Infamous  – Irene Preston

If you haven’t discovered yet, I’m the Russian judge when it comes to giving out five stars.  So I’ll tell you right now that this one made the mark.

Jessica Sinclair was raised in the bosom of Hollywood, partying with A-list celebs and shrugging off her ‘bad girl’ reputation.  She’d thought she had a chance at a regular life when a whirlwind romance four years ago brought her love, marriage, and a wonderful step-daughter, but all that came crashing down within two months of her vows, after the publication of her scandalous novel.  Morgan is willing to give their marriage another chance, partially for his daughter, but mainly because he still feels captivated by the woman he married in haste.  But can Jessica convince him she’s not as shallow as the tabloids constantly make her out to be?

Romances with a domino effect of misunderstandings are hard to pull off, but Irene Preston does just that in Infamous.  Jessica is a party girl, but she’s also kind and loyal.  Given her in-the-spotlight upbringing, it’s hard for her to trust anyone, and that includes the man she loves.  In tinseltown, no one tells it like it is, and Jessica can’t communicate her hopes and fears.  Morgan is just as bad.  He’s conservative, and completely unfamiliar with Jessica’s world, so he believes everything he reads in print as gospel.  Neither one can see how someone from such a different world could love them, and therein lies the root of their problem.

This book is so clever and well written that I just couldn’t put it down.  Jessica is realistic, likable and funny, a bad girl I’d love to be friends with.  She burns cookies, takes on the PTO, snarks with the best of the best.  She’s a hoot and I rooted for her to the very last page.  I also loved reading a book with a loving step-mother/step-daughter relationship.  Worth every penny.  Five stars.