Mina Descanso pulled some strings so that her seventeen year-old daughter Macy could attend Penovation, a prestigious writing retreat. Now it's time for Macy to find her own voices through the written word. The challenge: to write a love story in four weeks. Macy's assigned critique partner is Caleb who also has writer parents, though they vow not to talk about their families as there's an unspoken tension between their two families. As the weeks unfold, Macy and Caleb challenge one another to face their fears and to craft their own writing path from the legacy their parents started. 

Love on Paper is a lighthearted YA romance that also touches on grief, coming of age, and family expectations. There are several storylines, but none of them fully filled out for me. I was left wanting more character development for Macy and Caleb, as well as a reason to root for their relationship. I also wished for more plot structure surrounding the mysterious manuscript clues. The book utilizes several non-traditional ways to tell the story (voice memos, emails, texts, writing excerpts) and these different mediums did not integrate well with the rest of the book for me. I did like Fern and their experience-it-all attitude for the retreat, and I appreciated the scene of them challenging Macy to take the writing retreat seriously. 

Overall, a meh book for me without anything that's making it stand out afterwards. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Joy Revolution for providing me with an early ARC for my review.

3.25/5 stars