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Jessica Beckett was all set to study abroad in France when she came down with mono. She was hospitalized, and her doctor advised her parents to keep her home, thereby crushing her dreams. She wasn’t enrolled in classes at home, so she’s stuck with an inadvertent gap year and in desperate need of a job. Luckily, Jessica’s Aunt Marnie comes to the rescue. As a talent agent in Hollywood, she had no problem finding Jessica a job as Jack McAlister’s personal assistant. Of course, Jack McAlister is the biggest jerk Jessica’s ever met, accusing her of spying on him from the minute they meet.

But it’s not long before Jessica starts to see the real Jack. Not the one who’s perpetually in the tabloids, with rumors flying about which girl he’s currently sleeping with. Not the one who punches paparazzi in the face. But the real Jack, who is sweet and funny and loves his pet pig. The real Jack is really lovable, but could he ever reciprocate those feelings for a regular girl like her?

I’d have to say that the best thing about this book is Jessica. She’s a real person, just another girl that you might meet on campus. She just needs a job, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, be it walking a pig, sorting compost, or getting rid of paparazzi. She’s spunky, too, not putting up with any of Jack’s rude, condescending behavior.

I also appreciated that when Jessica did start to fall for Jack, she did it realistically. (Sure, it did happen pretty quickly, but that’s the norm with NA books, so I’m not too bothered.) She knew that romantic feelings might jeopardize her job, so she kept it to herself. She did get jealous of his love scenes with beautiful women and the fact that the tabloids like to speculate about who he’s dating. If there’s any believable way for a regular girl to fall in love with a movie star, this was it.

Finally, I just want to talk about the romance. This one builds very slowly. We don’t even see Jessica and Jack get together until about 90%. Even then, there are insinuations, but no explicit love scenes. I never know what I’m going to get when it comes to NA. Some are chaste (like this one) and some are borderline erotica, so I figured I’d put right out there in my review – this is a very tame love story, appropriate for teenagers and up.

This book was a nice surprise. It’s a light, fluffy read that’s almost guaranteed to boost your mood. I’ll be watching for future books from Stacy Wise.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free copy! 

Final rating: ★★★★☆

Test your luck with Goodreads First Reads, where there’s one copy available through February 5!

For my 2016 reading challenge, I’m crossing off #23: a book that is published in 2016.