Book Review: I Heart Hollywood by Lindsey Kelk

Angela Clark is back... and this time she's heading the hills of Hollywood! After being cheated on at her best friend's wedding and consequently fleeing to New York, Angela is now settled in her relationship with boyfriend Alex and enjoying her job as a high flying journalist. She's stunned when she's called in to her editor's office to find she's being sent to interview Hollywood heart-throb and fellow Brit James Jacobs. Angela flies across the US to Hollywood, and is greeted by sunshine, beaches and Rodeo Drive. Together with her best friend Jenny, they enjoy the unexpected trip and Angela sets to work interviewing James. But with Angela, nothing ever goes smoothly. The paparazzi photo Angela in some rather compromising pictures with James, and she has to fight to get everyone to believe there is nothing to the pictures. Will her interview be a success, or is she going to end up on the first flight back to Britain?

Lindsey Kelk first came to my attention when her debut novel I Heart New York was released last summer. It was a massive hit, and I was excited to find out there were going be another 4 or 5 adventures starring Angela Clark which followed her along her journeys around the world. Due to the success of I Heart New York, the publishers haven't waited all that long before releasing the second book by Kelk, and so I Heart Hollywood was released this month. It follows Angela as she goes over to Hollywood, and I was hoping it was going be as enjoyable as the first book.


What struck me first of all about this was I felt that it had a bit of a slow start. I was a little disappointed by this as the first book began with quite a bang and you were straight in there with Angela, but I found it quite tough to get into this one initially. However, once the book moved over to Hollywood, I found it slightly easier to get on with and I became more engrossed in the story. Angela is once again very likeable and you feel she is like what you would be yourself in such a place -  in awe and a bit of a tourist! The relationship between her and best friend Jenny Lopez is slightly different in this book but it works because the pair are much closer and better friends than in the first book.

The part of the story I really enjoyed was when Angela began to meet the Hollywood star James Jacobs. At first he seems like a typical male diva, but as Angela gets to know him, the characters start to really get on and the result is quite a hilarious mistaken relationship between the pair by the paparazzi! It takes a few twists and turns along the way and finally ends in a shocking revelation that I didn't see coming at all! I reckon a lot of people will say that they saw it a mile off, but I didn't and I'm glad I didn't because it worked very well in the story and I think it was a good twist to put in! James was a likeable character though, and I enjoyed his presence throughout the book, far more than Angela's drippy boyfriend Alex anyway!

As you read, you get the sense that Kelk really knows what she is talking about when it comes to Hollywood and the sites and sounds of it. Kelk does a great job of describing the beaches, the shops, the people and the general atmosphere of Hollywood and it makes it fun to read because you can imagine the places in your head. What I really enjoyed was how out of place Angela felt because she wasn't stick thin and a bleach blonde, but this makes her more likeable, and far more English too! You can't help but like her, even if things do seem to go rather well for her(!) and this is crucial in a book like this which is written from Angela's perspective.

I really enjoyed this read, and I was pleased to see Angela back again. Yees, these books are quite light and fluffy because everything seems to go perfectly for Angela and she must be the luckiest girl in the world because she always seems to land on her feet, but this is escapist reading and I love it. It's nice to read about Hollywood and Kelk's writing has definitely improved from her first book to this one. I understand that there are still another few books with Angela in them, the next being I Heart Paris which is due later this year and I look forward to that too! If you enjoyed I Heart Hollywood, then you are going to want to pick up a copy of this to read Angela's next adventure! An enjoyable read, and its nice to escape all the snow with the hot beaches of Hollywood, if only in my mind!!

Rating: 4/5