Relatively Famous [Kindle Edition]

Jessica Park (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I loved how the relationship between Dani and Mark progressed...And there's actually no real mean girl in this novel. Hooray for that!" The Book Fairy's Haven 

"I really enjoyed reading this book - it was a fast, fun read that had me completely spellbound the entire time." The Elliot Review

"An amazing and adorable story. The characters were remarkable. Dani was down-to-earth, relatable, & incredibly persistent."  --Burning Impossibly Bright

"One of the best things about the book is the way the father-daughter relationship is portrayed. It's so touching and so very real." --My Love Affair with Books

"Jessica Park has found a new niche with the young adult genre. Both adults and teens will thoroughly enjoy this book. She certainly hit this one out of the park." --Lori's Reading Corner

Product Description

Relatively Famous delivers Hollywood with heart. Meet Dani McKinley: A typical teen whose world is rocked when she finds out that her father is a famous Hollywood action star. Now meet Mark Ocean: A self-serving actor with a floundering career who sees that a daughter is just what he needs to reinvent himself as a family man and get back on track. When the two decide to spend the summer together, they must not only wrangle their own love lives, but try to figure out who they really are to themselves and to each other.

Now armed with credit cards, club memberships, and a new wardrobe, Dani learns that what Mark has in wealth, he sorely lacks in parenting skills. Trying to show Mark that parenting is about more than loading her up with Prada bags and taking her to movie premieres is challenging enough, but she's also got her hands full with her new friends. Oh, and the boys... Dani meets Jason, a gorgeous young personal trainer who is easy on the eyes and wildly flirtatious. But is this smug hottie the one for her? Or will she ignore her friends eye-rolling and go for the goofy but sweet surfer?

While juggling her own complicated love life, Dani tries to set her father up with someone less likely to appear on a VH1 reality show, and someone more... well, normal. And age-appropriate. And dressed in anything but a thong bikini. But whether Mark is able to heal old wounds and move forward with anything more than a meaningless fling remains to be seen.

Can Dani fit in with this new, fast-moving California crowd without losing herself? With the world at her fingertips and hot boys now after her, staying grounded gets tough. And can Mark drop his egocentric approach to life and learn to appreciate how truly wonderful his daughter is? As driven as he is to get that A-list acting role, he's willing to do whatever it takes to get there, even if it means using his daughter. Or is he...? Mark and Dani's relationship hits a few highs, but the question becomes whether the lows are too much.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 239 KB
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003TXS7WS
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,607 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not to be missed!, July 5, 2010

By 

L. Gondelman "Lori's Reading Corner" (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Relatively Famous (Kindle Edition)

Dani McKinley is your typical fifteen-year-old Midwest girl. She wants to wear make-up, get her ears pierced (with cool danglies versus the plain silver studs her mom makes her get) and have her very own cell phone. She has known her best friend Samantha since kindergarten and they do just about everything together. She lives with her mom, Leila, and her chef boyfriend of the past five years, Alan. The one thing Dani doesn't have is a dad. While she has never met him, nor does she even know his name, it hasn't been an issue for her; her mother has always been all that she needed and Dani has a wonderful father-daughter type relationship with Alan. Then her whole world is turned upside down when she arrives at school one day to an army of paparazzi taking her picture and shouting "How does it feel to know action star Mark Ocean is your father?" The secret her mother tried so desperately to keep is not so secret anymore. And now that she knows who her dad is, Dani begins to wonder just what she may have been missing all these years.

Mark Ocean isn't the big time movie star he used to be. Sure, he may still have his gorgeous looks, he may date one bimbo after another and girls may still swoon over his poster they have hanging on their bedroom walls, but his movies have gone from instant hits to instant duds. He needs to do something -and fast - to resurrect his once hot career. And after at first denying that Dani is his daughter, he soon realizes that bringing her into his life, and creating what would appear to be the perfect family, could be just what his dying career needs.

Dani heads off to Hollywood to meet her father for the first time and to see if she can fit in in the land of fame and excess. Her room in Mark's house is more like a mini condo than a bedroom; with a kitchenette, Jacuzzi tub, and a loft filled with pillows and a flat screen TV. The following day, before a carefully plotted TV interview that is to attempt to show him as the doting new father, Mark gives Dani her very own Pretty Woman moment, taking her shopping and spending money on her hand over fist. Anything she wants, she gets. Mark also hooks Dani up with the Kayla Dodd, the daughter of a film producer he's trying to impress. He figures if Dani & Kayla become good friends, he might just get that lead in Evan Dodd's new film, and begin the resurrection of his career. What starts out as a one week visit, ends up as a summer-long stay. Dani has a blast with Kayla, her sister Ava, her brother Nathan and the other new friends she's introduced to. Not to mention the easy-on-the-eyes Jason. But can Dani truly fit in with this materialistic lifestyle or can her newfound friends like her for who she truly is and not what she has? Can she find love with the player Jason or is the more down to earth surfer boy what she really needs? Can Mark put an end to his player ways and settle down with a "normal" woman? Will he begin to see his daughter as the young, beautiful, mature young woman she is instead of just a means to an end? Both Dani and Mark spend the summer trying to get to know each other, and almost as importantly, themselves. But will one overheard conversation shatter the relationship that they've just begun to build?

Jessica Park brings us right into the lives of Dani and Mark, so much so that you feel as if you're sitting poolside with them, enjoying the sun and fun of LA. She has created a wonderful and loveable character in Dani, a girl you will root for from page to page. She makes you both hate and love Mark all at the same time. Jessica Park, known for the cozy books she co-wrote with her mom Susan Conant (see the Gourmet Girls series) has found a new niche with the young adult genre. Both adults and teens will thoroughly enjoy this book. She certainly hit this one out of the park. Even though Relatively Famous has just been released, I can't wait to read what she has in store for us next.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relatively Famous is a delight, June 27, 2010

By 

Mary Kennedy (east coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Relatively Famous (Kindle Edition)

Dani McKinley is an intriguing character--a bright, engaging 14 year old with a wicked sense of humor and a strong moral compass. She's close to her mother, Leila, and devoted to her best-friend, Samantha, but something is missing in her life: a father. As the book unfolds, the author draws a dead-on portrait of Hollywood, creates a set of believable characters and offers enough twists and turns to keep readers turning the pages. We're rooting for Dani all the way. It's a delight to meet a teen character who is thoughtful, kind and has scruples. Both adults and teens will enjoy this novel and one hopes there is a sequel in the works.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A breezy pleaser, July 24, 2010

By 

Jim Thomsen (Bremerton, WA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Relatively Famous (Kindle Edition)

Author Jessica Park, known for the cuisine-centric cozy mysteries she penned with her mother, Susan Conant, makes two successful debuts here -- as a Young Adult author and as a self-published e-book author.

"Relatively Famous" is breezy summer fare that should tickle young teen girls with its tantalizing, authoritative and often hilarious glimpses at beach fashion, the B-film industry and, of course, hot boys. And fifteen-year-old Dani McKinley, the story's central character, makes for a pretty good role model. She can be a bit of a turn-on-a-dime diva at times, but she's goodhearted and ultimately well-grounded.

The story: Dani, living an ordinary life in suburban Michigan with her single mom, her mom's longtime boyfriend and her best friend, has her world turned upside-down when a longheld secret spills forth: Her biological father is none other than Mark Ocean, Hollywood's king of the scatterbrained B-movie thriller. After a few rounds of denials and recriminations, father invites daughter to spend a summer with him in Southern California.

Mark, a 35-year-old confirmed bachelor type, isn't thrilled about having a teen daughter and doesn't exactly know what to do with her, but he does help her hook up with a ready-made set of gorgeous, spoiled children-of-celebrities teens ... though even that move is rooted in a secret and self-aggrandizing agenda. Romances ensue for both father and daughter as they fumble their way toward a relationship stripped of artifice and defensive attacks.

Misunderstandings lead to deep complications, until at one point, Dani finds herself angry with almost everybody she knows ... most of all herself and her typical teen penchant for bad moves borne of hotheaded impulse. How she manages to dig herself, and everybody she cares about, out of that hole makes for a deeply satisfying ending.

Park knows her craft, and when combined with obvious affection for her characters, she can't help but deliver a tight, fast-paced winner that, in a just world, would be taking up chain-store space this summer alongside Stephenie Meyer's books.