NOT WITHOUT YOU

A-list movie star Sophie Leigh has had enough of cheesy chick flicks, but her agent won’t hear of her turning down The Bachelorette Party, not with gorgeous Patrick Drew already signed on to co-star.

Like her idol, Eve Noel, a 1950s starlet, Sophie has little control over her career—not if she wants to make money for the box office, that is. Hollywood producers changed Eve’s name, her wardrobe and even her hairline to generate cinematic hits. Eventually, she’s even told to marry the much older, more powerful, but very dangerous actor Gilbert Travers. Yet, the industry can’t erase her memories of her sister Rose’s drowning or her own inconvenient love for Don Matthews, a powerless, alcoholic, yet loving screenwriter. After discovering their tryst, Gilbert arranges to have Don eliminated from her life. And one day, Eve disappears. Sixty years later, Sophie still has to change her name and endure not only arranged dating, but also a paparazzi-fueled public that turns a little sweat into Armpitgate. Inspired by Eve’s film A Girl Named Rose, Sophie’s determined to shepherd through the system her own independent film. Although it needs some work, My Second-Best Bed has the potential to be a real film. Troubles escalate when someone begins sending threatening notes and sneaking into Sophie’s home to leave white roses on her bed. Can she trust her co-star? Her director? Her new assistant? As Sophie tries to advance her project and solve the mystery of Eve’s disappearance while avoiding her stalker, her life becomes more and more entwined with Eve’s. Soon, it’s Eve who holds the keys to Sophie’s survival.

A Star Is Born meets All About Eve, Evans’ (Happily Ever After, 2012, etc.) latest deftly weaves together tales of old and new Hollywood, allowing star-crossed romance, mystery and danger to collide in surprising and often devastating ways.