G292 Book Review of Shelf Life by Christina George

Name of Book: Shelf Life

Author: Christina George

ISBN: 9781484984680

Publisher: Createspace

Part of a Series: The Publicist

Type of book: 2000s, New York, affair, romance, publishing, self-published, memoirs, writing, publicist, love triangle

Year it was published: 2013

Summary:

It’s an industry of out-of-control egos, unrealistic expectations, and unfulfilled promises.

This is publishing and it’s Kate’s world, but maybe not for long.

When one of Kate Mitchell’s star authors is carted away in handcuffs, it’s only the beginning of her troubles. As her world crumbles around her, Kate desperately looks for anyone to hold onto but finds that happy endings are truly works of fiction. With the shelf life of her career and her love affair quickly expiring, Kate sets off on a new adventure…

Starting over in California is easy but Kate soon learns that leaving her old life behind isn’t. Nick Lavigne is eager to help her forget but two things still own her heart, the dream of discovering the next great American novel, and MacDermott Ellis.

As Kate tries to rebuild her life she finds a surprising gift that reboots her career in a new and unexpected direction. Suddenly her name becomes synonymous with one of the biggest bestsellers publishing has seen in ages and she's welcomed back with open arms.

But at the height of her success the ghosts of her past come back to remind her of the world she'd been trying to forget and the man who never let go of her heart.

Behind the book, there’s always more to the story. Welcome to Publishing, the ego has landed.

Characters:

While most of the characters were consistent, Grace's character wasn't consistent and she added frustration to my understanding of her. Grace, due to her own history, doesn't approve of Mac and Kate's relationship, but throughout the book she keeps flip-flopping whether or not she's okay with it, and something about it rings false, and I kept getting the feeling that the reason Grace constantly flip-flopped was to add more tension to the story rather than as something genuine. In someways, Kate seems a bit too perfect for my tastes, and I think business wise I would have liked her to have more troubles instead of everything being pat. There are parts of Mac that I liked, but I guess I couldn't really sense the chemistry between him and Kate.

Theme:

One day life will be smooth

Plot:

Its written in third person narrative from Kate's and Mac's points of views. (I can't recall if Nick's point of view was included as well.) I think its necessary to read the the previous book in order to read this one because the story immediately picks up from The Publicist. The reader does get to learn more about the publishing world and what Kate must deal with which goes well with The Publicist, but I guess I did feel there seemed to be a little too much romance, or maybe romance part wasn't as compelling as the business aspects.

Author Information:

Christina George has worked in publishing for twenty years (give or take). Here’s what this book isn't. It’s not a slam against publishing (though it is broken) and it’s not a slam against authors (though some of them are crazy). This book is not autobiographical though many of the stories are true. No you won’t know which ones, cause it’s more fun to guess, right? George continues to work in publicity and helps authors because at the end of the day she does love books, she loves publishing, and she loves authors. She hopes you’ll enjoy this romp through Kate’s world as much as she enjoyed creating it.  




Opinion:

In some ways I liked this book better than the original, but since I really didn't like the main couple and often wished for more book stuff in there, I was disappointed by Kate's decisions, especially towards the end. But still the book is well written although I felt that it wasn't as funny as the prequel. Some of the characters I enjoyed a lot, such as Andrew, Nick and Grace, but its unfortunate that I couldn't really get a good grasp of Kate or of Mac. And I have to admit that some events towards the end were a little too convenient for my taste. Despite that, I enjoyed reading it and I do hope to get a chance to read the third book and hopefully see the characters more memorable and more rounded.

This is for iRead Book Tour

Book Tour Schedule

April 1 -  Refreshingly Riki - review / author interview
April 2 -  Seaside Book Nook - book spotlight / author interview
April 3 -  Back Porchervations - review
April 3 -  Seaside Book Nook - giveaway / book spotlight
April 4 -  The Things We Read - review book 1 / giveaway
April 7 -  Giraffe Days - review book 1
April 8 -  Curious Kindle Reader - review / giveaway
April 10 - Mary's Cup of Tea - review / giveaway
April 11 - Books à la Mode - giveaway / guest post
April 12 - The Things We Read - review book 2
April 14 - Pieces of Whimsy - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
April 14 - Bookaholics Must Read - review
April 14 - Giraffe Days - review book 2 / giveaway
April 15 - Reviews by Molly - book spotlight / author interview
April 16 - fundinmental - book spotlight / giveaway
April 17 - A Novel Review - review book 1 / giveaway
April 17 - A Novel Review - review book 2 / giveaway
April 18 - Chronicles - book spotlight / author interview
April 21 - Minnesota Girl in the World - review / giveaway
April 22 - Why Girls Are Weird - review 
April 23 - Tiffany Talks Books - review / giveaway
April 24 - Cupcake's Book Cupboard - review 
April 25 - Back Porchervations - author interview / giveaway
April 28 - Christa Reads and Writes - review 
April 29 - My Life. One Story at a Time - book spotlight
April 30 - Lizzie in Wonderland - review
May 1 -    Steph the Bookworm - review book 1
May 1 -    My Life. One Story at a Time - review
May 2 -    Toot's Book Reviews - book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
May 5 -    Afternoon Bookery - review book 1
May 6 -    Svetlana's Reads and Views - review / spotlight
May 7 -    Brooke Blogs - review / guest post
May 8 -    Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers - review 
May 9 -    The Phantom Photographer - review
May 15 -  Afternoon Bookery - review book 2

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)