Book Review: Redemption of a Hollywood Starlet by Kimberly Lang

One of my favourite things about romance novels is the brilliant titles these authors come up with. Theyre often witty and zany enough to rival the best lines out of the country music genre, and descriptive enough to put Jules I describe my books plots in their titles Verne'to shame. And indeed, Harlequin author Kimberly Lang is quite the pro at this: how can one not want to read a book by an author whose titles include'Magnates MistressAccidentally Pregnant! and'Boardroom Rivals! Bedroom Fireworks! (Im talking about Kimberly Lang here, by the way, not the afore-mentioned Jules Verne, although Im sure that the latters description of bedroom fireworks would be very scientifically accurate, if not especially titillating.)

While descriptive titles might be less than ideal in other genres, theyre no big deal in romance: the reader knows the ending from the get-go, so spoilers arent really an issue. Really, rather than surprising us with the books ending, the authors job is to surprise us with how the characters arrive at that ending. I can imagine that its not an easy job: how do you keep a reader interested when theyre all-too-aware of the basic structure of a category romance novel? 'Often the answers a whole lot of humour, plenty of larger-than-life characters, endless smouldering looks, and more miscommunication than is typically involved in trying to pay your phone bill through a service that uses voice recognition software.

As might be inferred from the above,'Redemption of a Hollywood Starlet is essentially about'exactly that. Caitlyn Reese is a young Hollywood wild child who has spent the past year or so trying to make up for the Lohan-esque actions that have made her the darling of the paparazzi. Whilst waiting for the media hubbub to subside, shes spent her days in London honing her craft and acting for the stage, and doing what she can not to reprise her days of stumbling out of cars and passing out in public. Convinced now that the gossip rags have other actresses in their sights, and that shes done her bit to make herself once more presentable in the eye of the public, Caitlyn jetsets back to the US to take up a role in the film'The Folly of the Fury, a blockbuster vehicle specifically designed to rake in the awards.

But the title of the film proves to be quite apt when Caitlyn finds that the film is being produced by none other than Finn Marshall, the very man who led Caitlyn astray in her wilful youth. Though the two attempt to deny the attraction between them, its not long before theyre sneaking out and about together and getting up to their familiar mischief. But Caitlyn is torn: is Finn worth throwing her newly reinvented career away for?

Redemption of a Hollywood Starlet contains all of the angsty banter and ambivalence thats required to divert the reader away from that inevitable HEA, as well as the requisite foreshadowing of our heros need to settle down and get started on that whole child-rearing bizzo. But while Finn and Caitlyn do their bit of sizzling and smouldering, its Finns family who appeal most here: for some reason they feel a good deal more grounded than the key charactersno doubt because this is one of a series of linked books involving the Marshall family. Indeed, so much of the story here, ie Finn and Caitlyns debauched past, feels as though its occurred prior to the novel, and I couldnt help but feel as I read this that I was working through a sort of summary of past events. The book feels almost more like a retrospective or an epilogue, and lacks the immediacy I hoped for.

There was also a repeating motif regarding the redeemed/conquered bad girl that bothered me. While Finn is never judged for his past hell-raising ways, Caitlyn has suffered for hers. The same theme seems to apply to the wives of Finns brothers: both comment on their own similar pasts, and theres the implication that the love of a good man has put them on the right path. Indeed, even the title of the film in which Caitlyn is acting implies that a hell-raising woman is in some way ineffective and silly. While I understand Caitlyns desire to be appreciated for her acting talents and dedication to her career, it would have been nice to have seen Finn fight to redeem himself in a similar way. Instead, we get to watch him stalk about the page and revel in the easy-peasiness of sexist double standards, topping it all off with his effective conquering of Caitlyn through a marriage proposal thats designed to make an honest woman of her and put things to rights.

I wont deny that I enjoyed the light and breezy style of this one, and the chemistry between Finn and Caitlyn is certainly palpable, but the redemption theme and the post-hoc description of events dropped this one a little in my estimation.''

Rating: (good)

With thanks to Harlequin UK for the review copy

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