Book Review: Star Crossed

Author: Jennifer Echols
Publication Date: February 26, 2013
Publisher: Pocket Books
Series: Stargazer # 1

Wendy Mann loves her job rescuing celebrities from public relations scrapes. She grew up with nothing, and now she’s drawn to glitz, glamour, and a lighthearted lifestyle. She speaks her mind, so she’s just the tough cookie to tell stars the truth about how other people see them, even when they don’t want to hear it. But after six years at the top of her game, Wendy crosses the line. A star she was sent to save rebels against her and nearly gets her fired. To salvage her job, she must rehabilitate the career of a singing starlet with a penchant for posting inappropriate photos of herself and arguing online with her famous ex. Problem is, the ex is represented by Wendy’s arch nemesis from college, the hot and haughty Daniel Blackstone. And both stars are scheduled for a collision course on national television, broadcast live from Las Vegas.

Daniel’s uneasy when he hears Wendy Mann from his firm’s most hated competitor has been brought in to revive the career of his client’s ex-girlfriend. Daniel must win at any cost. And if he has to seduce Wendy to smooth the way to their partnership, he’s willing to sacrifice himself for the cause. But Daniel doesn’t count on the scorching heat between them—and when they get to Vegas, all bets are off.

“‘Maybe that won’t happen,’ Wendy said. ‘Send me. I’ll meet this pretty delinquent with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. Maybe I’ll even straighten her out, and in that case, I want a raise and a promotion.’” – Finished Copy pg. 16

 

“‘The Blackstone Firm?’ Wendy exclaimed. ‘I have to rep Lorelei Vogel, I have to make her like me while I do it, and I have to extricate her from an Internet brouhaha with my ex-boyfriend’s doppelganger, who’s now a Blackstone Firm client? The only way that could get any worse is if Daniel Blackstone is the rep.’” – Finished Copy pg. 37

 

“As Wendy walked away from Daniel’s table, she started to get that sinking feeling, with mountains looming over her. She knew she had no filter. She had very good instincts about what made other people tick, and very bad ones about what made herself tick, or how far she could take her natural inclination to tease, like stopping on her walk to elementary school and poking an ant bed with a stick. It was only afterward, as she was retreating from an encounter, that she realized she’d made a mistake.” – Finished Copy pg. 77

 

“However, with Daniel standing so close to her, impeccably dressed, dark eyes casually roving across the dancers in front of them like he owned the place, her sense of humor failed her. She felt like she was in ninth grade and a hot senior stood next to her in the lunchroom line. Between arms and legs flailing in the strobe lights, she spotted Colton staring at them, and she went cold in the sweaty room. Now was the time to look like she was flirting with Daniel, now now now, and her brain was a blank. She did the next best thing. She put her hand down by her side, slightly behind Daniel. Then she brought her hand closer to him, closer.” – Finished Copy pg. 89

Jennifer Echols is one of my favorite young adult authors, so there was no doubt in my mind when her debut adult fiction novel was released. The last book I read by Echols, Such A Rush, left me speechless. I loved the writing and the character development that Echols is so unbelievably great at creating. Echols brings all the same elements used in her young adult literature to the table here, except she spices things up a bit! This story follows Wendy Mann as she is on the verge of losing her career and on the edge of a spicy, hot romance waiting to happen. Did I mention this story takes place in Vegas?

 

I can’t remember the last time that I read a book with a setting in Las Vegas, but I absolutely loved it in this story. This is also the perfect setting because of the relationship between the leading characters, Wendy and Daniel. What happens in Vegas is never predictable and neither is the scandalous relationship between Wendy and Daniel. Echols throws in a few twists and turns just to make things more suspenseful and keep her readers guessing.

 

At first I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy this book when compared to Echols’ many young adult novels. I found comfort in Wendy, the main character, because she shares some of the same characteristics that I have admired in many of her other leading ladies. Wendy is a strong, confident woman who comes to a shaking and trying time in her life. I loved seeing her grow and watching her unwind in Sin City. I am so looking forward to the next book in this series, which is due to be released in the fall.

 

***A BIG thank you to the publishers at Pocket Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review***