When we meet Lanie Bloom, she seems to be on the verge of having it all. She has a job she loves --- editing romance novels at Peony Press, a female-owned publishing company in New York City. She has a cozy Manhattan apartment, complete with a pet tortoise. She desperately misses her mom, who died when she was 10, but she has a strong and loving support system, including her two best friends and her sassy grandma.

Last but not least, Lanie is engaged to Ryan, her perfect match. She knows he’s perfect because he ticks off every single one of the 99 criteria she laid out for her future mate after reading Ninety-Nine Things I’m Going to Love About You, a novel by her very favorite author, Noa Callaway.

"BY ANY OTHER NAME is one of those romance novels that is completely sweet and, although predictable, pleasingly so. Lanie is a likable character whom readers will, for obvious reasons, adore."

As an assistant, Lanie has been emailing with Noa, who is published by Peony Press, for years. But when she gets an unexpected promotion, she also realizes she’s going to get to do something that almost no one in the world has ever done --- find out Noa’s real identity. No one has ever seen Noa’s author photo; Noa has never done a book tour or a television interview, despite being one of the best-selling fiction writers in the country. Everyone assumes this is because Noa is a private person or perhaps doesn’t fit the stereotype of what a romance novelist should look or act like.

Little does Lanie dream just how true that is, and when she meets the real Noa Callaway, her whole impression of her favorite author goes completely out the window. But Lanie can’t let her shock slow her down, because her promotion is contingent on getting Noa’s manuscript back on track and delivered to the publisher without any further delays. But how is Lanie supposed to get Noa unblocked when she’s dealing with her own romantic crisis --- namely that she’s no longer sure perfect-on-paper Ryan is actually the man she wants after all?

BY ANY OTHER NAME is one of those romance novels that is completely sweet and, although predictable, pleasingly so. Lanie is a likable character whom readers will, for obvious reasons, adore. Some may find the romance plot too slow to get off the ground, with little to no time to see Lanie partner up with the new man in her life. But the book is, in a way, as much about self-discovery and reckoning with the past as it is about romantic love.

And, as Lanie discovers when she takes an impromptu trip to Italy on Noa’s recommendation, sometimes the journey is as important as the destination, especially when it involves a motorcycle ride on the Amalfi Coast.