Dear Reader,
New Year, new reading goal. While some of you may be reaching for self-help and personal growth books this month, we are reaching for escapist romance and happy endings. We want swoon-worthy leading characters, quirky careers, and any plot to help us ignore the weather outside. Our New Year’s resolution, dearest reader, is to be swept off our feet. So in January, we indulged ourselves as we read Annabel Monaghan’s Nora Goes off Script.
(Pssst. We love a meta romance, a romance author writing about a romance author whose very name references our Queen Nora Ephron? Yes, please!)
Nora is an expert when it comes to love – or so you’d think since she writes movies for the romance TV network. She knows the formulas that work, what twists and turns she can spin to find that happily ever after–but when her husband, a dud of a man that thinks he’s above having a job, leaves her she writes the best script she’s ever written.
Nora Hamilton - Glossier You
notes: writing in the tea house, simple white t-shirts, and daily runs in nature
Just like the simple white t-shirts and daily routine, this scent is dependable, no fuss, and smells just like your skin… but a little better. With notes of pink pepper, iris, and ambery ambrox, it’s somehow equal parts woody, green, and fresh like crisp mornings spent writing in the tea house.
Nora isn’t the only one who thinks her story is made for the big screen. In a matter of days, her life is flipped upside down. Not only will the film be set at her beloved 100-year-old home–it’s starring two of Hollywood’s biggest stars (and heartthrobs). The lead playing her ex-husband? None other than former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance.
Leo Vance - Oud Wood by Tom Ford
notes: sexiest man alive, mornings on the porch, and expensive wood
Finding a fragrance for the sexiest man alive is a job only we would willingly take on. Once the frustratingly handsome actor sobers up and offers you a deal–one you can’t refuse–let the power of Tom Ford guide your senses. A collection of ambery woods, this fragrance is deeply layered with base notes of pepper, vanilla, and cardamom.
When filming wraps after a few days, Nora thinks her life will just go right back to normal. No more film crew in her home, no more cast trailers wrecking her beautiful lawn. But just as she’s going out for her morning sunrise coffee, she spots Leo Vance with a half-drunk bottle of tequila. He just didn’t want to leave, so he makes Nora a business offer – a thousand dollars a day to stay for a week.
The Tea House - Citrine by Nest
notes: fresh forest air, hydrangeas in the summer, and new love
Like Nora’s beloved Tea House, Nest harnesses some of our most sacred fragrances. Spray this scent on your skin and smell the sweet scent of morning dew collected on the leaves of springtime freesia. This fragrance’s rounded-out woody notes will bring you some comfort to the fact that you’re letting a film crew (and a tequila-drenched actor) take over your life.
Nora isn’t in a position to say no to $7,000 so she reluctantly agrees and sets Leo up in her precious tea house (and writing space). And quickly Leo becomes part of her (and her two children’s) lives. It turns out a lot can happen in seven days. Usually, we are only fans of romance heroes/heroines with children if Captain Vonn Trapp or Mr. Sheffield are involved, so this was a brilliant book that crushed our old nanny-to-wife tendencies. The kids are charming, Leo is endearing, and Nora is the perfect character to squish all of them together.
Sunrise on the Porch - Awake by Akro
notes: freshly brewed coffee, sleep-warmed skin, and second chances
A citrus gourmand, this scent awakens your spirit like the cup of coffee you pour before your 9 to 5. With notes of Italian lemon, cardamom, and coffee beans, imagine your new life in the tea house. There are sleepy children mumbling dreams into their breakfast, your latest script in front of you, and the sexist man alive handing you a morning cup of joe.
Each day melts into the other until everything about Nora’s routine has changed. The one thing that she keeps is her sunrise coffee on the porch, but now there’s someone sitting beside her. Every morning Nora and Leo drink coffee and watch the sun come up, and it may or may not become the perfect backdrop for the pair to fall in love.
This book was such a comfort, warm and cozy, full of witty banter, and just downright delightful to read. The few open-door scenes leave the reader wanting more from the two and have you rooting for them until the very end. It’s perfect if you’re looking for an escape from the winter blues (yeah we’re done with freezing rainy weather too), and is especially great for fans of Nancy Meyers and Emily Henry (who isn’t at this point?).
Until next time, find us on Instagram & TikTok.
Scent-cerely,
Cassie & Taylor