April 25, 2005
When stage actress Kate McPhee quits London for L.A., leaving behind her cheating boyfriend and former best friend (yes, they were in bed together), she speedily lands a gig on the hit soap opera Live for Tomorrow
, playing its beautiful, vampire-fighting lesbian cop, Det. Devon Merrick. Sounds like a cushy job—until she discovers the 20-hour shooting sessions, the bevy of perfect blondes making her life hell, the vapid but oh-so-gorgeous men, and her archenemy, the domineering matriarch of the show, Meredith Contini, who's a girlie-girl 60-something still trying to play 35. Determined to succeed, Kate sucks it up and makes the most of the sunshine and the sexy-but-dumb men passing her way, but as her popularity grows, Meredith grows more and more jealous, and Kate's life starts looking more and more like a soap opera itself. Readers will enjoy this spicy, sly behind-the-scenes look at the soap opera world—Hughes won an Emmy for her work on General Hospital
and her bio somewhat resembles her heroine's—and Kate is a funny, warm character who could have popped out of a Jennifer Weiner novel. The book is overlong, and the plot wanders from place to place, but the humor and good-natured banter make it worth the ride. Agent, Richard Barber.
February 1, 2005
Of course her heroine is an actress just starting in the soaps; Hughes is an Emmy Award winner you might have seen on General Hospital and All My Children. With an eight-city tour.
Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 1, 2005
You'll never work in this town again? That may describe Hughes, after her fellow soapsudsers read the actress' first novel. Naturally, the action takes place in Pine Valley and Port Charles, the fictional settings of the two soaps, " All My Children " and " General Hospital" , on which Hughes played a leading role. Like Hughes, the book's heroine, Devon Merrick, is a Brit and a soap actress. The fun here is all for soap watchers; others will be put off by the book's convoluted narrative (much of the tale is told in the form of dialogue from Merrick's show " Live for Tomorrow" ) and its over-the-top writing. But the behind-the-scene looks at off-screen romances, on-air sex, and backstage backstabbing will titillate fans, who will notice the similarities between the most unlikable character and a certain real-life soap star. This tiny terror totters around on four-inch heels, hawks products on QVC, and has her own Barbie-doll likeness--just like Susan Lucci, " AMC" 's Erica. The ending is dumb, but Hughes wouldn't have had much practice with those--soaps go on forever. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)