Not How I Pictured It
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
A sharply hilarious and ultimately heartfelt novel about a former teen superstar who grudgingly agrees to a reboot of the show that made her (in)famous, from the author of Reasonable Adults.
Twenty years after Ocean Views went off the air, the beloved TV show about teenage romance and angst is back. No one is more surprised than its former star, Agnes “Ness” Larkin, that she’s agreed to step back into the role of Hailey Grant. After her father/manager took off with her earnings, Ness ran away from the spotlight in shame. But maybe it’s time to stare her past, and her castmates, in their discreetly Botoxed faces.
That enthusiasm lasts until the first table read, which, in co-star Coco’s words, is “like a high school reunion without the dim lighting or booze.” Ness assumed her old fling Hayes Beaumont would be too busy doing Big Hollywood Things to take part, but there he is, seated beside her, exuding pheromones and success.
En route to the deluxe Bahamas resort where they’re to start filming, the cast gets stranded by a storm. Stuck on a tiny island with a paltry cache of food and quite possibly the most useless survival group in history, Ness tries to reconcile her youthful dreams with where she’s ended up—figuratively and literally. The producers wanted drama on and off-screen, and they’re going to get it, but where will Ness be when it’s all over?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This addictive contemporary romance from Lefler (Reasonable Adults) follows Ness Larkin, the former teen star of Ocean Views, an angsty show in the style of The OC. After her manager father absconded with all of her money, Ness fled Hollywood, reinventing herself as a Toronto property owner and manager. When the offer comes to reprise her role on the teen drama, however, Ness surprises the world by accepting. Reuniting with her former costars is both fun (gabbing with sassy friends Coco and Ian) and excruciating (dealing with her bitter former bestie Libby Kim and her first love turned movie star, Hayes Beaumont). When the cast's boat trip to the filming location is interrupted by a storm, they wind up stranded on a deserted island once owned by a porn kingpin (with the kinky castle to prove it). Drama erupts between the ill-prepared actors as relationship traumas are laid bare—and, eventually, satisfyingly resolved. Lefler's plotting is pure fun, like a reality show in novel form—especially when it becomes clear that this detour may have been no accident. Romance fans will fall in love with Ness and her insecurities and hate the designated villains (including the last person readers will suspect). This is a pleasure.
