{Review + Event Giveaway} BEHIND THE SCENES by Dahlia Adler

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Check out today's interview with 

author Dahlia Adler!

O P E N I N G   H O O K:

   IF MY PHONE BUZZED ONE MORE TIME, I was going to pull it out of my backpack and hurl it at the linoleum.
   Dammit, Van. It was definitely her calling, even though she knew I was in school. She'd had an audition that morning for a teen dramedy show, and I swear she seemed more desperate to land the role of Ditz #3 on Daylight Falls than she'd been to play Brad-freakin'-Pitt's stepdaughter three years ago.

(Page 1, US ARC edition)

I first heard about BEHIND THE SCENES at BEA. Gaby from Bookish Broads couldn't stop talking about it. Naturally, I had to look into it! We talked about it a lot on Twitter, too. Gaby also said she was Dahlia's self-appointed publicist. She compared it to OPEN ROAD SUMMER by Emery Lord, and I was looking for another book like that one, so I immediately knew this book was my destiny. While BEHIND THE SCENES shares elements with ORS, it also manages to be completely different and unique. Don't go into the book expecting it to have the tone of ORS, because it's still it's own book. Their similarities focus on the fact that in both books, two celebrities fake a relationship while the real romance is happening with one of the celebrities and the other's best friend.

Ally has no interest in Hollywood or acting. She leaves that to her best friend Vanessa, who recently scored a leading part on a brand-new teen series called Daylight Falls. Ally winds up spending much more time on the set than she ever planned to, however. Due to her father's struggle with cancer, Ally's dreams of being able to attend her first-choice college, Columbia, have gone up in smoke. Van offers to help out by hiring Ally to be her on-set assistant, as well as to tutor her for the SATs. Ally also winds up tutoring Liam, the show's male lead. The two of them spend more time french kissing than they do studying the French language, however, and they soon find themselves falling for one another. Before their relationship can go too far, the show's publicist decides to get extra press for the TV series by pretending that its two leading actors are in a relationship. Ally and Liam have to hide the truth about their feelings. If word ever gets out, Liam and Van could have their careers go up in smoke and may even be recast before the series pilot airs!

I really liked seeing the way Ally grew and evolved throughout the series. She loves her family so much, and I love books with a strong family bond, since so few exist. It was also really hard for her to be in the position that her boyfriend's fake "visible" relationship put her in. There was some drama there, and while you all know I'm not a fan of drama, I didn't think it was over-the-top here. Who wouldn't feel like Ally in this scenario? The one dramatic aspect I could have done without revolved around Ally's friend Nate. Liam's best friend Josh, on the other hand, became more integral as the book progressed. While I have mixed feelings about him in BEHIND THE SCENES because he seems like a jerk, he's also really good to Ally. She's just too close to the situation to see it. I'm excited to read next year's companion novel UNDER THE LIGHTS to see him in a new light. I'm also excited to see more about Ally's best friend Van, who, at times, fell to the wayside. (Plus, Van is Korean, which is awesome, and adds one more book to the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign! ...In more ways than one!) And, of course, I'm hoping for peeks at Ally and Liam, too!

If you like fun books with celebrity crushes and ordinary people being caught up in a whirlwind of glitz and mayhem, BEHIND THE SCENES is the perfect book to pick up and devour

~*~

C O N T E N T R A T I N G S

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details

Romance: PG15+ ( sexual situations )

Language: PG13 ( cursing )
Violence: --

Other:  ( underage drinking )

~*~

C O V E R   D E S I G N:

The cover originally looked like this:

Which do you like better?

I like the font on the original cover better, but I like the design on the new cover better because it feels very Hollywood!

  ~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: BEHIND THE SCENES

Author: Dahlia Adler

Release Date: June 24, 2014

Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary
Received: For Review (BEA Copy)

SUMMARY:

High school senior Ally Duncan's best friend may be the Vanessa Park - star of TV's hottest new teen drama - but Ally's not interested in following in her BFF's Hollywood footsteps. In fact, the only thing Ally’s ever really wanted is to go to Columbia and study abroad in Paris. But when her father's mounting medical bills threaten to stop her dream in its tracks, Ally nabs a position as Van's on-set assistant to get the cash she needs.

Spending the extra time with Van turns out to be fun, and getting to know her sexy co-star Liam is an added bonus. But when the actors’ publicist arranges for Van and Liam to “date” for the tabloids just after he and Ally share their first kiss, Ally will have to decide exactly what role she's capable of playing in their world of make believe. If she can't play by Hollywood's rules, she may lose her best friend, her dream future, and her first shot at love.

****Giveaway*****

During A Week of Shooting Stars,
I'm giving away a book of YOUR CHOICE
from the event!

It could be BEHIND THE SCENES!

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This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL to any country that Book Depository ships to.  You can also claim an e-book as a prize; it doesn't have to be a physical copy!

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