Lulu Kelly, once Lucille O'Malley of New York, is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make something of herself. She's given a one-way ticket to fame and fortune in the glittering lights of Hollywood, as long as she keeps her mouth shut about what she saw. Freddie van der Waals, once a young, handsome heir to a fortune and fiance to a beautiful, vapid girl, has chosen the streets as his home. Jaded by his discoveries of how his family fortune was made Freddie sets off for the west, encountering every bit of bad he never hoped to meet. When their lives intersect by chance in Hollywood they are drawn together, Lulu seeing a bit of herself in him and Freddie seeing an opportunity to do the right thing when his family never has.

I genuinely enjoyed Adam Shankman's Girl About Town, the character driven novel is exciting and historically accurate. With young characters, but a rather serious story line it is geared toward a wide age group of readers. It's mysterious and detailed, offering more than a glimpse at the life of both the rich and the poor, the famous and the forgotten. Unfortunately, Girl About Town lacks a certain jenesequa that would make it just that much more exciting. It's an enjoyable read, but it doesn't stand out among the crowd of other historical fictions. Young Adult fans will likely enjoy this, but a more adult genre reader may find the lose strings a nuisance.