Monday, August 19, 2013

Playing With Her Heart ~ Lauren Blakely

Playing With Her Heart

Lauren Blakely 

Synopsis~

When you’re acting the role of a lifetime, how can you know if love is real—or all just a part of the show?

Twenty-three year old rising theatre star Jill McCormick has built a life out of pretending. Pretending she’s happy, pretending her long-distance crushes add up to something real, pretending she’s not haunted by the dark secret that shattered her world six years ago. Cast in her first Broadway show, she desperately needs to keep her façade intact, but that’s before she comes face to face with her devastating new boss…

Hot-shot director Davis Milo knows the first rule of directing: never fall for your leading lady. Captivated by Jill’s raw talent, he fights his feelings, but watching Jill on-stage with another man is more than his jealous streak can take. Keeping things professional isn’t an option. He wants all of her.

Soon the ingénue and her director are staying late in the empty theatre, their private rehearsals spiraling into new, forbidden territory. Caught up between fiction and reality, Jill struggles to find the truth in all their staged kisses. But how can she be sure that what she feels is real, and not a part of the play? And when two people spend their lives pretending, what happens after the final curtain falls?


Amy's Thoughts~

After Acting and pretending for so long, how do you decide what's reality? Jill has to figure this out. What's real? What's part of the show? Not only in love, but friendships as well. Who is being true, who is making nice with co-workers? I loved Jill's character. So many times in books, the female character gets left behind in a quest for the next BBF. 

While Davis is definitely BBF material, Jill is the head of the line for the next BGF. I love that Jill holds nothing back from Davis, yet she keeps her options open. And she gives as much as she gets. Jill has depth to her, with her history and back story. Yet, she doesn't let it cripple her, and it's not all angsty. Yes, there's hurt and grief, but it doesn't define her 99% of the time.  

Bravo to Ms. Blakely for giving us a strong female lead I'd been looking for. 

Now for Davis. Davis is an award winning, hard-nosed, demanding director for the play that Jill has just been cast. He is instantly trapped by her depth of emotion & presence on the stage. He must have her. But Wait.. Davis doesn't date actresses. He's going to break all his rules for her. 

I found it refreshing to have a male lead who was as Alpha as he was, yet as in tune with his emotional side as he was. Davis made all the right moves and played his scene well. 

Ms. Blakely once again exceeds my expectations with her work. I have been a fan of hers since the beginning and with each novel she writes her work gets better and better. 


About the Author~

Lauren Blakely is an unabashed fan of clever jokes, toast, and sexy alpha males. Like the heroine in PLAYING WITH HER HEART, she thinks life should be filled with hot men, music, and epic chemistry. Lauren lives in California with her husband and children, and spends her days writing both true stories and make-believe ones.


Amazon: http://amzn.to/14NfKp5
BN: http://bit.ly/14SYvtd
Apple iBookstore: http://bit.ly/1cBltYO


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