Stars Collide by Janice Thompson

A Backstage Pass


Kat Jennings and Scott Murphy don't just play two people who are secretly in love on a television sitcom--they are also head over heels for each other in real life. When the lines between reality and TV land blur, they hope they can keep their relationship under wraps. But when Kat's grandmother, an aging Hollywood starlet with a penchant for wearing elaborate evening gowns from Golden Age movies, mistakes their on-screen wedding proposal for the real deal, things begin to spiral out of their control. Will their secret be front-page news in the tabloids tomorrow? And can their budding romance survive the onslaught of paparazzi, wedding preparations, and misinformed in-laws?

From the sound stage to a Beverly Hills mansion to the gleaming Pacific Ocean, Stars Collide takes readers on a roller-coaster tour of Tinseltown, packing both comedic punch and tender emotion.

My Review:
The plotline of this story is an interesting one. A rising television star lives in a Hollywood mansion with her grandmother, an aging actress with Alzheimer's onset. Characters are rather one-sided, without flaws. For instance, Kat, Scott, and Rex seem to have an unending supply of patience when dealing with Lenora's antics. Lenora lives more in the past than the present; however, at the book's end, she seems completely aware of everything going on, which causes some confusion.

A cute bit used throughout the novel had one character stating a line from a film and another responding by giving the actor, film title, and date.

The end drags a bit. It seems to read more as a comic book. If you have the ability to suspend your disbelief, this would be one to read.

Thank you to Donna Hausler for my copy.
Available January 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

If you would like to read an excerpt, click here.