Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West

Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West
Published by Harper Teen on February 5, 2019
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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Lacey Barnes has dreamt of being in a movie for as long as she can remember. However, while her dream did include working alongside the hottest actor in Hollywood, it didn’t involve having to finish up her senior year of high school at the same time she was getting her big break. Although that is nothing compared to Donavan, the straight-laced student her father hires to tutor her, who is a full-on nightmare.

As Lacey struggles to juggle her burgeoning career, some on-set sabotage, and an off-screen romance with the unlikeliest of leading men, she quickly learns that sometimes the best stories happen when you go off script.

There’s just something about Kasie West’s writing-style that makes an otherwise silly plot and shallow romance into something sophisticated and poignant. Her stories are addictive, entertaining, and just plain fun–in the truest sense of the word.

The majority of the action unfolds on a zombie-romance movie set and in the on-set trailer of 17 year-old Lacey Barnes (FUN, right!?). Lacey is an ambitious and talented teen on the verge of stardom now that she is acting opposite one of young-Hollywood’s most eligible heart-throbs. But her fame and climb up the acting ladder have come at a price–her grades. Long story short, Lacey ends up with one super cute tutor who has to compete for her attention (and affections) with her annoyingly charming and confident co-star. The story doesn’t really feature a love triangle (sorry if that disappoints some of you), but there is some great tension created by the competition between the two male MCs.

Although the fantastic covers and cute plots and settings of Kasie West’s stories may lead you to think that the characters will be superficial–they’re not. Each character is interesting and fleshed out adding depth to the story. I think the pacing could have been faster and the book could have been shorter. For 384 pages, the novel should have used up more of that type-set on scenes between Lacey and her tutor.

Overall, I enjoyed the mystery aspect to the plot (think–who’s trying to sabotage my acting career?!), and I enjoyed the chemistry between the two MCs. Fate, Fame, and the First Kiss is a fun and entertaining novel and I definitely recommend giving it a read.

Okay, I’ve already cast current actors as the main characters of this novel for you:

 

Okay folks, I am FREAKING OUT right now. I think I am the world’s best matchmaker; I just saw THIS while googling pics to use in this post of Selena Gomez:

Woooowwww. My matching making skills are on point.

Just for Fun:

The film story within the story of this book totally reminded me of the films Warm Bodies and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I think it’s time I re-watched them!