A still shot of contestant Jessica Vestal from earlier this season is making the rounds online -- which shows the single mother with a notebook filled with printed-out text sitting on her lap during a pod date with Jimmy Presnell.

Since the notebook was presented like a regular ol' journal ... fans were quick to speculate that the Netflix reality series might be hiding something -- namely, that the whole thing is staged, to be exact, and that Jess wasn't taking notes but rather ... reading lines.

Despite the rampant speculation, a production source with direct knowledge tells TMZ ... the show is absolutely not scripted, and the printouts in question are merely questions the contestants are provided in case they need some ideas on topics to hit in conversation.

For example, we're told some of these questions seen in the journals could be something like ... "What’s your favorite color," or something else personal to keep the vibes flowing.

Our sources tell us that the prompts you see are simply meant to help the contestants get to know each other. Remember, the 'LIB' contestants initially meet with a wall between them -- so a little assistance isn't wildly unexpected, and that's exactly what this is.

Now, whether the contestants are overselling the notion these are just plain old notebooks to scribble things down in -- when there are clearly things written in there ahead of time for them -- is a different story ... because yes, they most certainly do seem to be playing it up.

The point is, though ... there's no scandal here, and there's no script either. We're told 'Love is Blind' is 100% live reality TV -- and what you see is what you get in terms of interactions.

BTW, this isn't the first time the notebooks have been questioned by viewers.

The journals were actually called out way back in season 3 -- when a similar photo ... this time featuring Cole Barnett -- was posted to X. At the time ... one fan declared they were left with "so many questions" over the journal.