Review of Hollyweird by Terri Clark

Title/Author: Hollyweird by Terri Clark
Publisher/Date published: Flux Books, May 8th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "Aly King is about to fall for the fallen
My best friend, Des, and I totally freaked when we won the contest to meet THE Dakota Danvers in Hollywood. But now we’re finding out he’s SO not the angel everyone believes him to be. In fact, Dakota is the son of Satan, wreaking havoc on Hollywood and creating an evil army hellbent on world domination.
Lucky for us, Dakota’s super-cute personal assistant, Jameson, is a fallen angel trying to get his wings back, and he’s working undercover to squash his demon boss’s plan. If Jameson hadn’t taken me under his wing I’d be in serious trouble, because I’m a total newb when it comes to conquering evil. But, truth be told, that sexy angel’s got me all aflutter and may be one temptation I can’t resist."

So I'd been expecting a fun, fluffy paranormal romance from the cover and the summary and it was exactly what I got!

The story flows very easily and it was just a breeze to get through the 240 pages that make up the whole of Hollyweird. I liked the characters, and thought that they were all pretty interesting and I though Aly was a well developed character. Her sister and best friend and even Jameson slightly less so. It actually switches POV between Aly and Jameson, but I never felt like I really learned a lot about him. The dynamics in the group were fun and the plot was interesting.

BUT. Yes, there is a but. Because of Hollyweird only spreading out over 240 pages, everything goes by pretty fast and sometimes it felt rushed. Especially the romance. I loved that it starts off with Aly admitting that she has insta-lust for Jameson (though it was a pretty big reaction to someone you've never seen before, but yeah, it can happen), but they go from lust to love in 4 days and I just didn't buy it. I mean, sure, they had good chemistry, but I didn't buy him even considering giving up his wings for her. I did like that he was actually 19 and not 119, cause it can get kinda creepy in my opinion.

Also, I get that the 7 deadly sins are things most humans fall at least slightly for, but what I didn't get was that when these were thrown at Aly, Des and Aly's sister, they know they're coming, know how to 'snap out of it', but each time they almost get themselves into trouble in the process. And this is pretty different from their smarts when it comes to figuring out Dakota's diabolical plan and then stopping him! I mean, they catch on pretty quickly even when Aly didn't believe in all of it 3 days ago. I'm also not quite sure what it was that made the girls so special and that they were the chosen ones by God himself to help Jameson.
Speaking of which, if you're a religious person, it's entirely possible you might take offense to how God and his angels are portrayed in Hollyweird. To me it was funny, if a little overdone at times, but I'm an atheist, and I do admit it is blasphemous at times.

But it was a pretty fun and fast read and I loved the concept of satan's children running all over the world causing havoc and especially one in Hollywood! It's pretty fun imagining Dakota being behind so many of the scandals going around the Hollywoodsphere (like Britney Spears) that have been happening in the last couple of years.

My reading: 3 stars