged as an enemies to lovers romance, there is a small hint of it and maybe it could have been dragged out (if the book was longer!)

My Thoughts:

I needed this wonderful story to be longer. I can see this as a movie because it’s set in NYC and Lanie and Noah go around to certain places to get his inspiration revved up for his book. I can already imagine it and it would be magical. This one gave me lots of feels, especially the ending and I never wanted it to end.

📚 ~ Yolanda