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Private Lives, Public Property
"You said you didn't know me," I said, my voice coming out a lot gruffer than I'd intended. "Lucas Goodspeed," I stuck out my hand and, after a moment's hesitation, she took it, her hand small and soft against my rough palm. "23 years old, Full Forward for the Coastal Crocs, and your new one true love." I tried to inject a bit of humour into the last bit, but to be honest, I think it just came out sounding morose.
She smiled slightly nevertheless and didn't pull away from me, instead choosing to follow my lead.
"Isobel Saunders, 21 years old, waitress at Crumbs Café, although since I didn't turn up this morning, I've probably been fired." She took a deep breath, glanced at Gary as if to convince herself there really was no other way, and finished all in a rush, "and your new one true love."
It's not easy to pretend you're in love for the sake of teenagers and housewives across the country, but top footballer Lucas Goodspeed and shy, romantic Isobel Saunders soon discover that convincing themselves that they're not in love might be even harder…
Please note this story contains some mature language and content.
She smiled slightly nevertheless and didn't pull away from me, instead choosing to follow my lead.
"Isobel Saunders, 21 years old, waitress at Crumbs Café, although since I didn't turn up this morning, I've probably been fired." She took a deep breath, glanced at Gary as if to convince herself there really was no other way, and finished all in a rush, "and your new one true love."
It's not easy to pretend you're in love for the sake of teenagers and housewives across the country, but top footballer Lucas Goodspeed and shy, romantic Isobel Saunders soon discover that convincing themselves that they're not in love might be even harder…
Please note this story contains some mature language and content.
452 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 22, 2014
6 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Jessie L. Star
9 books140 followersWhilst digging through her childhood scribblings, Jessie L. Star discovered a thrilling saga by her six year old self entitled 'Jessie has Lost her Sock'. This sweeping epic spanned all four corners of her childhood house in outback South Australia as the sock was hunted down (spoiler, it was in Jessie's bed all along). Many years later and the urge to write is still going strong, although lost socks have been replaced with a raft of characters destined to snark and banter at each other until, ultimately, falling in love.
Jessie studied Business at Uni where she primarily learnt that writing and talking were very much her thing and that dealing with numbers was very much not.
Jessie studied Business at Uni where she primarily learnt that writing and talking were very much her thing and that dealing with numbers was very much not.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 14, 2015
I read "Private Lives, Public Property" on FictionPress, about a year ago, and it has been a favourite of mine ever since.
When I first stumbled upon this story, I decided to give it a go in order to kill time, during one of my many sleepless nights; thinking it'd be one of those nothing-special romance stories that I'd read and then completely forget about by the next morning.
Boy, was I wrong!
Not only did I find myself actually enjoying the story, but I completely fell in love with her characters - Lucas and Isobel! Not only that, but I was pleasantly surprised by Jessie Star's remarkable talent of delivering their story in such a convincing manner, as if I was reading a real-life story about a favourite Hollywood couple of mine, instead of fiction! It is simply THAT good!
"Private Lives, Public Property" has it all: romance, and humour, and drama, AND romance! (repitition intended) It is perfect for YA fans, both, boys and girls, and pretty much anybody looking for a relaxing read!
I cannot wait to read more Jessie Star stories! ^_^
When I first stumbled upon this story, I decided to give it a go in order to kill time, during one of my many sleepless nights; thinking it'd be one of those nothing-special romance stories that I'd read and then completely forget about by the next morning.
Boy, was I wrong!
Not only did I find myself actually enjoying the story, but I completely fell in love with her characters - Lucas and Isobel! Not only that, but I was pleasantly surprised by Jessie Star's remarkable talent of delivering their story in such a convincing manner, as if I was reading a real-life story about a favourite Hollywood couple of mine, instead of fiction! It is simply THAT good!
"Private Lives, Public Property" has it all: romance, and humour, and drama, AND romance! (repitition intended) It is perfect for YA fans, both, boys and girls, and pretty much anybody looking for a relaxing read!
I cannot wait to read more Jessie Star stories! ^_^
October 25, 2014
Disappointedly underwhelming.
The following review will probably hurt someone's feelings or turn people off. There are books that are ready to be published, and there are books that aren't, and this one is definitely the second.
Mistakes/Incoherency:
The book was full of typos, grammatical and formatting errors that could have easily been fixed if someone had read over it. They were so glaring, some of them wouldn't have even necessitated an editor. Or a beta. Some things were very poorly thought out. For example, the following is all I know about Lucas' apartment: It's on the 14th floor, you get in with a keycard and a code, only 13 people have ever been allowed in, there's a mosaic on the entrance room's floor, it has a great view, Lucas has this cool design on his room's ceiling, the spare room has an en-suite bathroom, there's a kitchen and apparently there is a lot of glass separating rooms.
The spatial outline of this place doesn't make any sense. In the Zarah-Lucas-Bridget scene, Isobel couldn't have possibly seen everyone's reactions so easily if she was in another room. It seriously made no sense. And also, if Isobel can overhear a conversation when her door is locked, I don't want to know how thick the walls are. You'd think that if the building had fancy parking they'd have had thicker walls.
Narrative/Voice/Mechanics:
See, the thing I've noticed about Fictionpress is that there are some very good writers, but so many of them seem to think that the proper way to write a cliche is to take all the drama away from a story and make it "realistic." This is self-defeating, of course, because they all end with the characters getting their happily ever afters. (To be fair, this approach, when in the hands of a pro, takes Rihanna's fingernails and stabs them through your heart.) It seemed to be going for realistic at first, but then all of a sudden Lucas was in love with Isobel, and there was a lot of guilt everyone had to sort out. Pretty much everything that happened here was resolved in an anticlimactic fashion in order to keep things "realistic," but this also sucked the fun out of the story. To help make up for it, the narrative is very funny at the starts, and I think it keeps in the same vein for the rest of the book, but once you realise what's happening, I think you stop enjoying it. Making the narrative funny-ish doesn't take away from the fact that the characters are flat, sullen and only occasionally funny through sheer absurdity of circumstance. I think the only character who bothered to crack a joke was Mark. In short: the snappy narrative didn't make up for bland characters.
There were instances when characters would say stuff equivalent to,
"Hey man, are you seriously telling me that you haven't told Isobel about that thing?"
"What? Ohhh, you mean that thing where we're not telling Isobel about how the paparazzi are calling her fat and dumb, and about how yesterday this particularly bad article came out and I'm really upset right now?"
"That thing, yeah."
If you're info-dumping, make it unapologetic, at least, because there's no such thing as a subtle info dump. At least unapologetic makes it classy.
Also, Lucas and Isobel sounded exactly the same, they had the same sense of non-humor, etc. Their introspections didn't flow smoothly and it's like I could hear the author telling me to close my eyes and ignore how the characters were stumbling over their words.
Ending: WHAT THE FUCK?
Why exactly would you end it with Tarqin? Yes, I liked the kid (I felt like the Lucas-Mr. Walker angle and Tarquin's protectiveness of Isobel wasn't played up enough, btw). But was it really necessary to make him narrate the epilogue? Really? And to tell us that Lucas got injured and now he's pulling out of the game? And that to top everything off, that the press never let up on Isobel, and that Lucas and Isobel have been taking abuse from the media for ten years and they are in no hurry to throw around their weight and fight back, maybe get some people fired?
One thing that bothered me throughout the story was how powerless these supposedly rich and influential people were. How come Isobel didn't get a super makeover? Contrary to popular belief, most celebrities aren't beautiful because they are genetically blessed (though some are, period), but because they have the time and the money to spend on their faces; or they have the money to pay someone else to worry about it. Why wasn't Isobel placed in a diet-exercise regimen? Why was her only help Gary's wife, who tried to fit her into a dress that didn't make her look good? HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF PERSONAL STYLISTS, JESUS?
Rant over. Whatever.
PS: Everybody knows you're not supposed to have tight up-dos for a party. What century do you live in?
The following review will probably hurt someone's feelings or turn people off. There are books that are ready to be published, and there are books that aren't, and this one is definitely the second.
Mistakes/Incoherency:
The book was full of typos, grammatical and formatting errors that could have easily been fixed if someone had read over it. They were so glaring, some of them wouldn't have even necessitated an editor. Or a beta. Some things were very poorly thought out. For example, the following is all I know about Lucas' apartment: It's on the 14th floor, you get in with a keycard and a code, only 13 people have ever been allowed in, there's a mosaic on the entrance room's floor, it has a great view, Lucas has this cool design on his room's ceiling, the spare room has an en-suite bathroom, there's a kitchen and apparently there is a lot of glass separating rooms.
The spatial outline of this place doesn't make any sense. In the Zarah-Lucas-Bridget scene, Isobel couldn't have possibly seen everyone's reactions so easily if she was in another room. It seriously made no sense. And also, if Isobel can overhear a conversation when her door is locked, I don't want to know how thick the walls are. You'd think that if the building had fancy parking they'd have had thicker walls.
Narrative/Voice/Mechanics:
See, the thing I've noticed about Fictionpress is that there are some very good writers, but so many of them seem to think that the proper way to write a cliche is to take all the drama away from a story and make it "realistic." This is self-defeating, of course, because they all end with the characters getting their happily ever afters. (To be fair, this approach, when in the hands of a pro, takes Rihanna's fingernails and stabs them through your heart.) It seemed to be going for realistic at first, but then all of a sudden Lucas was in love with Isobel, and there was a lot of guilt everyone had to sort out. Pretty much everything that happened here was resolved in an anticlimactic fashion in order to keep things "realistic," but this also sucked the fun out of the story. To help make up for it, the narrative is very funny at the starts, and I think it keeps in the same vein for the rest of the book, but once you realise what's happening, I think you stop enjoying it. Making the narrative funny-ish doesn't take away from the fact that the characters are flat, sullen and only occasionally funny through sheer absurdity of circumstance. I think the only character who bothered to crack a joke was Mark. In short: the snappy narrative didn't make up for bland characters.
There were instances when characters would say stuff equivalent to,
"Hey man, are you seriously telling me that you haven't told Isobel about that thing?"
"What? Ohhh, you mean that thing where we're not telling Isobel about how the paparazzi are calling her fat and dumb, and about how yesterday this particularly bad article came out and I'm really upset right now?"
"That thing, yeah."
If you're info-dumping, make it unapologetic, at least, because there's no such thing as a subtle info dump. At least unapologetic makes it classy.
Also, Lucas and Isobel sounded exactly the same, they had the same sense of non-humor, etc. Their introspections didn't flow smoothly and it's like I could hear the author telling me to close my eyes and ignore how the characters were stumbling over their words.
Ending: WHAT THE FUCK?
Why exactly would you end it with Tarqin? Yes, I liked the kid (I felt like the Lucas-Mr. Walker angle and Tarquin's protectiveness of Isobel wasn't played up enough, btw). But was it really necessary to make him narrate the epilogue? Really? And to tell us that Lucas got injured and now he's pulling out of the game? And that to top everything off, that the press never let up on Isobel, and that Lucas and Isobel have been taking abuse from the media for ten years and they are in no hurry to throw around their weight and fight back, maybe get some people fired?
One thing that bothered me throughout the story was how powerless these supposedly rich and influential people were. How come Isobel didn't get a super makeover? Contrary to popular belief, most celebrities aren't beautiful because they are genetically blessed (though some are, period), but because they have the time and the money to spend on their faces; or they have the money to pay someone else to worry about it. Why wasn't Isobel placed in a diet-exercise regimen? Why was her only help Gary's wife, who tried to fit her into a dress that didn't make her look good? HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF PERSONAL STYLISTS, JESUS?
Rant over. Whatever.
PS: Everybody knows you're not supposed to have tight up-dos for a party. What century do you live in?
March 26, 2014
I've known about this story years ago, and I still can't get over how great it is! I would always re-read it every few months and it never fails to envoke the same feelings as when I first read it. I love how Isobel and Lucas developed individually and became together! I love how each character was established and how they play into the lives of the main love interest. I'm a bit redundant, but I don't know how to stress how much I love this story, and how great I think the plot is, and how true-to-life the characters seem to appear. I recommend thus story for all to read. You won't be disappointed! The quality of writing is perfect, the author made the plot her own, and it's overall a fantastic read!
July 30, 2020
I can't even—
March 25, 2019
Following the reading of So Much to Learn, I decided to continue reading the books of Jessie L. Star, books I haven't read in a while, but that I still find they're super cute.
Private Lives, Public Property introduced me to the slow-burn romance type of stories I love, and this was the first "sport" romance I read... totally preparing me for The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, which is easily one of my favorite stories.
The book starts with Isobel and Lucas being paired together by force into a relationship none of them wants. Of course this is a cliché story, but don't worry, it still manages to give a few twists and turns, and frankly, is so cute that you don't care.
Private Lives, Public Property introduced me to the slow-burn romance type of stories I love, and this was the first "sport" romance I read... totally preparing me for The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, which is easily one of my favorite stories.
The book starts with Isobel and Lucas being paired together by force into a relationship none of them wants. Of course this is a cliché story, but don't worry, it still manages to give a few twists and turns, and frankly, is so cute that you don't care.
September 5, 2015
What can I say about this book? Entertaining, funny, real characters, and a fun read pretty much fits this book. This was the second book I read by this author and it did disappoint! I read this on fictionpress and simply could not put it down. It's amazing that this is a self-published author because this is so much better than all of the so-called "best books of the year" and "bestsellers." I normally don't read books that are heavily surrounded by sports, but the idea of star and a normal gal had me hooked. One of my favourite reads by this author-The Good Doer being my all time favourite!
May 9, 2016
I love this book since the first time I read it in Fictionpress. In reality, it is one of my favorite stories. Every time I read this, I can still feel the love the words signify. I don't know how many times I've read this book. But what makes this book special, even though I've read this countless of times, I can still feel my heart bursting with joy, I can still smile at the characters' antics and I can still feel the butterflies and all. Lastly, for future readers, I know we all vary in opinions but I highly recommend this to those who fancy light, fluffy and gooey stuff.
February 26, 2014
So, I just checked fictionpress and saw that the story had been removed from fps and is now available on amazon.
I am so happy knowing that Jesse had finally made it to a book! I was reading PLPP when it was still fps, well it was a long time ago. But I still love Isobel until now. She's a great writer. She made me fall in love with her characters. Plus she knows everything about football! Whoo! I'd love to read another story of her. Can't wait for her new project :) x
I am so happy knowing that Jesse had finally made it to a book! I was reading PLPP when it was still fps, well it was a long time ago. But I still love Isobel until now. She's a great writer. She made me fall in love with her characters. Plus she knows everything about football! Whoo! I'd love to read another story of her. Can't wait for her new project :) x
June 21, 2014
I first read this story on FictionPress - it was one of the first stories I read on FictionPress too. I have always loved it and enjoyed reading it. I think Jessie L. Star creates such great characters and builds wonderful relationships between them. That, matched with a solid plot and witty narrative, I immediately thought that this could have been a published contemporary novel.
I'm really happy to see that Jessie has taken her stories a step further and I wish her all the success!
I'm really happy to see that Jessie has taken her stories a step further and I wish her all the success!
October 16, 2014
Love this book! This author is amazing! I'm going to have to read all of her books. I just really enjoy her writing style and love the quirkiness of the characters. By the time I'm done reading one of her books I feel like I actually know the characters. Only problem is when I'm reading a book she has written (this is the second one by her that I've read) I stay up wayy too late because I just can't put it down! But of course that's a good problem ;)
November 23, 2022
This is the first book I've read by Ms Star and it definitely won't be the last! I became so involved in Lucas and Isobel's story that I couldn't put the book down. Their relationship felt so real it was hard not to get taken away on the journey of their life together. The secondary cast was well written into the story and contributed greatly to it. I highly recommend this book.
February 13, 2024
I read this the first time when Jessie was publishing on fictionpress and I love it more every time I read it! It's a well known fact that I basically NEVER read contemporary romance, but I will always make an exception for this one. All of her work is COMPLETELY different from each other so I recommend checking out any of her books!
March 8, 2025
I confirm my 4 stars, I still love this story.
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I've read this when it was on Fictionpress and it's my favorite fanfiction of all time since.
Yes, there are a few things that weren't exactly my favorites, but probably the best thing for me was the I was picturing HIM reading this story ;)
----------------------------------
I've read this when it was on Fictionpress and it's my favorite fanfiction of all time since.
Yes, there are a few things that weren't exactly my favorites, but probably the best thing for me was the I was picturing HIM reading this story ;)
September 13, 2015
I can't emphasize enough how cute and amazing this book is - it's the type of story that makes you feel all giddy when reading it. I enjoyed every second of Isobel and Lucas' development from forced acquaintances to the sweetest couple on Earth. I will definitely be rereading it someday!
August 15, 2015
I remember reading this on Fictionpress and absolutely loved it! :)
June 3, 2016
Well written, cute romance. Pretty cheesy but not cringey. Well developed characters, slow burn, sweet ending.
November 10, 2016
Fake relationship trope! I can't help but love it. Such a fun, fluffy novel - exactly what I was looking for. Escapism romance in a contemporary setting done just right.
April 27, 2017
The story might me a bit trite but it was still well told. This kind of story brings you a sense of warm and fuzzy. It's humor and love scenes are meant to tug at your heartstrings. Overall, it's a strong repeating theme, but well written.
July 5, 2017
I, have mixed feelings about this.
I read it years (like 8-10) ago on Fictionpress.com and have always remembered it very fondly, so I was delighted when I saw that it's now available to purchase as an e-book.
Unfortunately, on a re-read although it's still very enjoyable, it wasn't quite as profound as I remembered.
I think there are a couple things at work. First, it reads very much like it was popped off FP, stripped of author's notes, and plopped into an e-book without further revisions or editing. I'm not sure how I'd have felt about significant revisions, but it could have handled a good copy edit. Just to fix typos, inconsistencies, etc.
Second, I didn't realize how much removal of author's notes would effect my reading experience. Primarily, Jessie used the notes to point out, emphasize, and flesh out specific things in a way that the text itself does not.
Here's where I admit something I haven't before, this story is where I learned about the concept of "Dignity of Risk". By writing this into her story, and then discussing in the author's notes why she had and what it was, Jessie made a love story into something deeper for me, something that pointed out the wrongness of all those other love stories that seem to suggest there is something romantic about not allowing the people we love to own their own lives, choices, and the consequences, good and bad, that result. Reading it again I kept anticipating that bit but I found that without the author's note pointing it out, it was all too easy to gloss over that bit. That in our rush as readers to see Isobel and Lucas united in the end we might miss the significance of what Lucas had to learn to get there. It wasn't the same.
Finally, I've simply read, learned, and lived more now and so there were a few things that rubbed me a bit wrong that previously hadn't. In my previous reading I had thought Ms. Star remarkably even handed in her portrayal of Bridget but on this read through I saw that the narrative, although purporting not to judge her, in some ways still does. It reads as my own internal narrative might, although I know I have a tendency to too much judgement sometimes. "We love you Bridget, but we are also judging your life choices and finding them wanting." I would have liked perhaps Bridget to have had the chance for the narrative to recognize her own view of her life even if Lucas and Isobel could never quite understand it.
Anyway, all of that to say, I have a lot of mixed feelings about having re-read this. I might still recommend it, but now with caveats rather than whole-heartedly.
I read it years (like 8-10) ago on Fictionpress.com and have always remembered it very fondly, so I was delighted when I saw that it's now available to purchase as an e-book.
Unfortunately, on a re-read although it's still very enjoyable, it wasn't quite as profound as I remembered.
I think there are a couple things at work. First, it reads very much like it was popped off FP, stripped of author's notes, and plopped into an e-book without further revisions or editing. I'm not sure how I'd have felt about significant revisions, but it could have handled a good copy edit. Just to fix typos, inconsistencies, etc.
Second, I didn't realize how much removal of author's notes would effect my reading experience. Primarily, Jessie used the notes to point out, emphasize, and flesh out specific things in a way that the text itself does not.
Here's where I admit something I haven't before, this story is where I learned about the concept of "Dignity of Risk". By writing this into her story, and then discussing in the author's notes why she had and what it was, Jessie made a love story into something deeper for me, something that pointed out the wrongness of all those other love stories that seem to suggest there is something romantic about not allowing the people we love to own their own lives, choices, and the consequences, good and bad, that result. Reading it again I kept anticipating that bit but I found that without the author's note pointing it out, it was all too easy to gloss over that bit. That in our rush as readers to see Isobel and Lucas united in the end we might miss the significance of what Lucas had to learn to get there. It wasn't the same.
Finally, I've simply read, learned, and lived more now and so there were a few things that rubbed me a bit wrong that previously hadn't. In my previous reading I had thought Ms. Star remarkably even handed in her portrayal of Bridget but on this read through I saw that the narrative, although purporting not to judge her, in some ways still does. It reads as my own internal narrative might, although I know I have a tendency to too much judgement sometimes. "We love you Bridget, but we are also judging your life choices and finding them wanting." I would have liked perhaps Bridget to have had the chance for the narrative to recognize her own view of her life even if Lucas and Isobel could never quite understand it.
Anyway, all of that to say, I have a lot of mixed feelings about having re-read this. I might still recommend it, but now with caveats rather than whole-heartedly.
July 23, 2018
Let's get it out there: this book has a lot of problems. There are grammar and spelling mistakes littered all over the place...
...however, it's got a special place in my heart.
I read it for the first time back when it was being released chapter by chapter on fictionpress. I remember leaving reviews on each of the chapter, and being enamoured with the imagery of Isabelle's dress puddling around her. When I realised that Jessie had self-published the book, I decided that I wanted to revisit the story.
It's the story of a young woman who gets caught up in a fake romance with a famous football player and sees her life become a whirlwind of publicity stunts. To be fair, it's a light piece of fluff, and as the reader you shouldn't stop to analyse it too closely. There are some choices that are questionable (in particular the PoV choice for the epilogue).
Jessie does a very good job of pulling the reader along with all the emotions that run amock throughout the story. Isabelle is a relatable character; someone who really needs to find her own feet as she navigates a world she never expected to find herself in.
As far as I can tell, the story is still in exactly the same state as it was when it was published on fictionpress. Years ago the story appealed to teenage me, and apparently all these years later it still appeals to adult me.
...however, it's got a special place in my heart.
I read it for the first time back when it was being released chapter by chapter on fictionpress. I remember leaving reviews on each of the chapter, and being enamoured with the imagery of Isabelle's dress puddling around her. When I realised that Jessie had self-published the book, I decided that I wanted to revisit the story.
It's the story of a young woman who gets caught up in a fake romance with a famous football player and sees her life become a whirlwind of publicity stunts. To be fair, it's a light piece of fluff, and as the reader you shouldn't stop to analyse it too closely. There are some choices that are questionable (in particular the PoV choice for the epilogue).
Jessie does a very good job of pulling the reader along with all the emotions that run amock throughout the story. Isabelle is a relatable character; someone who really needs to find her own feet as she navigates a world she never expected to find herself in.
As far as I can tell, the story is still in exactly the same state as it was when it was published on fictionpress. Years ago the story appealed to teenage me, and apparently all these years later it still appeals to adult me.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews