Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West

Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss

by Kasie West

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.

Reviewed by Leigha on

3 of 5 stars

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I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Lacey discovers it’s not too hard to mix business with pleasure in this lighthearted contemporary romance.

I want to love Kasie West books. I really, really, REALLY do. I just…don’t. At this point, I think it is less about the books than it is about me. When I was a teenager (many moons ago), this book would have been my catnip. I would have died over the cuteness of Lacey and Donavan. I would have enjoyed the hell out of it – not just this book, but all of Kasie West’s repertoire. But, at the end of the day, it just doesn’t have the depth to invest me into the characters or the story.

That said, it is a super cute book about one young woman coming to terms with balancing her personal life with her professional one. Lacey is a fun character with tons of confidence and gusto. The romance between her and Donavan was cute, if predictable. I really loved learning more about the behind the scenes action of making a film. My one major quibble is the supposed “mystery” to the story. It just seemed so unnecessary. I would have preferred more time with Lacey dealing with her professional obligations or her romancing Donavan than the tepid mystery.

tl;dr While this story didn’t work for me, fans of young adult contemporary romance should still check it out!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 19 January, 2019: Finished reading
  • 19 January, 2019: Reviewed