Summer in the City

Finished May 7

Summer in the City by Alex Aster

This novel is centered on 27-year-old Elle, a screenwriter with a contract for a big-budget movie that has leased several locations in New York City. Elle used to live there, but left for Los Angeles several years ago for work. Just before she left she had a bad encounter with a man and she fed off that anger for a while in terms of creativity. She has had writers block for a while, and while she had hoped to avoid going to New York with a screenplay set there and due at the end of the summer she really should. 

She agreed to housesit an apartment that is undergoing renovations and oversee the renovations, while living there. It is a beautiful large apartment that has only her bedroom and bathroom finished, and only her bedroom furnished. She will end up spending a lot of time on the living room floor planning out her script. It also has amazing views of the city, and there are only two apartments on that floor. 

Elle likes to work in coffee shops, and soon finds a great coffee shop with the right vibe, great coffee, and luscious pastries. But then she discovers that her new neighbour is "Billionaire Bachelor" Parker Warren, the man who incited first lust and then hate after assumptions he made when they met two years earlier. He's been her muse ever since. 

This new encounter and subsequent meetings break her writer's block and she is inspired again. 

When he makes a deal with her to take her to every location her screenplay requires, with her being his fake date for the summer for events he has to attend, things begin to change. He provides appropriate clothing for the fancy events she attends, and soon gets her out running in the mornings with him. 

Elle's career is a secret as she writes her screenplays anonymously and we only discover why late in the novel. She was raised by her mother to be independent and not to be beholden to any man who might want to control her. Her mother died when she was in college and she misses her a lot. The only person that knows her identity as a screenwriter is her best friend and roommate Penelope, who also knows her history and about her previous encounter with Parker. 

As Elle finds herself deviating from her usual reclusive behaviour when she writes, she finds herself making new friends in the city. She also finds that she and Parker keep surprising each other with details about their lives, personalities, habits, and actions. 

This is a story of second chances, but also a story of control and reaction to that control. Neither Elle nor Parker is perfect and we see issues with both of them arise here. Elle has always wanted to be in control of her own life, not beholden to favours from anyone, and this has led to some of her problematic issues. I found it very interesting to see her come out of her shell. 

Twice in a Blue Moon

Finished October 18

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

This book is told in two short time periods fourteen years apart, in chronological order. When Tate Jones is eighteen, her grandmother takes her to London for a much anticipated trip. Her grandmother and mother run a cafe in a small California town. Her grandmother has planned their days out, cramming in as much as she can from museums and galleries to plays. 

On their first day, they meet Sam and Luther, a grandson-grandfather pair from Vermont, who are also on a much anticipated visit. Sam is a little older than Tate, at twenty-one. The four get along well, and do some things together, but Sam and Tate connect more strongly, and after once unplanned meeting in the hotel's courtyard late in the evening, Tate is sneaking out after her grandmother falls asleep to meet Sam. They lie in the grass, look at the stars, and share personal information. Some of Tate's sharing includes things very few people know about her, but she is sure that she can trust Sam with her dreams and sorrows. Sam lets her know that he is worried about Luther's health, and about his grandmother Roberta, who doesn't enjoy air travel, and who stayed home. 

The connection ends abruptly when Sam and Luther leave without goodbyes. The next day, Tate is swarmed by media as she exits the hotel for the day, and her grandmother quickly calls in assistance. With the media knowing things that she's told Sam, including her father's identity as a Hollywood film star, Tate is both sad and mad at the betrayal. 

Fourteen years later, Tate is now an actor herself, and has signed on to a movie where her father also appears in a supporting role. When Sam appears on set, she is shocked, and doesn't know how to react. She needs to talk to him, but she finds her emotions confusing. The tension is already high as Tate and her father haven't had much of a relationship over the years, despite what the media has been told. 

The story is all told from Tate's viewpoint, and while I could relate to the ease of falling in love as a susceptible young woman in her situation, the adult Tate is more controlled and less relatable. The story also lacks the humorous banter that usually appears in Christina Lauren romances, and has a more serious feel to it.

It was an enjoyable read, but not one of this author pair's best. 

The Reluctant Tuscan

Finished July 12
The Reluctant Tuscan: How I Discovered My Inner Italian by Phil Doran

There were aspects of Doran's experience that I quite liked, such as his efforts to learn the language, and aspects that I didn't like, such as how the local people were often caricatures of various Italian stereotypes and his humour, which is in the style of the sitcoms that he wrote for as a career.
At the beginning of the book there is a disclaimer that all the events are true, but some of the place names and all of the people's names have been changed to ensure their privacy. This is good, but given some of the people's secrets, if you know Phil and his wife and where they actually have a home in Tuscany, I would think that some of these secrets might still become associated with the actual people, which is worrying given the promises made to those people.
There is the usual issue of Italian bureaucracy and the machinations used to sidestep and overcome it. Having never dealt with this, I couldn't say if these are real or exaggerated, but certainly at times it feels a bit much.
This memoir covers a year or so during which Doran's wife, a sculptor and lover of Italy, buys a ruined house with many issues and sets about making it into a home. One of her motivations is worry about the stress Doran has over getting his scripts accepted now that he is no longer on salary to a particular show or studio. She believes getting him away from California will help his health. Given the stress around this project, I'm not sure how successful this ploy was, but he did get a book out of it anyway.
Despite the stereotypes, one did get glimpses of the real humanity in the people he encountered, and some of them were more interesting to me, and I would like to know more about them, such as the young female mechanic.

Waiting for Tom Hanks

Finished June 16
Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey

This is a novel romcom. The main character Annie Cassidy has dreams of being her generation's Nora Ephron. She is working on a screenplay, and doing freelance writing to make a living. Annie's dad died when she was just a baby, and her mother was a big rom-com fan, telling wonderful stories of Annie's dad and their special romance. Annie's mom died while she was in high school, and she responded by throwing herself in schoolwork and extra-curricular activities, becoming valedictorian and then graduating college summa cum laude in film studies. When her mom died, her uncle Don moved into the house, to provide stability, companionship, and a parental figure. Her uncle Don is a bit of a nerd with a social life mostly consisting of a Dungeons and Dragons group and the occasional comic-con outing.
Annie believes that someday her personal rom-com will happen with a Tom Hanks-like figure, some initial confusion and a great love. So she's been waiting for that to happen. Her best friend Chloe works in the coffee shop that Annie does a lot of her writing in, an independent shop owned by a young man, Nick Velez. Chloe is taking some business school courses, gradually earning a degree, but also paying for her dad's memory-care facility. The two women spend a lot of time together. Chloe is constantly trying to get Annie to go on dates, occasionally setting her up, to no success. As the book begins, the two hear about the upcoming filming of a rom-com in their very own neighbourhood.
Through a series of connections, Annie manages to get a job on set, and meet some people in the industry she longs to be part of. As she begins her employment with a meet-cute with the film's male star, spilling coffee on him, she is off to a good start, but keeps getting in her own way.
This is a fun, light read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of humour and interesting characters.

The Great American Whatever

Finished April 26
The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle, read by the author

This YA novel tells the story of sixteen-year-old Quinn Roberts from his point of view. Quinn wanted to be a screenwriter from a young age, after meeting the older brother of his new neighbour who was just starting out in the industry. He corralled his older sister Annabeth and his best friend Geoff into his dream. Annabeth directed the movies he wrote and Geoff was the main actor.
But as the book opens, we learn that Annabeth died six months ago in a car accident, and Quinn has retreated into his room since then, with little contact with others. His mother has also retreated into a world of sadness, leaving mail unopened and not going out. Quinn has been getting some therapy, through Skype sessions, but it isn't until Geoff forces him out on an excursion to replace his dead air conditioner that he starts to move on. The two buy the air conditioner, but go on to a party hosted by Geoff's older sister, who's at college, and Quinn begins to interact with others. At first it is with these college kids, who don't know about the tragedy in his life, but it gradually expands.
Quinn begins to understand that he's not the only one grieving Annabeth, and he needs to realize his dreams still have possibilities.
Quinn is gay, but has never admitted that to anyone, not even Annabeth or Geoff, and as he comes out of his self-imposed retreat from the world, he also begins to come out personally. This is a story of loss and grief, of growth and risk. It is a coming of age story with a twist. There is humour and sadness, but above all great writing, and the author's reading makes it come to life thoroughly.