Review: Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle

Famous in Love
(Famous in Love #1)
by Rebecca Serle
Narrated by: Tara Sands
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Publication date: Oct. 21, 2014
Genre: Young Adult
Rating:

The romantic story of a girl who gets plucked from obscurity to star in the next major feature film franchise based on a book and the ensuing love triangles she gets entangled in on—-and off screen.

Meet Paige Townsen, Rainer Devon, and Jordan Wilder…

When Paige Townsen, a young unknown, gets cast in the movie adaptation of a blockbuster book series, her life changes practically overnight. Within a month, Paige has traded the quiet streets of her hometown for a crowded movie set on the shores of Maui, and is spending quality time with her co-star Rainer Devon, one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive. But when troubled star Jordan Wilder lands the role of the other point in the movie’s famous love triangle, Paige’s crazy new life gets even crazier.

In this coming-of-age romance inspired by the kind of celeb hookups that get clever nicknames and a million page views, Paige must figure out who she is – and who she wants – while the whole world watches.

 

 

I actually listened to the audiobook version of Famous in Love and I have to say, the narrator did an amazing job. She not only changed her voice for the different females in the book, but also changed her voice to make distinguishable male characters, too. Audiobooks are hit or miss for me because I rely heavily on the narrator being able to not only deliver the story, but become each of the individual characters within the pages. I felt like Tara did a great job bringing each of the characters up to the forefront.

This is the first book my this author that I’ve read/listened to, and I have to say that I am a fan of her writing style. She tells the story without bogging the reader down with too much. The fact that Paige is a new up-and-coming actress who lands her first big gig staring in a very popular book-to-movie adaptation, means that the reader is thrust into this whole new world of glitz and glamour just like Paige is. She gets sent to Hawaii to film this teen romance and is completely out of her element. Her family isn’t there, her friends aren’t there, and she’s sort of forced to navigate this all on her own. However, one of her co-stars takes an interest in her and helps show her the ropes. Thus, begins the romance aspect of the novel.

I loved that Famous in Love is pretty much a play-by-play of behind the scenes on a movie set. We are with Paige while she gets hair and make-up done, flubs her lines, has a hot and steamy scene in front of the production team, tries to take some off-time, and gets recognized in public for the first time. I really loved that the author included all these things and that it wasn’t just drama and romance. Although, there was some of that too. Especially since Paige ends up falling for both of her co-stars. Which is something I could have done without.

I really enjoyed listening to this book. Like I said, the narrator did a great job with all the characters and I never got anyone confused because of it. While I wasn’t a fan of the love triangle, and I really don’t fully understand the ending and how Paige got to that point. I do plan to check my local library to see if they have the next book in audiobook format.

 

 

15 Thoughts on “Review: Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle

  1. Sounds like a fun look behind the scenes of making a movie. I’m glad you enjoyed the narration style too; that’s a biggie for listening to books!

    -lauren

  2. Love triangles are hard to like to be honest

  3. Have you watched the TV show of this? It’s a guilty pleasure of mine, but I have the feeling that the book might be better. I haven’t read the book, and to be honest, I don’t know if I ever will. I will be on the lookout for the narrator though, she sounds great!

    • I watched a few episodes yesterday and it’s WAY over dramatized in the show. It’s like they took the idea of a nobody getting a lead role and then just did their own thing from there. Big difference right off the bat is that Rainer’s father is the one behind the movie, not his mom. So, obviously there is no relationship with him and Rainer’s mom. The whole conflict between the guys over the girl is also different. Oh, and I have no idea what Paige’s friend is doing with the maid thing… but that’s ALSO not in the book. Honestly, Paige is in Hawaii and doesn’t really see her friends since they are back home… and she’s a teenager in high school/home school. Like I said, from what I’ve seen of the show so far, it’s nothing like the book.

  4. ratmom on 5 February, 2018 at 3:03 pm said:

    This is a new to me author but I like the sounds of this one.

    • It was a fun read. There’s a TV show that is sort of an adaptation of the book. I say sort of because it’s WAY too over-dramatized and they pretty much changed everything about the original story.

  5. The love triangle probably would have bothered me as well. It’s great to hear the audiobook is so well done though. Based on your review, if I decided to read this, I’d definitely go the audiobook reoute.

  6. Well an ok one. I confess that I didn’t know about this one

    • I think I stumbled across it while looking for an audiobook in my library’s online catalog. LoL Apparently it was picked up by Freeform and is now a TV show, but I watched some episodes and it’s nothing like the book.

  7. Glad you enjoyed it so much.
    sherry @ fundinmental

  8. I dont think I’ve seen Sands before. I’ll keep an eye out for her. Always looking for a good narrator 🙂

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