RATING: 2 stars to Signed ★ ★
“You’d be a fool not to take her on."
So, I'm disappointed again. An unpopular opinion at your service for a book I desperately wanted to love but didn't. Characters I wanted to love but also didn't. But first some blurb details. 18-year-old James Rynn, leading Hollywood actress has been out of the spotlight for a fair few months after a raw break-up from her childhood co-star and boyfriend of 5 five years. She’s used to the spotlight. She’s used to stardom and scrutiny. But she’s never been under it as harshly as she is now, newly single and publicly humiliated by her recent ex. Still in pain but always striding on with a brave face, even in the face of humiliation. Showing her face for the first time since the break-up in a killer dress and a fake smile has her meeting handsome industry professional Brett Young, saving her from a fall, but whether he might soften her fall in other ways remains to be seen.
After spending a sumptuous erotic night together, Brett leaves to fly home to Miami where he runs his own agency with his three best friends and business partners. Brett is wildly attracted to the young actress, and she’s just as taken with him, but when James’s currently crumbling life spins further from her sway and out of her hands, she finds herself distraught, distressed and devastated when a proverbial spanner ruptures the seams of her circumstances. Twisting it, unraveling it and shredding it to pieces, her reputation's in trouble. Big trouble. Feeling crushed under the industry’s sentencing grip, the subject of mortification and violation, James has to suffer the consequences of living in the spotlight. Reaching an unexpected low with her head held in shame, her littered name in dregs and the world judging her. If she wasn’t a pinnacle of speculation before, the world is now ruthlessly passing judgment on James Rynn. After this latest scandal leaves not just a mark on her drowning career but one on her dignity, James is left alone and Brett nowhere to be found. My only wish is that he'd have actually left her alone.
I can see why Signed by Marni Mann is a fan favourite. It does have an allure. I loved the sharp, shapely writing style. The study felt electric and the unexpected change of pace and placement as the story's conflict takes place very early on with both the romance and the scandalous plot unfolding was a draw. The theme itself of privacy and violation was great representation. I'm always intrigued by representation. It would have worked, if the heroine expressed the necessary traits in personality that supported her argument and didn't publicise her as someone without a legitimate reason to stand up for herself. This heroine needed self love, not to be monopolised by the next man in line who was interested in her (I look at you Brett). The story evolves from there as we watch James - with the help of Brett’s agency - build herself and her career back up in a case of image reform. Even though this book isn’t a suspense, it ignited with a sense of anticipation because I did star my morning thinking about what I read. It's seductive, teasing, a bit dramatic, engaging and very readable. What I didn't particularly like was the problematic romance.
I gave this two stars because the read itself was compelling and the story comes bearing intrigue, but I would have given this a solid four star - maybe more - if I hadn’t come across some choice character decisions and content choices that just didn’t sit well with me. I'm averse to sexual manipulation and Brett seems to rely on it like a helping hand. He's a character with a strong presence. Every time I read him in a scene I felt his masculine energy. There’s no question as to the type of man he is - authoritative, firm, very alpha and assertive. He’s hardcore in business but he failed to display anything more than that. Especially within the relationship. If he had I would have favoured him more than I did. The development was sorely absent. As it was Brett and James have a strong sexual connection, but that's never all it takes to make and establish a love connection what. I wish she understood that. I wish she maintained agency and channeled her energy into being what she needed to be for herself, not readily accepting everything he tossed at her. What Brett (for me) neglected to offer James was emotional intimacy and an emotional connection. He was mostly unappealing. It was mostly him wanted to pleasure-seek his way into her favour, constantly. And her giving in to it without thought. Sex was Brett’s standard, predominant language - he needed to learn another language.
James is modest, grounded, passionately motivated with an ample-sized heart - very relatable. She has some lovely traits but they're overshadowed by other traits. I did feel for her but it's easy to lose respect for her even though I wanted to champion her. I was proud of her come the end because all she needed was the opportunity for someone to give her talent a chance despite the personal mess she was in. But she desperately needs boundaries and a solid helping of self-worth. One thing i really struggle with when reading romance is when either protagonist fails to portray their value as a potential love interest. They have to show their worth, and we have to feel it. Brett didn't show it, he was very archetypical. I preferred his heroine but my opinion of her regressed every time she had the opportunity to call him out on his behaviour and didn't. I struggle with female leads that always give in with a towel drop, lets herself weaken through seduction when the man in question doesn’t deserve her attention or has done something worthy of apology, and she doesn't collect the apology. He literally ghosted her when he thought she'd betrayed him and when they meet in person again, she lets him freely have her body. Just. Like. That. I don't even think James knows where her agency is and she lacked that kind of self-respect. At times I wondered how often she’d keep forgiving him. Brett was there for James professionally but not enough personally. Her situation considered, she should have been receiving emotional support, and Brett ticked none of those boxes. If he is emotionally present, it’s only at the end. To be an adequate hero, one has to assume the role something other than just the career-rescuer.
It could very well be that these intimacies are formed off-page during the short time lapses, which is perhaps where the problem lies. It's off-page but would it be such a problem to switch some of the many smut scenes out with something more meaningful? There was a scene for example when Brett and James have a celebratory dinner and he talks briefly about his college years - I appreciated this part because this was the kind of non-sexual intimate interaction I was waiting for, to get to know more about Brett, but unfortunately that’s all we really get. He doesn't seem capable of much more. Just judges the heroine without question, bends her over his desk after hating her, says cruel things and worms his way in through seduction. Funnily enough, I didn't actually mind the age-gap element, though it exists to emphasise an important memento: that an older man doesn't always know better. And an older man doesn't always mean a better man. I parted with this feeling really disappointed with the outcome. Marni Mann does admittedly present a touch of everything: romance, passion, conflict, angst, intrigue, drama, scandal and a bit of the forbidden. I liked the twists, the ample plot with life drama. Signedhas just a dash of mystery coiled around James’s ascent to bigger and better things as she struggles in the midst of personal disaster and professional rehabilitation. Acting is her passion and her calling. As she encounters a loathsome rival, gossip and adversity as viral stories circulate the channels of Hollywood’s milieu, this is a story of sizzling passion, heartache, public catastrophe and worthwhile success after dreadful defeat.
2 stars for its plot and development but with poor performance with the romance, relationship exploitation and poor character choices that grated along many nerve endings I couldn’t give this much more than that.
“I realise my actions that night weren’t necessarily appropriate, but it doesn’t matter who you are; we all deserve the right to privacy."
Trigger Warnings:
This book has a lot of adult content including very descriptive sex scenes and erotic, steamy content. Also contains swearing.