This is tough to review as I'm reading well outside of my comfort zone - and my low rating may well be a reflection of that! 

This book follows the bitchy exploits of a group of young up-and-coming wannabe celebrities that have formed a "Brat Pack" on the Hollywood scene, where infighting, envy and a burning desire to uncover scandal threatens to pull the group of friends apart. With friends like these who needs enemies?

If this sort of drama - with lashings of fashion brand name-checking - is your thing, this book has it in spades. It's also a romance - one that takes a while to truly kick off, and rather a sweet one if you can get past the central conceit of a man blackmailing his way into dating somebody.

What stands out in the long run is the main character very slowly has the superficial glamour and bitchiness peeled away, revealing a genuine person beneath - it's only unfortunate that her true character remains very well hidden for a large chunk of the book. Certainly I had trouble sticking with it as she and her friends take so much time criticising their peers, being annoyed by each other and belittling people they see as beneath them. I had particular trouble with an early scene involving an unfortunate waitress who got mocked without short or long term remorse.

Still, even if the main character didn't exactly develop she did instead become slowly better revealed, and I'm interested to see if the sequel can take her in directions I find more palatable now she is away from her awful "friends" !