Scan barcode
nlfrey's review against another edition
4.0
I like "fluffy fiction" just as much as the next girl, but I'm really picky about my authors. Most who write in the "sappy stories" genre are rather terrible writers, and with as much reading as I do I know what good writing looks like, and I just can't stomach entire books of bad writing. Which, fortunately, is where Lucy Parker stands out from most "fluffy fiction" writers. "Pretty Face" is next in the series after last month's "Act Like It." This whole series is set in the theater world of London (thus the "London Celebrities Collection"), and the storyline(s) have to do with growing romances between actors, actresses, directors, etc. There's not much to explain without giving everything away - it's a typical romantic book. Easy read, predictable storyline, happy ending. What more could you ask for? And while there's nothing unusual about the storylines, all these books are very well written, which is the main reason I find myself giving Lucy Parker's books 4 stars (instead of the average 2 this genre would earn in my mind).
joradora's review against another edition
4.0
A fairly predictable story but who even cares when the characters are utterly likable, the banter hilarious, and the secondary characters more developed than many other book’s (particularly in this genre) protagonists. Yes, it’s a romance, but it prioritizes storytelling over sex. Not to mention that the first kiss the main characters share in this book is far far sexier than anything else I’ve ever read or seen.
brokenrecord's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this a lot, but not nearly as much as Act Like It. I think my expectations might have been too high, because Act Like It took me by surprise by how much I loved it, and then so many people said that they liked this one even more than Act Like It, and so it was just hard for this to live up to those expectations. I don't even really have any major complaints, it's more just that this wasn't the type of romance that I tend to get really invested in. I did still enjoy it a lot, I just didn't fall in love with it like I'd hoped, but I'm definitely interested in reading more in this series (assuming there will be more).
mzdeb's review against another edition
3.0
This didn't quite do it for me like the first one did... The stakes were slightly higher but maybe the protagonists' character conflict wasn't enough? Lily's family is self-centered; Luc's family history has a tabloid hack gunning for him--it all looks good on paper. Just something didn't stick the landing.
Age differences are always a challenge, and people have a lower "squick" threshold than I do. (Somebody had a formula for figuring ouw what her age should've been--which was 28. Therefore "squick" was acheived. FFS.) I just feel like there's a gulf of life experiences to cross there, even with intense love of theater and its craft in common. I did bristle at the whole "old man" thing--you can sorta crack jokes when someone's 45, but 40(?--he was 40, right?) Just--that's when you know a young person has written this book. Maybe Lucy was trying to hit the sweet spot of old but no squicks.
I felt bad for Lily in that, because she played such a dim bulb character on a hit TV show, people (including Luc initially, of all people) thought she was one in real life--I guess the voice didn't help. It's still amazing the number of people (in novels and in real life) who can't separate a character from reality. Hopefully the voice training will stick.
British sex scenes can be real interesting in their description because there's a lot of allusion so, when a scene hasn't faded to black altogether, your brain has to fill in a few missing pieces, LOL.
I still really like the series though and will keep reading. The wit keeps me coming back.
Age differences are always a challenge, and people have a lower "squick" threshold than I do. (Somebody had a formula for figuring ouw what her age should've been--which was 28. Therefore "squick" was acheived. FFS.) I just feel like there's a gulf of life experiences to cross there, even with intense love of theater and its craft in common. I did bristle at the whole "old man" thing--you can sorta crack jokes when someone's 45, but 40(?--he was 40, right?) Just--that's when you know a young person has written this book. Maybe Lucy was trying to hit the sweet spot of old but no squicks.
I felt bad for Lily in that, because she played such a dim bulb character on a hit TV show, people (including Luc initially, of all people) thought she was one in real life--I guess the voice didn't help. It's still amazing the number of people (in novels and in real life) who can't separate a character from reality. Hopefully the voice training will stick.
British sex scenes can be real interesting in their description because there's a lot of allusion so, when a scene hasn't faded to black altogether, your brain has to fill in a few missing pieces, LOL.
I still really like the series though and will keep reading. The wit keeps me coming back.
shms's review against another edition
4.0
Lucy Parker nails it with this beautifully written romance. There's wit, pathos, humour and a hero that made me go all mushy. I knocked the one star off as the final conflict is all about the h and not very original.
Spoiler
This h has mummy and daddy issuesshmsy's review against another edition
4.0
Lucy Parker nails it with this beautifully written romance. There's wit, pathos, humour and a hero that made me go all mushy. I knocked the one star off as the final conflict is all about the h and not very original.
Spoiler
This h has mummy and daddy issueselenajohansen's review against another edition
2.0
I'm not sure where the magic, likability, or personality of the first book in the series went, because it certainly isn't here anymore.
I'll admit my personal biases up front--despite the fact that I've read quite a few of them, age-difference romance is not a trope I favor. Nor are coworker romances (though they can be tolerable sometimes, I often find the power dynamics gross) or a-hole heroes.
So I'm striking out on all the tropes this particular installment relies on--I didn't know the a-hole hero in the first book was setting a pattern for the whole series (and it obviously was, looking at the blurbs for the future books.)
But a lot of my problems with this book don't even stem from the tropes I don't care for. This one felt far more "British" than the last one, by which I mean, I'm an American reader and even if I loosely understand how the peer system is set up, I'll simply never understand fully its political and social implications, so having everyone in this book be related to someone hoity-toity and constantly referencing a family feud generations old that turns out to just be a shady business deal...I'm over it. I never cared. On top of that, I felt like the references to famous places were much more heavy-handed here, and while I have been to England, I haven't been to London, so they didn't mean much to me.
I buy the central conflict of "we can't be in a relationship for these rock-solid social, personal, and professional reasons." Because both our leads do have excellent reasons not to bang. But they throw all of those out a window really quickly when a Depressing Plot Twist leaves the hero vulnerable, and the nonsexual part of her supporting him through it was actually really sweet, but then of course they go home and bang. I've run into this behavior pattern before in romances, and I'm not even saying it's not realistic, people seek comfort. But I generally don't think it's healthy, and these two have way more obstacles than most standing between them. And I definitely think these two got in the sack sooner than their previous dynamics warranted.
All of that felt rushed, like we have to have them together quickly, because the meat of the story is apparently how they a) fail to keep it secret and b) fail to manage any of the other consequences of their impulsive decision. Most of the middle of the book is a train wreck with a Snidely Whiplash-esque villain metaphorically tying our leads to the tracks via social media pressure, since he's runs a sleazy tabloid.
The thing that's ultimately saving this from being a one-star disappointment of a sequel is the final personal conflict between the leads, which involves a different Depressing Plot Twist, but does display how far the hero has come from being the a-hole he started as. (Unlike in the first novel, where I felt that Richard displayed no real change in self from getting together with Lainie, Luc definitely gets a full personal arc here as a result of his relationship.) I think it all played out in both a realistic and satisfying manner--even if I don't think their romance was handled well in the beginning, as rushed and shaky as it was, it definitely gets a solid ending.
Going to give this series one chance to bounce back--let's see if I can learn to like the next grumpy hero.
I'll admit my personal biases up front--despite the fact that I've read quite a few of them, age-difference romance is not a trope I favor. Nor are coworker romances (though they can be tolerable sometimes, I often find the power dynamics gross) or a-hole heroes.
So I'm striking out on all the tropes this particular installment relies on--I didn't know the a-hole hero in the first book was setting a pattern for the whole series (and it obviously was, looking at the blurbs for the future books.)
But a lot of my problems with this book don't even stem from the tropes I don't care for. This one felt far more "British" than the last one, by which I mean, I'm an American reader and even if I loosely understand how the peer system is set up, I'll simply never understand fully its political and social implications, so having everyone in this book be related to someone hoity-toity and constantly referencing a family feud generations old that turns out to just be a shady business deal...I'm over it. I never cared. On top of that, I felt like the references to famous places were much more heavy-handed here, and while I have been to England, I haven't been to London, so they didn't mean much to me.
I buy the central conflict of "we can't be in a relationship for these rock-solid social, personal, and professional reasons." Because both our leads do have excellent reasons not to bang. But they throw all of those out a window really quickly when a Depressing Plot Twist leaves the hero vulnerable, and the nonsexual part of her supporting him through it was actually really sweet, but then of course they go home and bang. I've run into this behavior pattern before in romances, and I'm not even saying it's not realistic, people seek comfort. But I generally don't think it's healthy, and these two have way more obstacles than most standing between them. And I definitely think these two got in the sack sooner than their previous dynamics warranted.
All of that felt rushed, like we have to have them together quickly, because the meat of the story is apparently how they a) fail to keep it secret and b) fail to manage any of the other consequences of their impulsive decision. Most of the middle of the book is a train wreck with a Snidely Whiplash-esque villain metaphorically tying our leads to the tracks via social media pressure, since he's runs a sleazy tabloid.
The thing that's ultimately saving this from being a one-star disappointment of a sequel is the final personal conflict between the leads, which involves a different Depressing Plot Twist, but does display how far the hero has come from being the a-hole he started as. (Unlike in the first novel, where I felt that Richard displayed no real change in self from getting together with Lainie, Luc definitely gets a full personal arc here as a result of his relationship.) I think it all played out in both a realistic and satisfying manner--even if I don't think their romance was handled well in the beginning, as rushed and shaky as it was, it definitely gets a solid ending.
Going to give this series one chance to bounce back--let's see if I can learn to like the next grumpy hero.
sandlynn's review against another edition
5.0
September 23, 2017
Lucy Parker’s Pretty Face was published in 2017. I read it in e-book format, but it's also been published in paperback.
All About Romance reviewed this book and described it here: https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/pretty-face-by-lucy-parker/ giving it an A. I enjoyed the book as well, but I think I’d give it an A-.
This story obviously has many positive qualities including the fact that the author has a talent for taking characters who are suppose to be well-known celebrities and artists and making them very down to earth. No stilted sit-com dialogue here, the prose just flows. Also, even though I know almost nothing about the life of the theater, the author does a good job of presenting that world in some detail. Parker also manages to include the lead couple from her debut novel, Act Like It, without it seeming forced.
The reason I took a few points off was because of the epilogue. I thought it was both a little too long and unnecessary. It shows the couple — months later — I assume, enjoying a vacation together where one important loose end to the story is wrapped up. This loose end could’ve been handled within the story itself and much more quickly. Instead we get an extra chapter of rambling conversation that just peters on. I thought it took away from the punch of the ending.
Lucy Parker’s Pretty Face was published in 2017. I read it in e-book format, but it's also been published in paperback.
All About Romance reviewed this book and described it here: https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/pretty-face-by-lucy-parker/ giving it an A. I enjoyed the book as well, but I think I’d give it an A-.
This story obviously has many positive qualities including the fact that the author has a talent for taking characters who are suppose to be well-known celebrities and artists and making them very down to earth. No stilted sit-com dialogue here, the prose just flows. Also, even though I know almost nothing about the life of the theater, the author does a good job of presenting that world in some detail. Parker also manages to include the lead couple from her debut novel, Act Like It, without it seeming forced.
The reason I took a few points off was because of the epilogue. I thought it was both a little too long and unnecessary. It shows the couple — months later — I assume, enjoying a vacation together where one important loose end to the story is wrapped up. This loose end could’ve been handled within the story itself and much more quickly. Instead we get an extra chapter of rambling conversation that just peters on. I thought it took away from the punch of the ending.
danabaran06's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
4.5
No one writes enemies to lovers like Lucy Parker, and this latest installment in her London actors series is no exception. I love escaping into the London theater scene with her stories.