I loved reading Hooked On Hollywood and the next title up didn’t disappoint.
Love Interest #9 is book 2 in the Big Star, Small Town series by Mia Summer.
This was a lovely and funny heartfelt romance, both sweet and emotional. I loved Rachel and Lucas and enjoyed reading their story.
This was a super cute slow-burn, small town, celebrity rom-com.
I enjoyed the writing and the characters were super cute.
I’m excited to see and read book three The Reel Deal.
(These stories can be read in any order)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Sterling & Stone for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

I jumped right into this one after reading Hooked on Hollywood and while I enjoyed the characters and the banter (love the banter) I just wasn't feeling it. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series if there is one, it didn't turn me off the whole series.

I am genuinely very upset with this book. It was cute, with tolerable characters, albeit with incredibly unrealistic story lines or inclusions, but I liked both the FMC and MMC. Annnnnd that’s about where it ends for me. I was interested and invested….but the end totally ruined the entire book for me.

The situations were drawn out, there was multi-layered miscommunication (admittedly my least favorite trope), then at the end there’s this grand gesture and it wraps up in literally 3 pages?! Don’t even get me started on the last chapter, which I genuinely thought was an error as it has completely different characters. That should really be an end-of-book preview for the next book if that’s what it was trying to accomplish, not an incredibly confusing and infuriating “chapter 37”. Besides that “last chapter”, there was one sentence in the real last chapter that had me seeing red and ruined the book for me.

Ultimately, I kept waiting for the end you know is coming, but was hoping it would be a more satisfying and well-rounded ending. It pains me to leave this review and rating, but I really must.

I do wish to thank NetGalley and Sterling & Stone for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC! The concept of this story was so fun I immediately jumped at the opportunity to read it. However, the story ended up disappointing me. It was super wordy and the characters were too shallow. I loved the banter, though! The grand gesture at the end was so over-the-top cheesy it was completely unbelievable.

Thank you NetGalley, Sterling and Stone, and of course, Mia Summers for the opportunity to read this before the date of its release.

‘Love Interest #9’ revolves around Rachel, a young woman who, after recently losing a job and ending an engagement, has returned to her hometown and high school job as a tour guide to get back on her feet. Even though it’s not her ideal pursuit, the well-paying upper-class customers make it worthwhile, especially considering her current financial situation.

Rachel, not eager to dive into another relationship anytime soon, has her world turned upside down when a famous actor, by the name of Lucas, requests her services privately. Thinking of the money, and trying to forget about the exasperating history she has shared with other rich people in the past, she agrees - but little does she know, a charming love story with Mr. Hollywood is on the horizon.

I had mixed feelings about this one. Overall, I found it enjoyable. The characters were cute, the story was sweet, and the ending (without sharing any spoilers) was super sweet.

However, there were a number of moments that I found myself kind of bored. I’m not suggesting that it needed even just a bit of spice, because I do believe, not every book does; but I couldn’t help but feel that the plot was lacking that certain something.

All that said, I would still recommend. It was, after all, an easy read - and I love any good rom-com!

“Love Interest #9” is the second in the “Big Star, Small town” series by Mia Summers. I didn’t know that this book was part of a series, but it can be read as a standalone book. I have mixed feelings about this book. I read the first book in the series right before this one and I rather wish I hadn’t. There’s a LOT of similarities between the two main female characters - both have left the big city to return home, both recently broke up with a boyfriend, and both return to their family homes - and the list continues from there. This book also has two of my least favorite tropes - insta-lust and miscommunication. Also, the last chapter is setting up for the next book in the series - as the reader is introduced to completely new characters and a new situation - it rather felt like whiplash and I wondered who these new characters were - oh, it’s a preview, not the next chapter in the book [rather sloppy of someone!]. It was an okay story - a bit predictable, but if one wants a sweet romance and nothing graphic, then this book might be okay for you. It’s also a quick read.

Unemployed and desperate, Rachel goes to work for her high school employer giving high-end nature tours to rich, entitled guests. She's tasked with helping Hollywood playboy Lucas scout film locations. Despite her initial reluctance, she soon discovers that Lucas is kind and respectful. But could an A-list actor ever be interested in a small-town girl like her?

This book is so cute! Rachel starts out with a negative attitude but soon realizes she's being unfair to Lucas. The pacing, chemistry, and characterization are strong. I loved how their relationship unfolds in a gradual and believable way.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy for an honest review. This book starts off with Rachel heading home after breaking up with her fiancé after he cheated on her. Her childhood home though now has her old college friend feel after her dad marries her college friend. So she decides to go back to being a tour guide. Lucas a major Hollywood heartthrob is trying his hat in writing, producing and directing a movie and needs to scout an location, in comes Rachel who happens to be the tour guide. I enjoyed this book, the storyline, it was a little wonky with only one tent but it's rom com. Will read more by this author.

Love Interest #9 by Mia Summers is a cutesy story following a romance between. Rachel and Lucas. Rachel recently experienced a harsh heartbreak when her ex-fiance, Dean, lies about his family and wealth and confesses to continually be cheating on her. She swears off dating rich, powerful men and moves home only to start her old high school job as a nature tour guide for at a hotel. Enter Lucas (Hollywood), a celeb actor who is trying to make his directing/writing debut and is looking for locations to shoot his movie in. He is known as a serial dater, only dating other celebs as to not getting attached as all relationships must come to an end. Rachel gets introduced as his private tour guide, getting paid to do so for the next three weeks he's in town. The two instantly connect only to realize they are the each types each is trying to swear off.

I loved the fact that Rachel enjoys the outdoors and knows all these facts about her surroundings and area she grew up in. It was different from what we normally see and a nice change. I found Hollywood to be charming but overly charismatic, being the complete opposite of Dean in every way. The MCs did have a connection but it was all superficial, never spending the time to learn each other but instead quickly changing subjects or actions. There was a major overuse of tropes in such a short amount of pages that is made the narrative too cheesy in the end. The story needs some refinement, character reevaluation, and a read through for plot holes and areas where the story does not align. Some parts did not need to be there, such as the job offer in Spain or Roman never showing up again and Ryan's small involvement.

Overall, this story was cute. It has charm to it but is missing connection and flow to events and ideas. While I wouldn't recommend this myself, I would be interested in picking up another story by Mia Summers to check our their progress and evolution as an author.