On the HahaFiction shelf
Cover Story
Audiobook available
In 2005, Hollywood publicist Ali is tasked with keeping rising star Cara Bisset’s sexuality out of the headlines during a promotional tour. Ali is a lesbian herself, and falling for her client makes the assignment increasingly difficult to defend. Protecting Cara’s career means serving a publicity system Ali has reasons to question.
From the publisher’s blurb
“It’s 2005, and Ali is a publicist for Hollywood’s biggest stars.”Read the full description at Grand Central Publishing description
Paid link · We earn commissions from qualifying Amazon purchases. Affiliate disclosure
What makes it funny?
Ali and Cara’s flirting shares space with excerpts from invented gossip blogs. Their private exchanges offer one account of the developing relationship while the surrounding celebrity coverage supplies another, giving the romance a second, public audience.
The comedy at work
Ali’s job is to control the story about Cara, even as their attachment makes that story less tenable. The banter lets the women speak to each other more freely than the professional image permits, while the gossip material exposes the business of turning a person into publicity.
Try this if…
The celebrity world comes with frequent early-2000s pop-culture references. Readers drawn to Hollywood satire can also follow an adult romance that gives grief substantial space alongside the flirting.
Good to know
Ali is grieving the accidental death of her partner Natalie. Anxiety, homophobia and pressure to stay closeted are central to the story, which also includes sexual heat.
A few distinguishing details
- A lesbian publicist assigned to keep her client closeted
- A romance surrounded by invented celebrity gossip
- Hollywood publicity during a 2005 promotional tour
More funny contemporary romance
Sources & further reading
- Cover Story by Celia Laskey | Hachette Book Group
Publisher
- Publisher
Publisher
- UK publisher
Publisher
- Publishers Weekly review
Review
- Bibliographic listing
Book information
Something we should correct? Let us know.