Hollywood & Vine by Olivia Evans on December 15th, 2014
Pages: 431
Format: eARC
Source: Author
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In the land of Hollywood, bright lights cover lies, truths hide in shadows, and the lives of the rich and famous are illusions created by smoke and mirrors.
When costume designer Josie Bane first lays eyes on Anders Ellis, she hates him instantly. Conceited and arrogant, he's the epitome of a Hollywood playboy. So it' s much to Josie' s dismay when he becomes the star of her sexual fantasies.
Never expecting to see him again, she gives in to her desires for a night she' ll never forget. However, Josie soon learns that life is full of surprises. When their paths cross again, sparks fly. With three little words, Anders changes everything.
He' s after one thing.
She refuses to give it to him... again.
When Josie realizes she' s falling for a man that will never let her in but refuses to let her go, she must decide if the risk is worth the reward.
With a relationship shrouded in secrets and outside forces poised to tear them apart, did they ever stand a chance? Before the smoke clears and the curtain falls, Josie and Anders must distinguish between what' s fact and what' s fiction in a place where the truth is never black and white.
I love Hollywood romances so I had to check this book out!
Anders Ellis is a total asshole with an ego bigger than Hollywood. He’s the biggest manwhore known to man, never doing repeats…
Josie Bane is a costume designer in Hollywood, CA. After witnessing a sex scene being shot with Hollywood’s notoriously promiscuous actor, Anders Ellis, Josie finds herself desiring Anders. To the point where she can’t stop having fantasies about him. She decides to go after him in hopes to become one of his One Night Stands so that she can get over the crazy attraction she has for him.
After finding out her next work project has re-cast the Lead role with Anders Ellis and that he doesn’t remember her at all. Josie finds herself angry and embarrassed at that fact, though manages to appear indifferent to Anders. Which piques Anders interest..and then that’s when Anders pursuit to do something he’s never done before starts. He’s on a mission for a repeat..but what he doesn’t realize is that it’ll turn in to more than just one repeat. 🙂
This book is quite long and it took a while for me to get into this book, I honestly almost DNFed it..but it finally got interesting enough to keep my attention.
The story is written in Third Person and it alternates between people. It also does this with no warning what so ever. It’ll go from Josie, to Anders, to everyone else in this story. I think at one time it changed between like 4 different characters within the same page and I just wanted to throw my iPad. When that happens in a book it drives me absolutely batty. I really don’t care for books written in Third Person but when it’s alternating people all of the time, it just makes me loathe it even more! At least **** between characters so I know it’s about to go to another person!
I’m kind of shocked that the “villian” of the story didn’t actually appear until about 34% in the story. Which is one of the reasons why I almost didn’t finish this book..The book didn’t really start getting interesting until the villian appeared. View Spoiler » This person did a good job of adding some more drama to the story and making Anders seem like even more of an Asshole than he already was.
Like I said, this book was actually quite long. It’s also a standalone as well. I enjoyed the characters a lot, I just didn’t like the POV jumping from person to person with no warning. Also, View Spoiler »
If you like Hollywood romances and you’re looking for a book that’ll keep you reading for awhile..definitely check this book out!
Excerpt
“Hello?”
“I don’ t know what kind of place Argent is running, but they need to get a handle on their employees.” Anders’ voice was stern and playful, making Josie laugh then sigh.
“I bet it’ s the costume department, isn’ t it? It is, right? I swear,” she exhaled. “You can’ t find good help anywhere these days.”
“It really is quite sad. Is it asking too much for the beautiful Costume Supervisor to be in my trailer wearing only a tie when I walk through the door? For modeling purposes, of course.”
Josie laughed, her heart skipping. “Of course.”
“It feels weird being back.” He spoke quieter, his tone softer.
“I walked outside this morning and my makeup didn’ t slide off my face from sweating. It was very disconcerting.”
“Get your ass to my trailer and I’ ll have you sweating in no time.”
“Mr. Ellis, that sounds highly unprofessional,” she chastised, grabbing her clipboard and heading toward his trailer. “We both know how you feel about remaining professional on the job.”
“Well I see your smart mouth found its way back to LA.” Anders shook his head, a small smile tugging up the corner of his mouth.
Josie grinned and pushed open his door but continued to speak into her phone. “If I didn’ t know better, I’ d swear you sound relieved.”
Anders snapped his head to the side, a wicked gleam in his eyes as he stood from his chair, his phone still pressed to his ear. “Relieved is a bit of a stretch. Although, I must admit, I’ ve thought of some creative ways to shut you up.”
Josie licked her lips and dropped her phone to her side. “Creative?”
Anders tossed his on the vanity and crossed the room. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her before whispering in her ear.
“You have no idea.”
“I have a few.” Josie grinned and hugged him close, her eyes falling shut and the tightness in her chest loosening for the first time that day.
Anders leaned his forehead against Josie’ s. “Is it weird that I missed you?”
“Totally weird. You’ re such a freak.” Her tone was playful, but the strain in her voice and the softness in her eyes showed her true feelings.
Trailer
Hollywood and Vine Book Trailer from Heather Maven on Vimeo.
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About Olivia Evans
Olivia Evans is a dreamer by day, writer by night. She’s obsessed with music and loves discovering new bands. Traveling the world and watching the sun set in every time zone sounds like heaven to her. A true Gemini, she follows her heart blindly and lives life to the fullest with her husband, son, and friends. Her other loves are: Chuck Taylors, Doc Martens, concert tees, gangster movies, sports, wine, craft beer and her shih tzu’s.
Hmm, I don’t know what to make of this one. Honestly, I don’t think I could handle the POV changes like that, especially in 3rd person! I mean, how could you possibly tell the difference? And it is one thing for a book to be long, but it is much worse if it FEELS long. But I am glad you ended up enjoying the story!
I haven’t read/reviewed this one, but Erin did.I forgot to check the proper post under my name when I commented on your blog, lol. But thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Oh god, I know! 3rd person drives me batty as it is..That just drove me even more crazy. haha
Oh no! I really hate it too when there’s no warning with POV changing. Luckly, I haven’t read many books like that. I get it that standalones can stretch sometimes, but it’s always better to get to the point than to stretch. Regardless of the negative elements, it’s sounds okay though. 🙂 Great review!!