4 Wine Glass #Review of Shooting Star by Jeffe Kennedy

Title: Shooting Star

Author: Jeffe Kennedy

Format:ebook, 275 pages

Published: March 6th, 2018 by Brightlynx

Links: Goodreads | Amazon 

Source: ebook courtesy of author

Reviewer: Lexi

Rating: 4 out of  5 Wine Glasses

Not all desires are shiny and sweet—and the dark ones might change you forever… 
It’s not the kind of obsession a tough Army guy can admit to—a jones for Ava, the pretty-princess pop star. Not just her body, the perfect product that sells all those magazines. Her music. 
The critics call her human lip gloss, all style and no substance. To Joe Ivanchan, Ava is the exact blend of reality and fantasy that he can tolerate, the closest he’s willing to get to giving his heart after the injury and breakdown that got him out of the service. 
But Ava is real. She’s a flesh and blood woman with a publicity machine and an album deadline, along with a whole team of handlers paid to shellac a pristine sheen over a damaged, desperate soul. A woman with fears, with secrets, with desires. 
When Joe finds himself in an interview to join her security team as her driver, his instinct is to get away. But the woman behind Ava’s carefully focus-grouped image is even harder to walk away from. The angry needs tormenting her speak to something within Joe. Something empathetic, protective—and primal… 
Besides, even a falling star can light up the darkest night.

Lexi’s Thoughts: 

Reading SHOOTING STAR is like watching a movie and it’s straight-out-of-the-tabloids storyline is gripping and disturbing. 

Ava is the starlet. You’ve seen her on glossy magazine covers at the checkout lines, you’ve sang along to her sugary, pop lyrics, and you’ve maybe even tried on her signature lipstick color. Kennedy has the ability to bring her characters to life and with Ava, she nailed it. But she also gives us a glimpse of a possibility behind the practiced persona. And it’s dark and damaged.

Then there is Joe. He’s been through his own nightmares but has had professional help. And he has Arlin, his therapy dog. Everyone needs a therapy dog like Arlin! Especially someone with secrets like Ava.

Joe ends up being in the right place and the right time for Ava. He’s a huge fan, or borderline stalker, which is the only thing that never seemed to become a huge plot point that I was expecting. But the part when Joe takes Ava out of her every day life is when things get real. Real emotions, from both of them, and seeing how Ava reacts to ‘normal’ life…sorry no spoilers, she is definitely humanized and you end up rooting for Joe and Ava.  

SHOOTING STAR is just so believable. Ava’s fear that she is a washed-up artist. Her need to get away from all the pressure and demands. The truth behind how she landed her first starring role. All of it. Most of it makes your skin crawl but that is kudos to Kennedy’s ability to put you in Ava’s shoes and show you that life in the lime light isn’t always sweet. 

You will enjoy this if you are a contemporary romance fan, even if you’re technically not, like me, you’ll be drawn into the story! Also if you enjoy watching two damaged souls heal one another and find a HEA after all the mess, this one is for you.