I experienced some trepidation going into Finding Mr. Write after reading the synopsis, which describes a frustrated female author inventing a male persona in order to sell a book. It’s pretty normal for an author to use a pen name, but the ideas brought up in this story go a step further and bring up publishing stereotypes and ethical questions that aren’t easily answered.

Daphne McFadden is tired of getting her manuscript rejected and decides to take a bold step – that of reworking her synopsis (not the content though) and giving herself a male pen name, as well as a macho man author description. Her friend Nia, a lawyer, gives her legal advice to make sure everything she is doing is okay, so when her manuscript is accepted, she’s overjoyed. There’s just one problem. The publisher wants an author photo. Daphne is clearly not ‘Zane Remington’, northern wilderness survivalist. So she turns to Nia for help once again.

Chris Stanton is an accountant with some serious business problems. His partner has embezzled from their company and his lawyer, Nia, is helping him sort through the issues. In fact, she offers him some free legal advice in return for a favour for her. Nia needs a male actor with a certain physique and character to play the part of Zane Remington, author extraordinaire, for her friend Daphne. Now, Chris can’t chop wood or survive in the wilderness on his own, but he does have the right look for the part, and he did do some acting in school. He’s happy to do anything that’s going to help with his legal bills. Impersonating an author? No problem.

When Chris first meets Daphne, he puts on the persona of the character he’s meant to play. It sets them up for an instant clash (he plays an egotistical prick very well) but he does look and act the part, and when Daphne sends her publisher a photo of Chris, they’re off to the races. Things get a little more complicated when Daphne/Zane’s book rockets to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Now they want to do an author interview at ‘Zane’s’ home in the Yukon, Daphne’s personal hideaway. And Daphne finds Chris confusing; he’s sometimes a really sweet guy, quite at odds with the one she first met. On top of the interview, there’s a book tour where Zane is to be the face of the book, reading excerpts and answering questions while Daphne plays the role of his assistant. What seemed like a simple way to get her book published has spiraled into something a lot more complicated, ethically and romantically. What’s going to happen when the truth comes out?

I can get behind an author having a pen name, being entitled to privacy and not wanting to appear in public, and I’ve been mistaken a few times, assuming an author was male when they were female (and vice versa), none of which has changed my opinion of their books. Daphne’s frustration is understandable, wanting to write a zombie apocalypse book with a female teenage protagonist, putting some of the survival situations of her own life into the story only to be rejected as a female writer but then exuberantly welcomed as an attractive, rugged male one. What starts out fairly innocently gets into the weeds with having some random guy play the part of the author, including in author appearances and at book signings. I think, if it were me, I would feel betrayed by finding out it was all fake. And yet, if I love a book, should it matter who the author is? And that’s the grey area. Even in the story, Daphne acknowledges that things have gotten out of control, and she doesn’t feel good about it. The more public they become, the more worried she is that people will figure out that Zane is really Chris, and dig into his background (and there are social media accounts that pop up trying to find the real ‘Zane Remington’). It’s only a matter of time until the truth does come out, but when and how it happens and the repercussions keeps the tension high until the end.

Putting aside the ethical dilemmas though Finding Mr. Write is a pretty funny book. There is a lot of witty banter, the meet-not-so-cute at the beginning between ‘Zane’ and Daphne had me laughing out loud, and having their personal relationship develop and Chris’s real character come out makes the story very readable and definitely gets a green light as a rom-com.

Daphne had a bad breakup that makes her vulnerable and resistant to falling in love, while Chris falls head-over-heels for the smart, talented woman that she is. He lives in Vancouver, Daphne lives in the Yukon and she’s not willing to compromise again for a man. Chris has to figure out how to convince her to take a real chance on him and them, outside of their mutual working relationship. It’s not easy and he makes some mistakes, but we do get our happy ending on all counts. This story definitely gives some food for thought and would make a great book club choice. In the end, I enjoyed it despite my initial trepidation and am happy to recommend it.