Some Nerve [Paperback]

Jane Heller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2007

Celebrity journalist Ann Roth has one last chance to prove herself.

Unlike her colleagues at Famous—the L.A. magazine—Ann doesn't pick through people's garbage and would never pervert the truth. But her editor thinks she's too nice—and unless she does something drastic, he's going to replace her with a killer journalist who's more willing to get down and dirty to get a story. When airplane-phobic Ann's scheduled interview with actor Malcolm Goddard falls apart—after the surly, notoriously media-averse celeb insists he'll answer questions only while piloting his Cessna—she finds herself abruptly unemployed . . . and headed back to her tiny Missouri hometown to heal and regroup.

As luck would have it, the great Malcolm shows up in little Middletown under an alias—a patient at the local hospital—and Ann recognizes a golden opportunity to reclaim her career . . . and score some payback in the process. First she'll volunteer at the hospital, then she'll befriend the laid-up screen star and secretly worm the story of a lifetime out of him. If she proves she's everything her editor wanted, she'll certainly get her job back. But how much is she willing to risk for her career? Her conscience? Her ethics? Her heart?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ann Roth, 30, is living it up as an entertainment reporter for an L.A. celeb-gossip rag, hobnobbing with stars as she chases down the latest "big get" in Heller's latest entertaining romp (after An Ex to Grind). But trouble looms when the next big get turns out to be the famously grouchy, media-hating actor Malcolm Goddard, whose unwillingness to talk costs Ann her job. She moves back to her small Missouri hometown and gets a surprise second shot at her career when a (perhaps too) incredible coincidence sees Malcolm delivered incognito to the local hospital. A former classmate of Ann's who is now a hospital bigwig (and who has the hots for Ann) tries to impress her by sharing the secret of Goddard's presence. She scores face time with the actor by signing up for the hospital's volunteer program, which leads to unforeseen complications of the heart. Though Heller has a tendency to sum up the morals of her story in pat sentences ("The patients at Heartland General were beginning to teach me just how lucky I was"), she makes up for it with quirky, hooks-in-you prose. The ending is an inevitably happy one, but the road to it is full of twists and turns. (On sale Sept. 5)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Ann Roth has her dream job, interviewing celebrities in Hollywood for a popular magazine. Glad to have escaped Missouri, she is good at her job but now has to prove herself to her new editor by interviewing the famously private Malcolm Goddard. But he refuses to grant her an interview, and she returns to her hometown to rusticate with her overly phobic family only to discover that Malcolm has secretly checked into the local hospital. Ann volunteers there so she can interview him, not realizing how volunteering will change her and how befriending the serious movie star will change him. Heller dishes up a gem of a summer read filled with insider Hollywood snippets and heartwarming moments. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (November 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061148741
• ISBN-13: 978-0061148743
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,560,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I hope those who've enjoyed my novels of romantic comedy will try my first nonfiction book, "Confessions of a She-Fan," about my passion for the NY Yankees. Yes, it's about baseball, but it's also about marriage (mine) and what it really means to be a fan. If you aren't into baseball, maybe you know someone who is and you'll tell them about it.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It seemed like it was trying to be deeper than it really was..., February 22, 2007

By 

Heather A. Teysko "heatherteyskodotcom" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Some Nerve: A Novel (Hardcover)

Predictable and formulaic - everything everyone else has said - lacking in sympathetic characters or any real surprises. It seemed like the book was trying too hard to be deep and meaningful, and I just didn't get it.

Ann Roth is a reporter for a celebrity magazine and loses her job, forcing her to move back to her hometown in the midwest (why didn't she just get a different job in LA? Why was her whole future in LA tied to one job??) to regroup, finds out that the very celebrity who inadvertently got her fired is going to be in her own hometown to get treatment at a hospital without the prying eyes of the press (ok, so beyond the fact that the chances of that happening are beyond comprehension, if you're as big of a celebrity as this guy is, word is going to get out - just look at stars who go all the way to Africa to have a kid, and still the word gets out - try and tell me that the star of a blockbuster movie collapses and drops out of the world for a few weeks, and reporters aren't going to get curious and track him down?).

So Ann starts to volunteer so that she can get close to him and land her "killer journalist" interview. But oh, the twists and turns of being in such close proximity to a vulnerable movie star who shows a human side...

As a side note, Ann kept doing all these klutzy things - I really thought that it was supposed to be a Bridget Jones kind of thing - but it's like it just didn't fit with the book or the character or something. I don't know - it seemed like every once in a while, when the story was moving slow, it was like somebody thought, "oh, let's make Ann have an endearing Bridget Jones moment..." and so she'd run into a patient or something.

Oh yeah, and there was a lot of exploring of her emotions and fears and phobias and things. And possibly a mystery at the hospital, which never really got resolved. And another unrequited love, which also didn't get resolved.

Something was just "off" about it - there wasn't any continuity, I guess. It was simple and easy to read, and would definitely be good for a beach read, but I kind of wish that it wasn't trying so hard to be something deeper and profound, which it just wasn't.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Oh, for heaven's sakes, August 23, 2010

By 

CA. reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Some Nerve (Paperback)

I brought this book on vacation to Italy - and left it there when I was done. It was that bad. The story is like a bad romance novel - very predictable and stereotypical. I didn't really like any of the characters, and the author seemed to be trying too hard to squeeze in too much stuff - the wonders and selflessness of volunteering, the Hollywood scene, and way too many mental health troubles. Sheesh. I had hopes as I neared the end that something might happen to wrap everything up, but no. It would have been more surprising and interesting if the reporter hadn't fallen in love with the celebrity, or if something had come of the chief of staff's shenanigans. I won't be recommending this book to friends, and I don't think I'll seek out any of the author's other books.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jane Heller's books keep getting better and better!, September 9, 2006

By 

Linda Childers (Martinez, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Some Nerve: A Novel (Hardcover)

I love Jane Heller's books and "Some Nerve" is one of her best! Ann Roth is an entertainment journalist (Think "People" or "Us Weekly") who profiles some of the top celebs. She's not a tabloid reporter who sorts through garbage cans, so when her new editor wants her to develop a "killer instinct" and pursue one of Hollywood's most private stars, she is forced to get creative. This book is both laugh out loud funny and surprisingly bittersweet. I don't want to give away too much of the plot but suffice it to say readers won't be disappointed. I finished this book in two nights and was sorry to leave the characters behind.