This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting the blog!
Reuniting Reality by Nikki LeClair Published by Nikki LeClair on March 20, 2018
Genres: Chick Lit
Buy on Libro.fm
Goodreads
Starring opposite her best friend in hit reality TV show Daughter of Famous Mothers, Julie Duncan was riding high, clouded with adoring fans and cozily married to an ambitious plastic surgeon. One day, everything changed. Betrayed by not only her husband, but someone she completely trusted, Julie disappeared from that life and left it all behind.
Four years later, Julie’s life is far from brag-able. Living with her sister and scraping by doing D-list gigs, Julie is given an opportunity to fix her pathetic life. The only catch? Spending a week on camera with the people who destroyed her life.
So what’s a girl to do when her back is against the wall?
✓ Create a new, improved version of herself—a version that has moved on and let go the trials of the past.
✓ Invent a hopping new social life and a hot Olympian boyfriend.
✓ Beg forgiveness from her former best friend.
Simple enough until her fake new boyfriend suddenly shows up, her former best friend gives the cold shoulder, her ex-husband is as shady as ever, and butterflies she thought had died long ago begin to flutter alive.
Will Julie be able to keep up her ruse? Or will the cameras catch something she won’t ever be able to escape?
Disclaimer: I designed the cover, rewrote the blurb, and organized the tour for Reuniting Reality. I also publish Nikki’s cozy mystery series (The Edie Edwards Cozy Mysteries) through Kindred Ink Press (shameless plug), but Nikki self-published this one. I hadn’t read the book until the night before writing this post nor had any input in the book itself so my review is based solely on what I read last night (or had the good ol’ iPad read to me). 🙂
Now for the review. You guys! Nikki has a wild imagination. I’m the furthest from a fan of reality tv shows you will ever find (seriously, I despise the stuff) or any real-life drama (I run as fast as I can–I’d rather be happy and oblivious) so I shouldn’t have liked this story at all (but it’s Chick Lit, and that’s one of my go-to genres). But for some crazy reason (other than having to write my review today), I stayed up until almost 3 a.m. reading (I totally could have finished reading it this morning) because I needed to know how it ended. There was so much going on in this story, but Nikki kept it together, and I don’t recall staying confused for long. While I couldn’t relate to the stardom, skiing, spas, or sketchy ex-husbands (thankfully), I really did enjoy this story and will probably read it again at a slower pace (my iPad is a speed reader, y’all) to fully enjoy the story without a deadline. If you’re a fan of reality tv, you’ll love this book. If not, give it a shot anyway. There’s enough going on outside of the tv side of things that makes for a good story! I hope Nikki does a few spinoffs to really introduce us to the rest of the cast. I’ve already shared an idea with her that I’ll beg to publish through Kindred. 😉
I love to watch Survivor!