Review: 4.5 stars Most Emotional To Date
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 28, 2014
David and Glenn have been friends forever.  Enter Alex in their Junior year.  David falls hard but his reticence in telling Alex of his feelings allows Glenn to beat him to the punch.  Double Damage, Glenn and David’s rock group takes off, Glenn marries Alex and David’s left with a severe case of unrequited love while being their best friend.Ms. Booth does an excellent job of bringing her characters and their world to life.  Fast forward seventeen years from Junior high days and talk about your emotional conflict and misery.David’s had a brief marriage but mainly a string of girlfriends, none of which last long.Glenn and Alex have two sons, Page and Tyler, and a dead marriage.  Glenn has cheated repeatedly and finally disappeared leaving their joint accounts almost empty.  When Glenn leaves Alex high and dry she turns to one of her best friends, David, for help.  Refusing to accept his offer of financial assistance she does accept his offer of a place to live while her home is being rented to a film company; the boys’ tuition has to be paid after all.Some where along the line Glenn has morphed into the stereotypical “I’m the center of the universe” rock star, not a huge leap for him granted.  However, you’d think the children would have made a dent in that ego and self centeredness.  Sadly for Glenn, fame is a fickle mistress and Double Damage isn’t selling out stadiums or at the top of the charts.  However, thanks to David and his business acumen there’s a good chance that is about to change.Unlike Bring Me Back, HIDING IN THE SPOTLIGHT doesn’t invite fantasies of landing your younger self’s rock star crush.I’m still unsure if it was the triangle, the length of time David had loved Alex, or simply the complicated situation overall, but HIDING IN THE SPOTLIGHT is Ms. Booth’s most emotional book to date.  She has a knack of bringing musical stars down to earth.There was only one fly in my ointment and this is a totally “me” thing.  While I applaud Alex’s putting her children first I wonder why she put up with Glenn’s philandering and shoddy behavior as long as she did. Especially considering the effect on her when they shared the same air and what it was doing to Page.  Was it a forest for the trees thing or what?  It behooves me.Glenn, Alex, and David’s Gordian knot is unraveled realistically and creatively, staying true to the characters and situation.Ms. Booth has another winner on her hands with HIDING IN THE SPOTLIGHT.  Readers who crave musicians with some life and living under their instruments will surely fall under the spell of Ms. Booth’s handsome, down to earth rockers.4.5 starsReviewed by IvyD for Miss Ivy's Book Nook