Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 265 pages
Author: Megan Walker and Janci Patterson
Publisher: Garden Ninja Books
Release Date: April 6th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads
BOOK SUMMARY:
Gabby Mays wishes she had her future figured out, like her gorgeous roommate Anna-Marie, who has just landed a role on the hit soap opera Passion Medical. Gabby would give anything to find a career she’s half as passionate about as Anna-Marie is about acting—and a love life that isn’t comprised of nights with a party-sized bag of Doritos and her Netflix account.
When Gabby becomes a recurring extra on Passion Medical, she finds a job she’s surprisingly great at. Even better, her old crush and ex-boss—the sexy, sweet Will Bowen—is writing the scripts, allowing Gabby lots of quality flirting time at the craft services table.
But between feuding divas, fake Emmys, and Gabby’s growing concern that Will might not see her as anything more than a friend, her life on set is quickly becoming a drama worthy of the soaps.
Thank you to the author, Megan Walker, for a copy in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own!
ENTERTAINING.
I had a good time with this one! I didn’t know much going in but found myself easily drawn in to the writing style and the story at large.
Gabby was a well thought out main character. She had a lot of struggles and over a small amount of pages really showed some growth. I liked that she started to take charge of her life and didn’t rush into what she wanted to do. It’s so hard to pick out what you want to do with your life (hello, I still have no idea) that I felt and have thought the same things Gabby has.
The romance was sweet! It didn’t take up as much page time as I thought it would (or hoped), but it’s cute nature easily charmed me. The emotional cheating aspect was one of the harder things to read. I did like the way the authors addressed this though and thought it was handled much better than I’ve seen in other books (where it’s not even addressed at all, it is a form of cheating!).
You have to lean into the drama in The Extra. Knowing the synopsis and the general idea of the book helped me know it was going to be a bit dramatic, and I ended up really loving the flair of it all. Yes, a bit over the top, yet was the right kind of quirk this story needed. The soap opera plot line was humorous and totally ridiculous, and I was all in for it.
I’m curious about the other books in this series and look forward to checking those out some time!
Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: kisses / make-outs; a lot of mentions of off-screen sex
- Trigger/Content warnings: divorce, emotional cheating, physical cheating, bullying, a loved one with a drug addiction
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