I had received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley, but unfortunately, didn’t get a chance to read it before it was released. When the audiobook was available, though, I decided to listen to it. I ended up enjoying this book a lot more than I thought I would.

Allison Brinkley is excited about the prospect of moving her family from the Dallas suburbs to downtown Manhatten after her husband receives a promotion. After arriving there, though, she finds out the teaching job she had lined up fell through when the teacher she was replacing decides to return. Life takes a turn, however, after she is involved in a fender bender at her son’s new school which moves her in a new direction. She ends up in a plush penthouse apartment to deliver her insurance information when she encounters spoiled, self-absorbed, hungover teenage pop star, Carter Reid (very reminiscent of Justin Beiber), who has just signed to appear in a Broadway musical. Carter doesn’t have parents or anyone in his life helping guide him, so Allison starts being a “mother” to him, making sure he has healthy meals to eat and attempting to provide needed guidance. One thing leads to another, and soon Allison is his new personal assistant.

I loved Allison’s character. She was genuine and fearless, treating Carter just like she would have her children. In addition to the main storyline with Carter, Allison is also re-assessing whether or not they made the right decision to move to Manhatten rather than a suburb outside the city. Her mother who had moved to Dallas to be near her and her family starts looking for a house outside the city. The characters and family dynamics are all realistic, and I liked the way she was able to bring her Senior daughter in to help Carter, too. Overall, I found the book to be engaging and thought Carly Robins did an excellent job narrating the audiobook.

Funny, witty, clever, entertaining, humorous. Love Amy's writing and quirky characters and this wonderful setting. Great story!

Fun but extremely suspension-of-disbelief story about a woman who's moved from Dallas to New York, her family's culture shock, and her accidentally becoming the personal assistant to a Bieber-like pop star who's self-destructing.

Amy's books are always so fun to read and this one is especially so!! I felt so connected to her characters and it was an absolute joy to read!!

I loved the premise of LIMELIGHT and was glad that it didn't disappoint. The author has a particular gift for dialogue, which felt so real. I read the book quick and appreciated the lighter read after reading a few darker stories right before this one.

An truly enjoyable read! I thought the characters were authentic and well flushed out, and the story was paced just right for me. I loved this realistic look into 'city life', along with becoming really invested in the characters of this novel!

I have to start by saying that I am drawn to books about NYC. Mix in other elements such as parenting, a behind the scenes look at a Broadway production, and a surly, rude, bratty teenage pop star and I’m even more interested. This book has all that and so much more. I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. Allison and her husband, Michael, have relocated their three children and themselves from a Dallas suburb to a small Manhattan apartment. Let’s just say this adjustment hasn’t gone as planned. While Michael thrives with his new job and the lure and vitality of NYC the rest of the family flounders. The children adjust poorly to school and their new surroundings. Allison’s teaching job gets cancelled and to make her life even more stressful she has a minor traffic accident picking her son up from school. While trying to make amends to the other driver she finds herself meeting Carter Reid, a famous teenage pop star. To say that Carter is lacking in social graces as well as any idea of how the real world works is an understatement. Allison ends up taking a job as his personal assistant and is tasked to getting him cleaned up, sober, out of the tabloids, and ready for his debut on Broadway. This is definitely not a simple job as he fights her the whole way. Allison is committed to getting Carter to see his own self worth and potential and to have him feel loved. The characters in this book are interesting - from Allison’s children to the Broadway movers and shakers. I enjoyed everything about this book. It is well written and well paced and had me entertained from the first page

Allison Brinkley and her husband thought that moving their kids from Dallas to Manhattan was going to be a fun adventure. Allison didn't expect to be living in an apartment a fraction of the size of home they were used to living in. She wasn't expecting that finding the right schools would be so difficult. She didn't expect her oldest daughter to become so combative and hateful with the move. And she didn't expect to have such a hard time finding and keeping a job as a teacher. Allison was really starting to question their decision when she gets into a minor fender bender with a black BMW. Her efforts to do the right thing leads her to the penthouse of a Central Park West building. It is there that she finds a beaten and battered teen superstar. Carter Reid is known for his musical ability and his hard-partying ways. But Allison doesn't see a music star with a penchant for partying. She sees a child who is alone and in need of help. Allison comes back to check on him daily and soon finds herself with a job as his Personal Assistant. In charge of preparing him for a role on Broadway, Allison has her work cut out for her. But she is not one to give up on a job or on a person. Soon her whole family is involved with getting Carter ready for the stage and a village it does take. Will Carter be able to show his critics that he is worthy of the role?

Typically I reserve the "Best of Designation" for those books that evoke such strong emotion from me, whether it be laughing or crying. Limelight is getting a "Best of" label because I don't think that I have ever cheered for a fictional character as much as I cheered for Carter Reid. Allison Brinkley is a mom first and foremost and that is true with every word in this book. She is utterly devoted to her children and when she comes across Carter Reid all she can think about is how alone he is. She was a little unsure of herself in the beginning, the star power can be intimidating, but her confidence grew as Carter's confidence grew. In my head, I compared Carter to a younger version of Justin Beiber. And it was easy to see him as a "little-lost boy", he drew out my own maternal instincts. I loved how Allison didn't let him get away with anything. She held him accountable and made him honor his commitments. It was refreshing. It was also refreshing to see how the Brinkley family was so "normal". No marital issues between Allison and Michael. Normal kid stuff with their three children. The normalcy is why I think Carter turned out to be so good to them. I did get a little teary in the end, but the author set it up for more books featuring Allison and the rest of the Brinkley family. And I think that even includes Carter Reid.

Bottom line - I admit it, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Limelight. Limelight was fun and fresh with a surprising amount of depth to the characters. Besides, who doesn't love a good "behind the scenes" kind of story and Limelight takes you behind the scenes of a Broadway play.

Details:

Limelight by Amy Poeppel
On Facebook and Instagram
Pages: 416
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication Date: 5/1/2018
Buy it Here!

Allison Brinkley and her family take on Manhattan when they relocate from Dallas with a job change. They soon realize that the Big Apple is not the glitz & glam they imagined. Tiny apartment, strange new schools, and no friends make the adjustment rough on Allison and her children. A random accident causes Allison to meet Carter Reid, a spoiled bratty teen pop star with a bad reputation. Her mother's instinct kicks in and she becomes his personal assistant, helping him take on a role in a brand new Broadway show. Limelight is a funny, touching, compulsive read, great beach book.

This book was delightful! It is the perfect summer read, a good story with interesting characters. It has a nice dose of humor along with a very human family dynamic. The storyline is what fairy tales are made of, but the warmth and realistic relationships make you believe that anything is possible.

I was a huge fan of Small Admissions, so when I saw Poeppel had another novel coming out, I was very excited. Limelight was entertaining and fun from start to finish and Poeppel's writing style did not disappoint. Poepple's characters were smart, fresh, and genuinely made me want to a part of their family. The story line was a lot of fun and kept me turning pages late into the night.

The main character Allison is by far my favorite part of the novel. She is a wonderful mom who puts her kids first and she even transfers her mom skills to kids who aren't her own. She was smart, funny, tough, and didn't take crap from anyone. I loved her personality and I think she really made the book for me. There were so many great characters in this novel, so I can't comment on all of them, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each character.

Limelight is a fun and entertaining novel and I would highly recommend it to readers who enjoyed Poeppel's earlier Small Admissions. Her light and fresh writing style is even better in Limelight! I loved the small glimpse into the Broadway life, and I look forward to more novels from Poeppel in the future. Thank you Atria and NetGalley for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 4/5

Amy Poeppel's second book rises above the high bar she set with Small Admissions. Limelight provides humor and sensibility that gives the reader a ride that she/he desires and believes. Poeppel just gets better!

This book is basically chick lit in its tone, but about a married mom in her 40s. After her family relocates to NYC from Texas, she sort of accidentally falls into becoming the assistant of a bad boy pop star preparing for his Broadway debut (think a Justin Bieber type). Kind of silly, but also a fun and fast read. 3.5 stars.

this book made me smile. it made me laugh. loved the real characters and the story line. this was my first read by Poeppel and for sure will not be my last. Light hearted and deserves a place in every beach bag this summer

This was fun - part moving to NYC, part being an assistant to a celebrity. Definitely a fun, fast read. I really like the characters - the first part felt a bit tedious with all the adjustments and everything falling apart but it ended up working. I think all of the characters were well-written, well-developed and felt very intuitive. I am definitely excited for more from this author because I've really liked both of her books that she's released so far.

Limelight comes out next week on May 1, 2018 and you can purchase HERE. You can read my review of Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel HERE, which came out last year and which I also really liked! As an aside, I really love the cover of this one and her last, too.

"Yeah, so I'm calling for the asshole who smashed into my BMW. Call back or even better just get your insurance information over here, so I can deal with it. Fifteen Central Park West. ASAP, got it?"

Limelight is funny, laugh-out-loud story about a family who just moved to New York City to live amongst the stars, nightlife, and fancy restaurants. Allison Brinkley, a mom who wanted to be perfect, stumbles across a spoiled, "misunderstood" teenage superstar, Carter Reid, who seems to feel total entitlement to anything he pleases. Her attention, family, and job slowly became occupied with Carter's wellbeing. His outrageous antics and selfish behavior kept Allison's entire family busy by the end of the plot.

Limelight was the perfect novel for a quick, entertaining read.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All Opinions are my Own.

A perfect beach read! Limelight is another winner from Amy Poeppel. In her newest work, Poeppel explores themes of teenage celebrity and what it means to start over. Allison Brinkley stumbles into a whole new scene (and profession) when she becomes the accidental handler for a teenage pop star who is the definition of OOC (out of control). While helping him find his way back, she finds her way forward.

Ahhh I loved this book SO much, it seriously surprised me by just how much I enjoyed it and I don’t even know why. I’ve had Small Admissions sitting on my bookshelf for over a year and now I’m so frustrated with myself for not reading it sooner. Amy Poeppel nailed every single aspect of this book, and I wholeheartedly did not want it to end!


Allison is my new fictional BFF, I could not get enough of her from the moment I read the first chapter. She’s gutsy, witty, caring and a little crazy but she’s real. She has three kids and they were so honestly depicted as well, I mean what teenager today doesn’t curse inappropriately at the worst possible time? Or what young boy doesn’t develop a fascination with the female anatomy at some point? #Truth Carter is the mega pop star that Allison finds herself working for and though they’re an unlikely duo, I loved Allison’s tactics in dealing with him. He’s a pompous, self absorbed jerk, a womanizing party animal, (Think Justin Bieber, maybe even worse) and she treated him no differently than one of her own kids, and this made for some hilarious moments and fantastic scenes.

I love reading books about celebrities (real or fictional) and Poeppel gave me the best of both worlds by including both. The behind the scenes look at Broadway was everything, admittedly I know absolutely nothing about the backstage life of a play but everything she created rang true, it was super authentic and believable to me. So much so in fact that I had to stop myself from checking to see how much tickets are to see Limelight.

I can’t say enough good things about this book, it really had it all for me. I wondered if I would be disappointed by the ending but Poeppel kept things real and there wasn’t some unrealistic, happy ever after conclusion, which was awesome because that wouldn’t have worked well here and the way she handled things was perfection.

Limelight in three words: Savvy,

Modern and Sparkling.

A year and a half ago, I reviewed Amy Poeppel's first novel, "Small Admissions" for the newspaper I used to work for. In my review, I shared that I used to work with Amy at a private school. She worked in admissions, while I was a teacher. I actually taught two of her sons. While it's been a few years since we've seen each other, I follow her on Facebook and Instagram and was delighted to learn that she has launched a new career as a novelist.



I enjoyed "Small Admissions" although at the time I remember how weird it was to read a book by someone I know, especially one that was so clearly inspired by our former mutual work experience.



Amy's second novel, "Limelight" will be released in one week. Several months ago, I was delighted to receive an ARC - courtesy of Amy - in the mail. I waited until closer to publication date to read it, although the cover constantly drew my eye as it sat, waiting to be read, on my nightstand.



While I liked "Small Admissions", I LOVED "Limelight". The subject was much further removed from my previous experience with Amy and while I can still only picture her protagonists as looking like my friend, I was able to read this book much more objectively than her debut novel.



"Limelight" is the story of Allison, a Dallas based wife and mother of three, who has always wanted to live in Manhattan. When her husband gets the opportunity to work in the city that never sleeps, she immediately jumps on the chance to relocate. The entire family moves east from their beautiful suburban home into three bedroom apartment.



Cue the culture shock.



Oldest daughter Charlotte is furious at moving right before her senior year when she just started dating a fellow Robotics geek. Middle daughter Meghan is on the cusp of adolescence and perhaps the faster crowds of New York City is the last thing she needs. Youngest child Jack discovers his sisters' book on puberty and is a little too inspired by the illustrations, not exactly endearing him to his new school.



Allison's husband, however, is having a wonderful time. He is interviewed for Humans of New York right off the bat and meets Kevin Kline, who happily posed for a selfie with him.



It is Allison, surprisingly, who has the most challenging adjustment. She had been lucky to land a teaching gig, but on her first day, the woman whose position she had taken over decided to return to the school. Allison finds herself jobless and friendless in a huge, overwhelming city. Despite the size of the city, she is shocked by how small her living space is. Her children spend most of their time in their rooms, she can't find most of her kitchen supplies and the space is covered in boxes.



She is miserable.



Despite landing a part time gig as a tutor for adults in NYU's school of continuing education (which comes with its own challenges), she is lost. Until she accidentally hits an expensive car, which leads her to one of those insane Manhattan apartments where she meets Carter Reid, a spoiled, troubled pop star.



Carter in is New York to prepare for a Broadway show, a new musical based on the Charlie Chaplin film "Limelight". However, he has no interest in doing any prep. In fact, she finds him recovering from too much partying and a bad fight that left his knee injured.



As the mother of teenagers, Allison is appalled by his behavior and is worried that he seems to have no one looking out for him. She returns to his apartment time and again to look in on him, which leads to her slipping into his life as his unofficial personal assistant.



She helps Carter recover physically, but is unable to convince him that he can't back out of the musical role, despite an iron clad contract. It isn't until she brings her oldest daughter Charlotte to meet Carter that things begin to change.



Allison may be Carter's assistant, but also steps into the role of a mother. Poeppel herself has always been convinced that she would have been great for Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan when they were going through their most troubled times.



The first half of the book focuses on Allison trying to find herself in New York City. It is a moving portrait of how the dreams and reality of life in Manhattan collide. Allison quickly starts thinking about how easy it would be to move out to New Jersey or Upstate New York, especially after her mother expresses interest in living closer to them. Adrift without a job, Allison tries to lean on old friends: one of whom has left Manhattan for life in Montclair, NJ; the other who is one of those over the top Manhattan types still living in Brooklyn and engaging in threesomes with her neighbors. That character, Sara, helps Allison gain some perspective on how okay her new life in NYC really is.



"Limelight" is also a story of modern motherhood. Charlotte is incredibly angry at the start of the book, but working with Carter helps bring her and Allison closer together. As a mother myself (although my children are far younger than Allison's), I was moved by Allison's relationship with her children and her own struggles as a parent. Poeppel makes the point that mothers are very suited for any job where they have to manage anyone or any thing. Allison is able to "mother" Carter because of her own experience with tough love for her own children.



Of course the big focus of "Limelight" is the show itself. It's a real challenge for an author to build up to a Broadway show, which of course the readers can't actually see. Poeppel does an excellent job of taking her audience through the process of preparing for a show. Carter is the supporting male lead (Kevin Kline being the first). He isn't a Broadway star and has no real experience with acting. He struggles to learn his lines, clashes with the director and seems to shine only during the songs and dances.



Behind the scenes, Allison gathers an interesting cast of characters together to help Carter. She hires a valet, Owen, to care for the apartment. Charlotte steps in to run the lines of the female lead, while one of Allison's students takes on the Kevin Kline role. Carter, Charlotte and Howard form an unlikely trio as they push towards opening night of the show.



Personally, I'm a former New Yorker who loves Broadway musicals. Like many women in their 20s (you know, like 10 years ago for me), I loved reading trashy celeb magazines detailing the bad behavior of actors and pop stars. And now I'm a mother. I related to so much in the book.



Poeppel's wit and humor shines through the entire novel. I laughed out loud multiple times during my read. The book is smart and engaging, keeping you on your toes and flipping through the pages as fast as you can read. Poeppel truly makes you care about the little family that forms between Allison and Carter who, despite his truly awful behavior, you can't help but root for throughout the novel.



This is the perfect spring book. I tore through it in only a couple of days, enjoying every one of Poeppel's keen observations about motherhood and Manhattan.



So yes, I know Amy Poeppel. I'm lucky to count her as a friend and also as an hopeful novelist myself, an inspiration. However, my enjoyment of "Limelight" stems from the book itself, not from my ties with Amy.



Do yourself a favor and pick up "Limelight" as soon as it hits stores next Tuesday!

‘Limelight’ is a refreshing treat. I loved this book, there were parts where I literally laughed out loud. Although I loved the book, I found it a little odd that Alison kept going back to help Carter before she had been hired. I also found it odd that she was so invested in him considering the way that he treated her. This goes to show Alison’s nurturing personality and that she just wanted the best for someone that she considered an unsupervised child who had lost his way.
I enjoyed reading to see if Alison would be able to bring out the best in Carter. For those who do not like profanity, there is a fair amount in the book, however, I felt it was utilized to illustrate Carter’s personality rather than just being randomly thrown into the story.
In addition to Allison’s day to day dealings with Carter, I also liked reading about her family’s adjustment to New York and I liked following along with the progress of the Broadway show while it was in the beginning stages.
As mentioned, parts of the story had me laughing out loud, it is a refreshing change of pace, not to be missed.
I received an Advance Review Copy. All opinions are my own.