By: Erin Hahn
What in the actual tomfuckery? 2022 is my year for the Hollywood celebrity romance novel. I suppose this will be thrilling to this niche market, but half of my reads this year have been in this vein. I will have to do an end of the year ranking. All three of my viewers will see it. I cannot wait!
I liked this book, especially the writing style. Hahn’s dialogue between her main characters crackled off the page. I think I was a little lost by the plot maybe? Because WHY were the main characters doing a home renovation reality show produced and managed by their former coworker child star, who is also the FMC’s ex-boyfriend and a known basic asshat? I mean, other for romantic reasons to get these two idiots together, why? BUT why?
Cameron Riggs, Shelby Springfield and Lyle Jessup were the child stars of a Disney-esque musical show. After 7-8 years, Cameron abruptly quit the show to attend college at Columbia with a filmmaking degree and started an acclaimed career as a documentarian filmmaker for National Geographic. After Cameron left, Shelby and Lyle began dating each other and embarked on solo pop careers. They also began to partake in the LA party scene, generating tabloid press, mostly unfavorable to Shebly.
Lyle is a hat of ass. He does not have any redeeming qualities. Even if we really stretch reality here, it makes no sense that Shelby would (1) date him at all but then (2) DEFINITELY not for five years ending only when HE dumps HER for her best friend where he then wrote a Grammy award-winning album. We see glimpses of Shelby as a teenager. She is not that person. It annoys me when the ex is SUCH a piece. I was hoping for a bit more from his character than an evil Disney villain and I kept waiting for it to be explained why she would ever have chosen to date this terrible human being. This did not happen so I am ENRAGED.
While the story is not told chronologically, we learn that Shelby contacts Cameron distraught immediately after her breakup with Lyle. The Reader can surmise that Shelby and Cameron had more than just a friendship, but we are not exactly sure of the extent of their relationship. He leaves his current work site in Alaska to rush and be by her side. It isn’t exactly clear, but it appears these two minor celebrities had not spoken to each other in about five years but everyone still has the same phone numbers. (FACT: I read Perez Hilton when he was a terrible, terrible person. Everyone would have changed their phone numbers.) Cameron shows up and she is a hot, drunken mess. While very drunk, she makes a play for him, which he manages to avoid by getting her to pass out in her bed. This sentence sounds creepy, but she was drunk of her own volition and he just maneuvers her into bed to sleep. He doesn’t drug her. She DRUGGED HERSELF. Anyway, he then proceeds to clean her apartment and start her laundry. He leaves her a note for when she wakes up encouraging her to leave Hollywood. Which, I guess we are supposed to be mad at him for leaving her and “running away” again? I’m not clear. Pretty sure he did the right thing there. Shelby needed to get herself together.
And she does. She returns to Michigan to work for her dad’s construction company. She puts in the time and energy to work on herself, by choosing sobriety and becoming an expert in restoration woodwork. Which is all lovely, and then an opportunity comes along for her to star in a home renovation reality show. She says she wants to do the show to help her dad so he can earn a consultation fee, but also to help show the world that she has grown up and changed. Unfortunately, the show is being produced by the aforementioned terrible Lyle. Lyle encourages Cameron, who has no construction background, to be Shelby’s costar and I do.not.understand. I get the chemistry thing, but like, Lyle is just trying to sabotage them and reality television never has the stars best interest at heart so WHY? Cameron has a filmmaking background, so maybe… find another way? Lyle kept pulling terrible shit and not to victim blame, but it was just weird they didn’t set any of these boundaries initially?
Also, through flashbacks, we see that Shelby and Cameron were each other’s first love. It is truly sweet and captures the pure innocence and love of their relationship, but there is zero discussion of what/who/how they broke up? All we know is that all of the sudden Cam abruptly quits the show to go to college. And, NOT TO BRAG, but I also attended college and this is not something that happens in a few weeks. I mean, Columbia is going to have a deadline to apply for admission, and then you have to wait for their answer. LIKE HE WOULD HAVE KNOWN HE APPLIED TO COLLEGE. So- my admittedly very loose point, is that this initial break up needed to have a lot more depth and explanation as to WHY they initially broke up. MAKE THIS MAKE SENSE.
However, if you suspend reality from those two very large plot holes, this was a cute and charming read. I will definitely be picking up what I assume will be the sequel centering on Shelby’s best friend, and former country starlet, Lorelai, if that answers anyone’s burning questions.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟 /5
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/built-to-last-erin-hahn/1140777670?ean=9781250827098
Or, an independent bookstore! Try Morgenstern Books, the biggest independent bookstore in Indiana, https://bookshop.org/p/books/built-to-last-erin-hahn/17868004?ean=9781250827098