Hollywood Ever After (Red Carpet #1) by Sasha Summers

"My journey led me to you."

The Blurb:

Happy Endings are for fairy tales. Or the movies. Not for real life. At least, not in Claire’s life. Even though she’s starting over, she knows better than to want too much this time. But when she falls, literally, into the strong arms of Hollywood’s ‘it’ boy Josh Wiley, Claire’s in for some surprises. Her plans for rest and relaxation are forgotten as one incredible night with Josh becomes two… And her heart begins to want him as much as her body. Will two kids, one bastard ex-husband, and Josh’s juggernaut career mean the end of their affair? Or can Claire find her happy ending after all?

IMO:

With a title like Hollywood Ever After and that blurb, I was already hoping for a happy ending in the likes of fairy tales.

In this book, we meet Claire - a broken heroine, so lost and so fragile. She just broke up with her husband who cheated on her and verbally and physically abused her. She's got 2 growing up children and falling in love was definitely not on her daily plan.

But fate decided that she will meet Josh. A celebrity and a man who's on his way to the top- career wise. Add to this equation a psychotic ex who won't let go, innocent and adorable children caught in the middle, and meddling friends and it's definitely not an ideal situation to fall in love.

I think they fell in love quite fast in this book. Their attraction (and lust) at first sight turned into true love. However, the problem here is not their feelings or whether they really want to be together. Different outside forces will serve as an obstacle to their relationship namely Claire's ex husband and Josh's rapidly increasing celebrity status.

It's a beautiful and engaging story. Sure, it's predictable and sometimes unbelievable -especially Josh. He's just so sure with his feelings and so amazing that it's yeah, quite unbelievable. But on the other hand, Claire's suffering and journey from a battered housewife to an independent woman is also intriguing since I'm sure other people can relate to her situation.

My only complaint here is how the author resolved Daniel's (Claire's ex) story. It feels so cop out. Shouldn't he go to jail? It's just so easy. But my guesses as to why Sasha did that are (1) maybe to spare the children the pain and stress and (2) so that Claire and Josh's relationship will start on a clean slate.

Conclusion:

I really like it. It was romantic. It was intriguing. It was engaging. I like Sasha's writing. Looks like another author to look out for.

B+

*book description and pic from Goodreads