Customer Reviews

Cover Girl Confidential

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really liked this author's first book, but this one is even better. It's fast, it's funny, it's clever, and it has a twist at the end that I absolutely did not see coming.

There's not an author out there who does a better job than Bartlett of using elements of the real world to make her fictional world seem both more true-to-life and more outrageous. She has a wonderful sense of satire and a unique way of affectionately tweaking America's obsession with pop culture. In this book, she's found the perfect way to balance celebrity fun/fluff with other aspects of 21st-century America, namely immigration issues, [...] marriage, and a few others besides. And yet she does it with an incredibly light touch. It's a real treat to read a book so funny and entertaining, and yet written with such brains and heart.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I laughed out loud in places and liked the way the author mixed real celebrities into the plot. (Hey, any book that starts with someone kissing George Clooney has to be good!)

But I also liked that the book touches on real social issues, immigration, gay marriage, celebrity watching. (All the important stuff.)

This is a fun book, and can be read fast. I happened to have two free days, and the book helped fill the time. The character of Addison is very likeable, if a bit naive, considering the people she has worked with, but that adds to her charm. Parts of it are funny, some parts you have to suspend reality-- being fired in the middle of your own TV show when you are the hottest thing going is not going to happen. Also, the author made mention that the Kentucky Derby only draws stars from below the A-list. This was a surprise, since the Barnstable-Brown party always gets the good ones, all A-listers. The author is from my hometown, Louisville, so apparently, this was said tongue-in-cheek and she knew better. But that's OK. It's still a good read.

Reviewed by Stephanie Rollins for Reader Views (3/07)

If only I did not have any responsibilities, I would have read this in one sitting. Since that is not the case, it took me two days. I took it with me everywhere I went with the hope that I could read it, if only for a few minutes.

"Cover Girl Confidential" is about a woman by the name of Addison who becomes a celebrity personality. She reminds me of an exotic-looking Kelly Ripa. She is bubbly to the point of being an airhead, but you still have to love her. Kelly Ripa's love life is much more stable than Addison's. From the beginning, I hated Hughes, who she dates and marries. In the end, I wanted to throw things at him as Addison does.

Beverly Bartlett makes many references to pop culture icons. "I even took up knitting...They say even Russell Crowe is doing it." "She carried with her a spiffy skirt and jacket from the Versace fall collection that Ryan Secrest had shipped to her."

Bartlett has such humor. In one part, Hughes complains to Addison that a co-worker is too lazy to say his names; the co-worker calls him Hewey. Addison nods, but thinks to herself that Hewey has more syllables than Hughes. In another section, a senator threatens Addison. "...she would send my `skinny ass' back to `wherever it was' that I came from." "Skinny? I though excitedly, distracted by the unintentional compliment." Addison thinks in calories, so this was a big deal for her.

Addison is obsessed with calories, or the lack of, and email boards. She accidentally becomes a poster child for gay marriages--and she is not gay. She has a cover shot of herself in nothing but gauze and cotton-balls. She throws exercise equipment at her husband while on television. It becomes the "only frequently viewed Internet video of a clothed couple."

"Cover Girl Confidential" has humor and twists and turns on every single page. This is the beach book of the summer. "Cover Girl Confidential" is a book to recommend to all of your friends. Read and laugh! I am on my way to get Bartlett's other book, "Princess Izzy and the E Street Shuffle."

Received book free of charge.