Book Review: "Secrets Of My Hollywood Life: There's No Place Like Home"

Well folks, we've officially hit the end of the line in this series. Secrets Of My Hollywood Life: There's No Place Like Home is the sixth, and final, book of the hit series by Jen Calonita. And parts of it are definitely heart-wrenching.

Kaitlin has come a long way since the first book of the series as far as both her life and her career are concerned. But with that also comes the ever-looming realization that she's not in control of her own life, and that if she doesn't make some changes, she never will be. (There's a lot to be learned from this lesson.) Everything around her is changing as well, which makes things that much harder to digest. She's starring on a hit tv series; her mother is pushing her to film not one but TWO films with huge big-name producers; Sky has stolen her personal assistant right out from under her as her new manager; and there's college looming ever-closer as the clock ticks onward. A collapse is imminent. But nobody could ever predict just how, exactly, it would happen.

Much as one can surmise by the cover and the title of the book, there's a heavy influence by The Wizard of Oz. Following a car crash, Kaitlin is thrust into an alternate dimensional version of her life - one where she's not famous and hasn't had the sort of Hollywood upbringing she's always known. Her friends, co-workers, and family are also all vastly different from their real world selves. It takes a realization of self and personal values to help Kaitlin find her way back home.

I have to admit, this isn't how I expected the series to end, but I liked it! (Well, that's to be expected, as I'm a huge Judy Garland fan.) I think it was much-needed to help bring a sense of closure to things, and I can't think of a better way it could have been handle. Major kudos to Jen Calonita for writing such a fabulously entertaining and intriguing series! As always, another huge 5 star review for this book. :)

Book Review: "Secrets Of My Hollywood Life: Broadway Lights"

It's getting very near the end of the run, folks - Broadway Lights is the second the last book in Jen Calonita's Secrets of My Hollywood Life series, and I'm getting kind of bummed about it. I've gotten very attached to these characters over the course of the past month or two when I started reading these - what will ever taken their place? (Then again, I say that every time I hit the end of a series I love.) Regardless, I soaked up every word of this book like a sponge, and not only because of it being so close to the end and loose ends starting to become tied up. I pounced all over it because...

IT'S BASED ON BROADWAY! DUH! :-p

Seriously though, everything about this book held my attention like crazy, and mostly in part because of my love affair with NYC. Sure, it was a little bit of a stereotypical of a view of the world's greatest city, but then again, a lot of stereotypical liberties have been taken as far as the whole views on showbiz throughout the whole series, so I'm not going to dock it down any points for that.

This story takes us through Kaitlin and Austin's first ever lengthy separation, which is heart-wrenching for me to read. Especially with all the jealousy arising from jealousy in the long-distance relationship, it stirred up far too many memories and still-raw emotions of the past within myself to be able to put this book down for long. I HAD to know how it would all end up. (That said, I had expected a little more realistic solution to have arisen, but it is what it is. Que sera sera.) But also, the process of putting together a Broadway production and sharpening it to perfection for the public. This, I have a lot of respect for, given my roots in theatre culture. And there were some completely unpredictable twists and turns along the way as well - I won't give them away, but they were very cool to see!

Overall I'm giving this book yet another big fat 5 out of 5 stars, because it is just divine perfection. :)

Book Review: "Secrets Of My Hollywood Life: Paparazzi Princess"

Secrets Of My Hollywood Life: Paparazzi Princess by Jen Calonita is to date (at least of the ones I've read this far) the most heart-wrenching story in the series. Kaitlin's soap opera, Family Affair - that she's been a part of since she was 4 years old - is going off the air at the end of the current season, and therefore leaving Kaitlin to soon-be unemployed. As her family's primary breadwinner, she's being pressured from all sides to quickly pick her next project, despite her mother shooting down whichever ideas she likes and trying to force her own ideas of what she thinks Kaitlin should do onto her. Add onto this the stress of her best friend seemingly growing distant from her as she begins to make her college plans for on the opposite side of the country, everyone around her but herself getting their driver's licenses, her boyfriend also potentially moving away to another state for college, on top of the mounting pressure from her mother to shop every business opportunity out there and pick one immediately, is a recipe for disaster. Enter Ava and Lauren, who are the novel's equivalent of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie back when they were hard partying BFFs. Sensing Kaitlin's vulnerability, they latch onto her like lice and milk her for all she's worth. Kaitlin's good girl image begins to take a nosedive the more she's seen with them - sort of a guilty by association type deal. In the midst of all this, Kaitlin's mother forces her to at least show up for an interview with one of the hottest, but most notoriously manipulative record producers in the industry. He forces her to do a quick demo of a song they'd written for her, of which the book was titled after. All hell breaks loose, as it doesn't at all reflect how she feels about Hollywood and was never meant to be released for the public to hear. (Naturally, it gets "leaked".) Things eventually hit a fever pitch, and something has to give.

I don't want to give away too much of the storyline, so I'll stop there with it, but I have to say that there were more than a few times I got misty-eyed reading this book. I can't wait to see what's next! Rating this a huge 5 out of 5 stars, and would rate higher if I could!

Book Review: "Secrets Of My Hollywood Life: Family Affairs"

Secrets of My Hollywood Life: Family Affairs by Jen Calonita is the third, and so far juiciest book in the series so far!

Now that the drama with working on the film Pretty Little Assassins is done and over with, Kaitlin figures that her life will finally be able to regain some normalcy, going back to Family Affair life. Only, it won't be as it was before: the show's getting a new actress. And she seems to be hellbent on destruction of all that's around her to make her own star shine.

The new girl, Alexis, starts out acting sweet-as-pie to anyone and everyone around her; trying to butter up the writing staff especially to get in their good graces, even though her story arc is only intended to last half a season. But she makes such a splash with the public on top of her charming graces with the staff of the show that they decide it might not be such a bad idea to keep her own as a potentially permanent character. Herein ensues the drama.

Sky feels that Alexis is trying to impede on their territory, and Kaitlin thinks she's just being jealous of the new girl. But the more that Kaitlin witnesses, the more she begins to see through the facade and that the nice act is just a put on, and for once, Sky is 100% correct: this girl wants to destroy both of their jobs and become the star of the show. And will stop at nothing to get it. Trying to prove this to everyone else, however, is a feat to be seen.

I don't want to give out too many spoilers here, but the ending of the story has a completely unexpected twist. For one, I never expected to ever see Kaitlin and Sky teaming up and acting -friendly- to each other in a million years. So you would assume that life on the set after all is said and done would be so much more pleasant now that they've seemingly made friends, but a much bigger bombshell than anyone could ever expect rocks their world and changes their lives forever.

Want to see what I'm talking about? Grab yourself a copy of this fantastic book today! Once again, I rate this book a huge 5 stars!

Book Review: "Secrets Of My Hollywood Life - On Location"

Secrets of My Hollywood Life: On Location by Jen Calonita is the second book in the popular hit series. This time around, our main character Kaitlin Burke has been cast to star as the leading lady in an upcoming film by Hollywood's hottest director of the moment. It's a dream come true in more ways than one; not only does she idolize this director, but this is the ultimate career comeback after the stunt she pulled in the last book. But all is not well; not only does her onscreen rival from her soap opera series (who also does everything in her power to make Kaitlin's life a living hell offscreen as well) get cast as the nemesis, but Kaitlin's ex-boyfriend and fellow Hollywood hunk gets gast as the co-star and love interest. Sparks will fly. (And they do.)

All the while, Kaitlin is trying to carry on as normal of a relationship as possible with her boyfriend, Austin - who's one of the only people she knows who's not in the business. He doesn't understand a lot of the ins and outs of Hollywood politics, so most of what happens on location is a huge shock to him.

Throw into the mix as well a meddling PR con-artist who's out for blood, and you've got a recipe for disaster. And that's not even the half of it. It's all one huge Hollywood headache, and enough drama to make even the most veteran of actors question whether or not this film will even come to fruition.

I thought this book was an amazingly good read, and I absolutely couldn't put it down. (I read through it in a matter of a few days!) Definitely 5 stars for this baby, and I'm itching to sink my teeth into the next juicy piece of the series!

Book Review: "Secrets of My Hollywood Life"

Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita is the first book in a series by the same title, written for teens. The premise of this first book is essentially a spin on the classic starlet-leading-a-double-life plot. (Think Hannah Montana, without the redneck overtones.) Kaitlin Burke is the hot young star du jour, best known for playing one of the long-running starring roles on the soap opera Family Affair. Since she's been playing the role since she was a toddler, she's never known any semblance of normalcy in her life, ever. She's always craved it and been obsessed with how all the 'normal' kids live, even though most people would kill for the sort of opportunities she's had. Her family has never let her really take so much as a break the entire time she's been on the show, telling her that "vacations are for normal people" and not for stars who want to keep their name in the public conscious.

Naturally, she eventually hits the point of burn out and needs a break. But, where wuold she go? In her obsessive quest for normalcy, she develops a plan that, instead of working non-stop during the soap opera's hiatus, she'll go to school like a normal teenager instead. But how could she, America's #1 'It Girl', go to school without being mobbed and without being placed on a pedestal? Easy. Create another persona. One who's poor, British, can't afford nice clothes, and looks absolutely nothing like her, and adopt a false name and backstory.

All is not well with this plan though. Not only was she offered the audition of a lifetime by her favorite ever film producer/director almost the same day that she hatched this plan, but the media is taking notice of her absence on the typical Hollywood scene. Her co-star, who's always hated her and fought with her like cats and dogs, is planting nasty rumors about her left and right as well. And of course, there's the stress of maintaining the double life and making sure that they in no way whatsoever overlap, and that nobody finds out.

But as you can imagine....she eventually does get found out. And it's not pretty. But, the aftermath is completely unexpected and I didn't even see it coming. I'm very impressed!

Overall, I thought this was a really well-written book. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series! I'm rating this a 5 out of 5 stars. :)

Book Review: "Reality Check"

Reality Check by Jen Calonita is a slight stray away from my usual type of books that I grab at the library, and I'll tell you, was on a total whim - I saw her My Secret Hollywood Life series on the shelf and grabbed all of them, hoping I'd nabbed the whole series (and I did) and spotted this one off to the side and wasn't sure if it was part of the series or not. It's not, but I got it anyway and read it first. (Not to mention, I thought the cover was absolutely freakin' adorable.)

This story is about 4 friends who live together in a beachside town in New York. Just a small, rural place- nothing like the big city whatsoever, and they all live very ordinary everyday lives. The main character, Charlie, works in a coffee shop; Keiran spends 99% of her time babysitting her younger siblings. Hallie works at her parents' restaurant, the Crab Shack, and Brooke...well, Brooke always felt she was destined for stardom and will do anything to get away from being viewed as a farmer's daughter.

Their lives are all turned upside down practically overnight when Susan comes into town. Susan is one of the head honchos at the Fire and Ice network - basically, a new and improved hipper version of MTV and the WB rolled up into one. Little did they know Susan had been scouting the country for the stars of a new reality show, and had fallen in love with them. They eagerly sign up to do the show, with promises of fame and fortune and the ability to pay for college.

But then things begin to change. They find out that their idea of reality and the network's idea of reality are two very different things. Not to mention, everyone begins to treat them differently, and many people blow in and out of their lives with the intent to use them for screen time. One such suspect is the local rich girl, Marleyna, who never had the time of day for any of them before and had always hated Brooke. Suddenly, they're BFFs and Brooke's been isolated from the rest of the group and suddenly treating them all like crap and like they don't matter. Particularly Charlie, who she's been jealous of from day one for being the star of the show.

Bad things continue to happen until the girls finally hit a boiling point and want off the show. But the network keeps dangling the phrase "breach of contract" over their heads to intimidate them into staying. What happens? Read the book to find out. ;)

Personally I thought it was a pretty cute book and an easy read (I finished it in about 5 days). It also gives a little insight into the world of reality television, because many of the details here and based from real life accounts from different reality series. (It also makes me question just how much I saw in The Osbournes back in the day when I was obsessed with that show...) That said, it is very much a girly girl book, and if you're someone who rolls your eyes at that sort of thing, you should probably skip this. Otherwise, go grab yourself a copy and have a nice read! I'm rating this one a 4 out of 5 stars.