Stand-In Star
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Photographer Nate only agrees to help Holly survive Hollywood for her sister's sake, but she soon gets under his skin in a way no other woman has. The more time he spends with her, the more his attraction grows and he finds himself opening up to her in ways he never expected. But will ghosts of the past stand in the way of their perfect Hollywood ending?
72,000 words
Rachael Johns
Rachael Johns is an English teacher by trade, a mum 24/7, a chronic arachnophobic, and a writer the rest of the time. She rarely sleeps and never irons. A lover of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives in Western Australia with her hyperactive husband, three mostly-gorgeous heroes-in-training, two fat cats, a cantankerous bird and a very badly behaved dog.Rachael loves to hear from readers and can be contacted via her website – www.rachaeljohns.com, Facebook or Twitter.
Read more from Rachael Johns
A Dog and a Diamond Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pregnant by Mr. Wrong Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Single Dad's Family Recipe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Greatest Gift Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Next Season (Novella) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Man Drought Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Stand-In Star
Related ebooks
Trick of Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All He Ever Dreamed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grounds to Kill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nightmare Magazine, Issue 101 (February 2021): Nightmare Magazine, #101 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJefferson Blythe, Esquire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Behind the Shadows Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCRUSH: Writers Reflect on Love, Longing, and the Lasting Power of Their First Celebrity Crush Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cast of Characters: A Novelists Inc. Anthology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadowed Reunion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTurning It On Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sci-Fi Women Interviews: The 2016 Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Conversation Starters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFantastic Stories of the Imagination #223: December 2014 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Inconvenient Kiss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Conjurings: A Short Fiction Horror Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Matter Presents Human Monsters: A Horror Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForever After: Vampire Reality Show, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRosewood Confidential: The Unofficial Companion to Pretty Little Liars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Shadows: Vampires and Ghosts of New Orleans (An Authors on a Train Short Story Collection): Authors on a Train, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInterview with Danger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrossing Colfax: Short Stories by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFantastic Stories of the Imagination #224: January 2015 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRedbone 3 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forbidden: The Billionaire's Virgin Princess Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This Time For Sure: Bouchercon Anthology 2021 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCountdown to Zero Hour Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sin & Love & Fear: Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOnce Upon A Fairytale: Modern Retellings of Classic Fairytales Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Year's Best Hardcore Horror Volume 1: Year's Best Hardcore Horror, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Turned (Book #1 in the Vampire Journals) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Romance For You
Messy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Your Perfects: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Under the Roses Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It Starts with Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adults Only Volume 3: Seven Erotica Shorts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Erotic Fantasies Anthology Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Before We Were Strangers: A Love Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hopeless Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ugly Love: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Him: Him, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heart Bones: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bossy: An Erotic Workplace Diary Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confess: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swear on This Life: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Protecting What's Theirs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Without Merit: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stone Heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe Now: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5November 9: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Second Glance: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Perfect: A Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Seven Sisters: Book One Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Favorite Half-Night Stand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Kingdom of Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dating You / Hating You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chased by Moonlight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tess of the d'Urbervilles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe Not: A Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roomies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Stand-In Star
5 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5i felt like cracking nate's skull open when he didnt go after holly but in the end it all worked out
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I loved the opening scene of this book! Holly, a cultural anthropologist from Australia lands in LA where she is instantly overwhelmed by the paparazzi because of her famous, estranged, now late sister, Daisy. Nate comes to her rescue, although grudgingly so, because he feels he owes it to his friend (with benefits), Daisy, despite his dislike of the woman who caused Daisy so much heartbreak because she wouldn't speak to her sister for three years.
For those looking for instant connection, you won't find it here. Oh, there's some sizzling chemistry between the two and you can tell they'd be so good together, but they both have issues with the other - him thinking she's the wicked sister of the woman he cared about, and her put off by the clear hostility he's sending her way. It's a love/hate relationship in every sense of that term.
Holly could never get over her sister's betrayal and never tried to mend their relationship. The betrayal also left her self-confidence in shreds and you can see that in how adamant she is that there's no way Nate would pick her over Hollywood starlets. What she does have is incredible intelligence and I enjoyed her curious nature.
Thanks to Nate, she learns that everything she thought about her sister was wrong, and the guilt that she feels for not making things right between them really got to me. Nothing should come between sisters like that.
Nate is a complex character. Everything he has in his life he worked hard for, going from a poor kid with an alcoholic, abusive father to a famous portrait photographer. He is also incredibly closed off emotionally, even with his own family. He takes care of them, and they mean the world to him, but it's obvious he's uncomfortable being around his sister (she's the only one we really see) because he still feels like he failed them somehow.
I really wanted these two to work through their issues and this giant misunderstanding because they both knew the different side of the story. You can tell family is extremely important to Nate, and on the other side you have Holly who flat-out refused to acknowledge her sister after everything that happened. And then you have the issue of Nate and Daisy's relationship, making Holly feel just as much of a traitor as she thought her sister was for feeling attracted to him.
Despite this, they still form a close relationship, slowly opening up to each other, and once the pieces fall into their places and there's nothing left holding them back, their mutual attraction just explodes.
Yep, there are a couple of graphic sex scenes in this (and they are hot), so beware clean-romance readers.
The writing is great, the descriptions of LA painted a great picture and you feel like you're right in the scene. The way they subtly fall in love without even realizing what's going on felt very realistic, and I already said there's great chemistry between these two characters. I loved the supporting characters, as well - Bec and Linc, whose love for each other was wonderful to read about, and Stella, the barely-there best friend whose presence is all over the book even if you only meet her once. And of course, Daisy, I mourned her along with Holly because it sounded like she really was a good sister despite the things she did.
I loved this sweet story by Rachael Johns, the two people learning to trust and overcome their prejudice in order to find the love neither of them expected. I definitely recommend this book.