BEING AUDREY HEPBURN

A standard Cinderella tale is enhanced with a detailed sense of reality amid the wish fulfillment.

For years, 19-year-old Lisbeth has escaped her dysfunctional family and bland New Jersey life by watching Audrey Hepburn movies, lost in the glamour and elegance. When her best friend, Jess, an assistant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, shows her an early version of the legendary Givenchy dress from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Lisbeth has to try it on—and even crashes a gala full of Wall Streeters and celebutantes in it. Thanks to her grandmother’s vintage dresses and Jess’ design genius, Lisbeth makes a huge splash in the Manhattan social scene, where she can parlay her knowledge of fashion and Audrey expertise into a new life, one where she’s friends with pop princess Tabitha Eden and attracts the attention of rich, gorgeous ZK Northcott. But this new life is full of mysterious circumstances and people that Lisbeth just doesn’t understand—and an enemy she doesn’t realize she’s made. In the end, Lisbeth will need to determine what matters most: her new life or those who know the real her. Characterization is the strength in this title, which flirts with the new-adult label. The plot is somewhat overstuffed, but Lisbeth’s journey carries the novel.

Ideal for Audrey fans or anyone who wants to escape the mundane.