Old flames burn bright. When a disgraced starlet returns home to lick her wounds, she discovers that her high school sweetheart is just as tempting as ever. Allison: When I left for California, I gave myself a new name and never looked back. Now my carefully crafted good-girl image is getting torn to shreds in the press thanks to my Oscar-winning A-hole of an ex-boyfriend. So I escape to the only safe haven I know and trust—my hometown—to take a breather while I plot my triumphant Hollywood comeback. However, when I arrive at my parents’ house, Jackson Burke answers the door instead. And suddenly the past comes rushing back... Jackson: First kiss. First time. First love. Yep, Allison Murphy and I shared a lot of firsts back in the day. When she left, she took half my heart with her. Now she’s back in town, and even though I swore I’d keep my distance, her parents hired me to remodel their house, and I’m going to finish the job. But one hot kiss later, suddenly the press is calling us the next big celebrity couple. Sure, I’ll play the part, for Allison’s sake—but I refuse to let her close enough to break my heart all over again...
I'm a sucker for a second-chance romance, and also have a bit of an embarrassing soft spot for celebrity-romances, so I was really excited for the chance to read America's Sweetheart.
It's kind of an interesting take for on the genre in that the heroine is the famous one. Grin and Beard It by Penny Reid (#2 in the Winston Brothers series) is one of my favorite in the female-celebrity/male-local kind of stories, and I guess I was hoping a little for something like that. America's Sweetheart is much different, of course, in that Allison and Jackson have a ton of history.
Unfortunately, this one just didn't do it for me. Instead of flashbacks to their past, we're served what feels like never ending reminiscing without any of the finer details. So much telling, very little showing. I also thought the pacing was off, there wasn't enough build up to Allison and Jackson getting back together. Some of the plot also hinges around a closeted character (specifically, keeping the character closeted).
Should you read it? Unless Jessica Lemmon is your absolute favorite, I think you can skip this one.
2 1/2 Stars
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication October 2, 2018 by Loveswept (Random House)