Faking a love story is a whole lot easier than being in love . . .
The world can see that international A-list actress Whitman (“Win”) Tagore and jet-setting playboy Leo Milanowski are made for each other. Their kisses start Twitter trends and their fights break the internet. From red carpet appearances to Met Gala mishaps, their on-again, off-again romance has titillated the public and the press for almost a decade. But it’s all a lie.
As a woman of colour, Win knows the Hollywood deck is stacked against her, so she’s perfected the art of controlling her public persona. Whenever she nears scandal, she calls in Leo, with his endearingly reckless attitude, for a staged date. Each public display of affection shifts the headlines back in Win’s favour, and Leo uses the good press to draw attention away from his dysfunctional family.
Pretending to be in a passionate romance is one thing, but Win knows that a real relationship would lead to nothing but trouble. So instead, they settle for friendship, with a side of sky-rocketing chemistry. Except this time, on the French Riviera, something is off. A shocking secret in Leo’s past sets Win’s personal and professional lives on a catastrophic collision course. Behind the scenes of their yacht-trips and PDA, the world’s favourite couple is at each other’s throats. Now they must finally confront the many truths and lies of their relationship, and Win is forced to consider what is more important: a rising career, or a risky shot at real love?
If you’re looking for a bit of escapism, this could be the book for you. It’s a bright and sassy novel about celebrity and social networking and it will certainly transport you from your day-to-day life, that is, unless you happen to be a rich and famous film star, or one of those celebs who’s just famous for simply being rich and famous – think Paris Hilton.
You’ll have fun trying to work out who Win Whitman Tagore and Leo Milanowski are based on. I was certainly reminded of a few celebrity stories.
Win is a young British Asian film star who has to deal with the casual racism and prejudice that comes her way on a daily basis from people in the film industry in which she works. Her mum is being treated for cancer, her father died before she became famous, and she relies on her assistant and her publicist for support, as well as her best friend Shift, who’s a musician who’s written a top 40 hit.
Leo is a rich and famous young man who has a vast trust fund to fall back on, and who is basically looking for an easy path through life. He gets drawn into a pretend relationship with Win which is purely for the benefit of the media, so that Win can maintain a screen presence that will make people want to see her films and make her studios rich.
So, Win and Leo embark on a seven year long carefully choreographed “relationship” that will keep everyone wanting to see her in films. And it works. She’s nominated for an Oscar.
I suppose you might have guessed that surely the twist will be that one of the two falls genuinely in love with the other. It doesn’t happen the way you expect. Win and Leo spend a lot of time fighting and hating each other. If you want to know if they finally get together, you’ll have to read the book!
There’s a lot of name dropping in here of sites like TMZ, Buzzfeed, the Daily Mail, and so on. It’s right up to date with contemporary references, so it feels very modern and spicy. There are some sex scenes.
There are also some literary references including Jane Austen, Infinite Jest and Middlemarch.
The racism strand of the story is what I found most engaging. Win’s struggles to be seen as an actor who can be successful as well as British Asian feels very accurate, and very timely. I found it so frustrating that Win had to put up with seemingly innocent remarks – for example the use of the adjective “exotic” to describe her. She doesn’t tell Leo about this, because she’s trying to find her own way through, and in spite of the fact she is a bit spoilt and selfish, she’s also a strong character who I wanted to succeed. Leo’s character felt less rounded to me, but I liked the characters of his mums, and of Win’s mum too. They felt real.
I completely loved this. So much tension, angst, humour, and atmosphere, and stellar writing. So, all in all, this struck me as a great read for when you’ve had a busy day and you want to escape to the bright lights of Saint Tropez and Hollywood.