Date published: May 27th, 2014
Publisher: Boutique of Quality Books
Synopsis: After graduating college, Kelsey Morgan left her small-town Virginia roots to make it in LA. After years slogging in commercials and music videos, her movie career is finally taking off. But she's still miles behind her current costar, and Hollywood playboy, Patrick Lyons. Kelsey does everything she can to avoid Patrick off-set, hoping to not become fodder for the supermarket tabloids that scour the streets for Patrick, trying to get an exclusive look at him and his alleged woman of the week. Kelsey has successfully kept Patrick at a distance, and her reputation intact, until her drunkard brother-in-law Richard threatens to ruin everything by selling her darkest secret to the highest bidder. Now the victim of blackmail, Kelsey has nowhere else to turn but to Patrick's arms. But, can he be trusted? Or will the past destroy them all before she can find out if he's the hero she needs?
What I Thought:
I expected What It Takes to be the typical new adult novel featuring movie stars. Meaning I expected less on content and character and more heat and chemistry. Instead I got a story that had great content, great characters, and the chemistry I was looking for. It just goes to show once again, I shouldn't be making assumptions.
I liked Kelsey. Even though she was getting her big break, she was still down to Earth. I liked how much importance she gave to her family, and tried to protect them from the madness that was about to descend on her. I liked Patrick a lot too. He too was genuine and it was Kelsey's assumption he was a total man whore from what she'd read and seen in the media that made it hard for her to let him in. Of course, it was even harder because of her attraction to him. I did not like Kelsey's brother-in-law Richard. I think he got less than he deserved. That man made my blood boil.
I found it hard to put this book down. There was so much going on between Patrick, Kelsey, filming, the drama with Kelsey's secret, and Richard making life difficult for all of them. I am astonished this is Kathryn's debut novel. It's written so well. I also liked how she built Kelsey and Patrick's relationship. She also made sure to include pitfalls of being a celebrity, which also helped keep the story grounded. All in all, I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series.
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About the Author
Born and raised in Virginia, Kathryn Ascher tried her hand at poetry and fiction in high school, but put it all aside when she went to college. After graduating from Virginia Tech with her degree in communications, she married her college sweetheart and went to work for a local radio station. After her first child was born, she became a stay-at-home mom and began spending her free time crafting and reading.
It wasn’t until after the birth of her third child and a blind book exchange that Kathryn decided to give writing another try. When she picked up her first romance novel, she immediately knew that was the genre for her. She was drawn to the strong lead characters and the quirky secondary characters, the settings, the humor, and most importantly the feelings of falling in love for the first time. She hopes that her readers enjoy these aspects in her writings as well.
Kathryn recently moved from Roanoke, Virginia to Land O' Lakes, Florida with her husband and three children.
* A copy was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for them in any manner.*
Thank you for your awesome review!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! Thank you for writing an awesome book! I was just about to email you, but you beat me to it. :)
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