A famous Hollywood “IT” couple and their personal assistant become embroiled in a messy relationship that uncovers scandalous secrets, deception and leads to murder.

I love May Cobb’s scandalous thrillers full of people behaving badly. They are twisty, spicy and absolutely naughty with zero remorse.

The Hollywood Assistant takes us into the marriage of Marisol and Nate Sterling. Initially it looks like they are the perfect couple with the perfect marriage and Cassidy Foster thinks she has the perfect job as Marisol’s personal assistant. Of course nothing can be that idyllic. Soon we see that there are cracks in the facade of this perfect couple and Nate hired Cassidy to report on Marisol because he thinks she’ s cheating on him.

This was a wild ride with everyone having their own secrets, desires and reasons for acting unhinged. I freakin loved all the drama. I couldn’t get enough as things went off the rails and just kept going at full speed. It’s fun, over-the-top, dramatic and definitely twisty. A perfect summer thriller to pick up!

Well, I have officially added another author to my autobuy list, and I will be reading her backlist.  I can not believe this is my 1st book by this author! 

Cassidy Foster has just had her heartbroken.  She feels like her life in TX is going nowhere fast, so she jumps at the opportunity to move to CA.  Her best friend Lexie is out there and has found her an amazing job being an assistant to a famous Hollywood couple, Marisol and Nate Sterling.  The job comes with so many perks, designer clothes, access to the pool, incredible pay, and a flexible schedule.  The Sterlings seem like the perfect couple and perfect bosses.  When Nate starts asking her to read his scripts, which could help her with her writing career, an undeniable attraction starts to grow.  Cassidy soon learns what she was really hired to do.  The perfect couple isn't so perfect, and when one of them ends up dead, Cassidy becomes the prime suspect.

This book was fantastic!  It was such a wild ride!  It was highly entertaining and totally bingeable with lots of drama.  I thought Cassidy was bat sh!t crazy and there were times I felt sorry for her.  She wasn't the most likable character and did some super cringe-worthy things, but she definitely had me glued to the pages.  This was a total page-turner and that ending!🤯 I would highly recommend this one!

Definitely a slow burn. Honestly I was convinced that the whole thing was a figment of the main character’s imagination- but when I get hit with the twist- I felt like I had whiplash. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. In the last few pages she hands us just a *chefs kiss* of an ending.

All hail the queen of the poolside guilty pleasure read.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cassidy is heartbroken in Texas when her best friend Lexie helps her land a job as a personal assistant in LA. She is excited to work for Nate Sterling, a famous director, and his wife Marisol, a model/actress. The job is easy, pays well and the Sterlings seem like the perfect couple. But eventually Cassidy finds out why she was really hired and when someone turns up dead she is the perfect suspect.

This is a fun, quick, soapy, popcorn thriller! It would be a great beach read this summer. The characters are flawed and behaving badly but that’s part of the appeal. I had my suspicions about the perpetrator but didn’t know exactly how it was going to play out. It was a little slow to start but was twisty and moved fast in the end.

Grab a cup of coffee because you’ll want to stay up late for this one! Or maybe switch to something stiffer once the twists kick in! What a fun summer thriller!!

May Cobb writes a full cast of unlikeable characters, but aren't most people in Hollywood unlikeable? 😆 The plot is brimming with obsession, suspicion, and deception. You know early on that someone died, but the who and why unfold steadily, with plenty of unexpected twists! I could not put this one down!!

Brittany Wilkerson narrates the story. She captures Cassidy so well: a mix of innocence, self-doubt, and a little unhinged. Wilkerson changes the voices of the different characters. I particularly loved Marisol's accent; she also added the perfect amount of sass for this Hollywood actress! Highly recommend this format.

Bottom line: Addictive ✨ Scandalous ✨Wildly Entertaining ✨ Perfect summer thriller! Read now, thank me later!

Thank you @berkleypub @prhaudio for my complimentary copy. My thoughts are my own.

When CASSIDY, recovering from a recent breakup, moves to LA, her friend, LEXIE uses her connections to help Cassidy land a dream job working as an assistant to a famous Hollywood couple, NATE and MARISOL STERLING.

With short hours, fantastic designer clothes, and access to the pool, Cassidy is in heaven, and she quickly becomes involved with the couple, learning all of their secrets, and even witnessing (i.e. spying on) their heated arguments and passionate makeups.

As Marisol becomes increasingly busy with her acting career, Cassidy often finds herself alone with handsome Nate. Soon she feels an overwhelming attraction to him. But when one of the couple is suddenly murdered, Cassidy becomes the number one suspect.

This character-driven psychological drama is a slow-burn, which builds in intensity. The story is told from Cassidy’s point of view, with dual timelines: the present and a few weeks in the future. While the reader is aware early on that there is a murder, the murder and victim are not revealed until very near the ending, at which point the action moves to a very swift conclusion.

I did enjoy this story and I remained engaged throughout. However, I will say that the overuse of the f-word detracted from my enjoyment. There were also several steamy scenes, which I don’t 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 like to see in my thrillers, but they did seem to be necessary in this particular story! The conclusion came as a surprise.

I also checked out the audio version, which was very well-done!

This is my first May Cobb book but it won't be my last. "The Hollywood Assistant" is a juicy thriller full of twists and turns. It follows, Cassidy, a down-on-her-luck woman from Texas who moves to LA to become an assistant to a hotshot screenwriter/director and his actress wife. It's a weird set-up: the couple seem to have a fractured marriage post Covid and Cassidy finds herself in the middle of their cat and mouse games. Cassidy is a bit of an unreliable narrator and it's fun to follow as she gets more entangled with the couple. Does the plot make 100% sense? Nope! Will you root for any of the characters? Hell no! But this is exactly the kind of fun beach read you want to bring on vacation. Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the arc.

Cassidy Foster relocates to California post-breakup and takes an assistant job for a famous Hollywood Actress/Director couple whose marriage is in a questionable state. She is hired to run errands a few times a week and the pay seems way too good to be true. Of course there is a catch.

No one writes over the top, twisty, AND salacious mysteries like May Cobb! The Hollywood Assistant is a voyeuristic look into the dark side of life in the Hollywood elite. The characters are extra unhinged. They live in a town where success is everything. They lie, cheat, and steal to make it to the top and will do even more to stay there. I do wish the length was a little shorter, but I enjoyed the plot and was hooked from the beginning. The Hollywood Assistant is a fantastic summer thriller!

May Cobb Summer Solstice is now officially a yearly tradition! I read A Likable Woman on the first day of summer last year too. Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

After a disastrous breakup, failed romance novelist Cassidy's best friend finds her a job as an assistant for a Hollywood power couple Nate and Marisol. Desperate for money, Cassidy takes the job and soon becomes completely immersed in their lives. She lusts after Nate, but also likes Marisol and wants to do a great job. Nate finds out what an amazing writer Cassidy is and tasks her with reading and summarizing loads of scripts that he gets. We know from the beginning that someone dies, but we don't find out until later what happened. Nate suspects Marisol is cheating and asks Cassidy to follow her to find out. Cassidy becomes more and more immersed in their lives.

I wanted to like this more than I did, but I saw what was happening from a mile away. The book is way too long and drawn out, too many things that would NEVER happen (so much spying from behind bushes and trees and following people and hiding and spying).

Don't get me started at how much I grew to hate the main character Cassidy. I honestly couldn't stomach her at all. She just got more bizarre and unhinged as the story went on, and she acted like she was about fifteen, not a full grown adult. Every statement she makes is either filled with exclamation points or she is sooooo shy and embarrassed. Every time she is wearing clothes Marisol gave her she has to point out "I'm wearing your clothes." She alternates between acting like she is so important and fabulous at reviewing scripts and why wouldn't Nate fall in love with her to being subservient and then swinging wildly back to the other side. And she was so upset that her ex cheated on her and yet the second Marisol's back is turned she is ready to jump on Nate, who cares if he's married.

Why oh why did the pandemic need to be mentioned all the time? I thought it would come into play really but nope, it didn't, it was just annoying. And the drinking. So so so much drinking and discussions about drinking and worries about drinking too much and driving, and if you want a recipe for an old fashioned, it's given in minute detail.

None of the characters or situations are very well developed. I felt like I knew more about the contents of their refrigerator and how to make an oat milk latte than I did about the characters and their motivations.
I know tons of people liked this much more than I did, I'm an outlier for my views so if you like a good soapy Hollywood drama, this book might appeal to you more than it did me.

I like May Cobb and her writhing style so much! She writes women’s relationships so well. I keep investing in the characters more and more as I read. This one knocked it out of the park for me!

Thanks to Berkley for the eARC; all thoughts are my own.

I don't usually read contemporary suspense/murder mystery books, but decided to give this one ago.
Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me. After a few chapters, I just couldn't get into the book and found it rather slow.
I skipped to the end to see how it finished; read the last two chapters and epilogue, was satisfied with knowing the ending, and put it down.

I know other readers who loved it; so I really do think it's just not a book for me.

May Cobb is an auto read for me. This book ties with Hunting Wives for my favorite, so good! It’s twisty and feels like you’re watching desperate housewives with a gin martini. Perfect.

5/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! The Hunting Wives was my favorite by May Cobb, and I think this is either a tie or close second.

Cassidy just moved to California from Texas after a bad break up. She works for a rich couple taking care of their home, and then professional lines start to blur and someone ends up dead. I kept trying to figure out who did it, and failed until right before it was announced.
Quick, fun read.

This was only told by Cassidy, and her observations of her new employers. Cassidy starts off bright eyed and bushy tailed, then she starts to become unhinged. And I honestly couldn’t look away from her behavior. It really made think she was very unreliable as a narrator. Marisol was self absorbed, and very exhausting with her hot and cold mood swings. Nate was very sketchy to me, and I did not trust him at all. None of these characters were particularly likable, especially the Sterling’s. While Cassidy was very naive, I didn’t find her as annoying.

As the story went on, I honestly didn’t know what to think. I thought I knew what was going on, but with Cassidy being so unreliable I started to question myself. Me being the nosy person I am, I couldn’t put this down until I had answers. I was so sure I had it all figured out and I was kind of blindsided by the reveal. This is a perfect summer read to read by the pool or at the beach.

When I first started reading this book, I wasn't too wild about it. But by the end, it was like a train wreck, and I couldn't look away...or put the book down!

Cassidy has left Texas and is now a personal assistant to a Hollywood couple, thanks to a hookup from her long-time friend, Lexie. The job and her new apartment seem perfect, but when everything seems perfect, it really isn't. Cassidy may be relatable, but she wasn't very likable, at least not to me. She has an obsessive personality, which is seen when she starts interacting with Nate. She is hired to be Marisol's assistant, but her husband, Nate, discovers Cassidy's writing ability and asks her to read scripts and provide coverage. Somewhere along the way, Cassidy starts obsessing over Nate and perhaps imagines a relationship that isn't there. Or is it?

I honestly do not like Cassidy. She is needy, obsessive, drinks too much, and has stalker-like tendencies. However, the situation she is put in near the end makes part of it understandable, sort of. I can see how she could be sucked into this lifestyle since she receives castoffs from Marisol and is brought into their lives. Cassidy does some good things, but what she is pulled into later in the book is sketchy, and she should have known better and said no. But I get the feeling she is a people pleaser and doesn't know how to say no.

Now, not everything in this book is her fault. Some of the fault lies with Nate, Marisol, and even her friend Lexie. It is hard to share much because there are so many plot twists that I don't want to give anything away. Even in the Epilogue, a new truth is revealed that was surprising, at least to me. I did start to suspect the killer, but I didn't know why or how. It was just a feeling I had about this character.

Needless to say, this book was hard for me to put down, and we give it 5 paws up.

💭 MY THOUGHTS: I love that May Cobb moved her usual jaw dropping drama from Texas to Los Angeles. Hollywood was a perfect backdrop for this compelling, juicy thriller!

I love the twisted web of deception that unfolded as Cassidy begins her new personal assistant job. Cassidy’s bosses, Nate and Marisol are as narcotic as you’d imagine famous celebrities would be. But Cassidy has her own narcosis that make you second guess her account of things.

I really did not know what was real, who to trust or what was going to happen. And when some hints started to drop as to THE major twist I kept thinking “no, no that can’t be it!” Oh, but it really was. My jaw dropped! I did not see it coming.

Being a So Cal native the only thing that threw me was the references to “the 1” highway. No local would call it that, we call it PCH so it kept taking me out of the story. In the book Cassidy just moved to LA from Texas so I guess it’s believable she would know. 😂 🤷🏻‍♀️

Read for:
🤐 Secrets and Lies
🌀 Unreliable Characters
💫 Famous Hollywood Couple
⁉️ Kept Me Guessing
🏠 Forced Proximity
🔪 Murder (of course)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
Spice Level: 🌶️ / 5

Cassidy leaves Texas and heads for Hollywood with nothing but a broken heart and (thanks to her best friend) the promise of a job assisting a married actress & director with their day to day life. Still reeling from her cheating boyfriend’s betrayal, Cassidy is struggling to find confidence and the bounce back she needs and is hoping that a new life in LA and potentially switching gears from writing romance novels to screenplays will be just what she needs to reinvent herself.

Marisol and Nate are a gorgeous and very wealthy couple who are #goals for someone like Cassidy; better yet, they both take Cassidy under their wing - Marisol offering her loads of clothes & Nate offering the chance to review some scripts. However as their relationships develop, Cassidy sees that not everything is perfect between the couple and that they may even start to bring her in to be pitted against the other. As her attraction to Nate grows, she begins to wonder what it would be like if she were to be the newest Mrs. Sterling. But then one night things take a deadly turn and Cassidy is left floundering to clear her name with no one on her side.

I am a sucker for May Cobb’s stories about women behaving badly. I love a rich toxic character, I love a domestic situation where you’re not quite sure which one is the worst in the equation.

May did a great job building the characters with this one. I could never pinpoint who was the worst one or why I thought any given character was the worst at any given time! Every character had moments where they were incredibly likable. I can definitely see why Marisol & Nate took to Cassidy, why Cassidy was enamored with Nate, and why Cassidy wanted to be Marisol.

The plot moved quick, I don’t think there was ever a lag or at point at which I was like okay let’s get to the third act already. The twists continue up until the last page, and while I had some suspicions that turned out to be true, I didn’t nail any single thing down completely.

If I have to nitpick at anything, there were a couple of phrases and words that were overused and that is one of my literary pet peeves. It did not lessen my enjoyment of the book, but when it happens I do tend to start looking out for it.

As always, I look forward to what May gives us next.

Cassidy moves to LA to work as an assistant to a famous director and his actress wife. It's not all glitz and glam at their Hollywood hills estate and when Cassidy gets in over her head, she finds herself the suspect in a murder investigation.

May Cobb is back with the perfect summer thriller! One thing I love about Cobb's books is that she writes characters that we love to hate, and she does it so well. This book was no exception as I didn't really like Nate, Marisol, or Cassidy at all, yet I was sucked into their lives from page one and loved every juicy twist along the way. Cobb transported the reader to LA and made the life of an assistant in Hollywood seem so glamorous, that is of course, until it wasn't!

This is Cobb's first book that isn't set in Texas, and I loved this setting. When a thriller is set in Hollywood, you just know it's going to be scandalous, and this one certainly was. The pacing was a bit slow at times, but it really picked up after we find out who was murdered. There were some killer twists that I didn't see coming especially the one at the very end! If you're looking for the perfect thriller to bring to the pool, then throw this one in your beach bag!

Thank you, Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

A sizzling, tense, unputdownable thriller. I think this is Cobb at her best, and I ate it up. It is an absolute banger of a book.
💜 Rich people behaving badly
💜 unreliable characters
💜 murder, of course
💜 salacious, twisty, page-turner

I'm a huge fan of May Cobb, and her books are an auto buy for me. This was another 5 star from May Cobb!

I'm a huge fan of May Cobb's books. She writes the most juicy and compelling thrillers, and this one might just be her best yet! I devoured it! It's got Hollywood glamour, scandal, obsession, jealousy, and betrayal.

Cassidy moves from Texas to Los Angeles to become the personal assistant to a handsome, well-known director, Nate Sterling, and his gorgeous, up-and-coming actress wife, Marisol. Things are great at first until the perfect couple's facade shows some cracks. Nate takes an interest in Cassidy, and Marisol has secrets of her own. Things take a turn when Cassidy finds out the real reason she was hired, and when one of them ends up dead, Cassidy finds herself a suspect.

This grabbed me from the start. The story is told before and after the suspicious death, with questions and suspense mounting as the two timelines converge. I enjoy Cobb's writing style. She really sets the scene with this one, with pacing that keeps you on the edge of your seat while delivering some delicious twists. Every single one of the characters came alive. They were complex and exciting. They all created drama and made some questionable decisions, which just fed into the addictive quality of this book. I could not wait to see what they would do next. This was such a fun and wildly entertaining summer thriller!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the free book!