Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood by Abby McDonald (review)

Hallie and Grace have had precious little time to get used to their father's new family when he dies, leaving them with a will that means that his new wife and son get everything and they get nothing, not even the house they grew up in. Fortunately, their mother has a relative who is willing to take them in, and even more fortunately, he is a wealthy Hollywood made-for-TV movie producer, so they have access to a glamorous lifestyle that puts them in touch with the beautiful people. Flamboyantly emotional Hallie takes full advantage of this, immediately falling in love with a rising rock star only to be crushed when he goes on tour, leaving her behind. On the other hand, quiet, sensitive Grace is reluctant to give up on the possibility of a relationship with Theo, her stepbrother. She fumbled their only romantic moment, however, and now a new girl comes to town claiming that she and Theo are in love, and Grace, normally so steady and pragmatic, plunges into a depression. The updates of Austen are interesting (the girls' mother is Dominican, their stepmother white, a difference that has definite emotional ripples), but adherence to the model of Sense and Sensibility limits McDonald's usual talent for developing compellingly believable characters in richly plotted narratives; here both Grace and Hallie seem rather flat and caricatured, with their characterization more dependent on contrast than individual psychology. Their situations and reactions are similarly contrived, but the contrivances are the stuff of many a reader's cherished fantasy as each girl manages to find a suitably rich, interesting, and devoted suitor to fulfill her romantic dreams. Readers looking for a little light romance with a celebrity vibe will enjoy this.