Thank you so much to Random House for an advance copy of this!
Thank you so much to PRH Audio for a complimentary copy of the audio!

This book will be published on May 30, 2023.

Elissa Sussman became an auto buy author after I devoured & loved Funny You Should Ask. So when she announced that her next book was going to be another Hollywood/celebrity romance, I was THRILLED!

"You belong up there. You belong where everyone can see you. And hear you."

This book takes place in present time with glimpses of two past timelines - one as teengers at camp, one during the peak of fame. The timelines were not confusing and I was able to following along pretty seamlessly. Had I only done the audio, I think it could have been a little confusing until you got use to the format.

Going into this after reading the very first mixed media blurb, I definitely thought the romance was going to be between Katee Rose (pop stage name) & Ryan her ex boyband boyfriend and not Cal (who she cheated on her boyfriend with). It was pretty clear while reading that Katee Rose and Ryan were not meant to be together and it may have started as a real relationship but turned into more of a PR relationship. Ryan was meant to be a celebrity and craved the attention and in the end it worked for him. Katee didn't need all that and didn't want that.

I love that we got to see the very beginning of the friendship between Cal & Kathleen when they met as teens at camp.  What also worked for me is that both Cal and Kathleen knew what each other went through being in their own respected spotlight. Cal knew the pain that Kathleen went through with her fall from the spotlight. Cal was Kathleen's cheerleader then as well as now and knew how to push her. He knows what she is capable of even when she felt like she couldn't do it.

I do not condone cheating on a partner regardless of the situation so that was a bummer BUT this is a fictional world and it went with the storyline so I am going to let it slide. Because guess what, in real life cheating does happen and does happen in the celeb world.

"The show is going to make you a star. If you let it."

I flew through this book because I was just so invested in Kathleen & Cal's relationship. I wanted to see them figured things out as adults as opposed to when they were teenagers and young adults in the spotlight. I also was really invested in Kathleen's "comeback" as a Broadway performer and wanted her to win. To show that she always has been talented & that no time away from the spotlight could change that.

I thought Kathleen's relationship with her best friend Harriet was also interesting. There is a conflict at towards the end where points were made and I was proud of both of them for sticking up for themselves and work things out. I am going to try to be as vague as I can about something that does happen at the end and once you read, it may make more sense. I do wish that Harriet reached out to Cal and apologize for meddling. One thing that Sussman  wrote into the story is something that I have heard time and time again from solo pop acts vs those in a group, Katee didn't have someone to go through the fame where as the boy band members had each other. Katee had Harriet to be there with her.

"People really don't forgive, do they?"
"When you cheat on your beloved boy band boyfriend? No, they really don't."

Kathleen Rose is the future I wished for Britney Spears compared to the reality. The media continues to treat female performers horribly and unfortunately Britney took a lot of the brunt of it and continues to take the hits. I love pop culture and love the celebrity world but I would never want to be in the spotlight. It takes a very strong individual to have your life under a microscope & to have everything about you picked apart. No, thank you. 

I did primarily of the reading on my ebook but I did also have access to the audio and listen to sections of it. I thought narrator Jaime Lamchick did a wonderful job with Kathleen and all the other characters in the book. 

You'll love this book if you were a fan of the Britney/Justin drama of the early aughts, second chance romance, musical theater, past & present timeline. 

PS - The happiness I felt inside me when Grease 2 was mention! 

PSS - I apologize if this review is disjointed & rambly. I just have so many thoughts and very passionate about the pop star world especially being a tween during the peak time of boy bands & female pop stars where they were my life.