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Sunday, January 9, 2022

 

Hollywood is not home

About the Book

Book: Hollywood is Not Home

Author: Annmarie M. Roberts

Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction – Romance

Release date: July 13, 2021

COVER hollywood_is_not_home_v4Would you trade fame for privacy?

Movie star Maggie Malone has a glamorous lifestyle with everything money can buy—except privacy. Hounded by the paparazzi and ridiculed for her faith, Maggie secretly struggles with severe anxiety and loneliness. All she desires is to be herself—southern girl by birth, ranch lover by heart.

When an anonymous benefactor invites Maggie to participate in a secret project, will her hopelessness find a new direction? Or will she become another celebrity travesty? What if she discovers Hollywood is not Home? Her faith, family, love, and future hang in the balance.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

AMR PHOTOAnnmarie M. Roberts is an author, copywriter, and scriptwriter. She is a wife and mother of two. Her soul grew to love writing at a young age. In grade school, she could hardly wait to receive her first writing assignment, “What I did over summer break.” She just loved to impress her teacher with a detailed descriptive read of a summer filled with wonder and fascinating adventures, some of which were true. Writing has been her passion in one form or another ever since. “There is nothing like the power of expression through words to create a moment in time or an imaginative place to magically transport your reader,” Annmarie mused when asked about why she loves to write. When she is not working on commercial script writing, she spends time with her family and volunteers with her church in the community.

 

More from Annmarie

Fall in love with a faithfully blessed story and characters that grew from my heart and surely bound to find a place in yours!

This has been a long-time coming friend. It all started about fifteen years ago from a very old desktop computer and a rickety put-together desk that you buy in a box. In the beginning, it had highlights of Hollywood but no traces of the southern influence yet. We hadn’t moved to the south when I started my novel, so the blessings that were about to bestow upon me were still in store. Maybe it came from the handwritten letter from my new pastor in my mailbox the first day I arrived, or the first time I heard a shopping cart called “a buggy”, either way, I knew I was home when I landed in South Carolina. So much of my story is influenced by good Christian women I met in church, delicious southern food that will knock your socks off, and the abundance of faith that runs here like the rivers.

 

If you are reading this, know I appreciate you. If you read my book, I know you will feel the love, friendship, family, laughs, and tears that I belted out as I wrote it.

Find a special place like I have on the covered deck near my kitchen whereas I write now I hear the inviting sound of wind chimes tickling in the soft Southern hot-humid breeze accompanied by a greyed over cloud pending the usual afternoon downpour. Southern afternoon rains are fast and furious, but they kiss the grass and the trees and delight our eyes with forever green tapestry.

Sit in this place soon with a cool glass of fresh-made lemonade and some homemade lemon butter cookies, just like Maggie Malone would.

Alternate cookie and lemonade in one hand and my new novel, Hollywood is Not Home, in the other.

Fall in love with my characters and get to know me as a writer through them.  Share your thoughts with me about my book but never share those homemade lemon butter cookies…those are for you. You deserve them! Enjoy!

MY REVIEW 

I love when a story consumes me in a way that I forget everything around me.  This story embraces the charm of a small southern town where rest, peace and family are found. I fell in love with the town and the people who made everyone feel welcome. I didn’t want to leave because I felt safe in the town where love was.

Maggie is someone many want to be with her talent, beauty and stardom. She is a hard worker but you can tell she was needing a break. I loved it when she shared her faith during an interview. Oh how I pray more stars will do that someday. Now I won’t go into  much detail of how Maggie becomes involved in a secret project. I will say when she arrives at her destination, the anxiety starts to slip away from her. She finds a place to be a southern gal again and be around familiar setting of small town life and friendly people. I admired the family she stayed with and how their hospitality would make anyone feel welcome. 

Her journey is a soul searching one as she once again feels that stirring deep in her heart. Getting back to her roots she once again feels close to God. I loved reading how she is reminded of God’s grace and how His plans are better than ours. When Jake appears in the story, I did swoon a little. His charm is sweet and his faith is deep. As he spends time with Maggie she begins to let her guard down.

 Hollywood is not all glitz  and glamour as the author illustrates by showing the ugly side of it in a very respectful  way. I would not want to have to hide from the lights of cameras in my face as I walked out the door. Your life is fair game for the tabloids and people are depending on you to boost their status in the  Hollywood scene. There are a few emotional moments in the story where we see the depth of Maggie’s unhappiness. The author does a great job of allowing Maggie to be herself and let her emotions show. 

The book is a wonderful example of finding a place where you feel at home. The place where love, hope and new beginnings await. Join Maggie as she discovers that faith will help you through times of uncertainty and gracefully find you peace as you allow God’s plan to direct your path. 

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

Blog Stops

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 7

Susan K. Beatty, Author, January 8 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, January 8

Texas Book-aholic, January 9

Locks, Hooks and Books, January 10

deb’s Book Review, January 11

Inklings and notions, January 12

An Author’s Take, January 12

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, January 13

Vicky Sluiter, January 14 (Author Interview)

By the Book, January 14

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 15

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, January 16 (Spotlight)

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, January 17

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, January 18

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, January 19

Artistic Nobody, January 20 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Annmarie is giving away the grand prize package of a themed gift basket with various items that have inspirational sayings on them like a mug, bookmark, an autographed copy of the book, and a copy of The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/17193/hollywood-is-not-my-home-celebration-tour-giveaway

4 comments:

  1. I liked the review, sounds like a good book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a good review and gives more details about the story that make me want to read it.

    ReplyDelete