Reviewed by Ro

TITLE: Best Supporting Actor

SERIES: Creative Types #3

AUTHOR: Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 421 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  September 28, 2023

BLURB:

Lights, camera…attraction!

When Tag O’Rourke, struggling actor-slash-barista, meets Jay Warren, son of acting royalty, it’s loathing at first sight. Loathing…and lust.

Tag’s dream is to act, but it’s a dream that’s crumbling beneath the weight of student debt and his family’s financial problems. If his career doesn’t take off soon, he’s going to have to get a real job. After all, feeding his family is more important than feeding his soul.

Luckily, Tag’s about to get his big break…

Jay never had to dream about acting; he was always destined to follow in his famous mother’s footsteps. But fame has its price and a traumatic experience early in Jay’s career has left him with paralysing stage fright, which is why he sticks to the safety of TV work—and avoids relationships with co-stars at all costs.

Unfortunately, Jay’s safe world is about to be rocked…

After an ill-judged yet mind-blowing night together, Jay and Tag part acrimoniously. So it’s a nasty shock when they discover that they’ve been cast in a two-man play that could launch Tag’s career and finally get Jay back onto the stage where he belongs.

Sure, it’s not ideal, but how bad can working with your arch-nemesis be?

All they have to do is survive six weeks rehearsing together and navigate a cast of smarmy festival directors, terrible landladies, and vengeful journalists. Oh, and try not to fall in love before the curtain rises…

Break a leg!

REVIEW:

In this third installment of the Creative Types series, we are treated to the story of Jay and Tag. Jay is a famous actor on the TV show Leeches, while Tag tries to break into the acting field. Jay has an acting pedigree, as his mother, Dame Cordelia, is a beloved actor in her own right. She is also very judgmental about TV work, feeling it is not as “nourishing” as the stage. I didn’t like her for much of the story, but as things became clearer, she grew on me.

The story runs concurrently with the others in the series, so we get to revisit Aaron and Lewis from Total Creative Control and meet up with Mason from Homegrown Talent. Alas, we also get to see Austin Colton, who is as smarmy and nasty as ever.

These two meet, and it is not a meet-cute. Jay comes across as snobby and pretentious after Tag accidentally gets Jay’s shirt dirty, “That’s very nice but I’m afraid I-well I make it something of a rule not to be involved with the crew.” Of course, Tag is offended by the blatant prejudice – he is an actor on Bow Street, not crew. They are enemies, going so far as to compete with each other on a fake dating idea.

When they are both cast in a two-man play, one that Tag is thrilled about, and Jay doesn’t want to do, things start to come to a head. Both have baggage that they aren’t sharing. Both have parents that, while loving, aren’t really supportive. Jay’s because she honestly believes that TV work is slumming; Tag’s because his believe he needs a regular, steady job, maybe with Dad’s firm. All the parents have the best intentions but you know what they say about the road to hell and intentions.

As they work through things, they do start to see the better side of each other. Add in that there are some lovely side characters – Bea, the nepotistic playwriter who is lovely; Rafe, the understudy who I was so ready to hate and turned out to be a favorite of mine; Henry, the director; and of course, Mason, Aaron, and Lewis.

Jay is so naïve when it comes to “real people” and Tag is a little defensive but I understood it. Things take a while to get anywhere, and at times the inner dialogue made me want to shake them, but I found the characters likable on their own and, more importantly, believable.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon