Alexander Woodroe is a film star with a home near the Hollywood hillside sign. For a man considered good-looking and charming, itβs odd that he doesnβt have a girlfriend. Blame his ADHD and difficulty with self-control. When he gets into a minor bar-room brawl one evening, his producer Ron has had enough. Ronβs cousin, Lauren, who is between jobs, is called upon to be a minder to Alexander. This begins the amusing romance ALL THE FEELS by Olivia Dade.
Lauren Clegg, a former Emergency Room therapist, is used to handling difficult patients. She can even cope with being called short and round, birdlike and a spoilsport; Nanny Clegg is Alexanderβs cheeky nickname for her. Heβs pretty much a spoiled brat, with a good heart, and we do have to wonder how this man got to the position he is in, which would require patience and discipline, social awareness, as well as talent. Maybe acting suits him because he gets to act out so often. Bravely, Lauren just lets the waves of negativity wash over her, but sometimes, when it really seems unwarranted, she does get upset. Β
I often complain that a book features a character with an interesting job, and they immediately stop doing that job. So it is with Alexander. The season is wrapped, and he and the kind Lauren sit around his Hollywood home for weeks. He doesnβt have another script, his agent isnβt presenting new options, and nobody needs him to come back for extra takes or voice clips during post-production. To me, this is the most unlikely part of the story. Resting is good, of course. But as boredom sets in, apart from a few public appearances, Alexander amuses himself by writing anonymously on an erotic fan fiction site about his show. This can only lead to trouble.
An interesting aspect is that not only do the main characters seem incompatible, but they each have personal issues and do not suggest that they need to put anything right. Lauren is not told to get fitter; Alexander is not told to cancel his self-centred behaviour, except in public for the film producers. The message is that we need to accept people for who they are, and not either try to change them or wait to get to know them and enjoy their company. Alexander does run away at the mouth, does insult and pick on people. Somehow Lauren starts to see past this and understand what matters to him. This contemporary romance by Olivia Dade includes strong language and, as promised, ALL THE FEELS.
Alexander Woodroe has it all. Charm. Sex appeal. Wealth. Fame. A starring role as Cupid on TV’s biggest show, Gods of the Gates. But the showrunners have wrecked his character, he's dogged by old demons, and his post-show future remains uncertain. When all that reckless emotion explodes into a bar fight, the tabloids and public agree: his star is falling.
Enter Lauren Clegg, the former ER therapist hired to keep him in line. Compared to her previous work, watching over handsome but impulsive Alex shouldn’t be especially difficult. But the more time they spend together, the harder it gets to keep her professional remove and her heart intact, especially when she discovers the reasons behind his recklessness…not to mention his Cupid fanfiction habit.
When another scandal lands Alex in major hot water and costs Lauren her job, she’ll have to choose between protecting him and offering him what he really wants—her. But he’s determined to keep his improbably short, impossibly stubborn, and extremely endearing minder in his life any way he can. And on a road trip up the California coast together, he intends to show her exactly what a falling star will do to catch the woman he loves: anything at all.
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