Public Relations by Katie Heaney & Arianna Rebolini (2017)
-eARC Review-
NA Fiction | Contemporary Romance |Rom-Com | (TV-14)
Blurb:
“Young PR star Rose Reed is thrown into the big leagues when her boss leaves town the day of the firm’s meeting with Archie Fox, a young, hot, internationally famous British singer-songwriter. The meeting is going badly until Rose suggests a staged romance with up-and-coming, young indie star Raya. He’ll do it, but only if Rose becomes his publicist.
As the faux-mance begins to rehabilitate Archie’s faltering career, Rose finds his herself having unexpected, inconvenient and definitely unprofessional feelings for the crooner. But do late night texts and impromptu burrito binges mean he feels the same? In the end, Rose will have to decide whether to let her fantasy crush go, or to risk her reputation to be with the charming, handsome, scoundrel-y but sweet pop star she’s grown to love.”
–Goodreads
Expected Publication Date: May 09, 2017
pooled ink Review:
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy to review!
This book is definitely a Rom-Com movie I’d love to watch. Think in the veins of Confessions of a Shopaholic and Devil Wears Prada but starring Anna Kendrick. In some ways its base plot is rather cliché (I mean Disney has made several TV movies about nobody girls and hot celebrity dudes falling in love) but it has a more adult and refined storyline that gives it an edge.
Archie, besides having a terrible name (sorry!), was a very charming and likable character straight away. Warm, friendly, funny, cool, and he convinced me that he was a settled celebrity used to his fame and riches yet had found stable ground to keep from flying off the rails like so many celebs do. He knows the ropes of his job and lifestyle but any novelty or superiority had long worn off. His and emerging star Raya’s characters were expertly crafted and grounded within the realms of reality and possibility.
Random: Something about Archie’s character made me think of Harry Styles mixed with Justin Bieber plus a dash of Nick Jonas and I don’t even listen to their music so it’s sort of a random thought but one that kept popping up in my head as I read. I mean, Archie has longish brown hair, he’s British, he became famous young, he’s an utter heart-melter with teen girls, he was discovered via a YouTube video, he went through a crazy phase filled with wild nights of debauchery but now presents an image a bit more down to earth,… Harry Styles+Justin Bieber+Nick Jonas, right? Maybe? Lol, what do I even know?
But Rose is the protagonist of this book. She’s intelligent, funny, awkward, has a great work ethic full of drive, determination, and just the right amount of terror and insecurity about it all. Basically Rose is normal and relatable in the best way. And yet there were times where she mildly annoyed me. Honestly I could see us as good work friends but not much more than that. As much as I liked her I also sometimes didn’t like her and I’m not even sure why…weird, right? I wouldn’t mind so much but it made my opinions on her romantic hopes a bit wibbly-wobbly. In short, I wasn’t always rooting for her. I think the charm of Archie wooed me more than Rose in their cute rom-com romance although by the end of the book I was grinning like a teenage fangirl.
Even so, it was fascinating to read Rose’s fast-thinking ideas and tactics for everything from basic promotion to utter damage control. She’s inarguably good at her job.
And Harper? She was an awesome person. Written well she plays a perfectly crafted secondary character – important enough to be necessary and beloved, but subtle enough to not get in the way or steal focus. Also I would love for her to turn her fashion-eye on me!
Raya, too, proved to be a great character I rooted for. While Archie’s more pop she seems more alternative and oh how I wish this book came with a music track of the song they perform together!
Overall this book was so cute and funny and I had a lot of fun reading it. It’s full of well-written characters and attention-grabbing plot lines. It should definitely be made into a movie.
Public Relations provides damage control on a genre of lackluster clichés with its friendly snark, brilliance, and copious moments of awkward cringes and swooning sighs. Hilarious and refreshingly relatable, this is a romantic comedy you’ve got to read.
Cheers.
Purchase here: Public Relations
Meet Katie Heaney!
Katie Heaney is the author of Never Have I Ever, out January 14, 2014 with Grand Central Publishing, and an editor at BuzzFeed. Her writing has also appeared in Outside Magazine online, Vulture.com, The Hairpin, The Awl, and Glamour.com, among other places.
-Goodreads
Meet Arianna Rebolini!
I am a writer and editor living in Brooklyn, with a focus on books, mental health, and lifestyle. Most recently, I was deputy editorial director at BuzzFeed, where I got to explore my great love: memes. My first novel, PUBLIC RELATIONS, co-authored with Katie Heaney, is coming May 2017 from Grand Central.
-Arianna’s Website
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