Tales of a Hollywood Gossip Queen

by Mary Kennedy

From the author of Confessions of an Almost-Movie Star comes the story of a young actress who lands her own teen celeb column in a gossip magazine. But it looks like the summer's hottest gossip may be about her.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425209938
• ISBN13: 9780425209936
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

TALES OF A HOLLYWOOD GOSSIP QUEEN is a fun, fabulous read with a focus that's rather prevalent in current young adult literature: an inside look at Hollywood. In this book, it comes from a girl who stumbles into it all. Jessie never wanted to be a star, but she landed a part next to Hollywood hottie Shane Rockett in the movie Reckless Summer when it was filming in her hometown in Connecticut, and now her life is now inextricably tied to Hollywood--and to Shane. When she has to visit Los Angeles to redo the vocals on the movie, she hooks up with Shane again, and her picture starts appearing in the tabloids. Soon, though, she's not just being photographed by the media; she's become one of them! Jessie's plans to return to Connecticut are postponed, to her delight, when she lands a summer internship at a hot new entertainment magazine, Juicy. Unfortunately, that might not be as awesome as it seems--not if she has to share the work with nasty Alicia, who seems to have it in for Jessie. Can a small town girl from Connecticut handle all that goes on in Hollywood? This is a fun, quick read with great characters and an inside look at Hollywood! It's not the first book to look behind the scenes and into life in the spotlight, but it's one of the most fun. Of course, that topic itself is usually bound to be fun! Jessie is a great main character, and what goes on during her time in Hollywood is entertaining, too. TALES OF A HOLLYWOOD GOSSIP QUEEN is funny, with writing that flows nicely and keeps the reader entertained from the first page to the last. It's definitely a feel-good sort of story, though; almost everything that happens to Jessie is resolved quickly (almost too quickly) and she almost always comes out on the good end of things. Even though the story itself is unrealistic (small town girl ends up in Hollywood dating a superstar? How often does that happen?), it wouldn't hurt to make things like that ring a bit truer. Overall, though, this is a fun, enjoyable read that made me want to read the first book about Jessie's foray into stardom, Confessions of an Almost-Movie Star (Berkley Jam Books). Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

A fun story!

When Jessi Phillips is flown to L.A. to rerecord lines for the movie "Reckless Summer," the last thing she anticipates is staying longer than a few weeks. Jessi and her best friend Tracy get summer internships at a new gossip magazine about the stars called Juicy. Jessi is put in charge of the teen stars department, and her first interview is with rising star Jazz Holiday, another newcomer to "Tinsel Town." However, Jessi is thrust into the spotlight when her earlier romance with heartthrob Shane Rocket, who she met while co-starring with him in Reckless Summer, flames up into something serious. Suddenly life spirals out of control as she tries to balance life, work, and free time; and a jealous rival stealing and sabotaging Jessi's stories. She still has to break the news of her new relationship to her on again-off again boyfriend Marc, and cope with not just dishing out the gossip, but being a subject of gossip herself. Jessi is discovering that her summer is turning out nothing like she had planned. In this sequel to Confessions of an Almost Movie Star, Mary Kennedy has crafted a fun story that is filled with excitement, romance, and a healthy dose of celebrity gossip. Tales of a Hollywood Gossip Queen reintroduces characters from Confessions of an Almost Movie Star and lets readers learn more about their lives as the story develops. Armchair Interviews says: This is an extremely fun story that is perfect for summertime reading.

entertaining teenage chick lit tale

In Los Angeles Shane, the "sexiest teen alive" Rockett informs newly arrived from Bedford, Connecticut Jessie Philips that he is off until October and plans to show her the city as they dreamed of back east when they filmed Reckless Summer. Jessie thinks back to when she thought they were an entry on and off the screen until she saw him lip hugging with co-star Heidi Hopkins (see CONFESSIONS OF AN ALMOST MOVIE STAR). Still when it comes to the Rockett man, Jessie's brain turns to polenta. When he is not around melting her brain, Jessie wonders if her best friend Tracy is right that he is using her for free publicity as she now writes a teen celebrity column for Juicy magazine. As Jessie hobnobs with Hollywood's famous, the fifteen minute one time wonders, and the wannabes parking cars; Shane escorts her around the town as if he really cares. She wants to believe that he does until déjà vu occurs and she sees him with a sexy teen actress at the same time she learns a business lesson that backstabbing and stealing ones articles is the norm. Though New England is beginning to look warmer in winter than Hollywood in summer, Jessie refuses to quit. The second Jessie Philips teen tale is a fun look at Hollywood from the perspective of a deer in the headlights until the lessons of betrayal begin the end of the innocence. This entertaining teenage chick lit tale enables the audience to observe how much Hollywood changes Jessie yet her essence of what makes her who she is remains the same. Readers will enjoy her exploits as a Hollywood gossip princess who stoically rolls with the punches. Harriet Klausner