Model Citizens: Riding For A Fall

by Henry Pepper

Model Citizens: Riding For A Fall is a romantic thriller. Two models blackmail their way to the top in LA and they've got it made until the bad (boy) karma catches up with them.

Overnight, France’s Angela Durand and blonde Californian Joanne Hart become Super Models and global celebrities.

The glamorous Los Angeles high life is at their fingertips. Multi-million-dollar modelling contracts. Rich and famous boyfriends. Private jet travel. The best manager in the business.

What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty, including Joanne’s boyfriend who is the greatest footballer in American history and a psychopath. As Brett Farrell’s life runs off the rails in the week before Super Bowl 2009, the quarterback threatens to drag Joanne and Angela down with him.

Set in the bright lights world of red carpet fashion where nothing is ever what it appears to be, can Model Citizens Modelling Agency owner Reggie Sinatra save Angela and Joanne from the dark side of LA and the deadly consequences of their naughty scheming?

“Model Citizens is fiction based on true stories,” Henry explains. “While researching the book, I met a number of famous models in London, New York and Paris who were kind enough to tell me about what really goes on behind the scenes.”

160 pages, ebook

First published October 18, 2013

About the author

Writer. Screenwriter. Broadcaster. Advertising scoundrel. Descendant of Sir Walter Scott.

Reviews

[Kayla West · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angela Durand and Joanne Hart are two very different personalities drawn to one another in this glamorously intimate novel of fashion, fame, and the pride that cometh before the fall. Angela is more the shy and down-to-earth girl from France, while Joanne, a California girl at heart, is more headstrong and confident. But however different they may seem on the outside, on the inside they want the same thing. To be Super Models. And with a bit of blackmail, they succeed at this high-in-the-clouds aspiration. But their success may also be their undoing.

Now Angela seems like a sweet girl throughout this entire book. She is very open-hearted and wants what is best for her best friend/lover Joanne. But Joanne, however, seems very conflicted. She has achieved the fame and fortune, but there is a sliver of a chance that she could lose it all. And that sliver's name is Brett.

Brett is Joanne's on-again-off-again boyfriend who plays for the NFL. Cool, right? Well...it would be if he wasn't a psychopath. Yeah...that is a definite cause for concern. And everybody but Joanne has pretty much realized this concern. She is pretty much stuck in the whole denial stage of their whole relationship. In fact, sometimes it seems that she loves who he is and what he does to her, even though what he does and makes her do is not normal. Not normal at all. But as Angela points out many times in the story, if she doesn't accept that his actions are wrong and leaves him, Joanne can just forget about modelling any more, because he could be the death of her.

Brett might go just a bit too far to keep Joanne in his clutches, and the sad part is, Joanne might not try to stop him.

This book has many wonderful attributes to it - the storyline, the characters, the ending...especially the ending - but I think my favourite has to be the cover. It screams elegant old Hollywood to me. It is eye-catching, and breath-taking, and the black and white just works.

Model Citizens was a great read. It showed us the glamorous side of fashion, a behind-the-scenes look at what fame sometimes costs, and a bit of how karma is a fickle mistress. I absolutely loved every single minute of it.

[Wendy Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angela Durand is a sweet girl from France and Joanne Hart is a native Californian. How about: Although their personalities are complete opposites, they both want the same thing in their careers; to be a supermodel. The Super Model, a week long competition to fulfill their dreams, is where they toss aside their scruples and use blackmail to clinch the competition. Overnight, Joanne and Angela are celebrities and they take advantage of everything at their fingertips.

Joanne has been dating NFL player Brett Farrell on and off for years. His life is down-spiraling just days before the Super Bowl. Caught in a dark place, the psychopath has Joanne and Angela directly in his sights. Joanne is conflicted about her feelings for Brett. She loves him and although she doesn't abhor what he makes her do sometimes, she doesn't always enjoy it. However, she doesn't realize it's not normal, even when Angela tells her so. But if Brett gets his way, Joanne might not live long enough to enjoy her new celebrity status. Hopefully, their agent at the Model Citizen Modelling Agency, Reggie Sinatra, can save them, but will he be too late?

RIDING FOR A FALL is a sexy, dark and gritty read. It's an in-depth look into the drama and hi-jinx of the world of haute couture and of what lengths people will go to achieve their darkest desires. Author Henry Pepper holds nothing back, revealing every dark corner and dirty secret of his characters. If you enjoy a page-turning drama with plenty of entertainment value and nail-biting scenes, then RIDING FOR A FALL might just be for you!

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.


Good premise - but book was overly descriptive, in my opinion, and it kept taking me out of the story/plot. Too much reference to what everyone was wearing, driving, etc., and each description was just too detailed (entire outfits were described from head to toe - with a lot of designer name dropping).

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone should buy Kim this story for the holidays.

Unlike the Kardashians, Model Citizens is a soft porn celebrity soap opera with plenty of interesting LA characters, glamorous locations and a plot that actually makes you want to keep reading.

[Tracie Redmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

review being posted on the dirtyhoesbookblog

[Ashley Nemer]

not my style of book

[Stacey D. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh.