Fiction Book Reviews

Book Review: A Hollywood Ending

By Sandy Amazeen May 18, 2008, 2:12 GMT

From the bestselling author of Weekend in Paris, a brand- new novel that proves happy endings don’t just happen in Hollywood. American starlet Paige Carson is off to London to try her hand at Shakespeare, and prove that she deserves more than bimbo roles and Hollywood hunks who can’t see beyond their own reflections. But stage acting is not quite what she expected. Neither is her landlord, Ed Hawkshead, a ...more

Stressed by working with a sadistic leading man and facing the reality of a youth obsessed Hollywood film industry, Oscar winning actress Paige Carson feels her career has reached a crisis point and it is time to make a change. Against the advice of her agent, Paige accepts a low paying job playing a Shakespearian role in the London theater district thus opening a new chapter in her life. Ed Hawkshead is looking at the deal of a lifetime, media conglomerate Grapeveine has offered to buy out his struggling documentary film company but there are strings attached. The last thing he needs right now is a spoiled Hollywood starlet turning his upstairs apartment into a swimming pool or bringing hordes of photographers to his doorstep. Paige finds herself facing an entirely new set of challenges as she adjusts to London and live theater, a situation not made any easier by her landlord’s animosity. As Paige begins growing into her potential, Ed and her come to realize that first impressions can be deceptive as they begin nurturing a fragile relationship that threatens to collapse under the weight of media hype.

This contemporary romance may leave readers wondering how a modern woman, even a diva, could be so clueless about such everyday activities as walking down an unfamiliar street. For the first half of the book Paige is a spoiled, self-obsessed poor little rich kid living off the reputation of one successful movie, incapable of accepting her parents changing circumstances. The trip to London serves to broaden her horizons personally and professionally yet even at the very end, Paige is ready to topple back into old behavioral patterns. The relationship between Ed and Paige remains more of a background thread then the real focus of the story until the climax that sees him taking a more active role in reaching for what, hopefully will be best for them both. An adequate read but Sisman is capable of better work then this.