(NOTE: I am a volunteer reviewer for newly published books. You may see my reviews posted on multiple websites, but it is my review, and I am posting it here as well.)
Charlotte "Sugar" Kane is, according to author Jane Adams, a woman of a certain age who is swimming against the has-been tide of show business. Just as her latest idea moves into development for a pilot, Sugar is stricken with a potentially fatal heart condition. Add to that, the fact that her first grandchild is on the way, and she is beginning to feel the financial pinch of not having a show in the works, and her stress becomes unmanageable. Her life begins to move in fast-forward just as she finds she needs to slow down, and she struggles to keep her condition a secret from everyone.
The show is picked up, but not without a little backstabbing from her assistant, the grandchild is born, the heart condition is temporarily at bay, and she bumps into the man of her dreams--Alex Carroll. Alex, as it turns out, has a little secret of his own. Their relationship develops, or rather, waxes and wanes over months of production schedules and secret hospital stays for her, and numerous business trips for him. Will they have a relationship left by the time they are honest with one another?
Perhaps the bigger question is, will we care?
Adams is certainly a serviceable write with an appropriate amount of wit and intuitive character development. The pace and prose are well-managed. I did grow tired of the very long sentences, often subdivided by dashes, but that is a small complaint. This novel falls squarely into the "your mileage may vary" category by virtue of the fact that it is about "the Biz". If you are a sucker for name-dropping, references to current hit shows, pseudo behind-the-scenes jargon, and naming everything from perfumes to lingerie to shoes ad nauseum by brand, then you may enjoy this novel. If you are more interested in plot development, you may be underwhelmed. It is curious enough to note that the most interesting character in the novel, Sugar's mother, Frances, appears only in referencial conversation or thought--never in person. That is something a good editor would have spotted and discussed with the author. Perhaps it was, in which case, the author should have listened.
Charlotte "Sugar" Kane is, according to author Jane Adams, a woman of a certain age who is swimming against the has-been tide of show business. Just as her latest idea moves into development for a pilot, Sugar is stricken with a potentially fatal heart condition. Add to that, the fact that her first grandchild is on the way, and she is beginning to feel the financial pinch of not having a show in the works, and her stress becomes unmanageable. Her life begins to move in fast-forward just as she finds she needs to slow down, and she struggles to keep her condition a secret from everyone.
The show is picked up, but not without a little backstabbing from her assistant, the grandchild is born, the heart condition is temporarily at bay, and she bumps into the man of her dreams--Alex Carroll. Alex, as it turns out, has a little secret of his own. Their relationship develops, or rather, waxes and wanes over months of production schedules and secret hospital stays for her, and numerous business trips for him. Will they have a relationship left by the time they are honest with one another?
Perhaps the bigger question is, will we care?
Adams is certainly a serviceable write with an appropriate amount of wit and intuitive character development. The pace and prose are well-managed. I did grow tired of the very long sentences, often subdivided by dashes, but that is a small complaint. This novel falls squarely into the "your mileage may vary" category by virtue of the fact that it is about "the Biz". If you are a sucker for name-dropping, references to current hit shows, pseudo behind-the-scenes jargon, and naming everything from perfumes to lingerie to shoes ad nauseum by brand, then you may enjoy this novel. If you are more interested in plot development, you may be underwhelmed. It is curious enough to note that the most interesting character in the novel, Sugar's mother, Frances, appears only in referencial conversation or thought--never in person. That is something a good editor would have spotted and discussed with the author. Perhaps it was, in which case, the author should have listened.
