America’s Sweetheart
Series: Real Love, #5
Author: Jessica Lemmon
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
Publisher: Loveswept
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Fiction
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
Old flames burn bright. When a disgraced starlet returns home to lick her wounds, she discovers that her high school sweetheart is just as tempting as ever.
“No one writes big-hearted bad boys like Jessica Lemmon!”—New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster
Allison: When I left for California, I gave myself a new name and never looked back. Now my carefully crafted good-girl image is getting torn to shreds in the press thanks to my Oscar-winning A-hole of an ex-boyfriend. So I escape to the only safe haven I know and trust—my hometown—to take a breather while I plot my triumphant Hollywood comeback. However, when I arrive at my parents’ house, Jackson Burke answers the door instead. And suddenly the past comes rushing back. . . .
Jackson: First kiss. First time. First love. Yep, Allison Murphy and I shared a lot of firsts back in the day. When she left, she took half my heart with her. Now she’s back in town, and even though I swore I’d keep my distance, her parents hired me to remodel their house, and I’m going to finish the job. But one hot kiss later, suddenly the press is calling us the next big celebrity couple. Sure, I’ll play the part, for Allison’s sake—but I refuse to let her close enough to break my heart all over again. . . .
I have mixed feelings about America’s Sweetheart. I’m not sure I agree with the structure of this book. It started out in Jackson’s point of view. I loved Jackson. He was a totally normal, nice guy. He made his dreams a reality with the exception of losing “the one” back in college. Jackson loved his small-town life, and he made me love it, too. I felt bad for him that he lost Allie and still hadn’t quite been able to move on from her. When she showed up back in town, I was excited for Jackson and what it could mean. I loved how he handled everything and his part in this book. What I didn’t love was Allie’s personality.
I didn’t like what I met of Allie through Jackson’s perspective. She actually seemed like a pretty horrible person. I know that’s because I didn’t know her side of the story. She didn’t have a POV at fist. All of her actions really bugged me. It made me wonder how Jackson could still be so attracted to her. I hated her. Then, halfway into the book, bam! Her point of view shows up. It threw me off guard because there wasn’t a heading or anything letting me know of the change. As I got to know and understand her, I understood she was just as weary and hurt as Jackson. I liked what she learned about herself after returning home. I still wasn’t 100% sold on her, but I felt better about Jackson’s feelings for her than I had during his POV…until I didn’t again. The way she messed with Jackson’s feelings and was constantly acting was messed up. Her priorities were never straight. Once they were, I was over her.
To sum it up, I loved Jackson. I liked his relationship with Allie when she wasn’t being Nina. I never truly connected with Allie, nor did I end up liking her. The only thing that might have made this one better me was if Allie’s POV had been mixed in with Jackson’s at the beginning. Maybe then she would have seemed like she had more heart or something. If it wasn’t for Jackson, I wouldn’t have liked this book at all. That makes me sad because I’m a fan of Jessica Lemmon’s writing.