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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I had no preconceptions about this book and it perfectly suited that tired, "OMG Christmas is over, I'm depressed" feeling.
Jessica Beckett was supposed to go to France for a year but got sick and had to take a gap year at home instead, in a fit of tough love (which wasn't really explained) her parents insist that she gets a job and her aunt, who is an agent for film stars, gets her a job as personal assistant to one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood, Jack McAlister. The lurid tabloid stories about Jack's exploits together with her first task, getting Jack's pet pot-bellied pig to the TV studio before his live TV interview, and his subsequent less than friendly attitude convince Jessica that Jack is a total jerk. I thought this first part could do with a little tightening, maybe more about what a jerk Jack was (with examples) and why Jessica's parents felt they had to force her to get a job (when it seems as though she was a good student and loved college).
Jessica has also had a bad experience with an actor, her former boyfriend Jordan turned out to be a nasty piece of work and she has trust issues with 'players'.
This was a fun, light-weight, angst-free read. Maybe on another day it would have only scored three stars but this frothy, feel-good NA book was just what I wanted today.
Jessica and Jack were engaging and the plot was straightforward. The pot-bellied pig was cute and even the compulsory bad people were realistically drawn.
Recommended for anyone who wants a light-hearted, fun, flirty read about a sexy Hollywood actor and his personal assistant.
I had no preconceptions about this book and it perfectly suited that tired, "OMG Christmas is over, I'm depressed" feeling.
Jessica Beckett was supposed to go to France for a year but got sick and had to take a gap year at home instead, in a fit of tough love (which wasn't really explained) her parents insist that she gets a job and her aunt, who is an agent for film stars, gets her a job as personal assistant to one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood, Jack McAlister. The lurid tabloid stories about Jack's exploits together with her first task, getting Jack's pet pot-bellied pig to the TV studio before his live TV interview, and his subsequent less than friendly attitude convince Jessica that Jack is a total jerk. I thought this first part could do with a little tightening, maybe more about what a jerk Jack was (with examples) and why Jessica's parents felt they had to force her to get a job (when it seems as though she was a good student and loved college).
Jessica has also had a bad experience with an actor, her former boyfriend Jordan turned out to be a nasty piece of work and she has trust issues with 'players'.
This was a fun, light-weight, angst-free read. Maybe on another day it would have only scored three stars but this frothy, feel-good NA book was just what I wanted today.
Jessica and Jack were engaging and the plot was straightforward. The pot-bellied pig was cute and even the compulsory bad people were realistically drawn.
Recommended for anyone who wants a light-hearted, fun, flirty read about a sexy Hollywood actor and his personal assistant.
What would you do if you fall in love with your own boss who is a famous celebrity? Jessica Beckett was never expecting herself to work as a personal assistant until she had to get some money to pay for her apartment rent as she did not plan to live with her family. She was supposed to go to France but she was bedridden on the day she needed to get on board. Stacy Wise's Beyond The Stars is a chick-lit novel which surrounds the Hollywood celebrities' life... and trust.
I love reading this book so much even though the starting was a bit draggy. The relationship between Jessica Beckett, and Jack McAlister was quite a flick. I like both characters so much but I'm having problem with the time flow. It would be better if the author states clearly that was Halloween instead of telling how Jessica got herself a Lara Croft's costume, and then Thanksgiving day. I need to re-read those chapters because the story is quite abrupt. Anyway, the ending is quite as expected when Jack proposed to Jessica while they were in Paris. It's a sweet romantic story but it didn't give me enough 'sting' to say that it's really awesome. It's a nice novel.
read more: http://dayverampas.com/review-stacy-wise-beyond-the-stars/
I love reading this book so much even though the starting was a bit draggy. The relationship between Jessica Beckett, and Jack McAlister was quite a flick. I like both characters so much but I'm having problem with the time flow. It would be better if the author states clearly that was Halloween instead of telling how Jessica got herself a Lara Croft's costume, and then Thanksgiving day. I need to re-read those chapters because the story is quite abrupt. Anyway, the ending is quite as expected when Jack proposed to Jessica while they were in Paris. It's a sweet romantic story but it didn't give me enough 'sting' to say that it's really awesome. It's a nice novel.
read more: http://dayverampas.com/review-stacy-wise-beyond-the-stars/
https://celebrityreaders.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/beyond-the-stars-by-stacy-wise/
3 stars -- OK, I will admit...I was a bit disappointed. I'm a sucker for hollywood star falls for normal girl books, I know many of us are. Strangely enough while I'm a sucker for this trope, I find I'm rarely satisfied with the books who attempt them. Ah well. At least I scored this book on sale.
So what went wrong? I had a hard time liking Jess. I'm not sure what it was. She felt a bit immature for the age she supposedly was, but then again, so am I... Normally I don't have a problem with that, but maybe I did moreso in this case b/c I had a hard time getting a feel for Jack's age and he didn't feel as young, you know? So I didn't see a fit between them. Honestly I felt like she fit Shawn (the trainer) more.
Anyways, back to Jess. I guess I just didn't like her attitude. We didn't really get a super great feel for what happened in her past to make her to anti-actor, so she just seemed kind of...well, dickish about it all. She had all these assumptions about Jack that weren't based on anything but one bad experience, that again...happened in the past, so we didn't get to feel it with her and it didn't make me sympathize with her. And her friendship with Meg really reflected badly on her. Meg was awful. And the fact that she needed another friend to point it out to her was kind of crazy. I guess I can sort of see how you grow up with a person and so you make excuses for them, but Meg was really overboard awful and we never did find out why... I think b/c she *was* a friend of Jess's, I would have liked to know why she changed. Otherwise I didn't see her purpose in the story, other than the further the housing situation plot and add some drama.
I enjoyed Jack. I wish I saw more from him. He was extremely hard to get a read on because we didn't get his POV, which is fine...but without more conversations between Jess and Jack, I really don't know much about what he's like. It was mostly a Jess book. And quite honestly this just made for a very shallow and unfulfilling romance for me. And it wasn't because it was a PG romance (I don't mind those), it was that it took the whole book, and I really didn't get enough out of the development as I would have liked. I felt a few butterflies and tingles, but again...it wasn't until 80-90% before anything really happened there. And since I wasn't really enjoying Jess's individual development, I just didn't get enough out of this book.
So yeah. 3 stars isn't a horrible book. I was entertained. I was just ultimately unfulfilled.
3 stars -- OK, I will admit...I was a bit disappointed. I'm a sucker for hollywood star falls for normal girl books, I know many of us are. Strangely enough while I'm a sucker for this trope, I find I'm rarely satisfied with the books who attempt them. Ah well. At least I scored this book on sale.
So what went wrong? I had a hard time liking Jess. I'm not sure what it was. She felt a bit immature for the age she supposedly was, but then again, so am I... Normally I don't have a problem with that, but maybe I did moreso in this case b/c I had a hard time getting a feel for Jack's age and he didn't feel as young, you know? So I didn't see a fit between them. Honestly I felt like she fit Shawn (the trainer) more.
Anyways, back to Jess. I guess I just didn't like her attitude. We didn't really get a super great feel for what happened in her past to make her to anti-actor, so she just seemed kind of...well, dickish about it all. She had all these assumptions about Jack that weren't based on anything but one bad experience, that again...happened in the past, so we didn't get to feel it with her and it didn't make me sympathize with her. And her friendship with Meg really reflected badly on her. Meg was awful. And the fact that she needed another friend to point it out to her was kind of crazy. I guess I can sort of see how you grow up with a person and so you make excuses for them, but Meg was really overboard awful and we never did find out why... I think b/c she *was* a friend of Jess's, I would have liked to know why she changed. Otherwise I didn't see her purpose in the story, other than the further the housing situation plot and add some drama.
I enjoyed Jack. I wish I saw more from him. He was extremely hard to get a read on because we didn't get his POV, which is fine...but without more conversations between Jess and Jack, I really don't know much about what he's like. It was mostly a Jess book. And quite honestly this just made for a very shallow and unfulfilling romance for me. And it wasn't because it was a PG romance (I don't mind those), it was that it took the whole book, and I really didn't get enough out of the development as I would have liked. I felt a few butterflies and tingles, but again...it wasn't until 80-90% before anything really happened there. And since I wasn't really enjoying Jess's individual development, I just didn't get enough out of this book.
So yeah. 3 stars isn't a horrible book. I was entertained. I was just ultimately unfulfilled.
When I first read the synopsis of Beyond the Stars I thought it’d be an interesting read. I love forbidden romance especially one between an employer and employee. This book didn’t disappoint. It was fluffy and cute. Other than that it didn’t really leave much of an impression on me. I wasn’t sitting there while reading biting my nails in anticipation, and I didn’t have the urge to necessarily find out what would happen, and when because I already knew. I give Beyond the Stars a 3.5 rating because I couldn’t decide between 3 and 4. It wasn’t horrible, but there were a few aspects lacking…to me. [*Spoilers ahead]
Meet Jessica Beckett, she’s a twenty-one year old college student who due to an illness couldn’t study abroad as she originally planned. Instead, given the cards she’s dealt decides to take a PA position her super popular Hollywood agent aunt, Marnie offers her. This is where she meets the very handsome Jack McAllister.
At first Jack comes off as rude but over the course of a couple months (the time that passes is unclear) he starts to be nice to her and Jessica being the young woman she is, falls head over heels for him. At first there’s a lot of denial, and then she realizes her feelings aren’t exactly going to up and disappear. That was the point when she decided to get out of denial and start overthinking everything. I understand this, I do. As females we tend to look into things but Jessica looked into things. She looked into every gesture he made and every off-hand comment he said. I guess it was relatable to me in those moments because I’ve done exact that with someone I liked before.
But back to the love story at hand. When they finally did get together it fell short to me. The way Stacy Wise wrote Jessica was understandable but Jack didn’t seem more than his profession. She didn’t get very deep into Jack’s personality or his past. I wanted to know more about him like why did he decide to become an actor for one? Anyhow when they get together it comes out of nowhere. I won’t get into more because I think I’m already spoiling it enough but it felt off and rushed. Almost too easy.
All in all I would recommend this book to those who want something fluffy and light. There’s not much drama here and the plot is very cute. By the way I would’ve inserted quotes but nothing stood out to me.
*copy given for review*
Holy shit I loved this book to death. Like seriously I haven't been captivated like this by a story for some time now.
First of all the storyline was great. We didn't get some weird insta love but a relationship that evolved during the story. Though I have to say I would've loved to see a bit more of them as a couple.
Then we have the characters.
Jessica is not some whiny chick who falls in love with the famous person the second she meets him. She is badass and isn't easily impressed by all the hotness, great body and fame aspects.
Jack is also pretty awesome. We have a bit of him being a douche in the beginning but luckily that fades fast and he is the most perfect guy and not some jackass famous person.
Also I love the fluffiness of the story and the overall feel just made me happy as hell. Also we didn't have any not needed drama so it was even better.
I was all smiley while reading this book and that is really rare for me.
The writing was really good and it captivated me and I couldn't put the book down and was so shocked when I was at 60% without even realizing it.
I didn't want this story to end and would actually love a sequel.
Holy shit I loved this book to death. Like seriously I haven't been captivated like this by a story for some time now.
First of all the storyline was great. We didn't get some weird insta love but a relationship that evolved during the story. Though I have to say I would've loved to see a bit more of them as a couple.
Then we have the characters.
Jessica is not some whiny chick who falls in love with the famous person the second she meets him. She is badass and isn't easily impressed by all the hotness, great body and fame aspects.
Jack is also pretty awesome. We have a bit of him being a douche in the beginning but luckily that fades fast and he is the most perfect guy and not some jackass famous person.
Also I love the fluffiness of the story and the overall feel just made me happy as hell. Also we didn't have any not needed drama so it was even better.
I was all smiley while reading this book and that is really rare for me.
The writing was really good and it captivated me and I couldn't put the book down and was so shocked when I was at 60% without even realizing it.
I didn't want this story to end and would actually love a sequel.
So close to DNFing this one. Half the book had boring details and huge scenes of the heroine doing weird stuff like going to freaking Pottery Barn; she's way too judgmental of the HW life - so she can change her mind later - and it's annoying. Also, most of the characters act like kids.
I liked the idea of this book. It was waaaaay to cheesy for me however and I felt like there was no climax, everything fell together without any opposition. I was really struggling through the last 50 pages.
Super cute debut novel with a funny heroine and a sweet hero. Really well done slow-burn romance. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Full review: http://goodbadandunread.com/2016/02/11/review-beyond-the-stars-by-stacy-wise/
Full review: http://goodbadandunread.com/2016/02/11/review-beyond-the-stars-by-stacy-wise/
Review posted on my blog, Audrey's Bookcase:
A huge thank you to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy for reviewing.
Life doesn't always go as planned, so when Jessica Beckett's college dream of studying in France falls through, she's looking for help from her talent agent aunt and winds up being the personal assistant of Hollywood heartthrob, Jack McAlister.
In true "boss/assistant storyline" fashion, she seems to be the only girl in the vicinity who's not impressed by his good looks, and he's an ass. Along the way, they discover the other isn't all that bad and lo-and-behold, something blossoms between them. I'm all for this trope, so of course I was pretty stoked to read it. Jessica and Jack are lovely characters when it comes down to it, but there weren't any life-changing obstacles in their way, so their story was kind of... ordinary. Nice, but ordinary. But oh, this story has a pig -- I'm not talking about a disgusting male character; an actual pig. Let that sink in. It's actually a charming little storyline.
While I wasn't blown away by the book, I enjoyed the pacing of how things progressed. My only issue was that, while I appreciate a good "the journey is more important than the destination" story, the journey to their inevitable relationship took up a majority of the book and we didn't really get to witness any of the results. I guess that's me wishing that the book was longer, because I did enjoy their relationship and wanted to see more of it.
I feel like I'm so drawn to angsty love stories that I don't know when to stop and take a breather. I already knew, judging by the synopsis, Beyond the Stars was anything but. So I thought it'd be a nice change from my choice of gut-wrenching reads as of late. I definitely wasn't wrong. If you're looking for something nice, quick, and fluffy, pick up this debut novel from Stacy Wise.
A huge thank you to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy for reviewing.
Life doesn't always go as planned, so when Jessica Beckett's college dream of studying in France falls through, she's looking for help from her talent agent aunt and winds up being the personal assistant of Hollywood heartthrob, Jack McAlister.
In true "boss/assistant storyline" fashion, she seems to be the only girl in the vicinity who's not impressed by his good looks, and he's an ass. Along the way, they discover the other isn't all that bad and lo-and-behold, something blossoms between them. I'm all for this trope, so of course I was pretty stoked to read it. Jessica and Jack are lovely characters when it comes down to it, but there weren't any life-changing obstacles in their way, so their story was kind of... ordinary. Nice, but ordinary. But oh, this story has a pig -- I'm not talking about a disgusting male character; an actual pig. Let that sink in. It's actually a charming little storyline.
While I wasn't blown away by the book, I enjoyed the pacing of how things progressed. My only issue was that, while I appreciate a good "the journey is more important than the destination" story, the journey to their inevitable relationship took up a majority of the book and we didn't really get to witness any of the results. I guess that's me wishing that the book was longer, because I did enjoy their relationship and wanted to see more of it.
I feel like I'm so drawn to angsty love stories that I don't know when to stop and take a breather. I already knew, judging by the synopsis, Beyond the Stars was anything but. So I thought it'd be a nice change from my choice of gut-wrenching reads as of late. I definitely wasn't wrong. If you're looking for something nice, quick, and fluffy, pick up this debut novel from Stacy Wise.