Some Nerve: A Novel

by Jane Heller

Celebrity journalist Ann Roth has one last chance to prove herself. Unlike her colleagues at Famous — the L.A. magazine—Ann doesn't pick through people's garbage and would never pervert the truth. But her editor thinks she's too nice—and unless she does something drastic, he's going to replace her with a killer journalist who's more willing to get down and dirty to get a story. When airplane-phobic Ann's scheduled interview with actor Malcolm Goddard falls apart—after the surly, notoriously media-averse celeb insists he'll answer questions only while piloting his Cessna—she finds herself abruptly unemployed . . . and headed back to her tiny Missouri hometown to heal and regroup. As luck would have it, the great Malcolm shows up in little Middletown under an alias—a patient at the local hospital—and Ann recognizes a golden opportunity to reclaim her career . . . and score some payback in the process. First she'll volunteer at the hospital, then she'll befriend the laid-up screen star and secretly worm the story of a lifetime out of him. If she proves she's everything her editor wanted, she'll certainly get her job back. But how much is she willing to risk for her career? Her conscience? Her ethics? Her heart?

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Humor, Contemporary Romance, Adult, Womens Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Jane Heller, a New York native who recently moved from Santa Barbara, CA to New Preston, CT, is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 13 novels of romantic comedy, including "Name Dropping," "Lucky Stars," and "Best Enemies." Nine of Heller's novels have been optioned for film or television, and all of them have been translated in countries around the world. Her first book of nonfiction, "Confessions of a She-Fan: The Course of True Love with the New York Yankees," is a humorous look at her passion for baseball. Her book about caregiving, "You'd Better Not Die or I'll Kill You: A Caregiver's Survival Guide to Keeping You in Good Health and Good Spirits," combines Heller's personal essays about being the wife of a man with Crohn's disease and the daughter of a mother with dementia, plus interviews with other caregivers who deal with everything from autism to Alzheimer's and advice/tips from experts. "You'd Better Not Die" is upbeat and inspirational - a cheerful companion to the over 60 million caregivers in America. Heller's new novel, "Three Blonde Mice," a spinoff of her bestselling novel "Princess Charming," was published on August 2, 2016.

Reviews

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept going with this waaaaay past when I should have quit. It's pretty clear from the start that Heller writes for lighthearted amusement and that I wasn't connecting on that level, like, at all. I kept trying to take the characters seriously and that is a fatal mistake in a story where the author goes for the broadest possible target, whether it's a laugh, a sentiment, or an epiphany.

But what really killed me is that the middle of the story is almost good as Malcolm and Ann start to actually connect. Unfortunately, I became invested just as Heller gets so predictably clichéd that I bounced completely out of the story. It's not like you couldn't see it coming. I mean, why else have Ann write the stupid story even as she's falling for Malcolm? And then write an email to her old boss and leave it in her drafts folder while she contemplates whether she should betray Malcolm after all. Which was stupid enough on its own. But then having her so stupid as to tell the weasel Richard about it, including that it was all ready to go, and leave her laptop on and in his reach for 10 unsupervised minutes was a new level of stupid for the character and a new level of pathetic for the author to resort to just so she could manufacture a dark moment! And one I can't see Malcolm ever forgiving her for, either. So the manipulation is going to go on, obviously, because they have to get together, despite how stupid the author makes everybody on the way.

So what I'm saying is that Heller uses up an entire clearinghouse of contrived plot stupidity in the one book. And I'm so disgusted that I'm not even going to give this a second star for almost having a decent story for the middle bits I was enjoying. That whiplash going from almost-decent into stupidly contrived was just too painful.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had some funny moments, but the ending was a disappointment. Celeb journalist Ann Ross gets an impossible assignment to interview a star who hates the media. After he embarrasses her publicly, she loses her job and goes back to her small town, where said movie star ends up coming to her local hospital to hide out from media while getting healthcare. She volunteers there and ends up falling for him while trying to get the scoop...she also questions her career choice and finds out that the hospital is performing unnecessary hysterectimies to make money. Here is where the book gets disappointing... instead of becoming a reporter who exposes bad hospitals she decides to become a go between for celebs to meet sick patients..huh??? THAT is "giving back"? You never find out what happens to the patients either except that they file a class action suit. Ugh!!! A little more depth please.

[Esther Pew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. That’s my review. Eh. Didn’t really like it but didn’t hate it. I mean, I finished it though?

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute book but i gave it only 3* because i enjoyed everything but the main relationship between Malcolm and Ann. They just didnt seem to have chemistry at all and i could not imagine them as a couple. So the happy ever after seemed a bit forced to me- totally unrealistic... I think it would have made more sense had they not gotten back together, but remained on friendly working terms... I enjoyed the other aspects of the book (the dysfunctional family, the hospital cover-up, the volunteering, the stars of Hollywood...) much more than the romance between Ann and Malcolm. Because i did not view this novel as a romance, i did not think that the "hero and heroine" had to end up together at all costs... But i guess it was THAT kind of a book after all! ;))

Few more things I found annoying:

- Why does the author go into the whole issue of the hospital cover-up and its doctors acting/operating unethically and the mistreated woman filing a law-suit , only to leave it at that?! This was one of the most interesting aspects of the book, yet there was no resolution, whatsoever… Ann is supposed to be a journalist, with journalistic instincts, so isn’t she supposed to want to get to the bottom of the story?! She just leaves everything as is and runs back to LA! It makes you think that she is a “parasitic star chaser” after all, and only cares about Hollywood, not actual real-world issues.

- Why are the “matriarchs” in these novels always focusing on the “Jewishness”, i.e. grandma asking her “is he Jewish”??? In the chick-lits where the heroines are not Jewish, you never read about mothers/grandmothers asking “is he Christian!?!?! He better be Christian!” (or any other religion)…

[Ellisa Barr · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is pretty much a waste unless you are reading for the most shallow of entertainment purposes. The overall story was predictable, and there were a couple of major plot holes that never got resolved and annoyed me. The main character isn't particular sympathetic or like-able and I get bugged by books where people lie to each other, fall in love, don't 'fess up about the lie and then get exposed and fall apart until they make up. blah. Still, it was an okay book for what it is.

[Lora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I enjoyed this book purely from an escapist point of view, I was able to easily predict what was going to happen long before it did. Being able to so easily predict the ending almost made me not want to finish the book.

[Wanda Gibbons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a fun flaky read. Anne Roth is a real journalist searching for truth and not gossip or rumour in the Hollywood scene. She is nice but her boss wants ruthless. The do anything kind of reporter together interview. When she sets out to interview the elusive Michael Goddard she tries some stunts that backfire horribly. Well she learns that he knows how to play dirty too. She gets fired and heads back to her small town. Low and behold Goddard turns up there in the hospital for a procedure that he wants kept quiet. They meet. She messes it up but gets the interview. Her job back in Hollywood, same place he lives, is waiting for her. And the rest, fairly predictable. The entire novel is predictable but that makes it just a fluff read.

[Isebella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea. This book wasn't bad, but for my tastes it was just a generic love story that you can find in any other romance book or fanfiction story. I'm not a fan of the main character either. I found her very hypocritical and her character development was lacking.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5

[elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve had this on my bookshelf since highschool. It was $5 at Chapters. It was a cute, corny romance. 3.5 ⭐️

[Panja Mysy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, easy read. I enjoyed the fact that the romance came AFTER the main plot and the FMC and MMC both grew emotionally and changed as people. A bit cliché, but enjoyable!

[Lyn Ambrose · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an easy read with a few lessons for us all. 1. Things are never as bad as they seem. 2. Volunteering brings with it many unexpected rewards. 3. You never really know someone until you spend quality time with them. 4. Dishonesty does not pay. 5. A simple life is often the most fulfilling. 6. Movie stars are very different from their on-screen personas.

[Graceann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the Jane Heller I remember, and thank goodness! After reading the disappointing An Ex To Grind, I was worried that one of my favorite authors had lost her stuff, but this funny, engaging and surprisingly moving novel was a repudiation of my concerns.

Ann Roth is a celebrity journalist for "Famous" magazine, and she's been assigned the biggest "get" in contemporary Hollywood, Malcolm Goddard. He is a Hollywood bad boy, reclusive and deliberately difficult with all media, which he regards as parasitic. Ann loses her job because he will only answer her questions while he's up in his Cessna, and she's afraid to fly.

What follows is a regrouping, an intention to get revenge that turns into something very different, and a terrifically touching discussion of panic disorder and agoraphobia, both of which I am more familiar with than I'd care to be. I didn't know these topics would be a part of the story, and when they were introduced I was sure I would be offended because it's often that they placed in quotation marks, as if they are not real diseases and don't actually ruin lives. It was very different here, and I was profoundly grateful.

Jane Heller's wicked wit, sparkling prose and fun storytelling make a more-than-welcome return, and I couldn't turn the pages quickly enough to see what would happen next. I'm so glad to see the Jane I remember, and hope she never goes away again.

[Carol Spradling · Rating 4 out of 5]

SOME NERVE is a contemporary novel featuring Ann Roth. Honesty and integrity are not the tools for a celebrity journalist, and nice is not what her editor is looking for. When told to get a story on the most reclusive personality since Howard Hughes, Ann pulls out every creative trick in her arsenal. It isn't enough. She must face her paralyzing fear of heights. Physically unable to do so, she goes back to her magazine empty-handed. Fired, she returns home defeated. Taking on local fanfare of hair salon openings and the like, Ann is given a second chance when the man who cost her her job is admitted to the local hospital. Geared up, she is determined to get her job and her reputation back. With great minor characters and no sluggish areas, this book was very easy to get into. Ann had a great voice and personality that I found endearing. (I did find it jarring with the number of parentheses the author used.) I could feel the anxiety as Ann tried to overcome her fear, get the story, and prove herself. In the middle of the book, the story took a sharp turn, almost with a feeling of being a different book. Although we see growth and change in the character, the amount that was shown seemed out of place with the style of the story up to this point. There were a few believability issues that I struggled with, and I thought the ending was predictable. Overall, I'm glad I read it.

[Aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was a decent book... but I felt like there could/should have been a number of different books within the story, and each of these portions seemed a bit untold. Ann's time at the hospital was probably the most interesting to me- her interactions with each patient and how each individual could have opened her up a bit more as well as dealing with the disgruntled ones- and I would have enjoyed more details within it. Similarly, her family was quite funny with their constant banter. I wouldn't have minded hearing more about how her mother continued to overcome her phobias, as well as more about living with 3 other phobic women! And finally, it seemed like her relationship with Malcolm was undeveloped. Maybe it's because it was predictably going to end happily ever after with them that I was able to give in to their budding romance in the hospital with just minor narrations depicting it, but in retrospect I would have liked to actually witness more of Ann's thoughts as she was falling for him.

Still, like I said, it was a decent book. Light and easy to read, and went by pretty quickly. Enjoyable.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a cute little read. Ann Roth is a journalist for Famous, a gossip magazine that chases after the big movie stars. She is instructed by her boss that she has to get the "big get," Malcom Goddard. Malcom is the type of man that doesn't give interviews to the press. He feels they are parasites. He is a loner and doesn't trust any one. Ann is deathly afraid of flying. Malcom agrees to meet with Ann, but only if she does the interview on the plane while in flight. Ann panics and ends up losing her interview as well as her job. She heads back home to Middletown, Missouri wallowing in her bad luck. Malcom has a heart condition and ends up at the local hospital in Middletown, Missouri. Ann sees this as her chance to finally get the "big get" without him even knowing it. If you want a light read then this is the story for you. Yes, it has a happy ending. :-) Just what I like.

[JoAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ann Ross works for a magazine that deals with celebrities. Her boss insists that she get an interview with Malcolm Goddard. Malcolm hates the media. He calls them parasites. But Ann finds a way to him. But it blows up in her face, literally. Then she gets a chance to interview him but she has to go up in his plane. Ann hates flying. It is one of her phobias. She could not make herself get on the plane. She loses out on the interview and gets fired. So she goes home to Missouri.

Ann gets a volunteer position at the hospital when she learns that Malcolm is coming to have his heart checked out. What a small world. Ann decides to get even with him for everything he did to her in LA. But she gets something she does not bargain for!

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well written and very entertaining.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Def. chick lit. I loved it though. I thought the main character's revelations about her career and fulfillment were esp. interesting. A cute romance story. Predictable yes-- but also good. The main character is a gossip magazine writer who has always enjoyed bumping elbows with celebrities during the interview process. She hits a particularly hard bump in the road (pardon my cheesiness...couldn't help it) when she runs into famous actor Malcom. She loses her job over the fact that she can't get a story on him and goes back to her small hometown to recoup- only to discover that her former nemesis is recovering in the same hospital where she is volunteering as a candy striper. Of course she has to write a story, right?

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirty-year-old entertainment reporter Ann Roth is fired from her Hollywood job because she doesn't have the "killer instinct" necessary to get the interview of a reclusive movie star. When she learns that the star has secretly checked into her hometown Midwestern hospital with cardiac problems, Ann volunteers as a candy striper to get up close and personal with him in hopes of showing her former boss that she does have what it takes.

A funny, quirky, heartwarming story that hooks you in from the start. Highly recommend.

[bookster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ann works as an editor at Famous magazine she is too nice to get trashy information on stars which ends up costing her her job. She goes back to her hometown to get over this blow. She discovers the star who caused her to be fired is a patient in her local hospital. She volunteers there to get close to him and dig up some information so she can publish it and ger her job back. She starts to realize she is having feeling for this guy and begins to doubt her plan. This is a light read I finished it in one day. It is a nice beach read.

[Candy Liggett · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book it was so slow and didn't hold up my interest I didn't even finish it. It had a great concept a celebrity reporter has to get a big interview with Malcom Goddard who is tired of reporters and doesn't give interviews. She is supposed to get this big one or she will lose her job. This is such a slow pace I didn't even get to the part where she does lose her job. The main character Ann Roth is so boring I just didn't care what happened to these characters. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the racy cover, this is actually a really cute chick lit book. I was wanting a quick, light, but entertaining read and this satisfied that! The story is about a girl obsessed with celebrities. She writes for a big magazine and upon trying to get an unattainable actor to do an interview has to get very creative and ultimately learns a lot about herself and her life.

[Alena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a light, funny book with a bit more bite and sarcasm than the usual chick-lit novel. The plot is pretty ludicrous, but entertaining - a celebrity journalist moves back home after losing her job thanks to a reclusive movie star, runs into that very same movie star at the hospital where she starts volunteering, and shenanigans ensue.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, but not great. There were some good parts, and it moved quickly, but I did get frustrated with the formulaic way it was written. I like chick lit, and I know that means there is a lot of formula to it, but I do like a little ingenuity - you don't have to always follow the formula to the letter. It did make me want to go volunteer at a hospital, though!

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://charlotteswebofbooks.blogspot....


I picked up Some Nerve at the library because I saw it was basically set in Missouri and I was feeling a little homesick so I picked it up. Jane Heller is a fun author. Her books are brain candy for those of us who have been stuck on a diet of meat and potatoes.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heller has a breezy writing style, which I enjoy. This narrator is usually engaging, but at times irritating. The plot had a few surprises, which is always nice is a genre that is largely predictable. The presentation of phobias was an unusual plot point. The narrator mentioned that people who aren't phobic wouldn't understand the situation and, in my case, she was right.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Jane Heller's writing for years.

There were portions of the book that seemed to drag a little but the fun and lightness of the whole book made it go by faster. Overall, it's a quick read. Jane Heller has a wit about her writing that makes the mundane seems humorous. I appreciate that about her writing.

[Tressa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some Nerve was enjoyable, but I felt that there were secondary plots that could have been explored further. Ann, the primary character, was likeable even though I questioned some of her decisions. The other characters weren’t as developed as Ann, but were interesting in their own right. It would have been interesting to learn more about them.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, Jane hits a nice touch in our hearts for the underdog. The reporter is trying to get a story and finds a unique way: hospital volunteer in an out of way town. Of course, she does not recognize the ironic twist she walks right into. This is also worth reading and if you're like me I read it in 2 days.

[Marci M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Re-Read 14 years later and still loved it!**

4.5/5

I checked this book out from the library when I was browsing the Chick Lit they had and loved the cover. I read this within 24 hours and loved it. I thought it was such a cute story and cemented my love for Chick Lit. I want to buy this book to add to my bookshelf and I really want to read it years later.