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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I love this book so much, Louise Bay just keeps getting better and better, I totally recommend it!
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶️🌶️/5
I wanted to keep her attention, to share stuff with her in the hope she’d see a person I didn’t show many people.
🎥 Meet-cute (kinda 🤣)
🎥 Fate; “There’s a storm coming your way. Lots of change.”
🎥 Strangers to Summer fling to I-can’t-let-you-go
🎥 Hollywood movie star / Small town business owner
🎥 He’s never dated - aside from publicity stunts
🎥 She’s sworn off relationships - and being under public scrutiny
🎥 MC growth; commitment, trust, privacy, past relationship trauma, pursuing their dreams.
🎥 Small town vibes
🎥 LOADS of quirky small town secondary characters
🎥 Epilogue
Available on Audible Plus & Kindle Unlimited.
⚠️ Death of a parent (off page), sexual harassment/exploitation (explicit photograph), blackmail/extortion, body shaming (mild; goading paparazzi), pregnancy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Pregnancy
lighthearted
Overall good story but the heroine drove me crazy. I get the whole headstrong heroine and that people seem to love them but this was too much. The real superhero of this book was Ruby who seemed to be the only one who could talk common sense to Lana. I get so frustrated with a heroine who is so set in her ways and immovable
A quick look at 'Hollywood Scandal' by Louise Bay
-Lana Kelly is a small town jewelry designer and shop owner with a troubled past. She’s been betrayed. When she meets Matt one summer, she isn’t looking for a man. So she yells at him and calls him an idiot.
-Matt’s a famous movie star filming a movie, a few towns over and when Lana doesn’t recognize him, he sees an opportunity to have a normal relationship…a least for a little while.
-They both like each other, but her past and his career keep them from committing to each other.
My Take on the Book :
Small town woman gets into a relationship with a movie star and learns to look past what’s holding her back from life.
Let's Talk About the Girl...
Lana Kelly has been burned. In college she trusted her boyfriend and he posted photos of her all over campus. Naked photos. She quiet college in NYC and moved back to her hometown and the quiet ease of life in Maine. So, her dreams of creating high end jewelry are a little smaller. She runs a shop for the tourists and rents a cottage. She’s happy.
Let's Talk About the Guy...
Hollywood heartthrob and movie star Matt Easton is on location filming his next movie. He has spent the last several years repairing his image and he is on the brink of super stardom. Matt knows what it’s like to work hard. He also knows that fame can go to your head. So, he rents a cottage 30 minutes north of the filming and tries to enjoy being normal.
Let's Talk about the Story...
Lana meets Matt in a thunderstorm. Maine thunderstorms happen all the time with very little warning and when she sees this idiot taking shelter in a park under a metal roofed gazebo, she marches over from her shop to yell at him and save is life. Matt is shocked that she didn’t recognize him and that she spoke to him like that. When he discovers that she is in fact his neighbor, things really heat up. They hang out and sit on her porch swing and get to know each other, but she has no idea who he is and he has no idea about her past.
When Lana does finally find out who Matt is, it’s by his manager screaming about him cheating on his “contract girlfriend” with a civilian the morning after they had sex.
I liked this book, but I think my biggest hang up was how wishy washy Lana seems to be at times. She likes him, but her past relationship and it’s nuclear fallout have left her gun shy of anything to do with the spotlight, publicity, or being vulnerable. She can’t get over it and move on. I don’t like wishy washy heroines.
They do finally reconcile, but her on again off again actions made me want to put the book down. The ending was pretty great though. I do like when an author, gives up a glimpse of the future in a epilogue.
Let me start this review by stating that Louise Bay is already one of my favorite authors, I have read all her other books, and I semi-stalk her on Facebook and Twitter (please forgive me, Louise). Given that fact, when she offered up ARCs of her new book, Hollywood Scandal, I was jumping with joy for the opportunity and when I opened my Kindle a few days ago, and found my very own ARC copy, I literally let out a scream!
But as I started reading, I worried that Hollywood Scandal would not live up to my expectations. I have read at least a dozen romance novels with the plot of “Mr. (or Ms.) Movie Star” meets their real-world love (in fact, I interrupted my reading of Laurelin Paige’s Star Struck when the ARC of Hollywood Scandal appeared on my Kindle). Would Hollywood Scandal be any different than those other books? Could Lana and Matt’s story grab my attention? Should I just go back and reread Faithful (my favorite Louise Bay novel) instead?
No, I fixated my attention on Hollywood Scandal and was quickly transported into the world of Worthington, Maine where “Cold beer, deep porch swings, and unhurried kisses are all excellent ideas.” Uhhh, yes please! The tenderness and genuine affection in Lana and Matt’s story and their inner dialogue about each other drew me into their cozy love story. Of course, the ultra-hot sex scenes that Louise writes for these characters didn’t hurt either. Matt’s character is written as everyone’s sexual wet dream, alpha male and I swooned when Lana says things about him such as “There was nothing else I would wish for until the end of time other than to be fucked by this man. Again. And again. And again.” Or “I wanted to be consumed by him, used by him, fucked by him.” I mean seriously, so swoon-worthy!
I don’t want to give away too much about this book so I’ll end my review by saying if one is a fan of romance novels, as everyone should be, then “one should never be too busy for love” and one should read Hollywood Scandal as soon as possible. Because, you Louise Bay, “you have all the words, my friend. ALL. THE. WORDS.”
But as I started reading, I worried that Hollywood Scandal would not live up to my expectations. I have read at least a dozen romance novels with the plot of “Mr. (or Ms.) Movie Star” meets their real-world love (in fact, I interrupted my reading of Laurelin Paige’s Star Struck when the ARC of Hollywood Scandal appeared on my Kindle). Would Hollywood Scandal be any different than those other books? Could Lana and Matt’s story grab my attention? Should I just go back and reread Faithful (my favorite Louise Bay novel) instead?
No, I fixated my attention on Hollywood Scandal and was quickly transported into the world of Worthington, Maine where “Cold beer, deep porch swings, and unhurried kisses are all excellent ideas.” Uhhh, yes please! The tenderness and genuine affection in Lana and Matt’s story and their inner dialogue about each other drew me into their cozy love story. Of course, the ultra-hot sex scenes that Louise writes for these characters didn’t hurt either. Matt’s character is written as everyone’s sexual wet dream, alpha male and I swooned when Lana says things about him such as “There was nothing else I would wish for until the end of time other than to be fucked by this man. Again. And again. And again.” Or “I wanted to be consumed by him, used by him, fucked by him.” I mean seriously, so swoon-worthy!
I don’t want to give away too much about this book so I’ll end my review by saying if one is a fan of romance novels, as everyone should be, then “one should never be too busy for love” and one should read Hollywood Scandal as soon as possible. Because, you Louise Bay, “you have all the words, my friend. ALL. THE. WORDS.”
Predictable, lazy storytelling, annoying characters, and inconsistent actions made this one hard to finish. The h claims she can't possibly have a "public life" yet she's dating a movie star? When photos from her past appear she gets super pissed because the H tries to protect her from it. Predictable, they break up, yet at the end he does the same thing in protecting her that she got mad in the first place, but it's OK now?
Love Louise!!!
This was such a light-hearted and fun read! A tale of love where you least expect it and lessons learned. It was the HEA that really sealed the deal though- I love getting glimpses of the future of my fave couples. An actual highlight reel of what’s to come when there isn’t a sequel to be had. Louise never disappoints!!
This was such a light-hearted and fun read! A tale of love where you least expect it and lessons learned. It was the HEA that really sealed the deal though- I love getting glimpses of the future of my fave couples. An actual highlight reel of what’s to come when there isn’t a sequel to be had. Louise never disappoints!!
I'll say 3.75ish on this one?
Maybe I'm having Louse Bay burnout, but this one just didn't capture me as much as her others that I've loved lately. It was better than just ok, but just not great.
That being said, Matt and Lana were an OKAY couple, just kind of meh. I liked the premise, and will NEVER say a fiction book is "not believable" like I have heard some other reviewers say. It's FICTION.
Lana was kind of whiny, and I just couldn't ever actually get into her story. Matt was just slightly better, but still not really my cup of tea. Sure, an actor who meets and falls for a "girl next door" is not a very believable story, but strangers things have happened in the real world, and again, this IS fiction, y'all!
Maybe I'm having Louse Bay burnout, but this one just didn't capture me as much as her others that I've loved lately. It was better than just ok, but just not great.
That being said, Matt and Lana were an OKAY couple, just kind of meh. I liked the premise, and will NEVER say a fiction book is "not believable" like I have heard some other reviewers say. It's FICTION.
Lana was kind of whiny, and I just couldn't ever actually get into her story. Matt was just slightly better, but still not really my cup of tea. Sure, an actor who meets and falls for a "girl next door" is not a very believable story, but strangers things have happened in the real world, and again, this IS fiction, y'all!