Berls
Written on Dec 5, 2013
This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.
My Initial Reaction…
I really enjoyed the concept of Main Attraction, but in the end it didn’t really deliver for me. It felt like I was in the fantasy of a crazed Robert Pattinson fan, and unfortunately the story never advanced enough beyond that for me to forget the similarities and get lost in the characters’s tumultuous love story.
The Characters…
The love interest in Main Attraction is Penn Jackson, movie star in a popular tween film. Jessica, from whose point of view the story is told, meets him when her niece wins some time at the filming of the movie and Jessica is on chaperon duty. I was frustrated with Penn from the get-go, because there was no way of ignoring that he was meant to be Robert Pattinson, and the unnamed tween film was clearly Twilight. I have nothing against Rob or Twilight. Hell, I like them both, own all the movies, and have read the books many times.
My problem was that I couldn’t see Penn for all the Rob shinning through. And that gave the whole story the uncomfortable quality of being inside a raving fans fantasy, where they somehow are the one that made him give up all the starlets because he loved them. What made it worse was the way it happened. Penn didn’t fall for Jessica in some natural and endearing way. He knocks her over on the set and kisses her, just like that. And suddenly he’s madly in lust with her, and falling quickly in love. I’m all for fantasy scenarios, but I like them to have a realm of believability and this just didn’t for me.
And then there’s Jessica. She got on my last nerve. I get insecurities and I like my characters to be flawed and all. But Jessica’s insecurities got the better of her, me, Penn, and every erotic scene in the first 50% of the book. I wanted to feel bad for her and for how her husband had treated her, but it felt so forced and overdone I couldn’t.
Unfortunately I really didn’t like any of the characters. I came close to liking Micah, Penn’s friend turned valet driver. But the friendly endearing guy I first met somehow turned into the stereotypical Hollywood playboy. Jessica’s best friends kept trying to excuse Jessica’s husband’s behavior because of his diabetes, which served the purpose of both continuing to over-dramatize the relationship and render it less understandable. The rest of the characters could either be paired with a tabloid version of a Twilight star, like Kristin Stewart, or summed up in a Hollywood stereotype.
The Story…
I think I read all of Main Attraction because I wanted to believe it would get better. As a Twilight fan, I could have enjoyed a story that used those characters as a point of departure. It just never departed enough for my taste.
The potential was there. Jessica is deeply scarred from her late-husband’s cheating on her and getting into a relationship with a movie star with a play-boy reputation doesn’t exactly help foster trust. I enjoyed the moments where they dealt with real relationship issues and the complications of Hollywood life really added a neat dimension. It was unfortunately weighed down by failed attempts to be erotic and some lackluster romantic lines that fell very flat.
Concluding Sentiments…
When I sat down to right this review, I though three stars might be possible, but the more I tried to write what I like about the Main Attraction the more I realized things I didn’t like. I think it could be a fun read for some and maybe the sex scenes will work for you. Unfortunately, none of it really worked for me.