What do you think?
Rate this book
Illustrious Solitude
After a life filled with heartbreak, loss, and trauma, famous singer-songwriter, Serena, has retreated to a secluded mansion to live in solitude. Her music speaks to the pain and struggles she's faced, but no matter how hard she tries, the past continues to limit her as anger and hate fill her heart.
That is until she hires a new publicist, James Cade, to help settle disputes and maintain the seemingly perfect image to the prying media eyes. Cade is everything Serena isn't - outgoing, confident, and unafraid of a little work. But despite their differences, the two find themselves drawn to each other in a way they never expected.
As their professional relationship turns personal, Serena's past continues to haunt her, threatening to destroy the fragile trust she's built with Cade. Can she fully open up her heart to him and let him into her world, or will her fears and insecurities keep them both locked in solitude forever?
With emotional depth and raw honesty, this novel explores the power of love to heal even the deepest wounds and the courage it takes to let go of the past and embrace the present.
That is until she hires a new publicist, James Cade, to help settle disputes and maintain the seemingly perfect image to the prying media eyes. Cade is everything Serena isn't - outgoing, confident, and unafraid of a little work. But despite their differences, the two find themselves drawn to each other in a way they never expected.
As their professional relationship turns personal, Serena's past continues to haunt her, threatening to destroy the fragile trust she's built with Cade. Can she fully open up her heart to him and let him into her world, or will her fears and insecurities keep them both locked in solitude forever?
With emotional depth and raw honesty, this novel explores the power of love to heal even the deepest wounds and the courage it takes to let go of the past and embrace the present.
309 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 3, 2023
About the author
E. Nigma
28 books10 followersE.Nigma started his writing prowess as a scriptwriter initially, with dreams of seeing his work on the big screen. His first script"The Afflicted" was based on a dream he had one night, and thus began the first work of many by E.Nigma.
His first feature work that was filmed was a youtube video created by HeavenandHell Entertainment, which filmed a short based on E.Nigma's popular series, The Professionals. E.Nigma's followed that up with his first feature film entitled "Twisted Affair" which he wrote, edited, and directed. After other various film shorts, E.Nigma dabbled with animation, where he created a series based on his characters from the aforementioned "The Professionals" which garnered a cult following.
Even though E.Nigma had turned his attention towards more video/animation work, he never stopped his first love of writing. In 2016 he completed his first novel work with "Confessions of a Call Center Junkie - The Diary of Lellow" which is a mock diary documenting the day and life of a recovering addict as she struggles to maintain herself in the workplace.
Since then, E.Nigma has gone on to write a multitude of works covering various genres such as drama, science fiction, romance, crime drama, and more. His unique writing style allows him to be diverse while capturing captivating stories to satisfy any reader’s thirst for imaginative writings.
Check me out on the following media:
Facebook – enigmakidd
IG – enigmakidd
Snapchat – ericnigma
Twitter - @NigmaEric
Email – enigmakidd@gmail.com
His first feature work that was filmed was a youtube video created by HeavenandHell Entertainment, which filmed a short based on E.Nigma's popular series, The Professionals. E.Nigma's followed that up with his first feature film entitled "Twisted Affair" which he wrote, edited, and directed. After other various film shorts, E.Nigma dabbled with animation, where he created a series based on his characters from the aforementioned "The Professionals" which garnered a cult following.
Even though E.Nigma had turned his attention towards more video/animation work, he never stopped his first love of writing. In 2016 he completed his first novel work with "Confessions of a Call Center Junkie - The Diary of Lellow" which is a mock diary documenting the day and life of a recovering addict as she struggles to maintain herself in the workplace.
Since then, E.Nigma has gone on to write a multitude of works covering various genres such as drama, science fiction, romance, crime drama, and more. His unique writing style allows him to be diverse while capturing captivating stories to satisfy any reader’s thirst for imaginative writings.
Check me out on the following media:
Facebook – enigmakidd
IG – enigmakidd
Snapchat – ericnigma
Twitter - @NigmaEric
Email – enigmakidd@gmail.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 27, 2025
Have you ever seen "The Devil Wears Prada" with Meryl Streep? Or how about "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock? If you've seen either of those movies then you know they have one glaring thing in common. Both are about women bosses who are absolutely insufferable. And if you've seen those movies, then you'd know exactly how the people in Serena's life feel.
Serena is the FMC of this book, and she is someone I immediately found hard to like. She talks to her staff like crazy, telling them to "shut the fuck up", sleeps with many of her employee's husbands, treats her new publicist Cade like her errand boy, and uses her position as his employer to coerce him into sex after he told her it was a boundary he didn't want to cross. And I'm not gonna lie, by the end of the book, I still couldn't stand her ass (lol) but she represented a real character to me. She was hurt by something that happened to her twenty years ago, made herself the victim, and decided to hold on to that hurt and anger to keep everyone at arm's length. It sucks sometimes admitting to yourself that even if others hurt you, you also had a part to play in your own suffering. Although I was happy she was able to find some semblance of peace, I think what she said in the end to Cade was only too right: She was a toxic person at her core. And she was never going to be happy. It sucked that she didn't get the redemption I wanted for her, but sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles.
The one big critique I have of this book is that the romance between Cade and Serena didn't feel believable. Serena claims to love Cade, but he always seemed to be just tolerating her. She was head over heels in love with him, and yet he doesn't even tell her he loves her until she's kicking him out the of the house. And the reason she was kicking him out was another reason I felt like their romance was unbelievable; he was caught in bed with Kenya, Serena's ex best-friend and assistant. For a man who claimed to love Serena, Cade flirted way too much with Kenya in my opinion, and there were many times I truly wanted those two together because of their easy chemistry.
Other than the lack of chemistry I felt between Cade and Serena, this was a fun, dramatic, read. I finished it in one sitting, and only took me about 6 hours because I FLEW THROUGH IT. I love drama, and there is plenty of this in this book. I loved the messiness of the Cade, Kenya and Serena love triangle and I loved the behind the scenes look at what it's like working for a celebrity as a publicist.
Serena is the FMC of this book, and she is someone I immediately found hard to like. She talks to her staff like crazy, telling them to "shut the fuck up", sleeps with many of her employee's husbands, treats her new publicist Cade like her errand boy, and uses her position as his employer to coerce him into sex after he told her it was a boundary he didn't want to cross. And I'm not gonna lie, by the end of the book, I still couldn't stand her ass (lol) but she represented a real character to me. She was hurt by something that happened to her twenty years ago, made herself the victim, and decided to hold on to that hurt and anger to keep everyone at arm's length. It sucks sometimes admitting to yourself that even if others hurt you, you also had a part to play in your own suffering. Although I was happy she was able to find some semblance of peace, I think what she said in the end to Cade was only too right: She was a toxic person at her core. And she was never going to be happy. It sucked that she didn't get the redemption I wanted for her, but sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles.
The one big critique I have of this book is that the romance between Cade and Serena didn't feel believable. Serena claims to love Cade, but he always seemed to be just tolerating her. She was head over heels in love with him, and yet he doesn't even tell her he loves her until she's kicking him out the of the house. And the reason she was kicking him out was another reason I felt like their romance was unbelievable; he was caught in bed with Kenya, Serena's ex best-friend and assistant. For a man who claimed to love Serena, Cade flirted way too much with Kenya in my opinion, and there were many times I truly wanted those two together because of their easy chemistry.
Other than the lack of chemistry I felt between Cade and Serena, this was a fun, dramatic, read. I finished it in one sitting, and only took me about 6 hours because I FLEW THROUGH IT. I love drama, and there is plenty of this in this book. I loved the messiness of the Cade, Kenya and Serena love triangle and I loved the behind the scenes look at what it's like working for a celebrity as a publicist.
February 2, 2026
A beautiful mess
This book exceeded all of my expectations and has me going down a rabbit hole for this author. This is an amazing story of redemption, forgivness, and grief. This book is content rich and twist. You want to Jaye the FMC but you also want to hug her because it shows life can leave people hurting. I'm glad she got it together though. This book was therapeutic and made me cry and exhale. I'll definitely recommend it.
This book exceeded all of my expectations and has me going down a rabbit hole for this author. This is an amazing story of redemption, forgivness, and grief. This book is content rich and twist. You want to Jaye the FMC but you also want to hug her because it shows life can leave people hurting. I'm glad she got it together though. This book was therapeutic and made me cry and exhale. I'll definitely recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews