[Review] Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss - Kasie West

Summary: 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 choirboy, Donavan Lake, to tutor her, and somewhere along the way she’s lost her acting mojo. 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 snapping her out of her acting funk—is Donavan. What she doesn’t count on is this straitlaced 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. (Pub Date: Feb 05, 2019)

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Companion book to... actually, it doesn't even matter. This is basically a standalone. And a nice one!

Lacey wants to be a famous actress and she's worked hard for it, staying away from boys and any distractions. She's even said goodbye to her mother, siblings and best friend to move in with her father in LA to work in the movie that could be her career changer.While trying to balance life with her father, pressure from working with a popular actor and sessions with her tutor to keep up with school work, strange things start happening on the set. Is someone sabotaging her?

3.5.

I confess I had forgotten West's style and in the beginning I was cheering for the wrong boy—as if she doesn't have a thing for the boy next door. It did take too long for Donovan to show up and thanks to that it probably took me as long as Lacey to warm up to him. But that's how a Kasie West book boyfriend is, he's too cute resist.

While I'm a big fan of her writings, some of her books haven't made me that excited. It's not the case of this series, though. This wasn't as good as the first one, but it was a great pass time. And I really like how Kasie manages to explore so many aspects. Lacey's issues with her father, bullying, balancing the pursuit of one's dream with reality, the way she does it is very special.

I also liked how all the characters had their flaws and upsides, it would have been so easy for the other actress on set to be a rival. For Grant, the popular actor who's making things harder for Lacey, to simply be a douche.  While she is a rival and he is a douche, there's a lot more. I think both of their stories closed her but I still longed to read something centering on them. Or two things, I don't mind reading two other books.

But my favorite thing is Lacey. She's an actress, a really good one, but she's also so human, we readers never know her true potential until the end. She's also super funny and relatable just like it was me landing a lead role on a horror movie.

Reading back my review for the first book, I can see this one didn't make me as excited. But I assure you I read it all with a big smile—and high speed. It was a pleasure and another book for me to ascertain Kasie West is still my favorite YA writer.

Now... who else is curious about the third installment? Who's it gonna be next?

Rating: 4 out of 5.