Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West

ARC provided by Edelweiss for a fair review.
Publish date: February 5, 2019

Aspiring actress Lacey has landed herself gig costarring with one of the hottest actors in Hollywood. But she can’t seem to get chemistry with him right on screen. Meanwhile someone seems to be sabotaging her success on set and she also has to juggle her overbearing dad who hires a tutor just to helper her get her homework done. She can’t seem to catch a break like the one she got when she landed the role.

The Story

Oh my gosh, this was so cute. For a while there I was starting to lose faith in Kasie West’s ability to woo me with her YA contemporary romances, but she’s been back in the upswing. First of all, I don’t know how she knocks out so many books out each year continuously. She is an amazing book writing machine. Anyway, the book exceeded my expectations. It was everything I want in a YA contemporary with it’s easy reading that you can finish in one sitting to characters that are genuinely likeable.

The actual plot is unique in the fact that it seems like some petty high school type stuff, but is involved on a film set. I loved that there were bits of the script between the chapters that sort of played along with the story. It definitely added some light distraction from the story. Sort of like an amuse-bouche between before the chapter.

Kasie tends to have problems that some teens face, but only ever really delivers in a light manner. It’s a plot point, it’s addressed, but overall isn’t a major life changing book to learn from. I think the aim is purely for entertainment and that’s what this book gave me.

The Characters

Lacey is a character that we previously met in a Love, Life, and the List. She’s lively and has a strong personality in getting what she wants. The thing about her is that she rolls with it. She knows that she is a bit selfish and spoiled but plays it up almost as a flirting technique and it’s just endearing. I love how she slowly uncovers the personalities of her friends and finds her way back to what makes her great as an actress. I think my favorite part was when she realizes that she belongs where she was. At some point we all start to lose faith in ourselves and our abilities, and after some struggles she see something that triggers her understanding that yes, she is good at what she does and deserves to have her part in the film.

The Soundtrack

ROLE MODEL – Play the Part