It was cute, quick, and exactly what I needed. There's no real conflict which is fine since it was a fluffy romance which helped with my mental head space.

This book is a lot to take in and unpack but it is as necessary now as it was ten years ago when it was first published. I spent a good portion of this book angry because of the history of our country that it brings up and the ways that the higher ups do whatever they can to keep those below them, regardless of color, in the place they deem they should be designated it. One some level I feel this should be required reading for high school students so that they can get an idea of what has shaped our country in the past and what changes may need to be made to try to improve it in the future.

I've never personally seen the original source material, but I am aware of the importance of the Creature from the Black Lagoon and his place in cinematic history. So, it was very interesting to me to discover that a woman was behind it even if it wasn't completely surprising. Frankenstein is still recognized to be the first sci-fi/horror novel by most, the world would have you believe that horror is strictly a boys club. But it's not. While highlighting one woman's story in particular, this book serves to shine a light on how much of a presence women have had in the genre. Even if one is not a huge movie buff, I would recommend this book.

That said, there are a few drawbacks to the book. While overall the tone of the book was refreshing compared to other biographies or non-fiction books, at time the conversational tone did grate especially when the author allowed the completely understandable bitterness and anger over not just what happened to Milicent but herself spill over into the story. There was a lot of leading into that these specific men were assholes, which is something that even the most unobservant of readers would have known based on the subject matter. A good portion of the chapters also ended in 'cliffhanger' style which is tedious in fiction if it is overdone. In non-fiction it's annoying and unnecessary especially given that we knew going in who the big bad who stole her credit was going to be.

Overall it is a good book as it sheds a light on someone that otherwise may have been forgotten completely by Hollywood history.

I was given an ARC of this book through NetGalley and Avon Books.

This is more like a 3.5 stars but we can't get half ratings and I didn't like it enough to bump it up to four. I had reservations as to whether or not I would even enjoy it after reading the first chapter since it set up to be more like Women's Fiction than Romance. Which isn't a bad thing but I like to know what I'm getting into when I start a book. And the tone of the first chapter set it up to be something I was not in the mood for.

Luckily for me the tone shifted with the second chapter and kept at it for the rest of the book. Frankly compared to the rest of the book the first chapter seemed to be out of place. Maybe it got tweaked, removed, or turned into a Prologue in the final copy but honestly it didn't serve to further the plot of the book at all so it is completely unnecessary. I am a huge fan of friends to lovers although maybe not as much as enemies to lovers. I also do enjoy a good (that being the operative word) fake dating so the fact that this married two of my preferred tropes was exciting. And for the most part it delivered.

There were a few things that were unbelievable for me, such as Ben not knowing why what Tinsley, his ex, said to Nic was inappropriate. There was Nic's almost borderline obsession with thinking a man would try to change her or force her to change her dreams. It may sound weird but I had an easier time believing Ben's emotional hang up than Nic's. It wasn't until the end that it came to light why she was like that so glimpses of that earlier in the book would have gone a long way so it didn't get tedious.

Then there was the character of Tinsley herself. It was exceedingly difficult believe that even someone that privileged made it that far in life without someone getting into a verbal or physical assault with her. In my opinion all of the background characters once they got to the Vineyard were very cardboard cut out. Parker was wishy-washy, Bronwen was almost as annoying as Tinsley, and Davis was like an unfunny and less charming version of the character Terrence Howard played in The Best Man. I know they were necessary as part of the fake dating aspect, but goodness I didn't enjoy getting to know any of them.

That and the fact that Nic constantly used Facetime with phone calls. That was a small annoyance but it was there.

That said, I did enjoy this book but not as much as I could have. A large part of that had to do with not liking any of the background characters we spent most of the book around. I will pick up more by this author for sure though since I genuinely enjoyed it and it was just the breath of literary air I needed.