I recently decided I needed some new reading material, so put a huge order in at Amazon. Among my ordered books were zombie books, vampire books, and drama books but of course I need a couple of light hearted, easy to read chick-lit books. Johnny Be Good was one of them. Before reading this I'd never read anything by Paige Toon before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect but now I am a definite converted fan! I'm quite surprised it's taken me this long to read Johnny Be Good also, as clearly it's about a rock star romance and we all know how much I love my rock stars ;)
I guess when I heard what it was about I wasn't too sure at first as I thought it would end up being a bit unrealistic, but I'm glad I finally purchased the book and gave it a go. It tells the story of Meg Stiles who suddenly gets the job of being rock star Johnny Jefferson's PA. Her life is changed almost in a flash as she packs up and moves to LA and into his house, suddenly surrounded by a showbiz lifestyle where she is completely out of her depth.
The blurb reads -
I'm Meg Stiles. This is my leaving party. And that song we're making a mockery of? That's written by one of the biggest rock stars in the world. And I'm moving in with him tomorrow.
Seriously! I am not even joking.
Well, maybe I'm misleading you a little bit. You see, I haven't actually met him yet...
No, I'm not a stalker. I'm his new PA. His Personal Assistant. And I am off to La-La Land. Los Angeles. The City of Angels - whatever you want to call it - and I can't bloody believe it!
Celebrity PA to wild boy of rock Johnny Jefferson, Meg's glam new life in sun-drenched LA is a whirlwind of showbiz parties and backstage passes. Cool, calm Christian, in town to write his famous friend's biography, helps keeps Meg's feet firmly on the ground. But with Johnny's piercing green eyes and a body Brad Pitt would kill for, how long will it be before she's swept right off them again?
I really loved this story and it wasn't at all what I was expecting! It was light hearted but surprisingly drew upon some serious issues - such as drugs and alcohol - what you might expect from a story about a rock stars life - which made it much more realistic. Paige Toon did a perfect job of keeping the suspension in the story without boring me as a reader - it was a long book, which I loved, but not once did I feel like it dragged or got boring. I couldn't put the book down and it really drew me in - with each page I turned I almost felt like I myself was living in LA, falling for a hot rock star!
What I loved most about this book however was I really had no idea who Meg was going to end up with. I definitely know who I was rooting for, but I find with most books you can generally tell how its going to end - this wasn't the case with this book. It also ended on a very big cliffhanger and I almost cried when I realized that was the end - till I frantically searched on Google and found out there was a sequel luckily! I'll also do a review of that when I get the chance.
Paige Toon is a fantastic writer and this book was ideal for something very light hearted and easy to read - it was easy to put down and come back to and wasn't too heavy but I also felt it accurately addressed some darker issues without actually being too dark. This book was funny, romantic and heart warming so I would definitely recommend it!
