by Caitlin McKenna ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 23, 2011
McKenna’s chick-lit novel presents a woman who assumes a new identity to follow her dream of becoming an actress.
The storyline follows Linda Symcox, a blonde American actress struggling in Los Angeles as she finds that despite her classical training, she can’t land a job; as her agent, who drops her early on, tells her, she just doesn’t have “it.” After realizing that a pretty accent could make all the difference in her heretofore floundering career, she takes inspiration from a recent trip to Ireland and reinvents herself as an Irish redhead named Meghan O’Connell and almost immediately gets cast as the female lead in a new television series. Predictably, hijinks ensue. Almost immediately, she falls for her co-star, who had met her before her big transformation, and she is terrified that he will recognize her; she must spend all the time she isn’t training or filming studying Irish culture in order not to be caught unawares by an innocent question from the cast or crew; and as the show becomes more popular, people are desperate for details of “Meghan’s” personal life and Linda finds herself scrambling to fill in the blanks, ultimately piling lie upon ludicrous lie. The story reads easily enough, although there are few surprises in the plot’s twists and turns, but certain aspects fail to ring true. For instance, as exciting as Americans do find accents, particularly those of Great Britain, it seems unlikely that after working together for several months, “Meghan’s” co-workers would continue to ask her nothing but Irish trivia questions. Also, there is a frustrating inconsistency in McKenna’s description of the scenes from the television series (which, incidentally, often nicely parallel the tension between Linda and Michael); she sometimes refers to the actors by their given (or “given”) names, and sometimes by the names of the characters they play. Nevertheless, the novel is charming enough and an intriguing window into the tense challenges of maintaining a false identity. A light, fun romp that may nicely translate to a TV show or movie.
Pub Date: Nov. 23, 2011
ISBN: 978-1466331440
Page Count: 322
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Taylor Jenkins Reid ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2015
Entertaining and unpredictable; Reid makes a compelling argument for happiness in every life.
Reid’s latest (After I Do, 2014, etc.) explores two parallel universes in which a young woman hopes to find her soul mate and change her life for the better.
After ending an affair with a married man, Hannah Martin is reunited with her high school sweetheart, Ethan, at a bar in Los Angeles. Should she go home with her friends and catch up with him later, or should they stay out and have another drink? It doesn’t seem like either decision would have earth-shattering consequences, but Reid has a knack for finding skeletons in unexpected closets. Two vastly different scenarios play out in alternating chapters: in one, Hannah and Ethan reconnect as if no time has passed; in the other, Hannah lands in the hospital alone after a freak accident that marks the first of many surprising plot twists. Hannah’s best friend, Gabby, believes in soul mates, and though Hannah has trouble making decisions—even when picking a snack from a vending machine—she and Gabby discover how their belief systems can alter their world as much as their choices. “Believing in fate is like living on cruise control,” Hannah says. What follows is a thoughtful analysis of free will versus fate in which Hannah finds that disasters can bring unexpected blessings, blessings can bring unexpected disasters, and that most people are willing to bring Hannah her favorite cinnamon rolls. “Because even when it looks like she’s made a terrible mistake,” Hannah’s mother observes, “things will always work out for Hannah.” The larger question becomes whether Hannah’s choices will ultimately affect her happiness—and it’s one that’s answered on a hopeful note as Hannah tries to do the right thing in every situation she faces.
Entertaining and unpredictable; Reid makes a compelling argument for happiness in every life.Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4767-7688-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Washington Square/Pocket
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
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by Christina Lauren ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2019
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she’ll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive’s new boss and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don’t blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister’s name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive’s point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn’t have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they’re crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2803-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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