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Beautiful People
A hilarious tale from Sunday Times Number 1 bestselling author Wendy Holden, set in the world of celebrity Fame, love and happiness. Can anyone have it all? Darcy's a struggling English-rose actress when The Call comes from LA. An Oscar-tastic director. A movie to make her famous. The hunkiest co-star in Hollywood. So why doesn't she want to go? Belle's a size-zero film star but she's in big, fat trouble. Hotter than the earth's core a year ago, she's now Tinseltown toast after her last film bombed. Can she get back to the big time? When the two women lock horns over men, movies and megadiets, there's more drama than even Hollywood can handle. And after a celebrity nanny, reluctant supermodel and passionate star chef enter the mix, things get seriously hot and spicy.
663 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
44 people are currently reading
610 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Holden
31 books425 followersWendy Holden grew up in Yorkshire, and studied English at Girton College, Cambridge. She worked in magazines for many years before joining Tatler's in 1997 as deputy editor, and later moved to the Mail on Sunday’s You magazine, which she left in 2000 to concentrate on writing. She regularly writes features for newspapers and magazines on a range of social, topical and lifestyle subjects and is also a television and radio contributor.
She has now published ten novels, Gallery Girl, Beautiful People, Bad Heir Day, Pastures Nouveaux, Fame Fatale, Azur Like It, The Wives of Bath, The School for Husbands, Filthy Rich, Farm Fatale, Gossip Hound, Simply Divine, all top 10 bestsellers.
Holden is married, and lives in England with her family.
She has now published ten novels, Gallery Girl, Beautiful People, Bad Heir Day, Pastures Nouveaux, Fame Fatale, Azur Like It, The Wives of Bath, The School for Husbands, Filthy Rich, Farm Fatale, Gossip Hound, Simply Divine, all top 10 bestsellers.
Holden is married, and lives in England with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
May 9, 2010
I wouldn't even begin to a do a detailed summary of "Beautiful People", because I want this review to be spoiler-free. But this story is about a handful of strangers all mixed together in some juicy Hollywood scandals. Some are already divas fully immersed in the Hollywood culture, others are reluctant newcomers to this dazzling world. There's never a dull moment in this one and I flew through all 400 pages!
There are so many characters and all of their lives become intertwined in the most unexplainable ways. It's like a soap opera and you never know who will be thrown together next.
I loved Emma, the nanny, and Orlando, the dreamy guy who wants to avoid the Hollywood spectacle even with agents hounding him. These characters were so down to earth and almost naive and innocent, they really helped to keep the book in perspective. I loved to hate Belle (and her equally evil chihuahua, Sugar) and Christian! They were so typical of the dark underside of Hollywood's most "beautiful people." Still, their escapades were fun to live vicariously through. I liked being able to indulge that scandalous side with Belle and Christian but still see characters more like myself in Emma and Orlando, and also Darcy and Marco.
Whenever there are so many varied characters there are bound to be some that are uninteresting. I wasn't a fan of the Hollywood agent or the model scout even in a 'love to hate them' way. They just didn't interest me at all.
This book is the perfect scandalous guilty pleasure. The lines are clearly drawn between the good characters and bad characters, so the outrageousness is nicely balanced out.
This book was provided for review by Sourcebooks.
reviewed for: http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com/
There are so many characters and all of their lives become intertwined in the most unexplainable ways. It's like a soap opera and you never know who will be thrown together next.
I loved Emma, the nanny, and Orlando, the dreamy guy who wants to avoid the Hollywood spectacle even with agents hounding him. These characters were so down to earth and almost naive and innocent, they really helped to keep the book in perspective. I loved to hate Belle (and her equally evil chihuahua, Sugar) and Christian! They were so typical of the dark underside of Hollywood's most "beautiful people." Still, their escapades were fun to live vicariously through. I liked being able to indulge that scandalous side with Belle and Christian but still see characters more like myself in Emma and Orlando, and also Darcy and Marco.
Whenever there are so many varied characters there are bound to be some that are uninteresting. I wasn't a fan of the Hollywood agent or the model scout even in a 'love to hate them' way. They just didn't interest me at all.
This book is the perfect scandalous guilty pleasure. The lines are clearly drawn between the good characters and bad characters, so the outrageousness is nicely balanced out.
This book was provided for review by Sourcebooks.
reviewed for: http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com/
September 20, 2010
This was one behemoth Love Actually of a book, but not in a good way. Remember the movie Valentine's Day? The movie sagged under the weight of too many stars, yes, but it also suffered from extreme shallowness by way of not enough time spent fleshing out its thousands of characters. I'm a fast reader, but it took me weeks to finish off this one. Beautiful People has maybe two somewhat multidimensional characters: Mitch, the fat agent, and Niall/Graham, the burly Scottish "serious actor" phony who perfectly mirrors Christian Harlow's dumping habits. I realize this isn't a srsbusiness novel, but it was too enormous and verbose for one to digest as merely a fluffy one-off chickpick. I like the Harry Potter font, which reminds me of just how British this one is in case names like "Hengist Westonbirt" or "Totty de Belvedere" didn't do the trick.
tl;dr this book is silly but by no means light. Read it, I suppose, if you have a lot of time and little dignity.
tl;dr this book is silly but by no means light. Read it, I suppose, if you have a lot of time and little dignity.
May 31, 2018
I just needed some escapism...
December 11, 2009
Belle Murphy was supposed to be Hollywood’s hottest young star, but it all fell apart when her latest movie flopped spectacularly. To try and get herself back into the media’s good books, Belle heads off to London, via an African adoption agency, to star in Shakespeare. Can she claw her way back to the top of the Hollywood pile again? Darcy Prince is a beautiful English rose, who has her heart set on being a “proper” actress, when the call comes from Hollywood – LA’s hottest director wants her in his new movie. A movie that will rival Star Wars. It’s everything an actress should ever want, so why is Darcy so reluctant to go? Via a lot of mix-ups, the two girls eventually lock horns over men, dieting and just which one of them is the bigger star. Throw in a nanny, a chef, and a boy so beautiful he could be a model, and you have a fiery encounter just waiting to happen.
I’ve never read any of Wendy Holden’s novels but I covet her book covers. They’re really beautiful. I saw Beautiful People on offer for a euro and decided to give it a read. It was well worth my euro as it’s a thick chunk of a book – just short of 700 pages, in fact. The quotes on the front cover compare Wendy to Jilly Cooper which I wouldn’t say is accurate, bar the fact they both seem to write ridiculously long books. Although having never read a Jilly Cooper book, who knows? Maybe they are the same, although I doubt it.
Although my synopsis above mentions Darcy and Belle, they don’t even appear at the beginning of the book. Belle comes in around about 20 pages in, whilst Darcy doesn’t arrive until maybe 100-ish pages. I found that peculiar, but not off-putting. The book actually starts by introducing us to Sam Wild, who runs Wild, a modelling agency. After scouring the streets for any talent, she bumps into a bollard and comes face-to-face with the beautiful Orlando. After asking him if he would like to be a model, he scarpers, leaving Sam feeling frustrated. We then meet Emma, who it turns out, is a nanny, who has just left her parents’ home up North and is looking for a job in London. We then go on to meet a whole array of characters throughout the book, who all seem to lead separate lives to each other. And for near-on 500 pages, that’s the way it stays. Sure, a few of their lives intertwine but to all intents and purposes they’re all leading their own life with no connection to anyone else we read about. It took a long long time for Belle and Darcy to lock horns and even then, it wasn’t as if they were clawing each others eyes’ out.
The book’s title of Beautiful People is, of course, ironic. They may all be beautiful people on the outside but they’re ugly as sin on the inside. I can’t say I particularly liked Belle, or most of the characters really. She was amusing in an aren’t-you-stupid kind of way but on the whole she was pretty unlikeable and rather diva-ish. I quite liked Darcy at the beginning but even she had a bit of an ugly side, she really didn’t strike me as the type to fall for Christian Harlow’s charms (if that’s what I’m meant to call them) but she did, somehow. My favourite two characters were Orlando and Emma as they were the only relatively real characters throughout the entire book. I enjoyed learning more about those two and how they each dealt with the obstacles thrown in their way. Orlando had to deal with a pushy mother, whilst Emma had to deal with Belle. Both were struggles, as you could imagine! Even though he was rather vapid, I quite liked Mitch Masterson, agent of Belle and Darcy. Holden portrayed him very well and I really liked him. There were other characters in the book – Sam Wild, who owns Wild, the modelling agency, Orlando’s parents, Emma’s employers before Belle, the fiery chef, Marco, who doesn’t appear until right near the end of the book. Then there’s the even minor characters. They all add to the story and the book does eventually connect everyone together but there are so many of them that I wondered how I would keep up but I managed it with relative ease.
Coming it at under 700 pages, you’re in for a long slog of reading to really get anywhere in the book. For the first 500 pages, the book is all about the separate lives of all of these characters. There’s little action yet I still found myself reading away, eager to know which stupid thing would happen next. All of the major action begins when all of the characters leave, en masse, for Italy. You could say it was convenient they all, near enough, ended up in the same place but it all made perfect sense when we learnt why they were all there. As I mentioned above, Darcy and Belle barely lock horns, and I think the synopsis on the back of the book wildly exaggerated that fact, but nonetheless I found the book an enjoyable read. I will admit that it’s probably only a book you could read once and enjoy. I think if you try and read it again you’d probably end up a bit bored. Holden’s writing is good though her take on the celebrity lifestyle borders on satire. The book is like one huge parody of the lifestyle we all would like to live. It’s certainly not a beautiful life, that’s for sure, if this book is anything to go by!
Beautiful People is well worth reading, and I found it hugely enjoyable, and I know I’ll definitely be looking out for more books by Wendy Holden. Her take on the celebrity lifestyle is refreshing and it’s hugely exaggerated but it’s also hilarious and enjoyable. It’s as if she’s taken all of the recent celebrity headlines – ie. adopting a child from Africa – and has put them all together into one huge melting pot of a novel and let the chips fall where they may. Very clever and I truly recommend it.
I’ve never read any of Wendy Holden’s novels but I covet her book covers. They’re really beautiful. I saw Beautiful People on offer for a euro and decided to give it a read. It was well worth my euro as it’s a thick chunk of a book – just short of 700 pages, in fact. The quotes on the front cover compare Wendy to Jilly Cooper which I wouldn’t say is accurate, bar the fact they both seem to write ridiculously long books. Although having never read a Jilly Cooper book, who knows? Maybe they are the same, although I doubt it.
Although my synopsis above mentions Darcy and Belle, they don’t even appear at the beginning of the book. Belle comes in around about 20 pages in, whilst Darcy doesn’t arrive until maybe 100-ish pages. I found that peculiar, but not off-putting. The book actually starts by introducing us to Sam Wild, who runs Wild, a modelling agency. After scouring the streets for any talent, she bumps into a bollard and comes face-to-face with the beautiful Orlando. After asking him if he would like to be a model, he scarpers, leaving Sam feeling frustrated. We then meet Emma, who it turns out, is a nanny, who has just left her parents’ home up North and is looking for a job in London. We then go on to meet a whole array of characters throughout the book, who all seem to lead separate lives to each other. And for near-on 500 pages, that’s the way it stays. Sure, a few of their lives intertwine but to all intents and purposes they’re all leading their own life with no connection to anyone else we read about. It took a long long time for Belle and Darcy to lock horns and even then, it wasn’t as if they were clawing each others eyes’ out.
The book’s title of Beautiful People is, of course, ironic. They may all be beautiful people on the outside but they’re ugly as sin on the inside. I can’t say I particularly liked Belle, or most of the characters really. She was amusing in an aren’t-you-stupid kind of way but on the whole she was pretty unlikeable and rather diva-ish. I quite liked Darcy at the beginning but even she had a bit of an ugly side, she really didn’t strike me as the type to fall for Christian Harlow’s charms (if that’s what I’m meant to call them) but she did, somehow. My favourite two characters were Orlando and Emma as they were the only relatively real characters throughout the entire book. I enjoyed learning more about those two and how they each dealt with the obstacles thrown in their way. Orlando had to deal with a pushy mother, whilst Emma had to deal with Belle. Both were struggles, as you could imagine! Even though he was rather vapid, I quite liked Mitch Masterson, agent of Belle and Darcy. Holden portrayed him very well and I really liked him. There were other characters in the book – Sam Wild, who owns Wild, the modelling agency, Orlando’s parents, Emma’s employers before Belle, the fiery chef, Marco, who doesn’t appear until right near the end of the book. Then there’s the even minor characters. They all add to the story and the book does eventually connect everyone together but there are so many of them that I wondered how I would keep up but I managed it with relative ease.
Coming it at under 700 pages, you’re in for a long slog of reading to really get anywhere in the book. For the first 500 pages, the book is all about the separate lives of all of these characters. There’s little action yet I still found myself reading away, eager to know which stupid thing would happen next. All of the major action begins when all of the characters leave, en masse, for Italy. You could say it was convenient they all, near enough, ended up in the same place but it all made perfect sense when we learnt why they were all there. As I mentioned above, Darcy and Belle barely lock horns, and I think the synopsis on the back of the book wildly exaggerated that fact, but nonetheless I found the book an enjoyable read. I will admit that it’s probably only a book you could read once and enjoy. I think if you try and read it again you’d probably end up a bit bored. Holden’s writing is good though her take on the celebrity lifestyle borders on satire. The book is like one huge parody of the lifestyle we all would like to live. It’s certainly not a beautiful life, that’s for sure, if this book is anything to go by!
Beautiful People is well worth reading, and I found it hugely enjoyable, and I know I’ll definitely be looking out for more books by Wendy Holden. Her take on the celebrity lifestyle is refreshing and it’s hugely exaggerated but it’s also hilarious and enjoyable. It’s as if she’s taken all of the recent celebrity headlines – ie. adopting a child from Africa – and has put them all together into one huge melting pot of a novel and let the chips fall where they may. Very clever and I truly recommend it.
April 6, 2010
wooh* OK, let's get going on this review. I for one thought that the beginning was a little bit slow going and had too many characters. If you're one of those people that put down a book after 100 pages because you aren't liking it then I encourage you to keep reading on this one.
Now remember, I'm being totally honest here! I was confused at the start; trying to figure out the whirlwind of characters were going to relate to each other was not happening for me. Oh...but Wendy Holden surprises you!
After you meet the characters the story starts falling together and she magically ties each one's story to the next. (This took some talent...it is quite a group of characters!) It was done well and I was happy with the book once I started to understand it.
Now...I was sitting there through half of the book thinking 'Man! I hope these bitches get what they deserve!." Seriously, that was my thought! So yes, I ended up rushing through to the end of the book and I'm happy to say that yes, they got what they deserved.
Overall, if you can get past meeting all players in the story, them it's worth the read. Once you get into It you'll be sitting there rooting for the underdogs and racing to the end.
Now remember, I'm being totally honest here! I was confused at the start; trying to figure out the whirlwind of characters were going to relate to each other was not happening for me. Oh...but Wendy Holden surprises you!
After you meet the characters the story starts falling together and she magically ties each one's story to the next. (This took some talent...it is quite a group of characters!) It was done well and I was happy with the book once I started to understand it.
Now...I was sitting there through half of the book thinking 'Man! I hope these bitches get what they deserve!." Seriously, that was my thought! So yes, I ended up rushing through to the end of the book and I'm happy to say that yes, they got what they deserved.
Overall, if you can get past meeting all players in the story, them it's worth the read. Once you get into It you'll be sitting there rooting for the underdogs and racing to the end.
April 5, 2010
The back-cover description pretty much covers it all. The story doesn’t go much deeper than that and you can probably guess the answers to those questions.
Holden weaves a story in which each of her many characters cross-paths and get unexpectedly involved in each others lives’. The problem is there is nothing unexpected about the plot for the reader. It’s highly clichéd and full of stereotyped characters.
There is Orlando, the teenager who was once awkward and pimply, but almost overnight turns into the hottest guy at his school. The popular girls want to get at him, but so does a talent scout for a modeling agency who thinks she’s found the next big “face”. Along with Emma and Darcy, he is one of the “pure” souls who get sucked into the lives of the beautiful people.
In contrast, we meet Belle, the silicone-enhanced Hollywood starlet, and Christian, the actor trying to climb to the top one bed at a time. These two will do anything in their pursuit of fame and fortune. Predictably (to the fictional world in which she lives and to the reader), Belle even finds herself adopting an African orphan to get back in the headlines.
There are too many other characters to introduce in this review. I got the feeling that even the author had trouble managing her cast. The character we meet in the first chapter disappears almost entirely until the middle of the book. That’s about where I stopped reading. Up to that point the characters and plot were so empty I didn’t care to find out what happens to them next. Don’t waste your time with this one.
Holden weaves a story in which each of her many characters cross-paths and get unexpectedly involved in each others lives’. The problem is there is nothing unexpected about the plot for the reader. It’s highly clichéd and full of stereotyped characters.
There is Orlando, the teenager who was once awkward and pimply, but almost overnight turns into the hottest guy at his school. The popular girls want to get at him, but so does a talent scout for a modeling agency who thinks she’s found the next big “face”. Along with Emma and Darcy, he is one of the “pure” souls who get sucked into the lives of the beautiful people.
In contrast, we meet Belle, the silicone-enhanced Hollywood starlet, and Christian, the actor trying to climb to the top one bed at a time. These two will do anything in their pursuit of fame and fortune. Predictably (to the fictional world in which she lives and to the reader), Belle even finds herself adopting an African orphan to get back in the headlines.
There are too many other characters to introduce in this review. I got the feeling that even the author had trouble managing her cast. The character we meet in the first chapter disappears almost entirely until the middle of the book. That’s about where I stopped reading. Up to that point the characters and plot were so empty I didn’t care to find out what happens to them next. Don’t waste your time with this one.
August 3, 2012
I've been a Wendy Holden fan for years now having read several of her earlier works. Ms. Holden's latest book, Beautiful People, is delightful and I'd dare to say her best book to date! Beautiful People intricately weaves the lives of several characters in the U.K. and L.A. together through a series of unexpected events. Holden lays the foundation of each character's mindset, relationships, and circumstances early in the novel and builds on them as they all somehow ebb, flow, and swap places with one another in certain circumstances. The writing is brilliant and keeps you guessing. The characters are fun and interesting to read about. This is a great book for anyone looking for a light, fun romp of a chick lit book.
September 20, 2015
First of all, do not read this book if you are on a diet!!! I mean, I love food, especially Italian, but the second half of the book it is an endless boring blabber about food. Not what I look for in a chick lit.
Plus the story is a bit far-fetched
DO NOT GO FURTHER IF YOU STILL WANT TO READ IT
I mean the protagonist, an aspiring actress, being happy when the blockbuster movie where she was the lead female character is cancelled? That in my opinion is going a bit too far….
Plus the story is a bit far-fetched
DO NOT GO FURTHER IF YOU STILL WANT TO READ IT
I mean the protagonist, an aspiring actress, being happy when the blockbuster movie where she was the lead female character is cancelled? That in my opinion is going a bit too far….
May 3, 2010
I gobbled up Beautiful People, a fun story of the acting industry on both sides of the pond, Hollywood and the London stage. Darcy, a young British actress is the daughter of an acting family where the stage is the ultimate form of their craft and film is a lower form of the art. Belle is a young Hollywood actress desperate for a come-back after her recent meteoric rise and then sudden crash-and-burn. The lives of these two extremely different young actresses intersect in Southern Italy, along with former boyfriends and lovers, and potential new lovers and friends in a hysterical series of almost improbably coincidences and run-ins. The novel is peppered with secondary characters that are no less interesting than our heroine and antagonist. Emma, the conscientious Nanny who falls in love with her charges; Orlando, the extraordinarily beautiful, shy young man bullied by a social climbing mother, who is unsure of his future path, and Marco the amazing chef/owner of a wonderful local bistro are all people I would want to sit and have coffee with, or a glass of wine at Marco's restaurant. Not so much though for Christian, the opportunistic Hollywood heart-throb or Niall the pretentious wanna-be London stage actor, both of whom use women shamelessly, Christian at least admitting to everyone about his intentions.
Not only did Beautiful People have me laughing, I was entranced enough to not put the book down, hoping that certain characters would succeed and prosper and others would get a good comeuppance or smack in the face. Light-hearted women's fiction can sometimes be predictable, which is definitely not the case with Beautiful People.
Not only did Beautiful People have me laughing, I was entranced enough to not put the book down, hoping that certain characters would succeed and prosper and others would get a good comeuppance or smack in the face. Light-hearted women's fiction can sometimes be predictable, which is definitely not the case with Beautiful People.
October 5, 2011
This is one of those stories where there are half a dozen or so individual story lines that end up tying together in the end.
Over 100 pages in and only one of the two characters mentioned in the blurb had been refered to and I was starting to feel like maybe this wasn't the book for me.
But I kept reading and I'm glad that I did. I liked the characters and I liked the conflicting descriptions of the characters from the point of view of other characters.
I think the Emma story was my favourite. But Belle's plot was so bad it was good. Like a cosmetic surgery effected car accident.
Over 100 pages in and only one of the two characters mentioned in the blurb had been refered to and I was starting to feel like maybe this wasn't the book for me.
But I kept reading and I'm glad that I did. I liked the characters and I liked the conflicting descriptions of the characters from the point of view of other characters.
I think the Emma story was my favourite. But Belle's plot was so bad it was good. Like a cosmetic surgery effected car accident.
September 10, 2014
At first, it was a little strange reading this book, because the author changed the point of view of the characters from one paragraph to the next, without warning.
Then, I became amazed at how the author was able to tell and interweave so many characters' stories, all the while keeping this interesting and entertaining.
I really liked this book, and I love how it all turned out. Very fun read.
Then, I became amazed at how the author was able to tell and interweave so many characters' stories, all the while keeping this interesting and entertaining.
I really liked this book, and I love how it all turned out. Very fun read.
January 4, 2017
I like to read several books at the same time, so I picked up this one to reread because all Wendy Holden's book make me laugh. The plot is paper thin so you don't have to think, just read! I love the way Wendy Holden plays with words.
What I liked in this book is the unexpected turn regarding Orlando, and all the talk about delicious Italian food.
What I liked in this book is the unexpected turn regarding Orlando, and all the talk about delicious Italian food.
August 13, 2010
It started off as a fun summer read but ended up being a waste of my time. The story was so ridiculous and characters beyond shallow.
June 4, 2012
Possibly the worst book I ever read. Just skip it.
November 7, 2018
I haven't laughed out loud to a book as frequently as I did with this one for a long time.
Sure, the some characters are very hateable. Christian especially. There were scenes not entirely appropriate (really the only reason this isn't a five) for younger audiences. But everyone felt real. Even the archetypes felt real.
I honestly just love how everyone was connected in some way. They started out with their own separate stories, and before you knew it, it became a huge vast network where one character's actions caused a ripple effect that hit everyone in some level. The third-person omniscient point of view worked extremely well for this.
The descriptions. Let's just say I felt a hole was ripped in time and space and I was allowed to poke my head through to be transported to Italy and feel the warm breeze and see the golden rustic buildings basking in the Italian sun. The descriptions were everything.
And, as with most satisfying books,
I recommended this book all over the place, I did.
Sure, the some characters are very hateable. Christian especially. There were scenes not entirely appropriate (really the only reason this isn't a five) for younger audiences. But everyone felt real. Even the archetypes felt real.
I honestly just love how everyone was connected in some way. They started out with their own separate stories, and before you knew it, it became a huge vast network where one character's actions caused a ripple effect that hit everyone in some level. The third-person omniscient point of view worked extremely well for this.
The descriptions. Let's just say I felt a hole was ripped in time and space and I was allowed to poke my head through to be transported to Italy and feel the warm breeze and see the golden rustic buildings basking in the Italian sun. The descriptions were everything.
And, as with most satisfying books,
I recommended this book all over the place, I did.
March 1, 2020
Overview: two actresses, two actors, one movie agent, one modeling agent, two nannies, one newly adult teen, two sets of parents, one chef, one movie director, and maybe more that I am leaving out all share portions of this story where careers are in jeopardy, people are jumping into (and out of) relationships, trying to find the purpose and future that makes them happy, and are somehow all interconnected.
I really connected to a couple of the characters and even the ones I hated had realistic characteristics however, too many points of view made the story murky. It was a slow read for me, a lot of unnecessary inclusions that could have been helped with slightly less POVs. And the seemingly endless confection of all this people was just way too much coincidence. I know it was needed for the characters to align, but the plot lines were a tangled mess sometimes....like really what are the odds. There were some really cute moments and the awwww factor in a couple of the connections, but overall just fell flat for me.
I really connected to a couple of the characters and even the ones I hated had realistic characteristics however, too many points of view made the story murky. It was a slow read for me, a lot of unnecessary inclusions that could have been helped with slightly less POVs. And the seemingly endless confection of all this people was just way too much coincidence. I know it was needed for the characters to align, but the plot lines were a tangled mess sometimes....like really what are the odds. There were some really cute moments and the awwww factor in a couple of the connections, but overall just fell flat for me.
April 12, 2020
This rather long novel was published back in 2009, and I found it really hard to read and dragging on at times. It is really evident that the topics, ways of thinking and perceptions of situations were way different back then, compared to now, especially where body image (too fat! too skinny! too much plastic surgery! too handsome! too ugly! ...) and gender stereotypes (Barbie doll girls, muscle-clad men, over-ambitious mothers,...) are concerned. The story, revolving around (wannabe) Hollywood starlets and agents and their tag-along paparazzi, oh-so-real theatre actors, model agents, Members of the UK Parliament and their families, Italian cooks, British nannies working for (wannabe-)posh-families and so forth, was mildly amusing and an easy read most of the time, featuring a whole lot of characters who all get their moment of fame somewhere in the novel, their story coming together and losing some of them along the way. The "future" reference to a photographer being booked out 'till 2020 was quite funny though ;) Two stars seem appropriate.
September 22, 2018
This is the first book I’ve read by Wendy Holden. To be perfectly honest I only got to page 320 and read a review here by mistake with a spoiler. I can’t be bothered to finish. I just wanted to be over. I am a fan of light and frothy writing, chick lit, Murder mystery cozies so my standards aren’t that high. The first half of the book was OK and I was sort of drawn into the characters. The character development did not make sense. Darcy seems like a decent but aimless young lady. Her falling “in love“ with Christian is ridiculous. Also I noticed some of the writing was out of order. On page 328 Marco recalls “the ridiculous swaggering boyfriend in the tight white trousers Who had appeared at his restaurant later that day with that ridiculous blonde and her ridiculous dog” Christian and Belle. The next scene is Christian and Belle reuniting on the set of the film. Totally out of order. Don’t bother reading this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2020
I think I read a Wendy Holden book a few years ago and wasn’t impressed so gave her a wide birth. I was given this book as a Xmas pressie and I loved it. The plot centres around an up and coming actress, a beautiful boy, a nanny and an on her way day actress plus their families/ partners and friends. At first it’s a bit confusing remembering who’s who but actually the blend of Hollywood, London, politics, rich and poor keeps the story up beat and the characters are really likeable. There was also some interesting facts about how famous people avoid press etc. Obviously it all ends well for the goodies and not so well for the baddies but that’s to be expected. The reveal of Marco secret was random but otherwise a great light hearted read.
August 27, 2021
It is with regret that I review this book as two stars.
It had such promise: a cast of juicy characters, scandals, and a light summer read.
Unfortunately, Holden is no Jilly Cooper. Her descriptions of backgrounds, colours and flowers were not evocative enough to be interesting and felt like filler.
Also there was not enough character development, which showed in the repetitive way that main characters were described. If you want to be bitchy, fine, that can be a lot of fun but this book went from amusing to tired about halfway through - I could only read so many times about Belle’s breast implants, or Totty’s boredom, or Mitch’s addiction to jelly doughnuts. It was as though Holden ran out of inspiration, writing a novel based on character summaries.
It had such promise: a cast of juicy characters, scandals, and a light summer read.
Unfortunately, Holden is no Jilly Cooper. Her descriptions of backgrounds, colours and flowers were not evocative enough to be interesting and felt like filler.
Also there was not enough character development, which showed in the repetitive way that main characters were described. If you want to be bitchy, fine, that can be a lot of fun but this book went from amusing to tired about halfway through - I could only read so many times about Belle’s breast implants, or Totty’s boredom, or Mitch’s addiction to jelly doughnuts. It was as though Holden ran out of inspiration, writing a novel based on character summaries.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2019
Man this was such a great book. I read this in a day cause I just couldn’t stop reading. I had to know what happened. Great writing.
This book has so many characters there is no way I will be able to remember them all. But the main characters: Emma, a nanny to the stars; Darcy, aspiring London actress coming to LA; and, Belle, as self-obsessed actress who only wants to be famous. And in the midst of these gals are a variety of characters that push and pull them to many ways they never thought they would go. It was humorous and a book all about timing. It had alittle of the Love Actually affect cause it’s all about love and life with a million different ways to get there.
If you start this book you won’t want to stop, so prepare yourself accordingly.
This book has so many characters there is no way I will be able to remember them all. But the main characters: Emma, a nanny to the stars; Darcy, aspiring London actress coming to LA; and, Belle, as self-obsessed actress who only wants to be famous. And in the midst of these gals are a variety of characters that push and pull them to many ways they never thought they would go. It was humorous and a book all about timing. It had alittle of the Love Actually affect cause it’s all about love and life with a million different ways to get there.
If you start this book you won’t want to stop, so prepare yourself accordingly.
January 23, 2022
Generally entertaining, if highly coincidental and predictable. There was not a single redeemable or likeable person in the book, and those who were meant to be were rather unintelligent. It's a typical horrible people do horrible things, make horrible statements about the "nice people" and get their comeuppance in the end.
June 20, 2022
I just….meh. I wish I had more to say. It’s mildly entertaining but the writing just doesn’t do it for me. There is nothing challenging to the writing, no moments that make you stop and think.
It reads like a traditional American movie would watch; great for shutting the brain down for a couple hours of entertainment but leaves no impression on me long term.
It reads like a traditional American movie would watch; great for shutting the brain down for a couple hours of entertainment but leaves no impression on me long term.
November 20, 2018
Oops, haha I kinda gave another book a poor review and was confusing it with this one. *grimace*. Sorry, other writer.
The writing itself wasn't bad, but to me, there was too much jumping around to other characters and none really grabbed my attention.
The writing itself wasn't bad, but to me, there was too much jumping around to other characters and none really grabbed my attention.
November 12, 2022
Wonderfully real and different characters, I adored. Lovely to read on the side and interesting, though not that big of a plot twist. I did love how everything came together in the end but the "wow" moment was missing.
August 29, 2023
This book has not aged well. Interesting to think how our attitudes on describing women’s appearances and judging them has changed for the better. This book also reminded me of Love Actually with a lot of character story lines that come together at the end
August 5, 2017
Not my fave one of her books. Maybe as I couldn't relate with the "lovies". I wouldn't tell s friend to read it, sorry...
April 26, 2019
Perfect beach read!
January 31, 2019
Not exactly a Love, Actually-feel-good-about-messy-humanity book, but more of a feel-happy-when-mean-people-suffer-and-good-people-prevail book. 2.5 stars.
June 20, 2019
I would have liked it better if it hadn't been so long.
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