Pretty Face
Lucy Parker     
December 2021 Releases

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Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: West End
Book: 2

Highly acclaimed, award-winning author of Act Like It Lucy Parker returns readers to the London stage with laugh-out-loud wit and plenty of drama 

The play's the fling 

It's not actress Lily Lamprey's fault that she's all curves and has the kind of voice that can fog up a camera lens. She wants to prove where her real talents lie—and that's not on a casting couch, thank you. When she hears esteemed director Luc Savage is renovating a legendary West End theater for a lofty new production, she knows it could be her chance—if only Luc wasn't so dictatorial, so bad-tempered and so incredibly sexy. 

Luc Savage has respect, integrity and experience. He also has it bad for Lily. He'd be willing to dismiss it as a midlife crisis, but this exasperating, irresistible woman is actually a very talented actress. Unfortunately, their romance is not only raising questions about Lily's suddenly rising career, it's threatening Luc's professional reputation. The course of true love never did run smooth. But if they're not careful, it could bring down the curtain on both their careers… 

Other books in the series:

“If she was as vacant as she looks on screen, she wouldn’t be able to tie her own shoes.”

LOL! Yep, that’s director extraordinaire Luc Savage’s first impression of actress Lily Lamprey. The Gregory Peck look-alike is in the process of restoring Queen Anne, an iconic theatre on West End London, and directing the play 1553, in which Lily hopes to get a part.

Luc Savage was a pompous prick, with a head the size of the O2, and –if there was any justice left in the world—most likely a penis the size of a grape.

And there you have it, Lily’s impression of her soon-to-be director in response to what a little birdie told her.

Luc isn’t an easy man and he’s demanding to work with. But you know me, I do love the cold, silent, broody types because there’s nothing better than to watch them fall. Once Luc see beyond Lily’s recent femme fatale work on the soap opera Knightsbridge, he has a major problem with her voice.

The voice was problematic. Potentially disastrous. She would need outside training, additional effort and expense.

 I relished watching these two clash. As eager as Lily is to leave the melodrama of soap-opera acting for stage work with a critically acclaimed and well-respected director like Luc, she’s not a pushover. She’s not going to let him completely intimidate her. I love that she goes toe-to-toe with him when it comes to their witty exchanges. And her inner thoughts are pure dry British wit.  

“You already know how good you’re going to have to be.” He didn’t soften the warning. “A lot of critics will be taking their seats on opening night salivating at the prospect of seeing a car crash firsthand.”

It was amazing, really, that people didn’t hire him out for motivational speaking.

I felt their relationship truly shift during the last scene she was contracted to shoot for her old show. I loved his reaction. I think it’s the first time he really let his guard down and let his emotions show. Okay, maybe he didn’t do it purposely. It’s more that he couldn’t help himself, which is even more satisfying.

Here’s the problem, though, with this growing attraction between them. Luc is her director and Lily doesn’t want people thinking that she slept her way into her role. She has to think about her career. Because Luc is a man and in the driver’s seat, an affair between them would damage her reputation more. Hollywood and society in general are sexist like that.

Luc, on the other hand, has been hard on his older brother, Alex, when it comes to his relationship choices. His forty-six-year-old brother likes his women young. Alex’s last wife (they divorced after a few months) is nineteen.  Lily is twenty-six and I think Luc is forty, so their age difference is problem for him. On top of that, he has to deal with the owner of a tabloid magazine, who has an axe to grind with Luc’s family.

But you know what they say about love. It knows no barrier. And watching these two fall in love made me sigh happily, especially when it comes to Luc. The loves scenes are sweetly sensuous and the writing is superior. Seriously, Lucy Parker can write. After I finished reading Pretty Face, I immediately bought the first book in her West End series. And here’s the good news, Richard and Lainie from Act Like It (5 Stars) make an appearance in this book, and it was great catching up with them.

Ms. Parker seamlessly weaves in the secondary characters and plot into the main story line. Lily’s relationship with her father and her stepmother is both tragically sad, real, and bittersweet, and I love how that ties in with uncertainty she feels about the strength of Luc’s feelings for her. And you know when you think you know how the story’s going to unfold and, to your delight, it veers off on a slightly different path? That was me during the black moment.

All in all, I absolutely loved everything about this book, and I couldn’t recommend it more. I’ve already read it twice and it’s a good thing I have it in digital format or by the end of the year, the darn thing would be dog-eared. If you haven’t read a Lucy Parker book, you’re missing out. My only problem with Ms. Parker is that backlist is egregiously short so all I ask is that she write faster.

~ Beverley