Last spring, I was completely obsessed with the royal wedding and as a result looked for a number of books on the royals and a-listers.
Sadly I didn’t get to read as many as I wanted but I adore modern fairy tale type books with a basically unknown female meeting a huge star or royal, and having it turn into a romance.
So when this book came across my desk many months later, I was so excited to read something kind of in that same vein. I thought this one sounded like a feel good, romance which was just what I needed to read! Though it doesn’t feature the royals, it does feature broke girl meets uber rich British film star so basically close enough for my taste!
Summary
After four months of unemployment, former book editor Clara Montgomery is still stuck sleeping on her little brother’s ugly couch in Queens. Determined to keep her minuscule savings account intact, she takes a job clearing out abandoned storage units, but is in no way prepared for stumbling upon dead snakes or trying to identify exactly where the perpetual stench of beets is emanating from.
When Clara comes across a unit that was once owned by an escort service, she finds the brothel “résumé” of a younger Caspian Tiddleswich… an astonishingly famous British actor. Her best friend thinks she should sell the gossip to a tabloid to fund her way off the couch from hell, but Clara instead manages to track down Caspian’s contact info, intending to reassure him that her lips are sealed.
Unfortunately, Caspian misinterprets Clara’s attempt at altruism and shows up on her doorstep, accusing her of blackmail. When the paparazzi capture a photo of them together, Caspian’s PR team sees an opportunity to promote his latest film—and if Clara wants to atone for her “crimes,” she’ll have to play along. Pretending to be Caspian’s girlfriend seems like it will be a tolerable, if somewhat daunting, penance… until their fake romance becomes something more than either of them expected (summary from Goodreads).
Review
This book definitely gave me all the rom-com feels and I was totally here for it. Tell me the name Caspian doesn’t scream rom-com! I was a little put off by his name at first because I felt that it was a little extra, but eventually I was able to read it and not giggle like a 12 year old girl reading the Narnia Prince Caspian!
In the beginning the story was full of wit and humor that I couldn’t get enough of, but by the end the story started to lose a little steam for me and I didn’t fully love Caspian. I struggled with how much of an asshole Caspian was throughout the book. I often felt like he was overly harsh when he didn’t need to be which was a little off putting. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting to see something positive about him, and let’s just say that while I eventually accepted him, but it wasn’t the full 360 perspective change for me when it came to his character.
The highlight of this book for me was the friendship between Clara and Cici. Cici was an interesting and quirky character and I loved how she and Clara interacted together. It was a strong and well written friendship and I think readers will enjoy that aspect.
I liked how the author made Clara stay true to herself. She wasn’t corrupted by the fame and Caspian’s personality. She stood up for herself and never waivers when it came to her choices. I felt like the things that happened to her were more out of chance than by any poor choices that she might have made.
In the end, I didn’t love this story but I did laugh quite a bit and read it rather quickly. It was a nice break from reality and I loved the rom-com feel of the story and characters. I ended up giving this one a solid 3 stars. I would have rated it higher if I had liked Caspian better.
The Lit Bitch 
Good review. 🙂 The male MC acting like a know-it-all brat is the staple for many romance tales. Sorry to know, you could not warm up to Caspian. Good lick for your next romance read.