Heartthrob

by Katie McCoy

There is something about a story that involves a fake relationship that has me counting the chapters until one of the participants realises that the whole thing has taken a turn that they may not have anticipated but that in the scope of things even a blind man would have been able to predict. Never in the mother of all Sundays was their scheme going to work, they had too much going on to have kept it honestly fake! But I suppose that was the whole point of the book really, so bravo!

Jax and Penny grew up as friends, and were just your typical kids but when they meet up again years later there is nothing typical about well Jax anyway, he is a leading light in Hollywood who has just seen his lustre start to tarnish, the tabloids are getting pretty slick with their condemnation of his playboy lifestyle, so in true Hollywood fashion he hires his friend Penny to pretend to be his girlfriend and in the process to remedy his image issue. I think I might have left him trying to remedy a broken nose, but Penny saw it as a means to an end and a way to resolve some issues in her own life and accepted.

Anyway, once they arrive in England and their relationship starts to find its feet, it doesn’t take long for it to take on a force of its own and it was with much hilarity that I read just how Jax was finally able to work out what the heck he was feeling…honestly man!

I liked Penny and I thought that the author portrayed her in a manner that was authentic, she gave her the opportunity to explore life no matter how temporary with Jax and to come to her own conclusions, she wasn’t actually the one to worry about, it was Jax that took his time getting on the bandwagon!

The story was well written, with a timbre and pace that allowed for the development and understanding of the characters. I never felt that either they or I were rushed. I applaud the author for the amount of detail she imbedded into both the setting and the characterisation.