While it lacks pressing conflicts, this book delivers a breezy rendition of a Hollywood dream.
A novel presents the story of one sci-fi fan’s amazing journey.
The action begins at a Vystar convention in Atlanta. Vystar is a popular sci-fi TV show, and its conventions attract devotees from around the country. One enthusiast is an unassuming Florida State University student named Arianna Drake. When a handsome man named Roger asks Arianna to come to a hotel room at the convention, she cannot be entirely sure what she is in for. In the hotel room, she meets Ellen Stratton, the wife of Henry Stratton, who plays Capt. Kosak on Vystar. Ellen explains that she is about to file for divorce due to Henry’s womanizing, and, just to prove her point as to his untoward ways, Ellen would like a young woman to seduce him. In exchange for her efforts, Arianna will not only get to meet one of her idols, she will also receive a round-trip flight to Los Angeles (where she will sit next to Henry) and a shopping spree courtesy of his credit cards. Arianna jumps at the offer, and, with the help of professionals, she is soon a stunner who turns heads throughout the convention. Henry winds up coming on to Arianna aggressively even though she insists that she is unavailable: she has a boyfriend she plans to one day marry. Once in Los Angeles, however, Arianna can no longer resist Henry’s charm. She is soon at his mansion, where the two share a steamy night, and, the following day, she accompanies him to the set of Vystar. It is on the set of Arianna’s most beloved show that the unthinkable happens: she winds up being cast as a recurring character. What else will Hollywood have in store for her? As readers follow Arianna’s bizarre odyssey from fan to star, it seems she must hit a wall at some point. What of her boyfriend back home? What if Henry becomes a jerk? But, as it turns out, these are hardly worth worrying about. Arianna engages in her share of verbal spats and even has a public fight with Henry, though most of their conversations are amicable. Dialogue often slows such events, with characters tending to speak in matter-of-fact ways, as when Henry explains a gift he bought for Arianna by noting: “I saw it and knew it was for you, so I bought it.” But the crux of Cox’s (Sheolite Fantasy Compilation, 2016, etc.) intriguing tale is Arianna’s wild ride of good luck; more intense frictions simply do not develop. The story is at its best when Arianna encounters aspects of a world she had never dreamed of, such as teenagers wanting her autograph at a grocery store. It is the type of occurrence anyone with such ambitions can identify with, no matter how minor the incident might seem to others. And that is the driving, if simplistic, power of the lively novel: if such one-in-a-million stardom can happen to Arianna, it could happen to anyone.
While it lacks pressing conflicts, this book delivers a breezy rendition of a Hollywood dream.Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5429-4730-5
Page Count: 294
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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