Hollywood Ever After

by Sasha Summers

[Cocktails and Books]

4.5 stars.

Claire is spending her birthday with her best friend, Assistant Director, Shannon, in Los Angeles. It's a chance for her to decompress and have time to herself. Finally free from her abusive husband, it's time for her to spread her wings and just be Claire. Who would have though one little Hollywood premiere would change a Texas school teacher's life?

Josh Wiley meet Claire as he rescues her from tripping on the red carpet. From the moment these two look into each other's eyes, the pages just about exploded on my iPad. Their chemistry is smoking hot. Josh, with his quiet, understanding personality, is just what Claire needs to put her life back together after her disastrous marriage. He doesn't push her or put any demands on her, he just simply lays everything at her feet and trusts that she'll make the same decision he has about the two of them. When Claire finally trusts him enough to introduce her to her kids, you watch Josh make that final leap for Claire. You totally fall in love with him from that point forward.

Claire initially questions Josh's motives (because what would a 28 year old Hollywood It boy want with a 35 year old mother of two), but she never questions the chemistry they have between them. She fights with herself and with how she's been conditioned by her ex when evaluating their relationship, but she takes a leap of faith and hopes that the strong feelings she has for him are genuine...for her sake and her kids. It takes Claire quite a while to trust what she has with Josh and to know that she doesn't want anything or anyone to damage what they have. But it was fantastic to see Claire put everything on the line to make sure everything she loves was safe from her past.

A definite page turner with an adorable leading man and an incredibly brave and strong heroine. The blurb for this book doesn't do it justice, because it's about so much more than falling for a Hollywood star. It's about learning from our past and trusting ourselves enough to get it right the next time.