07/01/2019

This solid but unexceptional contemporary from Lauren (The Unhoneymooners) tries to do a few too many things at once. When Tate Butler goes on a trip to London shortly after turning 18, she meets Sam Brandis and falls instantly into a whirlwind romance so intense that she finds herself telling him her biggest secret: she’s Hollywood royalty, the “lost” daughter of heartthrob Ian Butler. She vanished from the public view at age eight, and everyone wants to know where she went. Sam almost immediately sells Tate’s secret to the tabloids and launches her into the spotlight again. Ten years after Sam’s betrayal, Tate realizes that her past isn’t as far behind her as she thinks. Stepping into her first leading role on a film set in Northern California, she’s introduced to the screenwriter: Sam. Despite his earlier betrayal, she still feels drawn to him and must decide whether to give him another chance. Sometimes awkward parallels are drawn between the love story of Sam and Tate, who are both white, and the interracial historical romance of the film they’re working on. The pacing is imperfect, but the ending satisfies. Readers inclined toward narratives of forgiveness will appreciate this story of learning to leave the past in the past. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. (Oct.)

Praise for The Unhoneymooners

"What a joyful, warm, touching book! I laughed so hard I cried more than once, I felt the embrace of Olive’s huge, loving, complicated, hilarious family, and my heart soared at the ending. This is the book to read if you want to smile so hard your face hurts."

Lighthearted, laugh-out-loud funny and all too accessible (as the many Torres aunts and cousins keep butting into Ami's and Olive's lives), The Unhoneymooners is delightful. Olive's initial dislike of Ethan, tempered by her slow realization of his good qualities, makes for a charming and enjoyable romance.

"Witty and downright hilarious, with just the right amount of heart, The Unhoneymooners is a perfect feel-good romantic comedy. Prepare to laugh and smile from cover to cover.

"The best-friend writing team known as Christina Lauren never fails to delight. Twice in a Blue Moon is funny and engaging [... and] strikingly poignant."

Praise for Twice in a Blue Moon

“Christina Lauren never disappoint, to an almost astonishing degree, but Twice in a Blue Moon portends new depths for the duo that they’ve only just begun to swim in – and frankly, we can’t wait for more.

"The story skips along...propelled by rom-com momentum and charm.

The writing duo Christina Lauren have written another entertaining and moving romance, this time crafting a second-chance story about a couple whose intense, youthful holiday fling ends in heartbreak."

"This emotional, sweet, and surprising novel about first loves and second chances will leave a tender spot in your heart."

"Lauren (Love and Other Words, 2018) has penned a hilariously zany and heartfelt novel... the story is sure to please readers looking for a fun-filled novel to escape everyday life with."

This whirlwind story of first loves and second chances is capably narrated by Erin Mallon. When Tate Jones and Sam Brandis meet by chance in London, they fall hard and fast. But after Sam betrays Tate’s trust, both of their lives change dramatically. Fourteen years later their paths cross again when both are about to catch their big Hollywood break. With stage directions and script-like touches, scenes are sometimes complex, but Mallon performs adeptly. Despite the contrasting gravelly tones, the male characters are difficult to distinguish; whereas, the female characters’ voices are well defined and pleasant. Mallon excels at deeply and sincerely expressing emotions: the sweetness of young love, the pain of heartbreak, and the tenderness of trying again. E.P. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

This whirlwind story of first loves and second chances is capably narrated by Erin Mallon. When Tate Jones and Sam Brandis meet by chance in London, they fall hard and fast. But after Sam betrays Tate’s trust, both of their lives change dramatically. Fourteen years later their paths cross again when both are about to catch their big Hollywood break. With stage directions and script-like touches, scenes are sometimes complex, but Mallon performs adeptly. Despite the contrasting gravelly tones, the male characters are difficult to distinguish; whereas, the female characters’ voices are well defined and pleasant. Mallon excels at deeply and sincerely expressing emotions: the sweetness of young love, the pain of heartbreak, and the tenderness of trying again. E.P. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

2019-07-29
A movie star gets a rewrite for her disastrous first love story in the latest from Lauren (The Unhoneymooners, 2019, etc.).

Tate Butler is on a trip to London with her grandmother when she meets Sam Brandis and his adoptive father. Luther, Sam explains, and his wife, Roberta, who is Sam's biological grandmother, raised him as their own to salvage a family scandal. Tate can relate. Her father, Ian Butler, is a movie star, and ever since her parents split up, she, her mother, and her grandmother have been hiding from the spotlight under a different last name. Just between them, Tate adds, she loves her mom, but she longs to be an actor like her dad. With that, Sam becomes Tate's confidant and her first love. But when she returns from London, her life is turned upside down—Sam has leaked her story to the press, and now she can never go back to normal. Fast-forward to a few years later, when the bulk of the story takes place, and Tate has landed the starring role in a new film—about a white woman and a black man who fall in love and fight for civil rights in the 1960s—and her famous father will be playing her father on screen. The problem is, Sam wrote the screenplay under a pen name. And by the time Tate finds this out, it's too late to back out. Stuck together on a remote set location for the duration of the shoot, the two rarely see each other through the fog of Tate's many handlers and co-stars. Tate's frosty relationship with her father also chills the air. But the story of how Sam came up with the script idea and why he sold her out so many years ago is worth the wait, and the rich family backstories add sweetness to the superficial Hollywood setting.

Less snarky and broader in scope than the usual Lauren romance—a twist that offers readers something unexpected and new.