Pretty Famous (Astonvale #3) by Carla Caruso
Publication Date: February 1, 2015
Book Blurb
Celeste Pretty is getting married!
A dark secret from Hollywood’s Golden Age. A possible prince-in-hiding. Astonvale’s about to implode…
Professional organiser Celeste Pretty swore she’d never work with uber-blonde interior designer Imogen Karmel again, but then she’s presented with a project she can’t refuse. The prestigious Astonvale College is celebrating its centenary and needs the pair to ensure the festivities go off without a hitch.
As Celeste sets to work in a flurry of activity – in between organising her own engagement party – she finds herself blowing away the cobwebs on a sixty-year-old secret.
Meanwhile, Imogen becomes enamoured with a substitute teacher, Hudson Addison, who may or may not be a royal in hiding. And there’s nothing Imogen dreams of more than becoming a princess.
Will all be revealed on party night?
BookLinks: Amazon U.S. | Amazon Global | Goodreads
My Review
In the third installment of the Astonvale series, we continue the story of Celeste Pretty, owner of organization company POPink, and her hunky boyfriend Lenny Muscat. We get to see the blossoming of their relationship and a bit of family drama along the way. This one takes a bit of an interesting turn when Celeste agrees to work with Imogen, the last person she wants to see, let alone work with on a project. But a job is a job, and Imgoen can’t really be that bad, can she?
Imogen Karmel. Oh Imogen, what are we going to do with her? Originally in the first two books you despise Imogen’s character. In this novel, you begin to see more of who she is and why she is the way that she is and you start to honestly feel a bit bad for her. I found myself wanting things to work out for her, when I had the complete opposite feelings in the first two novels. I wasn’t expecting to realize that Imogen wasn’t who I originally thought and there’s more to her than meets the eye.
Like many insecure individuals, Imogen hides the truest part of herself to pretend to be the type of person that she thinks she should be, rather than to be happy with who she is. You can’t be ashamed of your past because for better or worse, it made you who you are today. Imogen hasn’t quite learned this lesson yet, and she is convinced that she needs to find a wealthy man that can offer her a comfortable life of luxury. Enter Hunter, a gorgeous substitute physical education teacher at a fancy school, who also happens to be her nephew’s coach. He isn’t who he seems and Imogen is convinced she knows his true identity, but does she? Has she found the man that will change her life forever, or will he leave her disappointed and wishing she had never gotten involved?
The main themes thread throughout the novel were about love and compatibility. It’s important to really get to know someone and you have to want to be with that other person because you love their personality, not just because you want expensive labels and you care what other people think. I liked a quote in the novel that said when you meet the right person, you can be completely yourself. Being true to yourself and not trying to be someone else is crucial to living a happy and meaningful life. In addition to being your true self, it’s also rewarding to be a kind person and treat people with the respect they deserve and not worry so much about impressing people with your wealth. There was also a small mystery woven throughout the novel for a bit of quick-witted suspense. Pretty Famous left me wanting to keep reading and know what happened next. It was a fun, funny story. Another great installment of the pretty series. Now if only I could find my own Lenny Muscat or Hunter Addison!
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Receiving novels free of charge in no way reflects on my honest opinion and no monetary compensation was provided for my review.
About the Author – Carla Caruso
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About Carla from her website:
Carla Caruso was born in Adelaide, grew up amid a boisterous extended Italian family – yet somehow managed to become a bookworm…
Carla always wanted to be a novelist, annoying the kindergarten teachers by dictating long, detailed stories to them. It just took her a while to realise her childhood dream – journalism seemed a more practical course. Her media career has included stints as a newspaper and magazine journalist, government PR and fashion stylist. These days, she works as a freelance journalist and copywriter. She began seriously writing fiction three years ago when she went freelance full-time.
The romance genre appeals as she is a sucker for rom-coms (especially if Channing Tatum is in the mix) and likes to think her Italian ancestry means she lives with passion. Hobbies include watching trashy TV shows, fashion (her mum named her after Carla Zampatti!), astrology and running. She lives in Adelaide.
Did you read right to the end Arielle? You got a special mention in the Acknowledgments!
“To book bloggers such as Arielle Deltoro from Living Life With Joy, Renee of Hey Said Renee, and Jody of A Spoonful of Happy Endings (the list goes on!). Your dedication to books warms the hearts of scribes like me!”
I saw that and was so incredibly honored to be mentioned, especially by one of my favorite authors!! I’m going to be writing a separate post to write about how excited I am. Congratulations that you were mentioned too!!!
Thanks 🙂 It was my book blog highlight! I came searching for your blog after I saw it mentioned too.