ARC Review: Off the Record by Sara Goodman Confino

 

An aspiring newspaper reporter comes across a mystery that threatens to turn the Cold War hot in a funny, thrilling, and strictly undercover romantic comedy by the bestselling author of Don’t Forget to Write.

In 1962, opportunities are typically few for nice Jewish girls clacking away at ninety words per minute in a newspaper typing pool. Except Judy Greenberg isn’t typical. An aspiring reporter in DC, she’s aiming for journalistic greatness—not finding a husband. Just don’t tell her mother.

Then one day she answers her boss’s private line. The message is curiously cryptic. It’s also delivered in a Russian accent. Judy is certain she has stumbled upon a scoop. Charming reporter Jack Fields isn’t one to dismiss Judy’s instincts. Perfect. A seasoned ally she can trust, not to mention pass off as a pretend boyfriend around her relieved parents. Together, they’re following the leads—from a clandestine hotel bar to the dressing room of a slinky Cuban nightclub singer to an exhilarating underground of secrets and spies stretching from Moscow to Havana to Texas.

Now Judy must choose between the safe life expected of her or one hell of a dangerous story that could make her career. She might even fall in love for real. If her ambitions don’t get her killed.

Title: Off The Record
Author: Sara Goodman Confino

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Expected Publication Date: June 9, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is my first Confino book. I had heard good things about her writing from fellow bookish people and wanted to give her a try. Unfortunately, this book just didn't work well for me. I have a hard time connecting with many historical fiction books but I liked the idea of the timeline for this one plus it had a mystery attached to it so I thought why not. 

Judy Greenberg is an aspiring journalist. But in 1962 it's hard for women to break into that field. When she gets a job in the typing pool at a newspaper and ends up answering a call that ultimately puts her on the path to using her journalistic talents, she jumps at the chance. Even though it might put her in jeopardy. When a fellow journalist, Jake Fields, insists on helping her, she accepts it, only to find herself in a fake dating scheme. When she uncovers truths about Jake, and about the newspaper where she works, the safe life her family wants for her is put in danger and she and Jake must figure out the truth before people get hurt.

Judy was an ok character for me. I liked that she went against the norm of her time: not wanting to marry and have kids right away but wanting a career for herself. Her character was developed well in that way. She made me connect with the plight of women trying to find their equality during this time period. But she also just annoyed me. While she just graduated from university, it doesn't feel like she's only 22. She feels much older and that was confusing for me. And even though she vows not to fall for a man, it happens so easily and I feel like she let go of her true desires to do exactly what was expected of her.

Jake was an ok character though I didn't feel like I truly knew him since we only get to see him through Judy's eyes. He did seem fun and came up with some good banter that had me chuckling at times. But I didn't truly feel any chemistry between him and Judy. There was no build to their budding romance.

The side characters gave some good depth to the story. Though Judy's one friend, Patricia, seemed kind of off to me. Judy, who is definitely more on the naive side, gets thrown into situations that I don't think she can handle and much of that is due to Patricia who flaunts herself to a married man. It was just such a shock to see how this particular character acted. How blasé she was about what she was doing, like it was not big deal. And despite the fact that fraternization at the newspaper is forbidden, Patricia jumps right in from the start with offering up a doctor to Judy so she can get a diaphragm. While I see where the author was going with this, trying to show women becoming more independent and taking control over their lives, it just didn't work well for me. But Judy's grandmother, Sylvia? I loved her so much. She was funny and quirky and I loved that she supported Judy, even if it was in a round about way.

The pacing was ok, a little on the slow side at times. The mystery felt like a bit of a stretch as did the investigating of said mystery. I felt like the characters came to conclusions about things rather quickly and too easily figured out some of the bad guys in the story. There are a lot of historical references in the book including The Bay of Pigs Invasion, Communist Cuba, and things that happened with the President at that time (though they never name him directly, which is weird because they name Castro). I enjoyed seeing the Cold War elements because I grew up in the 80s and many of the fears were known to me at that time. It was easy to understand this particular aspect of the book for that reason.

The ending just seemed totally unrealistic to me. Granted, I have no idea how recruitment for the FBI works, but it just didn't seem like what happened would be true to how things work for that government agency.

Overall, the book was just ok for me. I liked the writing enough but honestly was more bored than not with the story line. It wasn't exciting and didn't move fast as I would have expected it to. Some areas dragged a lot and I had to push my way through. I seem to be in the minority with this though as far as ratings go. Perhaps I just didn't connect to the historical fiction aspect of the book as much as I could have I did like the writing and would be interested in maybe trying another title from this author in the future. If you're looking for a story that relies heavily on 1960s history and the women's movement with a bit of a mystery twist, you may just want to pick this one up!

Author:

Sara Goodman Confino is the bestselling author of five novels: Don’t Forget to Write, Behind Every Good Man, She’s Up to No Good, For the Love of Friends, and the upcoming Good Grief. After spending more years than she’s willing to publicly admit teaching high school English and journalism, she is currently writing full time and trying to make a living off of the crazy stories in her head. She lives in Montgomery County, Maryland with her husband, two sons, two miniature schnauzers, and a goldfish that seems to be vying for the world record of longest living fish. When she’s not writing or frantically parenting, she can be found on the Peloton, at the beach, or at a Bruce Springsteen concert, sometimes even dancing onstage.