mamasaysmine

What’s one thing I can’t live without every summer?

A great book to read at the beach. (or, in my case, at the swimming pool in the backyard) My criteria? Nothing too heavy, but it has to be well-written and worth reading.

Hollywood Car Wash by Lori Culwell fits that perfectly! It’s the story of Amy Specer, your average drama student from the midwest who becomes an overnight sensation when she is cast as the lead in a night-time drama. The reader gets swept along with Amy as her “handlers” change her name and her face… do all the free clothes make it ok? For awhile, Amy thinks so… she’s helping her mom pay off medical bills from her dad’s long illness. This is a great story about how far people will go to make it in Hollywood, and what it takes to step off the crazy train.

As I was reading this book, I kept asking myself if it was based on a real person - the author is definitely a Hollywood insider and there’s enough celebrity gossip dropped in to make the book nice and juicy. There IS a rumor circulating that the Amy Spencer character is based on Katie Holmes (Amy’s breakout show IS similar to Dawson’s Creek… and her fake boyfriend is VERY Tom Cruise-ish…). True or not, I loved this book!

Another cool sidenote - the author, Lori Culwell, has written for Salon.com and has also published a tech book about websites. Plus, Hollywood Car Wash was originally self-published. How cool is that?

The awesome publishers at Touchstone have given me THREE copies to share with you! To enter, just leave a comment with your favorite summer read.

Want extra entries? Blog this giveaway and leave me the link.

Giveaway ends at midnight, Monday, June (how is that possible???) 1.

Happy reading, mamas!

(ps. enter my other giveaway here!)

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