• 13 June 2017
• 384 pages
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5 Big & Fat Stars
• 384 pages
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5 Big & Fat Stars
Solène Marchand, the thirty-nine-year-old owner of an art
gallery in Los Angeles, is reluctant to take her daughter, Isabelle, to meet
her favorite boy band. But since her divorce, she’s more eager than ever to be
close to Isabelle. The last thing Solène expects is to make a connection with
one of the members of the world-famous August Moon. But Hayes Campbell is
clever, winning, confident, and posh, and the attraction is immediate. That he
is all of twenty years old further complicates things.
What
begins as a series of clandestine trysts quickly evolves into a passionate and
genuine relationship. It is a journey that spans continents as Solène and Hayes
navigate each other’s worlds: from stadium tours to international art fairs to
secluded hideaways in Paris and Miami. For Solène, it is a reclaiming of self,
as well as a rediscovery of happiness and love. When Solène and Hayes’ romance
becomes a viral sensation, and both she and her daughter become the target of
rabid fans and an insatiable media, Solène must face how her romantic life has
impacted the lives of those she cares about most.
Solène is 39. Mom to 12-year-old Isabelle. Divorced. Art Gallery owner. And right now she's backstage at a Las Vegas concert hall seeing him for the first time: Hayes. Twenty-year-old pop superstar; singer in the boy band AUGUST MOON!
This boy has put his mega-flirt-hat on and Solène can't help but flirt back! She could be his mother!
But can an almost 40 year old lady and a world famous superstar half her age have anything real and lasting? Solène's daughter and the rest of the world think NOT - once they find out....
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH SOLÈNE & HAYES?
WILL THE WORLD GIVE THEM A CHANCE AT A HAPPILY EVER AFTER??
READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT ☺
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♥ I loved this book ♥
I knew from the sound of the blurb that I was probably going to like it - because there's nothing I love more than Rock Star Romances! BUT - this was sooo much better than I could've ever hoped for. I was a tiny little bit skeptic about Solène being so much older than Hayes, but pfffff, once I met both of them, I didn't care about the age difference at all.
I'm 39 myself and I just jumped right into this book and became Solène for a few hours! I was right in there living this amazing adventure. All those amazingly adorable & sexy & emotional & just beautiful moments in hotel rooms in New York City, at a pool in the South of France. All the ups and downs of such a complicated new love. All those new feelings and fears.
I just loved reading this story. Poor Solène is feeling all those things you would think she is feeling... that she's way too old, that it's going to hurt her daughter, her family, her business, that she'd be ridiculed by friends and the media. But Hayes is so much more mature than that number 20 in his passport might let you think at first. He's so sweet and kind and sincere and British - let's not forget the sexiest things about him: his posh, sexy, British accent! And his mega-hot body!! No wonder she couldn't resist, but the longer it goes on, the harder it gets ... this wasn't supposed to last. This was supposed to only be ... lunch. ☺
We hope all through the book that there will be a happily ever after, but of course we're also not really sure if Solène and Hayes ending up together would be that HEA for everyone involved. But we sure hope so. But we know what happened with Demi & Ashton! ☺☺☺
The story has all the amazingness of a rock star romance, but we also have so much more in there. Life as a divorced mom. A business owner. A woman in the Los Angeles business world. The whole fantasy part of it: that this would never in a million years happen to us. But we can still hope that it could ... Thank you for that Robinne! (Not that I plan on seducing a boy half my age any time soon! For my tastes he could've been a bit older ☺ or just make me a bit younger!)
There's sooo much in here; if this was a movie you wouldn't know where to look first! I also realllly want this to become a movie one day!!!
It's definitely a book that stays with you for a long while. I was up until 3am to finish it - and now - days later, I still get these images in my head. Scenes from the book. Hayes smiling by the pool in France. Solène and Hayes walking through whatever city they were in at the moment. The phone calls - the texts - the sexy times. ☺ *sighs* I never wanted this story to end!
It's definitely a book that stays with you for a long while. I was up until 3am to finish it - and now - days later, I still get these images in my head. Scenes from the book. Hayes smiling by the pool in France. Solène and Hayes walking through whatever city they were in at the moment. The phone calls - the texts - the sexy times. ☺ *sighs* I never wanted this story to end!
Robinne managed to write an amazingly beautiful story! And so perfectly written too! And it's her first!!! Jeez - I'm almost afraid to see what will come out of Ms. Lee's typewriter next!!!☺☺☺
THE IDEA OF YOU was such a beautiful & sunshiney lovestory. About finding yourself again - starting the next chapter of your life - hard decisions - beautiful places and people. Amazing book. Run to your nearest amazon for your own Hayes, because this one is MINE!!!
P.S. I will put a few thoughts into a Spoiler thingy - my thoughts about the end - Happy or not? And about a few other little things! Please don't read it if you don't want to be spoiled!
P.P.S. Yes, I have to admit that I imagined Harry Styles while reading. Only without those weird tattoos. I was never a fan of him and his boyband years, but he's definitely making up for it now with his new amazing song, so it felt totally okay for me to see Harry in Hayes! It's also totally okay for a 39-year-old blogger to fantasize!☺☺☺
P.P.P.S. Did you know that fictional Hayes and Solène have their own real-life twitters??? Check it out - they're posting real Hayes and Solène-y things! I LOVE IT!
Robinne Lee is a Los Angeles-based actor, writer and producer. A graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School, Robinne was born and raised in Westchester County, New York. As the daughter of Jamaican parents of African, Chinese, British and Arawak Indian descent, Robinne has long had an affinity for travel and the arts. Her past endeavors include working as an Editorial Assistant for ELLE Magazine, both in New York and Paris, writing celebrity profiles for the now defunct youth culture magazine, TELL, and running a music management company.
Robinne has numerous acting credits in both television and film, most notably opposite Will Smith in both Hitch and Seven Pounds, Don Cheadle in Hotel for Dogs, and Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30. She recently completed shooting Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, playing Christian Grey’s trusted COO, Ros Bailey.
An inactive member of the New York Bar, Robinne has served as a producer on various independent films and regularly speaks on panels regarding the roles of women and actors of color in the industry. She is an avid runner, a mediocre ballet dancer, and a huge fan of cheese.
Robinne currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.
The Idea of You is her first novel.
SPOILER!
TO READ IT DRAG YOUR MOUSE OVER THE FOLLOWING SPACE - I WROTE IT IN WHITE ☺
TO READ IT DRAG YOUR MOUSE OVER THE FOLLOWING SPACE - I WROTE IT IN WHITE ☺
Another tiny little thing that bothered me a bit. Those 'serious' parts that were talked about a lot - about how women stop being seen once they're over 40 and all the artists of color stuff in the gallery. I know that it's a huge thing, especially in America, but it was a tiny little bit too preachy for such an amazing romance. But that's the only thing I didn't love-love. Oh, yeah - and the end! ☺ But I still loooooved the book. I totally understand the end. Solène didn't want to keep on hurting her daughter and she didn't want to burden Hayes with an old wife. But I'm still heartbroken over it - even days later!
