Catch a Rising Star (Drama Queens Series #1) (Paperback)

by Tracey Bateman (Author)
Key Phrases: Rising Star, Legacy of Life, Miss Brockman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Bateman (I Love Claire) kicks off a new series about three single 30-something roommates in New York City. The protagonist of this installment is Tabby Brockman, a struggling actress who is asked to resurrect a character she once played on a popular soap opera. It's a dream job, even though Tabby wrestles with how to be a faithful Christian on the set of such a steamy show and occasionally refuses to play a scene that she thinks is immoral. Meanwhile, her off-the-air love life is heating up, too. Tabby's mom is determined to set her up with a drippy guy who won't take no for an answer, but Tabby loses her heart to a hunky, recently widowed stage dad, whose two children play her twins on the soap. There are only two problems: Tabby can't stand kids, and her archrival, an annoying actress named Rachel Savage, appears to be after the same man. Tabby's first-person narration is chatty and fast-paced, the dialogue is snappy, and Tabby's roommates, parents and sister are all well-developed characters. The number of hospital scenes in this otherwise winsome and fun novel strains credulity, but in the realm of Christian chick lit, Bateman is a rising star in her own right.
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Product Description
When thirty-something Tabby Brockman has the opportunity to reclaim her role as a killed-off character on the nation's #1 daytime soap opera, she figures this must be God's reward. But back on the set, she's faced with the same hateful head writer who killed off her character in the first place, kids who drive her crazy, a stage dad who rubs her completely wrong, and and an unwanted boyfriend who can?t seem to get the message. Faced with this dizzying rollercoaster of challenges, Tabby has to wonder: is she finally a star on the rise or just on the brink of another spectacular fall?

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: FaithWords (July 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446698938
• ISBN-13: 978-0446698931
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #282,982 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun & Fast Paced, August 14, 2007

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (8/07)

"Catch a Rising Star" is the first of three in the "Drama Queen "series by Tracey Bateman. Bateman is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and it reflects throughout this well-written novel. I sat down to read a few pages of this novel and found myself turning page after page until I was done.

Tabitha Brockman has hit rock bottom. She is a former soap opera star whose character was unfairly killed off when the lead writer found out that her husband had an interest in Tabby. Now she earns a living dressing up in costumes like Peter Cotton Tail and reading to children that she cannot stand. After getting fired from her animal gig for fighting with the children, Tabby ends up with appendicitis and lands in the hospital. This was not what she had in mind when she made a deal with God to surrender her life to him.

Things start looking up almost immediately following Tabby's surgery. It seems that the soap opera where she used to work, Legacy of Life, has decided to resurrect her character, Felicia. Tabby is very grateful for the second opportunity that she has been given. Among the many challenges that face her as she returns to work is the biggest - being a Christian and good example on the set. She finds that she has to put her foot down to protect Felicia's morals so her fans will not lose confidence in her as a Christian. At the same time, Tabby is having trouble losing the guy that her mom has picked out for her and with being forced to work with her nemesis Rachel. To top it all off she finds herself completely attracted to David Gray, the father of her TV twins with whom she is having trouble bonding with. Whew! There is a lot of activity going on, but the author manages to bring it all together and make it work nicely.

I highly recommend "Catch a Rising Star" to people who enjoy a light comedy drama and to those who have Christian ideals. The author does an excellent job of catching Christian ideals without being preachy, so I would not limit this book to Christian readers. The reading group guide makes it a good candidate for book clubs too. I really enjoyed reading this book and am looking forward to Tracey Bateman's next installment in the "Drama Queen" series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 stars, July 22, 2007

By	C. Widman (CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tracey Bateman caught my attention with the Claire series- light, fluffy, funny reading. Catch a Rising Star is still light and fluffy but the little plot there is, is very predictable. There are a few endearing scenes- when we first meet Tabby, she is dressed as Peter Rabbit and reading to small children. She was a star soap actress but her character was killed off. Now she's working odd jobs to make ends meet. But things start to click for her again, and she swept back into the soap opera world.

The romance is sweet and the story itself is an easy read for one sitting. But overall nothing happens that comes as a real surprise. It was very contrived and predictable. As with Defiant Heart, I'm disppointed that both are not quite up to Claire's standards but I'm not ready to give up all hope. Ms. Bateman has a fun, witty writing style so I'll stick around to see if the storylines can improve enough to be worthy of her talent.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Catch a Rising Star, March 28, 2008

By	C. Reigner - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tracey Bateman did a great job writing this book. I read this book in one sitting. I tried to pace myself, but it was just too good!