Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Stand-In Star
    Unavailable
    Stand-In Star
    Unavailable
    Stand-In Star
    Ebook278 pages4 hours

    Stand-In Star

    By Rachael Johns

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    As an anthropologist, Holly McCartney is more comfortable in a museum than shopping on Rodeo Drive. She isn't prepared for the media frenzy on her arrival in L.A. to accept a posthumous acting award for her late sister or for her sister's gorgeous friend Nate Devlin to come to her rescue. Though he resents her for some reason, she can't fight their irresistible chemistryespecially when the paparazzi force her to stay at his mansion.

    Photographer Nate only agrees to help Holly survive Hollywood for her sister's sake, but she soon gets under his skin in a way no other woman has. The more time he spends with her, the more his attraction grows and he finds himself opening up to her in ways he never expected. But will ghosts of the past stand in the way of their perfect Hollywood ending?

    72,000 words
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCarina Press
    Release dateJan 7, 2013
    ISBN9781426894909
    Unavailable
    Stand-In Star
    Author

    Rachael Johns

    Rachael Johns is an English teacher by trade, a mum 24/7, a Diet Coke addict, a cat lover and chronic arachnophobe. She is also the bestselling, ABIA-winning author of The Patterson Girls and a number of other romance and women's fiction books including The Art of Keeping Secrets, The Greatest Gift, Lost Without You, Just One Wish, Something to Talk About, Flying the Nest and How to Mend a Broken Heart. Rachael rarely sleeps, never irons and loves nothing more than sitting in bed with her laptop and imagining her own stories. She is currently Australia's leading writer of contemporary relationship stories around women's issues, a genre she has coined 'life-lit'. Rachael lives in the Swan Valley with her hyperactive husband, three mostly gorgeous heroes-in-training, two ravenous cats, a cantankerous bird and a very badly behaved dog. Rachael loves to hear from readers and can be contacted via her website rachaeljohns.com. She is also on Facebook and Instagram.

    Read more from Rachael Johns

    Related to Stand-In Star

    Related ebooks

    Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The New Romantics

      Aug 25, 2023

      The New Romantics
      7 min read

    • Article

      The New Romantics

      Aug 26, 2023

      The New Romantics
      8 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Batuman, Lee, Chaon, and More

      May 24, 2022

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from Elif Batuman, our own Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Dan Chaon, and more—that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to help T

      5 min read

    • Article

      2019’s BEST BOOKS

      Dec 5, 2019

      Dark, with a focus on psychopathy and the way some of the most twisted individuals can blend seamlessly into society, this is undoubtedly our favourite thriller of 2019. Shiver as Dr Augusta Bloom is drawn into a chilling game with very high stakes.

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Sapphic Lit Scene Has Never Been Better

      Feb 24, 2023

      Five years ago, if you had told me my sapphic romcom, Sorry, Bro, would be released on the same day as another sapphic romcom (Behind The Scenes, by the lovely Karelia Stetz-Waters) I would have laughed in your face. Me? A published author? Forget it

      2 min read

    • Article

      When Noah met Sally

      Apr 28, 2023

      When Noah met Sally
      3 min read

    • Article

      SEX, Revisited

      May 12, 2021

      SEX, Revisited
      7 min read

    • Article

      Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2020 Book Preview

      Jul 15, 2020

      Wash your hands, wear your mask, keep a safe distance from others, and pick out a book. The post Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2020 Book Preview appeared first on The Millions.

      47 min read

    • Article

      Telling Secrets: The Millions Interviews Steve Almond

      May 5, 2022

      "Obviously, there are real risks to writing about the disenfranchised from a position of privilege.... So if I get anything wrong, I’ll deserve whatever criticism comes my way." The post Telling Secrets: The Millions Interviews Steve Almond appeared

      8 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Manguso, Blake, Lavery, and More

      Feb 8, 2022

      Sarah Blake's latest post-apocalyptic novel, Mellors' satirical debut about a couple's impulsive marriage, and Lavery's speculative memoir are new this week The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Manguso, Blake, Lavery, and More appeared first on

      5 min read

    • Article

      A Joyous Balm For Our Crisis-ravaged Times

      Feb 7, 2022

      How soon is too soon? How long must the gestation period be before fiction can wrap its mitts around big global events in a way that produces good art and satisfies the reader? When it comes to the Covid pandemic, one might think: a bit longer than t

      2 min read

    • Article

      Most Anticipated: The Great 2018 Book Preview

      Jan 8, 2018

      Settle in, folks, because this is one the longest first-half previews we’ve run in a long while. Putting this together is a labor of love, and while a huge crop of great spring books increases the labor, it also means there is more here for rea

      33 min read

    • Article

      BOOK CLUB Awards

      Dec 3, 2020

      BOOK CLUB Awards
      8 min read

    Reviews for Stand-In Star

    4/5

    5 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      i felt like cracking nate's skull open when he didnt go after holly but in the end it all worked out
    • 4/5
      I loved the opening scene of this book! Holly, a cultural anthropologist from Australia lands in LA where she is instantly overwhelmed by the paparazzi because of her famous, estranged, now late sister, Daisy. Nate comes to her rescue, although grudgingly so, because he feels he owes it to his friend (with benefits), Daisy, despite his dislike of the woman who caused Daisy so much heartbreak because she wouldn't speak to her sister for three years.

      For those looking for instant connection, you won't find it here. Oh, there's some sizzling chemistry between the two and you can tell they'd be so good together, but they both have issues with the other - him thinking she's the wicked sister of the woman he cared about, and her put off by the clear hostility he's sending her way. It's a love/hate relationship in every sense of that term.

      Holly could never get over her sister's betrayal and never tried to mend their relationship. The betrayal also left her self-confidence in shreds and you can see that in how adamant she is that there's no way Nate would pick her over Hollywood starlets. What she does have is incredible intelligence and I enjoyed her curious nature.
      Thanks to Nate, she learns that everything she thought about her sister was wrong, and the guilt that she feels for not making things right between them really got to me. Nothing should come between sisters like that.

      Nate is a complex character. Everything he has in his life he worked hard for, going from a poor kid with an alcoholic, abusive father to a famous portrait photographer. He is also incredibly closed off emotionally, even with his own family. He takes care of them, and they mean the world to him, but it's obvious he's uncomfortable being around his sister (she's the only one we really see) because he still feels like he failed them somehow.

      I really wanted these two to work through their issues and this giant misunderstanding because they both knew the different side of the story. You can tell family is extremely important to Nate, and on the other side you have Holly who flat-out refused to acknowledge her sister after everything that happened. And then you have the issue of Nate and Daisy's relationship, making Holly feel just as much of a traitor as she thought her sister was for feeling attracted to him.
      Despite this, they still form a close relationship, slowly opening up to each other, and once the pieces fall into their places and there's nothing left holding them back, their mutual attraction just explodes.

      Yep, there are a couple of graphic sex scenes in this (and they are hot), so beware clean-romance readers.

      The writing is great, the descriptions of LA painted a great picture and you feel like you're right in the scene. The way they subtly fall in love without even realizing what's going on felt very realistic, and I already said there's great chemistry between these two characters. I loved the supporting characters, as well - Bec and Linc, whose love for each other was wonderful to read about, and Stella, the barely-there best friend whose presence is all over the book even if you only meet her once. And of course, Daisy, I mourned her along with Holly because it sounded like she really was a good sister despite the things she did.

      I loved this sweet story by Rachael Johns, the two people learning to trust and overcome their prejudice in order to find the love neither of them expected. I definitely recommend this book.