This book was such a refreshing romance novel. Courtney is a celebrity going through a rough divorce and ends up staying with bodyguard turned life coach Damien. I loved reading about how their romance came naturally and I thought that the characters were realistic and well developed.

A Hollywood Ending- arc review
☆☆☆
I had to dnf it... At first it went smoothly but then I started to loose interest... I just couldn't find the motivation for it. Maybe because of the tropes I got my expectations too high and then got disappointed... The plot moves quickly and the characters are very likable.
Courtney is a very strong character and Damien just wants what's best for her, which is soooooo cute, although sometimes I felt that he was taking "advantage" of Court, but I chose to ignore (bc he was still 100 times better than Brock)
The change of POV's on the same chapter kinda confused me and i think that Damien and Courtney's relationship was a little bit too fast, but it was a fast paced book, a fun and light story and ofc, a little spicy which is always good!
Thank you to NetGalley and Indigo Group for this ARC in exchange of my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Tropes
🎥Opposites attract
🎥Movie star x Bodyguard
🎥Forced proximity

this fell flat for me which was so upsetting since the concept really drew me in, this is something i really love but this didn’t have the execution i needed from it

A celebrity and bodyguard romance. Eh. It was just okay for me. An actress is sent with her bodyguard, who is basically a stranger, to a remote cabin in the woods to get away from the paparazzi. Of course he is outdoorsy and teaches her to be outdoorsy too. Of course they end up falling in love.

It was alright— not the best of this trope.

When I saw this book and read the blurb I thought this would be a solid 5-star but unfortunately, it wasn't. The cover looks like something new and the blurb is really intriguing but the book didn't deliver it.

In my opinion, the plot was overdramatic and some parts of the story were unrealistic. The writing style was good and I can imagine reading other books by this author.

I ended up eating A Hollywood Ending up! It's a fun, sexy read that just hocked me in. Once I got into reading it I couldn't stop.
It has a fantastic little sexy and smutty bit with a pole dance and it
I was nervous to start reading because it was so outside of my comfort zone. It does end up leaning heavily on the troupes. For me, that was perfect. It was the perfect amount of plot for me too. While there could have been more of the story (especially of the retreat) it could have become too much VERY fast. Like I said these characters were out of my comfort zone and if it was longer I feel I might have lost interest in them.
To me reading this book felt just like watching a GOOD romcom. It's just a fun, time where you don't have to worry about the main plot too much and we only see the fun good bits. But unlike a romcom, they don't have to fade to black when it gets steamy.
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much for this early copy. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and the character development throughout the book!

The bodyguard trope never disappoints!

This was such a great read with some enjoyable characters. I loved the writing style and how Courtney’s life was narrated. While I’m not a fan of insta love, this was very cute and a good read!

This book had some potential. The idea behind the story was good and interesting, and is the type of romance I tend to enjoy, but the execution was lacking. The romantic aspect felt rushed and incredibly unrealistic, and it just made both characters seem unrealistic, which pulled me out of the story. Thank you to NetGalley and Indigo Group for this ARC.

✨ 3.5 STARS ✨

courtney is an actress living her perfect hollywood life as one half of the worlds dream team. that is until she discovers her husband has been cheating on her and her perfect life may end up falling apart because of it. damien is the bodyguard who is hired to watch over her through the aftermath, and you can guess what happens from there.

- an actual adult couple (not in their 20s lol)
- bodyguard trope
- forced proximity
- slow burn
- we build each other up kind of love
- third act breakup LOL

i thought this was a cute story but it felt kind of rushed and slow for me at the same time. it didn’t feel memorable in a way to me but was a good story nonetheless. the sex scenes towards the end also felt oddly placed for me and kind of dragged on.

Forced proximity is one of my favorite tropes , but this bodyguard famous star trope did not did right for me, this is so far from that gem in the genre that id Method.... insta lust and pivotal change in ones life in 8 weeks is not for me.
I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange of an honest review. I wanna thank netgalley and the author this copy:
2 stars

'A Hollywood Ending' is an entertaining story of a woman reclaiming her life and power amidst personal tragedy which makes her question herself and her life choices thus far. Courtney is a Hollywood darling, typecast to the max, whose entire life is rocked when her husband is ‘caught’ having an affair. Completely unsettled, she is told to lay low with former-bodyguard turned life coach, Damien. The pair grow closer as Damien takes Courtney on as his client, helping her to reconnect with her true self that she had discarded for celebrity success.

This story was enjoyable enough, but there were a few issues I had with it. Courtney was a conflicting character for me because she would have such an empowering moment which had me cheering, and then make the most out-of-pocket comments which SCREAMED internalized misogyny. My other problem with this book is that it just all felt a bit too ‘tropey’. After reading, I feel like I could better assign tropes to both Damien and Courtney as opposed to distinct characteristics. Overall, this was a speedy read which made me smile although I wouldn’t reach for it again.

One of my most exciting reads of late, this is exactly the kind of romance I tend to completely lose my mind over because apart from a fresh and interesting storyline and sizzling chemistry, this never bored me. I loved how these characters never stopped stretching my comfort zone, and how I never stopped clinging onto every single word about their story.

A Hollywood Ending is a fantastic book about the power of seeing yourself with your own eyes and not through the eyes of others. I was so angry with Courtney's husband at the beginning of the book that I wanted to scream! Courtney is a woman done wrong who has listened to the voices of those around her, who in turn gave her advise that only benefited them. They send in a substitute bodyguard to an event with her and he is subsequently ordered to whisk her away and hide her from the public eye. Damien is a former Marine with a rock hard body! ( my dad was a Marine and I was raised on Marine bases). He has a dream of his own and sees this job as a means to the end with no emotional investment.. He unfortunately is way too harsh in his assumptions about Courtney and that put me off a bit. However, Melanie is writing a realistic portrayal of
men in today's world and she did not use her rose colored glasses. As they get to know each other, respect builds along with attraction. Courtney opens her eyes to what's really happening to her career and with Damien's encouragement, she begins to make changes in all areas of her life. The last few chapters had me shouting as everything clicks into place! Best revenge ending I've read in a long time.
I love Melanie Summers previous works and although A Hollywood Ending was harder in tone from her other works, I enjoyed the story.
I received an advanced reader copy of the book and my opinions are my own and based on my personal reading experience.

I really enjoyed this book and it had just the right amount of spice for me. This was such a great story of opposites attract Rom-Com. I absolutely adored Courtney and Damien. This was a fast read for me because it was so good.
I just reviewed A Hollywood Ending by Melanie Summers. #AHollywoodEnding #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

An intriguing read! I enjoyed the fact that the main characters were a bit more mature than the usual romance books - I think it made Courtney and Damien’s connection seem more meaningful. I also enjoyed the kind of villainy of the whole thing, with Courtney’s team turning out to be so rotten! And it was great that she managed to see her worth and see people for who they really were.

What to expect:

- celebrity romance
- bodyguard romance
- high profile actress going through a divorce falls for her bodyguard
- opposites attract
- forced proximity
- slow burn
- very spicy

This was a really cute, charming, and quick read! I would have liked to have seen a little MORE, but it was still a super cute and light read.

Such a cute, spicy, slow burn romance! I love the tension, and i love the characters (i think the author did an amazing job changing the mmc from an a**hole to a nice guy). Its a unique story and i really enjoyed reading it! I also really liked the spice, although in the second half of the book i think the story fell into the spice's shadow.

I absolutely recommend!

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review

Thank you @Netgalley and @IndigoGroup for my e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For complete honesty: this is actually a 3.75 for me, but I usually round those up to 4, as I think it’s not fair to duck a whole star when it’s missing just that tiny bit and that is mainly not because I didn’t like it but because I didn’t love it.

The main downvoting aspect for me is that after all it feels like not much happened and I don’t mean this as wanting a lot of big things to happen as I knew the premise going in. I mainly mean this as I would have loved to see certain aspects of the story (sorry for the vague sentences I’m trying not to spoiler things) shown more and with more in-depth descriptions, instead of brushing them off with a couple of sentences/paragraphs. I probably could have gone with one less sex scene and one more about the other themes of the book. And maybe some things went a bit too quickly for my personal liking.

But, I really really like this story and the writing style. I loved that it was told in dual POV and did you know that I also have a new-found obsession with celebrity-romances? Because I do and now I want to read all of them. I think it was refreshing to read a famous/normal person celebrity-romance where the famous one is the female character.

The book was off to a good start for me with that dedication to one of my all time faves: Jennifer Aniston! I adored it.

THIS WAS SO CUTE!! It took a bit of time for me to get into this book, but once i hit the point where i got into it there was no turning back. Such a wholesome story with an amazing character development.