Just a Name

Just a Series #1

by Becky Monson

If there’s one thing Holly Murphy loves, it’s a solid plan. She has her entire life figured out—or so she thinks. But when life pulls the rug out from under her, she’s left to deal with a canceled wedding—hers, to be precise. And the promotion she’s worked toward for years is now in jeopardy because the team she supervises doesn’t like her management style.

Thinking that Holly is too tightly wound and needs a break from everything, her boss demands she take a vacation. But how can she take a vacation when her promotion is on the line? Trying to help out, her best friend, Quinn, suggests she still go on her honeymoon and conduct a nationwide search to find a man with the same name as her ex-fiancé to use his plane ticket. Leaving Holly to wonder if she’s the only sane person left on the planet.

Yet when her boss gets wind of the idea and loves it, Holly finds herself in a corner she can’t get out of. And when handsome Nate Jones from Newport Beach gets picked to go with her, she wonders if this whole thing won’t be so bad after all.

Can Holly learn to let go? Or will this crazy adventure send her running right back to her safety net?

Genres: Romance, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Clean Romance, Audiobook

Audiobook

First published October 8, 2018

About the author

By day, Becky Monson is a mother to three young children, and a wife. By night, she escapes with reading books and writing. In her debut novel, Becky uses humor and true-life experiences to bring her characters to life. She loves all things chick-lit (movies, books, etc.), and wishes she had a British accent. She has recently given up Diet Coke for the fiftieth time and is hopeful this time will last... but it probably won't.

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Reviews

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holly is an idiot. Seriously, your boss tells you "the promotion we discussed is in jeopardy because you are too tightly wound. Take a vacation, already." and she spends chapters literally telling herself "I just need to fix the problems with my team so I'll earn the promotion before I can even think of taking a vacation." So she's refusing to do the one thing her boss told her to do in order to fix a thing that nobody on Earth can fix. I don't know what Monson was trying to do with these characters and at about a third in, I stopped caring. Holly is dumb. Logan is an inarticulate cypher. Her friends are mildly awful, but definitely a waste of space.

Oh, and want to know why nobody on Earth could fix this team? Man these people irritated me. They're dumber than Holly is. They literally can't follow directions just told to them. And repeated twice. They say things like "I'll try" when told to take shorter breaks. They're call-center folks who either can't follow a phone script or have a monotone phone voice or slough off all the time. Not one of these cardboard cutouts is suited for their job. Why Holly hasn't fired the lot of them to start over with people who aren't awful I can't fathom. Yeah, it's hard to find decent entry-level people, but these people have been on her team for a while now. Holly's greatest incompetence is that she's wasting every dollar of the wages paid these completely incompetent "workers". She doesn't deserve a promotion. She deserves some managerial training and an evaluation afterwards to determine if she's the right fit for her current position.

[Katie (hiding in the pages) · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun story! And what about that darling cover?! I'd pick it up jut because of that.

When Holly's fiance breaks up with her and her boss forces her to take a vacation, she does a nationwide search to find a man with the same name to take the ticket of her ex-fiance for a fake honeymoon trip. Can you imagine?!

There is a delightful cast of supporting characters, with a lot of interconnections, making it a tad bit complicated. I wish I had a diverse and loyal support system like Holly had--seriously. I think this zany team puts the icing on the cake of this sweet and quirky story.

I loved Holly's voice. Told in first person, I was immediately transported into Holly's head and felt a connection with her. I think everyone can find a piece of her characteristics inside themselves and it's especially poignant when the reasons behind her madness are discovered.

The romance is slightly surprising, which made it a lot of fun. I loved the search and watching Holly narrow her choices down, but the actual trip was the best! So full of fun, swoon, and humor, all topped with unexpected twists. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in these pages!

Content: mild language (a handful of mild words and the first letter of a few others); mild+ romance (sweet, swoony kissing and innuendo)

*I received a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.*

[Tracie Banister · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the perfect book to read during a pandemic since its heroine goes on a trip to London and Paris, so I felt like I was tagging along on her vacation and getting to see all of the sights. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before Holly can go on this amazing European getaway she needs to find a guy to be her plus-one. You see, this vacay was supposed to be Holly’s honeymoon, but her fiancé broke off their engagement.

Although Holly wants to forget the trip and stay focused on her job where she’s up for a promotion, her boss and friends all insist she needs a break. Her BFF suggests Holly hold a contest via the local news station to find a guy with the same name as her ex to go with her on the vacation. Holly hates the idea, but eventually gets into the spirit of things when she virtually meets the finalists, one of whom is a total hottie. Could this guy be her soul mate, or is she overlooking someone a little closer to home? And what happens when she decides to take a leap of faith and go on this trip with an almost-stranger?

This book isn’t so much about Holly finding love, but about finding herself and what will make her happy. I enjoyed getting to know Holly and her friends so much and look forward to seeing them again in the upcoming sequel, Just a Girl, which will focus on Holly’s bestie, Quinn.

[Lucy McConnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Will always recommend one of Becky's books! Love her ability to capture a character's spunky personality!

[Maven_Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a Name by Becky Monson is a lighthearted contemporary romcom about Holly Murphy, a woman whose carefully ordered life unravels after a canceled wedding and a career crisis, leading her on a quirky nationwide scheme to find a man who shares her ex-fiancé’s name and use his unused honeymoon ticket. The set up is delightfully silly: Holly’s boss insists she take a break, her best friend Quinn proposes the absurd search, and the resulting trip forces Holly to step outside her neat plans and face what she really wants from love and work.

What stayed with me after finishing this was how the book balances humor with honest, human moments: Holly’s reflex to control everything felt achingly familiar, and watching her loosen up, make messy choices, and learn to trust felt genuinely earned. The pacing leans breezy, the voice is warm and chatty, and secondary characters such as Quinn add lively, grounding energy; readers who enjoy chick lit and romcoms will likely find the tone comforting and the premise fun. On the flip side some scenes felt a touch predictable and I wanted a bit more depth around Holly’s workplace struggles and the emotional fallout of her canceled engagement, yet the novel’s charm and readability carried me through.

Overall I give Just a Name 4 out of 5 stars, because it delivers on laughter, warmth, and a satisfying character arc even if it does not always dig as deep as I sometimes wished.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, where to start with this book? Probably the most obvious statement: I LOVED it. Becky Monson is so good at writing humor into her books. Sarcasm and wit reign supreme right along with a slow growing romance. That romance stuff had goosebumps rising all over my body on repeated occasions. Yumma, yumma. Seriously, I was either smiling or swooning all the way through. Sometimes it was both. LOVE.

Content: frequent mild swearing (many words with just the first letter instead of the whole word written out, which I didn't really love), kissing, a make out scene.

[Kellie Garrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring

I completed the book, but just barely. I skimmed most of the last 40%. The main character bothered me with all her complaining and there was too much inner dialog. Too many scenes that didn't add anything to the story. Waste of time. Also, it barely had an ending. Nothing was really resolved. Maybe we'll hear more about Holly in the next book in the series, which is about Quinn but honestly, I'm not impressed enough to bother with it.

[Jennifer Peel · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best chick lit books I've read. I was laughing and swooning.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

*A cute but unoriginal romance with a lack of actual traveling*


I have been seriously craving some armchair travel (since it looks like I won’t be doing any real travel any time soon). So Just a Name caught my eye.

While the romance was cute enough, this book was a total flop in the vicarious travel department. It was over halfway through the book before Holly agreed to even go on vacation and two-thirds through before she after left on the trip. And even then, anything related to the travel happened off page. It was narrated in first person by Holly, and she tended to focus on drama stuff. Then she would casually recap the sites she had seen in little more than a bullet point list. There was absolutely nothing to bring any of the locations to life. In fact, that portion could have of the story could have been set in any city without it making any difference.

The other problem I had with this story was its lack of originality. I thought at first that this book inspired the movie Non-transferrable. But when I looked it up, the movie came out before Just a Name and there was not any connection that I found. Yet both are about a type-A, workaholic Millennial redhead who books a romantic trip, gets dumped, then finds a guy with the same name to take the trip with instead. Other than the love interest, the two stories were way too similar. But Just a Name didn’t have anything to inspire wanderlust.

I liked the romance in Just a Name well enough, although Holly was an annoying narrator at times – and not just for the lack of descriptive travel. She was the type of character you want to shake some sense into. Her case was not helped by the audiobook narrator who read her lines in a nasally Valley Girl voice. Also, the attempts to make every conversation PG were too silly and juvenile. Seriously, how many times can a character say “What the H?” Just say hell.

The story fulfilled the typical romance hallmarks and was cute enough, but the lack of vicarious travel combined with the other small annoyances really damped my enthusiasm for the story.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 2 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 1 Star

[Heidi Robbins (Heidi Reads...) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book! Holly is flawed in ways I can't quite understand, not being a workaholic myself ;) The author did a great job of getting me in her head and even though I thought she was more than a little crazy for not wanting to take time off from her frustrating work situation to travel *to Europe*, I liked when she started to listen to her friends and stretched outside her comfort zone. She learned some invaluable life lessons and I enjoyed seeing her progress on her journey. There's a great balance of humor, angst, and romance. My favorite parts were with her ex-fiancee's best friend who obviously has an unrequited thing for her that she is oblivious to. I loved how patient he is with her and has to start from scratch to build a new friendship with her. Such great romantic tension! Perfect for fans of contemporary romance of the chick-lit-with-depth variety :)

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

[Saby Reads All Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this was so interesting, but the end result was kinda meh. This is more chick-lit than romance, and the MC is more of a side character to all the assorted friends, step-siblings, colleagues, and parents who take up much of the real estate in the plot.

I really liked The Accidental Text by the same author, which had so much depth, but this one didn't come close. Good if you're in the mood for chick-lit about a jilted girl trying to find her way .

[Pascale’s*ARC,Unwind,Read,Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

-‘I’m an evil overlord with a side of organized. Go, me.’-

Holly Murphy’s life is not on track, not even a little. Her fiancé broke up with her three months before the wedding, his best friend and roommate hates her, and yet she can’t avoid him, her team at work doesn’t listen to her, she’s afraid she’ll lose her job, and her boss is forcing her to take a vacation. Everyone says she’s boring and a control freak, but she has to be! She can’t turn out like her mother! Then her best friend comes up with the craziest idea ever...

The wait is over! And it was totally worth it! It’s been so long since this author published a book and it’s fabulous. I love everything she writes and this book is no exception.
There are a few twists and turns along the way, lots of steamy, clean kisses, and a really fun storyline. Monson’s signature sense of humour radiates throughout. If you liked her “spinster” series, you’re sure to love this one!

To paraphrase the last line of the book, “I kind of liked it. A lot.”

[Heike · Rating 2 out of 5]

21 year old (!) controlling girl gets dumped 3 weeks before her wedding and tries to get a promotion in a call center from team leader (which she is bad in) to call center leader. Supported by her friends (no gay guy among them, surprise, surprise) she plans to do something outside her comfort zone, meanwhile ignoring the best friend of her ex-fiancee who, obviously, has deep feelings for her despite being cool and aloof while she was in a relationship with his buddy.
This was a quick read because it was really easy to skip pages of her droning on with her friends and family, not missing anything of the story line by doing so. Except that I missed the Trump-joke someone was raving about here, pity!
Back to the story line, which was plain stupid because it was so obvious what was going on in her ex-fiancee's best friends head that one must be plain stupid not to figure it out. Which she was, despite mocking others for being slow.
I finished it because I liked Logan, even though there was very little interacting between him and Holly. And I think he could have done better! ;)

[Linds · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not impulsive. I’m not a ride-or-die kind of girl. I don’t want to ride or die.

This was a cute and easy read, although I couldn't relate to Holly much at all. I loved Logan though, I wish we'd gotten more time with him.

I have to say that the abbreviations for swear words got old FAST. Either say the words or leave them out. Frustrating.

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook and think the narrator's voice helped me get into Holly's head because she wouldn't have sounded the same in my imagination. Because the book is from Holly's point of view you 'hear' everything Holly's thinking, which sometimes felt as if I were in a hyperactive person's brain (Holly thinks about EVERYTHING), and lots of times it was hilarious.

Holly is a workaholic who never uses her vacation days, which I can't relate to at all. Se works at a bank so she gets all the federal holidays off with pay, but who thinks those are a substitute for a real vacation? Well, Holly does. Now her supervisor's basically forcing her to take a vacation. Her friends tell her to go on the trip to Europe that was supposed to be her honeymoon, until her fiancé broke up with her three months before the wedding. There's a slight problem--she has to find a guy with the same name as her ex-fiancé so he can use the other ticket. The search is on for a Nate Jones. Will Holly be able to go on this forced vacation and not try to manage her team via long distance?

Not only was Holly a workaholic, but she seemed to be a micro-manager too--she plans out everything! She's constantly worried about her team's performance and how it will affect her upcoming promotion, but she doesn't really know how to motivate them. I did love her group of friends and how they supported her. I liked when her ex-fiancé's best friend joined her in the middle of her vacation, and helped her learn to slow down, relax and enjoy the little things. Not everything has to be planned and scheduled.

There are some mild words and the first letter of a few others.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just...... Read it!

4.5🌟s

This book didn’t play out how I thought it was going to after reading the blurb but it went the way I hoped after a few chapters so I was very happy. I’ve come away with a book hangover and I’m not sure if I’m feeling lost because I didn’t get enough and wanting more or it was written so well that you just can’t walk away from this couple. As there is a second book in the series, there’s a chance I will have this wish filled.

This is a bit of a slow burn romance and there’s a lot of inner dialogue from Holly, which I love. It could be that she’s just like me and thinks things through to the very enth degree and plans things out to the last minute. I loved her dry humor and the way she interacted with her friends. They were a quirky bunch but each bought a different element to the group and their loyalty was commendable.

I adored the way the story unraveled and how Holly finally sees what’s been in front of her the whole time. And that she makes changes to her career as well. I especially appreciated the epilogue and the different aspect we got there. I really could have read more of that! Now I’m on to Just A Girl and hear all about Holly’s bestie Quinn.

[Y. · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing you can say about chick lit...is that it's totally predictable. But is that part of the fun? Maybe in the beginning. Nevertheless, this was still a fun addition to my post-A Little Life reading.

[Charissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super fun piece of chick lit. Funny characters, witty dialogue, silly scenes at times to keep me smiling. The romance was a frenemies trope with a slow-burn to buildup. I adored Logan and Holly, the MCsy. Logan is mysterious enough that you never know what he’s really thinking, which drives the heroine crazy. And Holly is lovable because of her weaknesses that are brought out. I couldn’t read this one fast enough. I thoroughly enjoyed every scene. This author has given me some scrumptious delights over the years, and this one is another that satisfies my reading sweet-tooth. Loved it.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute story with an entertaining story line. I enjoyed Holly’s inner monologue and POV through out the book. She was very relatable. She also has a misfit group of friends that are all entertaining and I suspect more books will come out featuring the different friends. I enjoyed the love connection even if it was slow building. My only complaint is that I wish the ending had been more conclusive but I guess we will find out more in the future books.

[Amrita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one's not as good as the other books I've read by the same writer. I loved her Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace and the Spinster series. In this case, the dialogue had its usual charm and wit, but the story didn't really hold its weight. That said, I will look out for the second part, which is due to come out next year.

[Lara Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh

There's not a character you'll like, much less care about. And the weird abusive men - just awful. A note for the author - it is in fact stalking even if you are good looking and women should run from any man who uses that line for flirting.

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed the book for the most part but I hated how it ended. Bleh.

[Patricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it to 33%. The whole plot idea of the name is only starting. I am not sure I like any of the personalities in the story. The whole tone has grated on my nerves.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!!

This was such a great story about a girl who goes from thinking she knows exactly what she wants to a woman who understands it’s okay not to have all the answers.

Holly was a fantastic protagonist. With a first person perspective you really get to know her and her thoughts are flippin’ hilarious! She is a perfectionist, a planner, a workaholic, a jilted bride-to-be, and a fantastic friend and daughter. She is also vulnerable and afraid of change, which is what makes this story unique.

Don’t get me started on her swoon-worthy hero! As the story unfolded I thought one thing would happen, and while I was waiting for that to take place I began really rooting and hoping for something else. Let’s just say I neglected my work a bit in order to finish this book and I was super satisfied with the ending- sigh!

A fantastic read by author Becky Monson- and I’m really hoping there might be future books about some of Holly’s friends!!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest book by Becky Monson is FINALLY HERE!!! I love being able to introduce people to this hilarious author who dreams up characters in high-def and executes their flaws with perfection. I love the fact that I can hand any one of Becky Monson's books to absolutely anyone I know without fear because her books are sweet, hilarious, and well-written. And Just a Name is absolutely fast becoming one of my favorite books now! The humor is spot on, the characters are well-defined, and I think I could be Holly...except I don’t run! I'm hoping for some spin-off books now from these characters!!!

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep, the cover made me check this read out. Such a great book cover! I love humor .. laughter is such a must in my life ... I thought I had read a book from Becky ...but I am finding this is my 1st read by her ...love that smile? looks so friendly ...might be mixing her up with another author??! that happens sometimes ... great read ... check it out!! must read. I will be reading more from Becky soon enough. such a new fan.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, I LOVED this book.

I saw so much of myself in Holly. Her attention to detail and her love to plan everything. I could relate to the struggles that come with being a workaholic and perfectionist.

Her relationship with Logan was so fun to follow. It drew me in and I couldn’t stop reading. Their chemistry was undeniable.

This story made me develop butterflies, laugh and say “awww” multiple times. Just what I want from a romantic comedy.

[Paula Bothwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a Name - PG
Violence: none
Language: nothing offensive
Sex: no sex

Where have you been, Becky Monson?! I love to make friends with her heroines and so much enjoyed this book. Our Hero is the Best! Super cute story and wonderful escape.

Keep writing, honey! We are all waiting to see what comes next!

[Crissy Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty and Fun

I loved this book! The characters felt real. Though flawed like the rest of us, the author made them incredibly likeable. I loved her sense of humor and laughed out loud several times.

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story did not go the way I expected it to - and I loved that! I'm excited that there are going to be more books in this series because I loved the secondary characters, too. And I'm so glad they will get their stories.