What do you think?
Rate this book
Not in Hollywood #1
Not Famous in Hollywood
There are some mornings when you really should make the time to stop for coffee. When Trudie Eyre came to Hollywood as personal assistant for the famous and indulged, she expected to see wealth, glamour and maybe a little crazy. What she did not expect was to be wedged in a doggie door, trying to rescue America’s Sweetheart from a potentially career destroying booty call with Hollywood’s Sexiest Man Alive. Finding the dead body of Hollywood’s favorite bad boy slumped in a shower did not feature in the job description either. Blackmailed by the police for her help, Trudie must navigate the world of the famous and not so famous, while keeping her distance from her gorgeous fake undercover cop boyfriend, before she becomes the next target.
165 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 19, 2015
123 people are currently reading
727 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
February 13, 2016
This book was short enough that the issues I had with it didn't have time to fully irritate me, and I think most of what I didn't like could have been fixed by hiring an editor. The pacing was good and I liked the love interest, but there were too many other flaws.
Firstly, the writing needed some help. There were probably about three commas in the entire novel. It would seem that the author feels like a quotation mark serves as adequate punctuation for the end of each line of dialogue. Put a comma before the quotation mark!
Should be: "He did it," I said.
Not: "He did it" I said.
Between that and some odd conjugational errors the writing was quite distracting.
The main character was annoyed at everyone and everything from page one, which made it very hard to feel much for her. I was looking for character development, and I felt like the author did try to accomplish this through exposition. However, I found these sections felt more like info dumps meant to make the character more relatable rather than naturally occurring conversations.
Overall I think the story has a good foundation, I only wish there had been an editor (or a different one) to fix up the errors.
Firstly, the writing needed some help. There were probably about three commas in the entire novel. It would seem that the author feels like a quotation mark serves as adequate punctuation for the end of each line of dialogue. Put a comma before the quotation mark!
Should be: "He did it," I said.
Not: "He did it" I said.
Between that and some odd conjugational errors the writing was quite distracting.
The main character was annoyed at everyone and everything from page one, which made it very hard to feel much for her. I was looking for character development, and I felt like the author did try to accomplish this through exposition. However, I found these sections felt more like info dumps meant to make the character more relatable rather than naturally occurring conversations.
Overall I think the story has a good foundation, I only wish there had been an editor (or a different one) to fix up the errors.
October 28, 2017
I've been working through my Kindle TBR and have been finding some good surprises. This is one of them. It had a good mystery, the story flowed very well, and it was entertaining. I quite liked the MC and her cohorts: Trudie was steady and had a big heart, her landlady Miss Betsy was a hoot, her love interest was a very personable detective, and her friends were loyal and fun to be around. The downer was the lack of good editing; the need for more commas plus some awkward sentence structure was rather off-putting. Due to this my rating may have hovered at 3.5 if partial stars were possible, but I feel this definitely deserved more than a 3. Have already added the next one to the wish list.
October 7, 2018
Super fun and entertaining chick lit cosy crime. Can't wait to read the next one.
October 3, 2017
Written in the first person point of view, Not Famous in Hollywood by Leonie Gant is a fictional, beautifully crafted story with a dash of crime and suspense; falling under the other fiction genre.
Trudie Eyre works as a personal assistant for a typical Hollywood star; self-centered and over-indulged Eleanor Channing. She soon finds herself spun into a scandalous web of celebrity infidelity and murder. To make matters worse, she is blackmailed into helping the police which thrusts her under the highly-present radar of Detective ‘Hottie’ Jake Griffin, who functions as her fake boyfriend to gain access and better understanding of the Hollywood circle. Things quickly spiral out of control when compromising photos photographed by a teenage boy surfaces with sufficient motive for murder and damage control. The story is far from over. In fact, it ended on an ever-so-slight cliffhanger, but fortunately, the follow-up books in the series are present and available for consumption!
This is a very entertaining tale of love, self-sacrificing spirit and the value of true friendship. At the end of the day, Trudie’s lovely personality and strength of character endeared her to her friends who turned up for her during the most trying time of her life. There were a handful of grammatical errors, though, like comma splices, the absence of hyphens in certain expressions, the tendency to repeat thought patterns and ideas, and boring use of dialogue words. In fact, there were occasions of misuse of punctuation marks in relation to a speech. For example, when Trudie dials 911 and got connected, she started yelling into the phone. “Someone’s shooting at us.” The period should have been replaced with an exclamation mark to convey the emotions behind yelling. Nevertheless, the errors weren’t distracting enough to interrupt my flow with the story. Indeed, the book was a funny, light-heart read, laced with subtle hints of romance, thus proving to be well suited for the title/setting of the story. I would give it a 4. 5 out of 5 stars if I could. Recommended to all who love a quick lounging read.
Trudie Eyre works as a personal assistant for a typical Hollywood star; self-centered and over-indulged Eleanor Channing. She soon finds herself spun into a scandalous web of celebrity infidelity and murder. To make matters worse, she is blackmailed into helping the police which thrusts her under the highly-present radar of Detective ‘Hottie’ Jake Griffin, who functions as her fake boyfriend to gain access and better understanding of the Hollywood circle. Things quickly spiral out of control when compromising photos photographed by a teenage boy surfaces with sufficient motive for murder and damage control. The story is far from over. In fact, it ended on an ever-so-slight cliffhanger, but fortunately, the follow-up books in the series are present and available for consumption!
This is a very entertaining tale of love, self-sacrificing spirit and the value of true friendship. At the end of the day, Trudie’s lovely personality and strength of character endeared her to her friends who turned up for her during the most trying time of her life. There were a handful of grammatical errors, though, like comma splices, the absence of hyphens in certain expressions, the tendency to repeat thought patterns and ideas, and boring use of dialogue words. In fact, there were occasions of misuse of punctuation marks in relation to a speech. For example, when Trudie dials 911 and got connected, she started yelling into the phone. “Someone’s shooting at us.” The period should have been replaced with an exclamation mark to convey the emotions behind yelling. Nevertheless, the errors weren’t distracting enough to interrupt my flow with the story. Indeed, the book was a funny, light-heart read, laced with subtle hints of romance, thus proving to be well suited for the title/setting of the story. I would give it a 4. 5 out of 5 stars if I could. Recommended to all who love a quick lounging read.
August 11, 2023
This was a freebie intro to the series and it was a decent idea for an amateur sleuth. It gets creativity points for having a different sort of sleuth instead of yet another book store owner or cook. Trudie is an Australian young lady who was working as a nanny and got selected by a former model turned business woman who finds assistants for celebrities. She's currently working for an actress who is a nightmare to work for. When the actress gets caught in the love shack of a handsome star who was engaged to the daughter of a very important man in the movie business only to have him die mysteriously.
Detective Hottie (no lie they refer to him like this) for whatever reason decides to blackmail Trudie into helping him get access to the stars and their parties (instead of just asking her for help first and then going to the we'll deport you blackmail when she says no, this truly irritated me.
Trudie is a fairly intelligent woman though makes one truly bone headed move but for a good reason. Without spoiling the reason, we can leave it at it allows her to do something very good for a kid in a bad place.
The mystery is solid enough. I loved her next door neighbor, the elderly Miss Betsy, former stunt woman. Her I'd like to see more of. There is a rushed romance in this with detective hottie. Rather wished it had been spaced out between books but over all it was a fun read.
Detective Hottie (no lie they refer to him like this) for whatever reason decides to blackmail Trudie into helping him get access to the stars and their parties (instead of just asking her for help first and then going to the we'll deport you blackmail when she says no, this truly irritated me.
Trudie is a fairly intelligent woman though makes one truly bone headed move but for a good reason. Without spoiling the reason, we can leave it at it allows her to do something very good for a kid in a bad place.
The mystery is solid enough. I loved her next door neighbor, the elderly Miss Betsy, former stunt woman. Her I'd like to see more of. There is a rushed romance in this with detective hottie. Rather wished it had been spaced out between books but over all it was a fun read.
January 23, 2018
P.A. to the stars
Trudy had a job that most people would envy. Being a personal assistant to a movie star sounds like the job of a lifetime, but in reality it was a hard way to earn a living. Especially when your client ends up with a dead man in the shower and is a selfish monster. Trying to control her client and find out who killed the boyfriend brings her face to face with a drug gang and a murderer. Good read!
Trudy had a job that most people would envy. Being a personal assistant to a movie star sounds like the job of a lifetime, but in reality it was a hard way to earn a living. Especially when your client ends up with a dead man in the shower and is a selfish monster. Trying to control her client and find out who killed the boyfriend brings her face to face with a drug gang and a murderer. Good read!
June 19, 2018
***** THE ONLY Main in a cozy mystery in the history of all the cozies I have ever read that ACTUALLY HAD A REAL REASON to be involved in the investigation!!!!!!*********
I was really into this one. It was different from the cozies I've ever read.
I really liked the main character, the poor girl whose mom named her "Gertrude" of all names while she was still in pain and miserable.
The crime/mystery wasn't at times all fun silly games like it can sometimes be in these books.
I also didn't think the "typical cozy love interest" was toooooo forced.
AND I did cry at the end so that was REALLY different from the other times I read cozies.
I was really into this one. It was different from the cozies I've ever read.
I really liked the main character, the poor girl whose mom named her "Gertrude" of all names while she was still in pain and miserable.
The crime/mystery wasn't at times all fun silly games like it can sometimes be in these books.
I also didn't think the "typical cozy love interest" was toooooo forced.
AND I did cry at the end so that was REALLY different from the other times I read cozies.
June 27, 2018
You know those books that cause you to lose track of time? This is one of those books! The main character manages to be normal, yet extremely interesting. Supporting characters were well developed and the plot well thought out.
My only complaint( which isn’t really a complaint) is every time I saw the name Jennifer Saunders, the Absolutely Fabulous theme song ran through my head.
My only complaint( which isn’t really a complaint) is every time I saw the name Jennifer Saunders, the Absolutely Fabulous theme song ran through my head.
August 31, 2017
Funny, with warm characters
This is a well-developed story, and warm characters keep this book interesting. The main character, Trudy, is mannered and kind, but tough as titanium when necessary.
This is a well-developed story, and warm characters keep this book interesting. The main character, Trudy, is mannered and kind, but tough as titanium when necessary.
February 24, 2019
Keeps you thinking!
I love the idea of the “family” teamwork. The characters compliment one another and solves the case. The constant evolving of the main character tells us a story.
I love the idea of the “family” teamwork. The characters compliment one another and solves the case. The constant evolving of the main character tells us a story.
May 27, 2019
Hilarious and Priceless
This story was so much fun! I loved Trudie and her story. It was a delight to read, and I can’t wait to find book 2. Also loved Crystal, Griffin and Sean. Trudie though is the funniest and most down to earth heroine. Awesome story!
This story was so much fun! I loved Trudie and her story. It was a delight to read, and I can’t wait to find book 2. Also loved Crystal, Griffin and Sean. Trudie though is the funniest and most down to earth heroine. Awesome story!
Read
July 11, 2021A fun story, easily understood writing style
Compared to many novels, I found the writinhg style of Leonie Gant to be absolutely clear and understandable. I enjoyed this story very much. Recommended.
Compared to many novels, I found the writinhg style of Leonie Gant to be absolutely clear and understandable. I enjoyed this story very much. Recommended.
February 26, 2018
Fantastic with moments of fun. Loved this story. Entertaining and fun. If you want to ready a mystery and have a few chuckles along the way, this is the book.
August 6, 2018
Quirky and fun. An unexpected treat. Can’t wait to read more from this series. 4 / 5
March 25, 2019
Loved this book! Laugh out loud funny.
September 5, 2019
A humorous look at behind the Hollywood scene as a personel assistant and a detective have to solve a murder.
October 5, 2019
Entertaining
Excellent . It had places you smiles, places you were surprised & I was really entertaining. Glad I read it & ready for more of her books.
Excellent . It had places you smiles, places you were surprised & I was really entertaining. Glad I read it & ready for more of her books.
January 14, 2020
This was a great book...humorous, is so humerous, and really fun to read.
Read
January 31, 2021The book is definitely a binge. At one point the plot and motive slows down a bit but that's when the romance kicks hence making it even more interesting.
March 11, 2023
This was a pretty good book. It could ramble on sometimes, but I thought the pacing was decent. I liked the characters and the plot was fun.
December 2, 2015
Trudie Eyre is not envied by many people for her job as PA to the Hollywood actress Eleanor Channing - at least not those who had the "pleasure" to get to know the actress better because she really is one of the most unpleasant people to work for. Her job is to keep Eleanor out of trouble and this is why she is crawling through a doggie door in the early morning on her day off to help her boss out - who went to bed with her former boyfriend, Hollywood's hottest actor Ryan Hendricks who is now engaged to the daughter of an important studio head. When Trudie shows up at Ryan's place, Ryan lies dead in the shower and a hysterical Eleanor is in his bed. As the police is stonewalled by lawyers and other people, they take the person with the easiest access to firsthand knowledge: Trudie!
After an incident in a SPA they blackmail Trudie into helping her by setting the hot homicide detective up as her fake boyfriend to give him access to planet Hollywood. If her feelings weren't so badly hurt by the blackmail, Trudie had to admit that Detective Jake Griffin was one yummy piece of man. While trying to act as the loving girlfriend and finding out who killed Ryan, Trudie soon finds herself in trouble..
What a lovely book! It was recommended by a good friend of mine and I must say I greatly enjoyed the read. It was funny and exciting and I really loved Trudie. Well, you cannot NOT love her as she is a good girl who tries to do the right thing and takes care of her friends. She thinks she is quite a plain Jane but people more than one time beg to differ. And one of them is Detective Hottie, as he is named by Trudies friends. I did not like the blackmail but it seemed to me that he really cared for Trudie and most of the time I liked him. I very much enjoyed the characters of Miss Betsy and Sean and I really hope to get to know them better in the next books.
I already bought the next book in the series and I'm now looking forward reading it! Great book which get a huge thumbs up and a reading recommendation from my side.
After an incident in a SPA they blackmail Trudie into helping her by setting the hot homicide detective up as her fake boyfriend to give him access to planet Hollywood. If her feelings weren't so badly hurt by the blackmail, Trudie had to admit that Detective Jake Griffin was one yummy piece of man. While trying to act as the loving girlfriend and finding out who killed Ryan, Trudie soon finds herself in trouble..
What a lovely book! It was recommended by a good friend of mine and I must say I greatly enjoyed the read. It was funny and exciting and I really loved Trudie. Well, you cannot NOT love her as she is a good girl who tries to do the right thing and takes care of her friends. She thinks she is quite a plain Jane but people more than one time beg to differ. And one of them is Detective Hottie, as he is named by Trudies friends. I did not like the blackmail but it seemed to me that he really cared for Trudie and most of the time I liked him. I very much enjoyed the characters of Miss Betsy and Sean and I really hope to get to know them better in the next books.
I already bought the next book in the series and I'm now looking forward reading it! Great book which get a huge thumbs up and a reading recommendation from my side.
February 2, 2016
At first, I thought this was a great book. Sure, not the most high-flown of premises, but reading chick lit is like that. Halfway through the book, however, it was as if Ms Gant ran out of editor.
No, really. The first half of the book was decently written, somewhat tightly edited, and enjoyable. The second half? I've read fanfiction much better. Grammar was the bare minimum I expected, especially after the first half, but in some places even the grammar was exceedingly questionable. Either Ms Gant only had an editor work on the first half of her book and submitted the second half minutes before the print deadline (meaning the editor couldn't take a look), or two people wrote this book and didn't think to have a third go through and edit it for a cohesive narrative voice.
Still, I liked the premise. I just wish the writing hadn't been such a huge disappointment.
I vacillated between two and three stars, but I've given three stars to better books, so two it is.
[ETA: Ah, this book is self-published. It makes sense now why the book seems only half edited.]
No, really. The first half of the book was decently written, somewhat tightly edited, and enjoyable. The second half? I've read fanfiction much better. Grammar was the bare minimum I expected, especially after the first half, but in some places even the grammar was exceedingly questionable. Either Ms Gant only had an editor work on the first half of her book and submitted the second half minutes before the print deadline (meaning the editor couldn't take a look), or two people wrote this book and didn't think to have a third go through and edit it for a cohesive narrative voice.
Still, I liked the premise. I just wish the writing hadn't been such a huge disappointment.
I vacillated between two and three stars, but I've given three stars to better books, so two it is.
[ETA: Ah, this book is self-published. It makes sense now why the book seems only half edited.]
May 26, 2015
I got Not Famous in Hollywood as a free download and frankly I think Leonie Gant is being way to generous giving this story away.
A PA in LA walks into a bedroom and finds her movie star client almost catatonic and the clients movie star lover dead in the shower.
The character of Trudie was really engaging and held the story together well. The supporting characters from Detective Griffin, Edwin and Crystal, Miss Betsy & Sean were well rounded, engaging and showed they will hopefully be around for the long haul.
My only problem, and I admit it is small, is grammar and punctuation. Several times I had to stop and re-read sentences to try and figure out where I was getting confused. But seriously, I wouldn't let that out you off. I'm off to buy her other books as soon as this review is complete.
Over all, Not Famous in Hollywood is a highly enjoyable Murder mystery romp, with a large amount of laugh-out-loud moments, and tension in all the right places.
A PA in LA walks into a bedroom and finds her movie star client almost catatonic and the clients movie star lover dead in the shower.
The character of Trudie was really engaging and held the story together well. The supporting characters from Detective Griffin, Edwin and Crystal, Miss Betsy & Sean were well rounded, engaging and showed they will hopefully be around for the long haul.
My only problem, and I admit it is small, is grammar and punctuation. Several times I had to stop and re-read sentences to try and figure out where I was getting confused. But seriously, I wouldn't let that out you off. I'm off to buy her other books as soon as this review is complete.
Over all, Not Famous in Hollywood is a highly enjoyable Murder mystery romp, with a large amount of laugh-out-loud moments, and tension in all the right places.
April 13, 2015
The Ugly side of the Beautiful People This is a cute, well written mystery. I am looking forward to reading the other books in this series. Trudie Eyre is a PA (Personal Assistant) for difficult Hollywood stars. On what should have been her first day off from work in four months, she instead finds herself wedged up to her hips in a doggie door trying to save her current boss from The Walk of Shame. And things just get worse when she has to fake date an LAPD detective to help find out who murdered the booty call. Trudie is the nice girl who always tries to do the right thing, and doesn't want to be deported or jailed.
June 1, 2015
Well, this was a surprise. Not Famous in Hollywood by Leonie Gant has been free for a while now and I picked it up a couple of weeks ago. Last night, before heading to bed I decided I needed an easy, cute book and I was hoping this was it. Let’s just say that I didn’t go to bed until hours after my bedtime.
I was immediately drawn into these characters. Trudie is a no-nonsense woman, who is in the business of “PR disaster prevention”. Seriously, laugh out loud funny and sweet. Trudie has a way of ending up in situations that are over the top and sometimes not believable. Although, I don’t live in L.A. and they could totally be believable there.
I was immediately drawn into these characters. Trudie is a no-nonsense woman, who is in the business of “PR disaster prevention”. Seriously, laugh out loud funny and sweet. Trudie has a way of ending up in situations that are over the top and sometimes not believable. Although, I don’t live in L.A. and they could totally be believable there.
April 16, 2015
I got this book for free and loved it enough to buy up the other two books in this series and read those within a day or two. I had never heard of the author or this series so I was excited to find a series that was so fun - great characters and great storyline. In fact, like many other fun mystery series, I was a little sad to finish the third book in the series since there is not a fourth one out yet. I would rate this as one of the top five fun mystery series. I hope the author continues with this series or releases another series. What a great find!
December 25, 2015
Not Famous in Hollywood is the first book by Leonie Gant that I have read. The characters in this book were introduced in a way that you felt as if you knew them. This book had everything that I enjoy in a book, a murder/mystery and humor. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. Leonie Gant is now one of the authors that I plan on reading more of.
I received a copy of Not Famous in Hollywood through a giveaway on Goodreads. I am giving an honest review. I truly enjoyed this book and would not hesitate to recommend this book to others.
I received a copy of Not Famous in Hollywood through a giveaway on Goodreads. I am giving an honest review. I truly enjoyed this book and would not hesitate to recommend this book to others.
October 25, 2016
I won a signed copy of this book through Goodread's Giveaways.
I really enjoyed this story. Trudie is hard-working, caring, funny, witty and finds herself in an impossible situation. She uses luck, her smarts and her sense of humor to help get herself out of the craziness.
Gant did a fantastic job of writing in a way that kept you turning the page and wanting more. I read this book in one sitting because I found myself wanting more. I was a little disappointed when the story was over because I had enjoyed it so much.
I look forward to reading more of Gant's novels.
I really enjoyed this story. Trudie is hard-working, caring, funny, witty and finds herself in an impossible situation. She uses luck, her smarts and her sense of humor to help get herself out of the craziness.
Gant did a fantastic job of writing in a way that kept you turning the page and wanting more. I read this book in one sitting because I found myself wanting more. I was a little disappointed when the story was over because I had enjoyed it so much.
I look forward to reading more of Gant's novels.
August 12, 2016
Great fun beach book
This is a really fun series - great beach reading with humor in all the right places. Trudie Eyre marches to the beat of a delightfully different drummer. Somewhat predictable but always entertaining without the gratuitous sex and foul language of so many romance mysteries.
This is a really fun series - great beach reading with humor in all the right places. Trudie Eyre marches to the beat of a delightfully different drummer. Somewhat predictable but always entertaining without the gratuitous sex and foul language of so many romance mysteries.
July 6, 2015
I downloaded this book for free from amazon.
It is one of the best books I ever got for free and I already bought the next one in the series :) I was hooked right from the beginning. The story is entertaining, funny and a good mystery too.
I will definitely add Leonie Gant to my favourite authors!
It is one of the best books I ever got for free and I already bought the next one in the series :) I was hooked right from the beginning. The story is entertaining, funny and a good mystery too.
I will definitely add Leonie Gant to my favourite authors!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews