Title: Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss

Author: Kasie West

Pub. Date: February 5, 2019

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Lacey Barnes has dreamed of being an actress for as long as she can remember. So when she gets the opportunity to star in a movie alongside one of Hollywood’s hottest actors, she doesn’t hesitate to accept the part.

But Lacey quickly learns that life in the spotlight isn’t as picture perfect as she imagined. She’s having trouble bonding with her costars, her father has hired the definition of a choir boy, Donavan Lake, to tutor her, and somewhere along the way she’s lost her acting mojo. And just when it seems like things couldn’t get any worse, it looks like someone on set is deliberately trying to sabotage her.

As Lacey’s world spins out of control, it feels like the only person she can count on—whether it’s helping her try to unravel the mystery of who is out to get her or snap her out of her acting funk—is Donavan. But what she doesn’t count on is this straight-laced boy becoming another distraction.

With her entire future riding on this movie, Lacey knows she can’t afford to get sidetracked by a crush. But for the first time in her life Lacey wonders if it’s true that the best stories really do happen when you go off script.

This will be a mini spoiler free review.

This was cute, but I didn’t like it as much as the first book in this series. I just never got as invested.

I felt like the emotional weights weren’t as prevalent. It almost felt like, every time Lacey came face to face with something heavy – like feeling replaced, being in in a spotlight, or being the youngest person on set – she kind of just brushed past it. Everything she struggles with, is kind of just surface, barely being touched on, and then we moved onto the next thing.

I also felt like the ending was really underwhelming. I just didn’t buy into the reasoning of the person who was trying to sabotage her. And then there were basically no repercussions…

I just wish that this book had been a little heavier, despite it being a rom com. I just didn’t understand why all the things Lacey deals with emotionally were included, when she pretty much got over them really quickly.

I liked Donavan, but again, he just lacked the charm I was hoping for. I liked the role he played in this book, and that he wasn’t completely outside the world of Hollywood. But again, his whole conflict felt so surface as well.

Their whole relationship happened so quickly, and I just had a hard time connecting to them. Beyond them just being cute and having cute moments, I didn’t really get invested in their Happily Ever After.

Everything in the book was just really surface and I was bummed that it didn’t even remotely live up to Love, Life, and the List. I just wanted more – more depth and time. It all happened so quickly which led me to being kind of meh about the whole book.

I’m still planning on reading the third book in this series, because it focuses on Grant James (the Hollywood’s Hottest Actor that Lacey stars alongside of in this book) and I’ve heard good things. My fingers are crossed that it’s better than this book.

You could definitely read this as a standalone, but if you read Love, Life, and the List then I’d say, go ahead and read this one. It is a cute read, and oh! I’d totally read the book that they’re filming an adaptation for in this book. Hands down, would read it and then watch the movie.