An honest review thanks to NetGalley. The first book in this series needs to be read first to get the full effect of this sequel. I loved the first book and Aidan, and went into this continuation very excited. I was a little disappointed at how quickly the two characters got together and how everything else followed. In my reading it didn't feel like it flowed, and was very stiff in places. I loved seeing Aidan's novel coming to life and there were some great aspects but it was not as good as the first book in this series.

Talk about instalove!

Actor Cole has left the successful tv series she's been starring in to take a part in a new movie that's being made. She's being paired with up and coming actor Eris. The latter is new, but she's delighted to be in the movie with Cole.

I know it's a trope of the genre - after all, the two main characters need to get together, and quickly, or at least be intrigued by one another - but the two in this book have broken all land speed records, by talking about settling down, grandkids, and how they're soulmates before we're too long into the story.

We watch the two go through the typical things people go through, and also get to meet the side characters: Aiden, who has written the screenplay for the movie, her fiancee Cassidy, also an actor, and Mischa, the best friend and rather a third wheel to everything. I must admit I found them a bit more interesting than the two mains - not that the mains are not interesting, but sometimes reading a lot of lesroms in a row (four ARCs in a row for me to review, this time around) sometimes renders the two mains and their happiness subordinate to the other things going on.

What else would be going on? A crazed stalker, who has been shipping Cole on the tv series she was in, and who is convinced that she an change Cole's mind to get her back on the show. We already know the identity of the stalker, so there isn't a lot of "whodunnit" in this. The only question is how far she'll take it.

Overall, a decent enough book to keep one occupied for a few hours. I found out after reading it that this is apparently the second book in a series. As is my fashion, I have not read the first, and I have no idea if it would inform this had I, but it can stand alone.

Three out of five stars.

Thanks to Bold Stroke Books and NetGalley for the reading copy.

When I picked up this romance, I didn't realize it was part of a series. After I started reading, I went back and did some research and found out there was a book 1. I wish I had read that one first, but I am not sure if that really makes a difference (the characters from that romance are a part of this story).

As the Blurb mentions Cole Calder acting job on a tv series takes a turn with some obsessive fans pair with a straight and married co-star. She has no choice but to leave the show. She tries out for a movie that will feature two lesbians and she gets the role. Her co-star is Eris Whyte. From the moment they meet each other there is chemistry. This chemistry is what will make for a great movie. The only problem is that the fans from Cole's previous acting role don't want her to move on and will try to do everything to make Cole return.

So as you can see this is a romance with some suspense built in. What I most liked is that Cole and Eris have major chemistry. They even try to not have a romance but just can't help it. It like love at first sight sort of thing. I also did enjoy that suspense that came with this. It wasn't overly done but just enough for one to wonder what was going to happen. The ending was a little flat for me. I was hoping for a bit more with the obsessive fan and the outcome.

Overall a decent read. 3.75 stars.

This arc was provided by netgalley and the publisher for an honest reivew.

A cute and quick little insta love story. I requested this book based on the cover alone and the fact it was a Hollywood romance. I am not sure how much I will be remembering of this book a few months down the road.

This is the sequel to Starstruck which is also the name of the series. Readers who enjoyed the first book (published in 2016) will be reunited with the main characters Aiden, Cassidy and Mischa. Although it is a sequel, readers can read this book as a standalone.

This romance has two main characters, Cole Calder and Eris Whyte. Cole has been a lead character on a TV sitcom for several years and has quite the following. However, it is time for a change, and she auditions for the lead role in a movie based on a book written by Aiden. Eris has her career path all planned out and landing the co-lead part in this movie will launch her to stardom. From the very moment they audition together, there is definitely chemistry. In addition, there is also a sense of familiarity between them. Just having the above setting would make this a good romance book. However, Cole has fans that are not happy with her leaving the TV show. One fan in particular is Brooke, whose obsession with Cole adds suspense to this romance.

The plot is interesting. The characters are well developed and the further involvement of the main characters from the previous book was an added plus. After the first third of the book, the pace of the story picked up.

Due to my lack of familiarity with fandom environments, some of the terms in the story confused me. After they were used more often in the book, the flow of the writing was smoother. For those non-fandom readers, it might have helped to have a brief description when these words were first employed.

The other small problem that I had with this book is the pace with which the characters fall in love. All too often there is a rush to love and sex is accelerated, whereas a slow build up might be better.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Well this was a nice little read. I like the way that the relationship struggles aren't anything to do with them. I like the crazy fan and how the whole story turns out. I like the movie idea within the story too that was sweet. I like that they are so different but fit well together. Overall this was a nice read.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book.

The main characters had chemistry right from the get-go, and even though this is a sequel to another book, the information that would have come from the prior book was touched upon in this one. So in no way did I feel I had missed out. I appreciated that.

The cover is a real stunner and definitely caught my attention!

I enjoyed watching how the premise unfolded. I wondered how the main undercurrent of danger would climax and be resolved (I can't say more lest I give something away) and if a movie like the one in this book existed, I would absolutely pay money to see it with a cast and crew like that!
Others have commented on how quickly the two MC rushed into talking about soul-mates...I don't think it was rushed at all. Others have commented on how the "insta-love" in this book is not realistic. I don't believe it was rushed, and insta-love is TOTALLY real! My better half and I fell for each other that quick! Anyway, I digress.

The only thing that kept me from giving this book five stars was the many, many soapbox moments when we are told how stalkerish and crazy fans abused the glimpses they are given into celebrities' lives. We get it, really. That aside, this was a well-written and highly readable tale. In fact, I read it in 3 sittings, finishing the last third far past when I intended to stay up. I do hope there's another book for these characters, I would totally buy it!

This book had me conflicted. The writing, dialogue and flow of the story was superb and I really connected to the MC’s, give me a romance between two actors and I’m all in, but I felt like the stalker issue was a bit too much. That part of the story didn’t draw me in at all. One major pet peeve is when the characters fall in love way too fast. Overall it was a good book and I will read more from this author.

Cole Calder and Eris Whyte have a great audition and land the main roles for an upcoming movie. The chemistry is undeniable on the screen but as filming starts, it’s evident it spills out into real life. All is a dream come true for both women, except Cole’s fans are not ready to see her move on. Cole’s tv series has a following that ships her with costar Maria. Those fans’ harassment caused the separation from her last girlfriend, as well as forcing Cole to leave the show. One fan in particular, Brooke, is not happy and wants Cole reunited with Maria at any cost.

In true me fashion, I barely read the blurb, was intrigued by what I read and the cover, and totally missed that this is the second book in the series. ‘Starstruck’ is the first book and the mains feature heavily in a secondary role in this one. I managed to get the just off it just fine but I will be going back to read the first book now as I’m interested in their story as well.

This was an entertaining read. The chemistry was wonderful. It was fantastic to read about two women that felt attraction and were free to pursue a relationship. There were no ‘walls’ to break down or horrible past to overcome. The conflict came in the form of a fan. Go figure.

My only small complaint is the fanatic rhetoric getting to be a bit much. Only pathology gets you to not distinguish fiction from reality, so felt the couple times the author launched into an explanation, it was unnecessary. It is also worth mentioning that there is no mystery in this one. It is very obvious early on who the characters are and those readers looking for true intrigue will be disappointed.

Overall, enjoyed this one and will go back and read the first book as I really enjoyed those characters. 4 stars

ARC generously provided to me by BSB via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Just like Starstruck, Lesley Davis delves into the world of toxic fandoms, but this time through a newer lens of obsessive shipper fans and fan fiction fandoms. I do have to say that it tries to walk the very fine line between understanding fans being baited with their favorite couples then it not happening on the show, and that turning into something incredibly unhealthy. Cole is the actress who is feeling the horrific consequences of a fandom gone amok. She is basically chased off her own successful TV show because of the toxic fans of the show, or particularly the ship she and her character are in with another female lead. Of course it doesn't go away, and as she tries to move on, it gets worse due to her dating her new costar.

Starstruck is more of a fan going extremely far with their obsession with a star. The actress in question shows up in this book, and she helps Cole cope with the, frankly, gross behavior of her more toxic fans. However, with the advent of online communities and cyber bullying, Cole must deal with this new form of behavior that feels just as relentless and more. I liked the focus on this iteration of toxic fandoms, but I am torn by the fact that the fandom is an LGBTQ one and that the book tries its hardest to point out some of the worst and most cynical cases of queerbaiting in real life. It doesn't make you sympathize with the stalker, but it does feel a little like it is piling on LGBTQ fandoms who are also constantly mocked for their ships, even after they seem to be baited.

So that kind of lowers the enjoyment of the book for me, along with the romance being just a little too idealistic for this type of book. Characters are also a prone to be more explainy than I'd like. However, it is a relevant topic and the leads are awesome and it does subvert some of the tropes of these types of books. Eris is a solid person, and is great at gently not allowing Cole to spiral. Aiden and Cassidy (the couple from Starstruck) are also really good and offer empathetic ears for Cole. That is what I liked: Cole isn't allowed to self destruct, even as the stalking gets dangerous, so we can focus on how problematic toxic fandoms are, and how easy it is for a single person to be so destructive. Seriously, the stalker's ability to stir up outrage is absolutely chilling - because it has happened in real life and I know it is just that easy.

So to sum up, I had really mixed feelings about the topic, and thought the romantic element was just a touch too much for the type of book it is in, but I am glad that Davis tried to tackle this issue. Some of the stalker's strategies and behaviors were truly chilling, and that is the thing I think I will remember the most from this book. I don't think you need to read Starstruck to get any enjoyment out of In the Spotlight, but they both are excellent examples of different types of stalkers and how much they hurt their victims.

*I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was the first book by the author that I have read, and let me just say I will be back for more. The love story was just beautiful and the soulmate angle was just wonderful. I love the angst that the story had, it wasn’t overwhelming, it just added another dimension to the story. The love story could have stood on its own which shows how well it was written. The added element of a psychotic fan just added to an already great book. I will definite be read the rest of this authors works.

The book fell somewhere in the middle for me. I did read Starstruck first, but you don't necessarily need to read before this book. There are things I wasn't thrilled about here, but I'd like to point out the things I loved about this book: No constant breakup angst, but there is honest to God, adult conversation happening between the characters.
3.75 stars from me.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁!

This book fell somewhere in the middle for me. I feel like this book delivered what it had promised – a story about obsessive fans – so I wasn’t disappointed with the storyline about Cole and what she had to go through with that one obsessive fan of hers. But I felt that the rest of the story wasn’t as engaging as I would have liked it to be.

There are a couple of other characters featured in this book aside from the two MCs, Cole and Eris, who are both actresses chosen to be part of a movie. These include Aiden, writer and screenwriter; Cassidy, her fiancée and actress; and Mischa, their best friend; - who are a chummy clique. Part of the problem for me was that the side characters were far more entertaining than the MCs themselves. But since I didn’t know that Aiden, Cassidy and Mischa were characters from an earlier book before I started, I spent a lot of time considering whether I should avoid the parts that refer to their past so that I could have the option of revisiting Starstruck later. But then, Aiden and Cassidy had such constant roles in this book, they were too hard to ignore. On top of that, I can’t help but wonder if I would have appreciated the movie they were filming more if I knew for sure how much the movie meant to Aiden and Cassidy.

I also wasn’t a big fan of the insta-love. Cole and Eris must be one of the fastest progressing couples in the lesfic world because they were already discussing grandchildren literally two seconds into the relationship and being soulmates after like ten minutes.

My suggestion to those who want to read this book is to read Starstruck first. I think my experience would have been a bit better if I had.

Not having read Starstruck, the first book in this series, I came.into this fresh and I have to say you don't need to read the first book. Yet Aiden and Cassandra are such a likeable couple that I will look for it.
Back to this one where Cole and Eris are 2 actors filming a lesbian blockbuster and falling for each other in real life too. Unfortunately Cole has a crazy fan that ships her with someone else and is willing to go to great lengths to achieve her goal.
Things I liked: no 80% breakup, there was actual communication going on, strong chemistry, great leads and side characters. The parts of the film that were interwoven in the book added a nice extra layer and the fact that we also got the stalkers POV made it even clearer what disturbed people can be out there and it could be anyone.
One major dislike: the love went ultrafast. Even for lesbians. I get that the writer wanted to encompass the soulmates theme, but I got knocked out my reading flow for a bit with how fast this went.

All in all very enjoyable, a solid 4 stars.

***An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review ***

3.5 stars. An enjoyable read. This was the first book that I read by this author and it was a good experience, I like the writing style, the flow and the characters that were created, but the book was not totally without issues for me.

I want to start with a general comment, I didn’t realize that this was the second book in a series. Luckily, this book can easily be read as a stand-alone. However, I you do have plans to read the first book in the series, “Starstruck”, then you really should read that first. The main characters of the first book have a pretty large role in this book and a rather detailed overview of the entire plot of the first book is given in this book (honestly, this bummed me out a bit as I was thinking of reading the first one, but this is my mistake).

The mains are Cole and Eris, the leading stars in a new movie. Cole used to be starring in a TV series, where she had some die-hard fans that were shipping her with her co-star from the series. When Cole leaves the series to work on the movie, one of her fans loses track of reality and will do anything to have her favorite couple back on the tv screen and she won’t stop until they are also together in real life. Obviously, in the eyes of the fan, there is no room for Eris in Cole’s life.

The book is written in the third person with POVs of Cole and Eris and the crazy fan. It starts quite catching with Cole and Eris acting in a movie scene, but you don’t know this at the time. This really confused me though, as it is written in a way that you’re in the mind of the fictional character of the movie and not in that of the actress, which is of course not possible. I get what the author was going for, but the details should add up. Luckily, this was only one chapter.
During the remainder of the book the story line of Cole and Eris’s private life runs in parallel with that of shooting the movie and parts of filming and time between filming alternate, and I enjoyed that very well. The characters have distinct personalities and are likeable, and the secondary characters, Cassidy, Aiden and especially Mischa, were fun. A very refreshing aspect of this book is that it stays away of the wlw traps of a closeted celebrity romance and an 80% breakup scene, yay!

As I mentioned, there were also some issues and unfortunately one of them was the romance. It is super fast, and I mean, talking about soulmates and grandkids on your first date fast. But then, it was as if the author backpedaled, and the mains go back and forth thinking “is she my one love, my soulmate?” which is continued throughout the book. So, some steps are definitely skipped and it is sort of instalove, but also not completely, I hope I make sense. Another thing was the crazy fan storyline. I actually like this a lot, but I think the suspense could have been much higher. Near the end the suspense is taken up a notch, but the solutions just came too easily and conveniently for me to keep me on the edge of my seat.

All in all, an entertaining thriller romance with a couple of bumps, but it got me interested to read more by this author.

Cole Calder is a star actress in her current show. The only problem is the obsessive group of fans that ship Cole with her costar, who is not only straight but also married. That is why she is so happy when she lands the main role in a movie, based on a book, where she can be herself and leave the obsessive fandom behind her. Eris Whyte is an actress with a few good roles under belt, however, landing a role playing Cole's love interest in the big screen is an opportunity she only ever dreamed on getting. While playing each other's love interest on screen will Cole and Eris find love and make the movie successful, or will one of Cole's fan get in the way.

My only regret about reading this book is that the movie they were filming is not a real movie! Because we need this movie!!

This book was very entertaining and interesting. The attraction between Eris and Cole was palpable from the first scene. Both character were lovely and all the supporting characters really added to the book as a whole. I will definitely be recommending this book. Also, as a side note, the cover is really good!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a truly epic tale. I loved everything that happened in this book. The main characters of Cole and Eris was so sweet and loving, and the supporting characters were just the right amount of supportive and the villains were so villainous that you just had to keep reading until you know what happens at the very end. I can't say enough about how great this book was and will definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Talk about a fan (Brooke) who doesn't know how to separate reality from the fantasy she hopes to see on her favorite TV series!!
In the Spotlight was well written, The main characters Cole and Eris were strong, open and communicated clearly with no drama. I enjoyed the secondary characters also, Aiden and Cassidy they really stood out for me, Mischa was a joy. I was captivated from the first page and could not put this book down, I read it in one day.. Its quite a page turner. Well done!! I definitely recommend. 5 stars.



I received an ARC copy from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley for my honest review. Thank You

I’ve read a few Lesley Davis books (I love her Dark Wings series) but I hadn’t read the previous one with these characters. I don't think it matters as I got lost in this story almost right away with the clever interplay between the film characters and the actresses playing them. Cole and Eris win parts in a major lesbian movie written by Aidan. This means Cole leaving her TV role playing a straight character and she is quite happy. She also develops a crush on her new costar - something she hadn’t with her previous costar despite the rumours. One fan however doesn’t want Cole to leave her previous series and believes the characters are meant for each other even though the previous costar is straight and married. There’s a lot going on here and it is well plotted and well paced.

I was reading and found myself thinking the book would actually make a good film as the plot within the plot with the mad fan is a good vehicle for driving the story with several strands and keeping it interesting. The film characters are beautifully created and I would certainly have gone to see that movie!

Given how much I’ve enjoyed this, I’ll be looking for the one before which introduces Aiden and Cassidy and I’m hoping it has more of the other background characters as they were entertaining as well.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It is not for those who have been the victim of a stalker however. If that does not apply to you, then definitely check this book out.
Cole and Eris are the lead actresses in a new lesbian movie, A Pocketful of Time. Cole was one of the starts in a popular series but asked to be written out due to her movie career starting. Everything is going well until news hits that Cole is leaving. One fan in particular is not at all happy about this news and vows to do whatever she can to have Cole not leave.
While all this is going on, Cole and Eris are feeling more than coworkers. There are undeniable sparks between the two that most are noticing before the women.. This includes the very unhappy fan.
There is a lot of action and attraction in this novel.. I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.