Review: FAMOUS IN LOVE by Rebecca Serle

"Epic love is not about having someone. It's about being willing to give them up. It's sacrifice. It's my mom's theater tickets stuffed down at the bottom of her jewelry box. It's Noah and August. It's my sister and Annabelle. It's Jordan and his mom, the truth he reserves to protect her. And see, that's the thing I didn't understand. The thing no one tells you. That just because you find love doesn't mean it's yours to keep. Love never belongs to you. It belongs to the universe."

- Rebecca Serle, FAMOUS IN LOVE

Paige Townsen is living the dream. She's been plucked out of obscurity and thrust into Hollywood the moment she's cast as August in the upcoming blockbuster movie LOCKED. LOCKED is the hottest book trilogy out there, and fans are clamoring to see it on the big screen. While Paige isn't the huge fan that her best friend Cassandra is, she's read the books and is eager to make her acting debut. She also finds herself falling for her co-star, the gorgeous Rainer Devon. But when Jordan Wilder is cast to round out the book's love triangle, Paige finds herself in a triangle of her own. How can she follow her heart when it's pulling her in two different directions?

I really enjoyed FAMOUS IN LOVE. Paige's journey reminds me of the way being thrust into the spotlight may have been for Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games and Kristen Stewart in Twilight. Both actresses carried the world on their shoulders and had to adapt to a new life. Paige is also embarking on this journey. The way we're obsessed with seeing actors grow and persevere as they get better and better, feeling like we've grown up with them? That's the way readers will feel about Paige. I also really liked getting to know her co-stars. Rainer seems too good to be true as he takes Paige under his wing and introduces her to the world that he now shares with her. When Jordan arrives on set, there's an instant attraction between him and Paige. While he seems like a total bad boy, he's actually the opposite, and I wound up rooting for Paige's heart to choose him. It's so easy to become invested in the lives of all three characters, and I can't wait to see the way they interact together in the future.

I thought FAMOUS IN LOVE was going to be a stand-alone. The ending came as a shock to me. It worked, but wow. I wanted more! Then I heard there was going to be a sequel, and I was so excited! I was also thrilled to find out that Little, Brown organized an experiment on WattPad. An author named Parker Witter started publishing a book called LOCKED. It wasn't until recently that everyone connected the dots and realized that Parker Witter was the author of a book called LOCKED in Rebecca Serle's new novel FAMOUS IN LOVE. It was revealed that Serle was writing as Witter on WattPad. At the moment, she is publishing a LOCKED prequel entitled THE THREE OF US, which you can read now. If you've ever wanted to read a novel that your beloved characters adore (Fess up! I know many of you wanted to read AN IMPERIAL AFFLICTION by Peter Van Houten after reading THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green!), Serle and her publisher Little, Brown are giving you the chance to do so. I know I want to know how LOCKED ends after Paige's cryptic thoughts about the ending! LOCKED is a novella, so it isn't as tight or deep as a full-fledged novel would be, but it introduces the world and characters, and I can't wait to see how both book journeys end.