True Hollywood Lies (Paperback)

~ (Author) "In the Hollywood you know, here's how the world ends: The ice caps melt..." (more)
Key Phrases: Louis Trollope, Dead End, Beverly Hills (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite promises to distinguish between "the Hollywood you know" and the Hollywood her leading lady knows, Brown's debut novel confirms just what you suspect about celebrity and unfolds with all the inevitability of a romantic comedy. Hannah Fairchild is the levelheaded daughter of Hollywood glitterati, more interested, we're told, in astronomy than any other kind of stargazing. But her hobby mostly serves as an abundant source of puns, as she's reduced to working as a personal assistant to British heartthrob Louis Trollope when her famous father dies and her stepmother freezes her trust fund. The wildly egotistical star keeps Hannah on her toes ordering Zone-kosher foods and arranging his trysts. Brown captures the humor of working for a megalomaniac: an offhand remark from Hannah, "Don't go believing your own press clippings," sends her boss into a panic. "Why? What have you read? What have you heard?" A love triangle between Hannah, her boss and his best friend Mick Bradshaw gives the book the tension that drives this well-paced, entertaining story forward. Unfortunately, Hannah is inconsistent as a character and a narrator, wavering between savvy and naïveté, between embracing the spotlight and hiding behind the scenes.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Avon Trade (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060815876
• ISBN-13: 978-0060815875
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,068,124 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great, Glamourous Debut Novel, October 31, 2005

By	Rian Montgomery "Rian Montgomery" (Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If anyone has ever had a bad few days, it's Hannah Fairchild. Not only has her famous movie-star father kicked the bucket and left his trust fund to his latest conniving wife, but her boyfriend has dumped her for another woman. Hannah's only option at this point is to take a job as a personal assistant to Louis Trollope, who also happens to be one of the most eligible and sought-after actors.

Known for going through beautiful women like water, Louis immediately tries to make a play for Hannah. Hannah knows better though and forces him to remain at a distance. Meanwhile, she hooks up with Mick Bradshaw, screenwriter and who also happens to be Louis's best friend. But Louis isn't happy unless he gets what he wants, and he wants Hannah...

Hannah has to juggle her job (which is never-ending), her love life, and her life in general- including her passion for Astronomy). But where does one end and one begin? All the while she tries to find time for her passion for star-gazing (the kind in the sky, not the Hollywood variety!).

Filled with backstabbing, fun and glamous, True Hollywood Lies is quite the glamour chick lit read. I enjoyed it until the end. Hannah was a great main character- down to earth, strong and intelligent. Author Josie Brown keeps the romantic side plots both sizzling and uncertain- one really never knows who will end up with whom until it happens. The actual story line is also filled with twists and turns.

I cannot say that this book is extremely realistic- after all, what woman has a couple of famous gorgeous men pining for them? - but it's a delightful and suspenseful read.

Overall I definitely recommend this book for a glamourous, sun-soaked yet somehow down-to-earth good read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do yourself a favour and read this book!!!!, February 11, 2008

By	J. Smith "Ausblonde" (Melbourne, Victoria) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: True Hollywood Lies (Paperback)

If you love Hollywood and everything about it this is the book for you. It looks at what goes on behind the scenes as well as what goes on in front. The writing is snappy and the storyling the same. If you want to grab a book and spend 24 hours with it (because when you pick it up you can not put it down) then this is the book for you. So do yourself a favour and read it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it! Great Hollywood Farce., April 24, 2006

By	HeatherZ "HeatherZ" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

I picked up TRUE HOLLYWOOD LIES because I overheard a person who works at my local bookstore raving about it. She said that everyone she's ever recommended it to also loved it. I thought that, at the very least, it would be a fun read. And having once lived in LaLa Land, I might find some fun in reliving all the things I liked and disliked about it...

I'm happy to report that the bookseller was right. I could easily relate to the way the heroine, Hannah, had this love/hate relationship with Hollywood (having one myself). Also, she's got the personalities down pat. I could actually imagine that some of those lines as said. The author's bio says that she has interviewed stars and knows the patter, as well as what comes out of the mouths of their handlers.

Also, all the hot spots mentioned in the book are those that the stars really do hit. So for me, it was a great read, almost like visiting again....

As for the plot, Hannah is wonderfully vulnerable, not at all a clueless shoes-and-shopping type, but smart and savvy and filled with some honest pain (it's explained in the book). You can see how she is easily in love with both the men in her life, who are different types but both lovable in their own way. In fact, is surpirsed me to read one of the reviews below which indicate that the ending was "predictable", but I have to say that I disagree. The plot had me wondering until almost the last few pages what choice Hannah would make. I guess that other reviewer is smarter than the average bear (or reader, in this case).

Then again, as with most fun books about women, you know that the heroine will do okay...but I felt that "True Hollywood Lies" was the kind of book you don't ever want to end, which is probably why the other reviewer felt that way.