Review: Fun Hollywood romance but some meandering plotlines
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 18, 2013
REVIEWED BY EMILYRachael Johns's STAND-IN STAR gives us a fun glimpse of the whole Hollywood lifestyle, but from a perspective that I could appreciate - that of an outsider. (I know - you are all shocked that I don't frequent awards shows, but it is true!) We see the Hollywood glamour from the point of view of Holly McCartney, an Australian anthropologist who comes to Hollywood to accept an award for her deceased sister, Daisy. We learn that Holly and Daisy had serious issues and had not spoken in years.Daisy's friend Nate Devlin is suspicious of why Holly would come to town now--after Daisy is dead--and questions her motives. He does not know why they had been estranged and thinks Holly deserted her sister. Despite not wanting to like her, Nate can't seem to help himself from showing up to "save" Holly and explain Hollywood peculiarities to her. Whether it be helping her avoid the paparazzi or securing her an awards show dress, we can see Nate falling for Holly, and vice versa.While the plot of STAND-IN STAR centers around the death of Holly's sister, and Nate has a pretty heavy backstory as well, it did not read as sad or tragic. It honestly came across to me as a fairly lighthearted romance with tons of sizzle and chemistry between Holly and Nate. Some of the sizzle is captured when Nate, a celebrity photographer, takes nude photos of Holly. I know, pretty Hollywood, right?While I enjoyed the story as a whole, there were a few times I was begging Holly to just come clean to Nate about why she and Daisy had been estranged. I don't want to say the pacing was slow, but once you know why they did not get along, you quickly want them to put it to rest and get together! In addition, Nate's backstory could have produced its own stand-alone book. There were tons of details and references to his past, and some of it did not really help this story (for example, one sister was mentioned a lot, but did not do anything in this book). Maybe some of this will flesh out in future stories, as I learned in my interview with the author that this book is the first in a series.BOTTOM LINESTAND-IN STAR was a well-written romance with tons of Hollywood glamour and chemistry. While there was a lot going on that did not seem important to the main storyline, it keeps you guessing and wondering all the way until the very end.RATING: B- (3 stars)Note: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review.