Hollywood is like High school with money

Hollywood is Like High School With Money by Zoey Dean
Published by Grand Central Publishing on July 23, 2009
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
three-stars

Twenty-four-year old Taylor Henning has just landed her dream job as an assistant at a major movie studio. But when her catty coworkers trick her into almost getting fired, she realizes that the old saying "Hollywood is like school with money" just may be true. The thing is, Taylor wasn't exactly a social butterfly in high school-how is she supposed to do any better the second time around?

That's when she meets her boss's popular sixteen-year-old daughter Quinn, and has an epiphany: maybe this teenager can teach her how to use her queen bee tactics to succeed in the Hollywood popularity contest. Quinn comes up with a plan to teach Taylor one lesson a week-everything from "Fake it 'til you make it" to "It's *never* your fault"--and soon Taylor finds herself winning the war against rival assistant Kylie. Until, that is, she's directed to steal Kylie's boyfriend, and something happens that's not in the game plan: Taylor falls for the guy. Now she must do the impossible-- harness her inner mean girl while staying true to herself.

Taylor Henning landed her dream job as an assistant at Ingenuity, a major movie studio. Immediately her catty co-workers undermine her and she begins to realize the saying “Hollywood is like high school with money” is absolutely true. Taylor was not exactly a social butterfly in high school so, how is she suppose to do better now? Taylor meets her boss’s popular daughter, Quinn , and decides to strike a deal with her. Quinn takes Taylor under her wing and soon she is racking up victories against her co-workers. In the end, Taylor has to harness her inner mean, while finding a way to stay true to herself.

I saw the cover of the novel on a random jaunt through the bookstore and decided to pick it up. I had not read any of the author’s previous books, but was intrigued by the title. Zoey Dean is also the writer of Privileged and A-list had no trouble weaving together a story of the perils of living in Hollywood and the pitfalls of high school seamlessly together. Even the ending where Taylor manages to find a balance in her life and find happiness in Hollywood seem like the perfect ending. I recommend this book as a fun read. You’ll definitely be turning pages and relating to the story as it goes along.

Chasing Harry Winston

8 / 3 / 1111 / 13 / 19

Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger
Published by Simon & Schuster on May 27, 2008
Pages: 288
Goodreads
two-half-stars

The bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing returns with the story of three best friends who vow to change their entire lives...and change them fast. Emmy is newly single, and not by choice. She was this close to the ring and the baby she's wanted her whole life when her boyfriend left her for his twenty-three-year-old personal trainer - whose fees are paid by Emmy. With her plans for the perfect white wedding in the trash, Emmy is now ordering takeout for one. Her friends insist an around-the-world sex-fueled adventure will solve all her problems - could they be right?

Leigh, a young star in the publishing business, is within striking distance of landing her dream job as senior editor and marrying her dream guy. And to top it all off, she has just purchased her dream apartment. Only when Leigh begins to edit the enfant terrible of the literary world, the brilliant and brooding Jesse Chapman, does she start to notice some cracks in her perfect life...

Adriana is the drop-dead-gorgeous daughter of a famous supermodel. She possesses the kind of feminine wiles made only in Brazil, and she never hesitates to use them. But she's about to turn thirty and - as her mother keeps reminding her - she won't have her pick of the men forever. Everyone knows beauty is ephemeral and there's always someone younger and prettier right around the corner. Suddenly she's wondering...does Mother know best?

These three very different girls have been best friends for a decade in the greatest city on earth. As they near thirty, they're looking toward their future...but despite all they've earned - first-class travel, career promotions, invites to all the right parties, and luxuries small and large - they're not quite sure they like what they see...

One Saturday night at the Waverly Inn, Adriana and Emmy make a pact: within a single year, each will drastically change her life. Leigh watches from the sidelines, not making any promises, but she'll soon discover she has the most to lose. Their friendship is forever, but everything else is on the table. Three best friends. Two resolutions. One year to pull it off.

Chasing Harry Winston is a novel written by Lauren Weisberger. She is the author of The Devil wears Prada and Everyone worth knowing both of which were incredible novels in my opinion. Somehow in this novel the story and realism of the novel gets lost in between the pages and I was left wondering if it was ever going to end. Believe me when I say I almost put the novel down and contemplated not finishing at all.

The book is convoluted with thoughts of marriage constantly on the women’s mind and is only more convoluted by each woman having their own story within each of the chapters. None of the stories were blended together except through the phone calls and meeting of the women. The book appeared to jump from woman to woman at random. As much as I loved Lauren Weisberger’s first two novels I was highly disappointed in this showing for her.

Under a Maui Moon

7 / 6 / 1111 / 13 / 19

Under a Maui Moon (Hideaway, #1) by Robin Jones Gunn
Published by Howard Books on July 6, 2010
Pages: 276
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
three-stars

Carissa doesn’t know who she is anymore. She and her husband, Richard, are recent empty nesters; Richard is spending more and more time at work counseling his volatile clients and less time at home with his wife; his clients are starting to show up at the house at night causing Carissa to feel scared in her own home; and to top it all off, Carissa’s boss informs her that she’s been “let go.” She wonders where God is in all of this since He doesn’t seem to be around to protect her—and she’s already stopped trusting her husband.

In the midst of her world tilting off center, she’s offered time at a hideaway on Maui. Hiding seems like the best way to respond to life’s overload, and the thought of being alone sounds like just the right balm to soothe her wounded heart.

The languid Hawaiian sun, white beaches, and warm-hearted people bring respite, but meeting handsome Kai causes Carissa to toy with the idea of being romantically involved with him. Then, under a Maui moon, she looks to God for guidance and hope for the future. That’s when she discovers His hand still is on her life, and that love is closer than she ever realized.

I had to do a quick island hop the other weekend for work and family business and decided that instead of taking the usual book I was reading which I still fully intending on finishing, I would grab a new book out of my stack. I intended on packing more than one book, but I was rushing to pack and ended up only packing one. I read Robin Jones Gunn’s Under a Maui Moon in less than a day. I’ve mentioned Robin Jones Gunn on this blog before being that she is the author of the Sisterchicks series.

This book was not a Sisterchicks novel, but a complete new adventure to Hawaii. The main character Carissa at the beginning of the novel is going through a complete upheaval in her life with losing her job to restructuring in the company, to being an empty nester, to noticing that after particular scary incident at her own home that she no longer feels that her husband protects her. When Carissa is offered a chance to go to Hawaii, she immediately leaps at it not knowing what will happen next.

I will continue to love Robin Jones Gunn’s imagery style of writing which brings even the slightest details to life. While she isn’t overly eloquent in her words, her wording of the imagery takes you right into the story and lets you almost experience what the character is experiencing through their senses. (I really should work on the Star Trek technology). I recommend that you read any of Robin Jones Gunn’s book so that you will be able to have the same experience for yourself as least in a book for now.

What are you reading lately?

Elixir

6 / 2 / 1111 / 5 / 19

Elixir (Elixir, #1) by Hilary Duff, Elise Allen
Published by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers on October 12, 2010
Pages: 327
Goodreads
three-stars

Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington DC politician, she has grown to be a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world. But after Clea’s father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, Clea’s photos begin to feature eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful man—a man she has never seen before.

When fate brings Clea and this man together, she is stunned by the immediate and powerful connection she feels with him. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father’s disappearance, and they discover the centuries old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fates, together they race against time to unravel their pasts in order to save their lives—and their futures.

Elixir is the first novel written by pop singer and TV/movie star Hilary Duff. I’m sad to say that I feel as if the book was poorly written and was not worth the price I paid for it. I was initially drawn to the book because of the dramatic cover and that the fact that it was written by Hilary Duff. I wanted to know if Ms Duff could write a novel, since in Hollywood adding the word author to your resume is now the hot thing to do.

I’m sad to say that this story did not deliver. The novel at times seems slow moving with too much excessive description of the scenery and other details which did not help the twisting plot line often times jumping between the 2 main characters. The ending of the novel left me hanging and thinking that perhaps Ms Duff had intentionally left it open, so that she would have the possibility open to writing a continuation novel for the book. What her thoughts were I can’t be sure.

Sisterchicks go Brit!

5 / 19 / 1111 / 13 / 19

Sisterchicks Go Brit! (Sisterchicks, #7) by Robin Jones Gunn
Published by Multnomah Books on May 20, 2008
Pages: 285
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
three-half-stars

Cheerio, Sisterchicks!

SISTERCHICK(R) n a friend who shares the deepest wonders of your heart, loves you like a sister, and provides a reality check when you're being a brat.

Two midlife mamas hop over to jolly ole England and encounter so much more than the usual tourist stops. Liz does have a bit of a childhood crush on Big Ben, and she has hoped to "meet" him ever since her fifteenth birthday. Kellie dreams of starting an interior design business and figures Liz needs to be a part of that equation-a calculation that hasn't added up for Liz yet.

Nothing on the excursion goes the way these two friends had envisioned. They start with a village pancake race and end up being held for questioning on The Underground. Kellie and Liz take a wild tour through the land of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and then find themselves swept up, up, and away in a hot air balloon over the Cotswalds. London beckons with the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, shopping at Portabella Road in Knotting Hill, and of course, reservations at the Ritz for a posh high tea.

A few detours along the way and the possibility of being lost in a London fog of wonderment aren't enough to stop these two Sisterchicks! Each step of their regal journey is lined with evidence of God's gracious compassion, and both come to realize that God knows their every wish. He is the One who planted every dream in their hearts.

And, oh, what a surprise awaits them when they return home!

I just finished SisterChicks Go Brit! By Robin Jones Gunn. This is part of her SisterChicks series, but I had not read a book in the series in a long time. I forgot how much I loved the series and Robin Jones Gunn’s writing!

The SisterChicks series are stories about best friends who share the deepest wonders of your heart, love you like a sister and provide a reality check when you’re being a brat. I feel in love with the story of Kellie and Liz and their adventure in England. Kellie and Liz longtime friends find themselves on a trip to England after helping out Opal redecorate her apartment. Little do they know that their little trip across the ocean to see Big Ben, C.S. Lewis sites, and J.R.R. Tolkein sites that they would find out about themselves and just a glimpse into God’s plans for them.

I’m not really a religious person by any means. I did find that in reading the book that I want to visit England even more know. Robin Jones Gunn style of writing in this series makes each and every place come to life, so you can almost always find a destination that you will want to travel to, even if it is only in your imagination.

I recommend that you pick a destination and begin your travels!