Source: Library
Description: Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years--or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.
When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.
One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.
Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.
Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.
But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.
And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad… depending on who’s telling it.
Genre: Fiction - Contemporary/Women's
Why I Picked This Book: I really disliked one Emily Henry book (Happy Place) and really enjoyed another one (Funny Story) so I wanted a tie breaker and this one looked interesting.
My Impression: This seems to be a love it or hate it book and I'm firmly on the love it side of things. One caveat is that I listened to the audio which was read by Julia Whelan who is amazing but she also read Happy Place which I DNF'd so I don't think that influences my opinions too much.
This is the story of Margaret Ives as she narrates it to Alice Scott who is her potential biographer. It's also the story of Alice and other potential biographer Hayden Anderson which is a very classic grumpy/Sunshine romance that focuses much more on the two characters getting to know each other than it does on spice. This is very much my preference but if you're looking for all romance all the time you might be disappointed. I was hooked on both the Alice/Hayden plot and the Margaret story and really enjoyed them both equally. I really loved Alice who gets to know herself a bit more as she gets to know Hayden and Margaret more.
One of the big complaints I saw on Goodreads was that it's too similar to The Seven Husbands of Eveyln Hugo by Tayor Jenkins Reid. I've read that and really didn't find this to be the case. The setup is similar with an older celebrity narrating a story to a younger biographer, but the two women have very different voices and very different stories. Just because they're older women who are from Hollywood (adjacent in Margaret's case) doesn't mean they have the same story.
This is a story with heart with characters who were maddening occasionally but were always characters I wanted to spend time with. If you're going in just looking for a romance (or a mystery which for whatever reason this kind of got marketed as being) this might not be what you're looking for but if you're looking for a story about the relationship between people, I think you'll enjoy it.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Yes definitely! I very much enjoyed this one and while I know not every book by this author will work for me, I'm looking forward to reading more from her.
Would I Recommend this Book? Yes but with reservations. This book doesn't seem to be for everyone and has gotten some fairly polarizing reviews but if your reading taste is at all similar to mine I think you'll enjoy it.
Would I Recommend this Book? Yes but with reservations. This book doesn't seem to be for everyone and has gotten some fairly polarizing reviews but if your reading taste is at all similar to mine I think you'll enjoy it.
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