Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Far From Hollywood
SERIES: Out For You
AUTHOR: Daisy Harris
PUBLISHER: All Romance eBooks
LENGTH: 166 Pages
BLURB:
Pretending to be someone else is easy. The hard part is keeping it real.
Sheriff Jack Francis finds the last thing he would expect in the small town of Pookataw Valley, Idaho—a gorgeous yet troubled movie star on a bender. Though Jack is intrigued, he can’t afford to draw attention to his sexuality and risk a scandal.
Former teen idol Blake Tyler thinks hiding in Pookataw Valley is perfect—it’s isolated, beautiful, and comes with a sexy sheriff eager to share Blake’s bed. When Hollywood arrives in Pookataw Valley to film a reality show, Blake embraces the chance for a comeback, but Jack struggles to know what is real and what is faked for the camera.
If Jack wants to date America’s Sweetheart, he’ll have to make his private life public. Is he ready to share the spotlight?
REVIEW:
I couldn’t help but enjoy this cute tale. I mean, seriously, it’s like the story of Zac Effron growing up and realizing he’s gay. How could I not want to read that!
Blake Tyler, star of the oh-so-popular Teen Scene movies (think High School Musical) has just been outed in the most embarrassing yet fabulous way. Fleeing Hollywood in disgrace he decides to hole up and drown his sorrows in small town Idaho. It’s during his housewarming party – guest list, just Blake – that he first meets the town’s sexy, closeted Sheriff.
Oh God, that first scene was so wrong! You could just feel the train wreck about to happen. I felt so embarrassed for poor Blake just from reading it so I can definitely say that the author manages to capture your attention right from the beginning.
Blake’s agent suggests that he stay away from Hollywood for a few years, and start rebuilding an upstanding media profile by joining in with the community. He maneuvers Blake into volunteering to direct a teen musical theatre production and sends up a publicist to work with Blake. Despite not being comfortable around kids, Blake agrees. He’s hoping that spending time with the obviously interested sheriff will make his time away from Hollywood much more enjoyable.
I quite liked Blake. I loved his uncertainty regarding how he is supposed to act in certain situations. He’s a nice guy, but fake. Which isn’t his fault. According to him, he went to his first audition when he was three. He grew up honing his skill at pretending to be people other than himself and as a result, he doesn’t really know who he is. He looks to take his cue from the other people around him, especially when it comes to sex. My favourite scene in the book is when Blake puts his acting skills to good use and convinces a teen’s rigidly religious mother that Ez absolutely must star in Blake’s play to assist in steering others towards godly morals. After the first few chapters I wasn’t sure that I would like Blake, but instead, it was Jack that pissed me off.
Jack is meant to be the mature, got-his-shit-sorted sheriff. Sure, only his family is aware that he’s gay, but aside from that he’s a steady and open guy. So the push and pull thing he had going on with Blake made no sense to me. Naturally he would have reservations about being with a movie star but to basically say I love you but I’m not going to be there to support you? That’s a totally shitty move. I’m not trying to say that the author wrote Jack wrong, he’s her character to write how she likes. I’m just saying that he annoyed me to the extent that it took some of the enjoyment out of the story.
As I said at the beginning, overall I enjoyed the book. I’m a Daisy Harris fan, but this one just fell a little short of her usual work, in my opinion. The ending was kind of perfect and not so far from Hollywood after all.
RATING: 
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