Ellesea Loves Reading: New Release & Review: The Critic by Joanne Schwehm

Tuesday 10 March 2015

New Release & Review: The Critic by Joanne Schwehm

WORDS
Convey a message

Andrea Jordan dreams of acting on Broadway, and she is at the cusp of achieving success. All her sacrifices start to pay off when she lands a role that will catapult her to stardom.

CAN
Express our thoughts

Award-winning theater critic Bentley Chambers possesses the power to make or break a career. Theatergoers consider his reviews to be gospel, and actors cringe at the thought of him in the audience. His words possess power.

HURT
A heart’s not made of stone

More than one actor has been sent packing after Bentley’s bad reviews, and Andrea could be next. She won’t stand by and let him shatter her dreams, but she never thought giving him a piece of her mind would also mean giving him a piece of her heart.

Will Andrea discover on her own the passion Bentley claims she lacks, or will he be the one to draw it out of her?

Words… choose them wisely.

***STAND ALONE NOVEL*** INTENDED FOR MATURE READERS***

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What drew me to this book was the title. The hot guy on the cover helped to endorse my pull towards this particular book too. The title conjures up a certain kind of male protagonist in my mind, and not only has the author written him as I expected, she's exceeded my expectations about him too.

Bentley Chambers is an award winning journalist with the critically acclaimed trade newspaper the Edge. He's revered for his theatrical reviews by industry professionals who respect his honest opinion. His words carry considerable weight. He's responsible for endorsing or ruining a production or career within the theatrical world. He's the one who's opinion counts.

Andrea Jordan grew-up knowing her parents wanted her to attend an Ivy League college, marry a rich professional man and then become part of the country club set. Andrea had different plans and longed to tread the boards of Broadway. Her parents refused to fund any potential theatrical study, so Andrea attended a community college and distanced herself from her family, whilst learning her trade. With a leading role in an off-Broadway production, Andrea is close to reaching a career ambition. That is until Bentley Chambers wrote another scathing review of her latest performance.

I love that Andrea takes ownership of her problem and seeks out the person who seems hell-bent on ruining her career. That she takes on-board the advice he gives:

“A critic doesn't slingshot you into stardom. You need to control the pull and release. The sling can only go back as far as you decide to draw it.”

At the same time Andrea made me scream in frustration as she repeatedly jumps to the wrong conclusion without sticking around long enough to hear Bentley out. Causing herself and those around her unavoidable distress.

Bentley has been fascinated by Andrea Jordan ever since he saw her on stage for the very first time. Back then he observed her to write his very first review. Whilst he is captivated by her looks, he is less than complimentary about her acting ability. Not that it isn't good, it just lacks that certain je ne sais quoi. But there are more facets to Bentley's personality and you soon begin to realise that his harsh critiques are far from malicious. He just needs to show Andrea how to let go of repressed emotions and to pour her passion to her theatrical performances.

I've not read any of this authors work before but I'll definitely seek her out from now on. This is a well thought out and written book, with a plot setting I haven't come across before which increases the overall appeal of the book. The characters are well developed and identifiable making it easy to empathise with them throughout the storyline. The secondary characters add interest only where necessary, especially Gina, Seth and Brett. To begin with I had no idea if this book would be part of a series , so I'm very extremely happy to learn that we'll see more of Brett, Gina and Seth in the future.

4½ stars

***arc received courtesy of the publisher***

Joanne Schwehm Bio:

Author of Unexpected Chance, My Chance (The Chance Series), Ryker and The Critic.

Joanne was born and raised in Rochester, NY and currently resides near our Nation's Capital with her husband and two sons.

Romance is one of Joanne's favorite things and thankfully, she is surrounded by it.

Joanne firmly believes when that unexpected chance comes, take it. Don't let it pass you by - you never know what you could be missing.