Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Book Review: Starring in the Movie of My Life

By Melissa Patafio

“Starring in the Movie of My Life”, by Laurel Osterkamp, is a story about two women in very different stages of life. Samantha Linden is 35 and is newly married to Nathan, a high school teacher who is ten years younger than Sam. She works in a video store and dreams of making her own movies someday. Sam and Nathan live in a building managed by Sam’s old boyfriend Collin, and sometimes it’s a little too close for comfort. Samantha is also hiding something that not even Nathan knows about, but does Collin know her secret?

Melody Madsen is an 18 year-old high school student with a dangerous crush on her English teacher, Nathan Linden. Her feelings for Mr. Linden started when he saved her from being sexually assaulted by the star basketball player at a school dance. Melody has a less than ideal home life and has never really had anyone pay much attention or care what happens to her.

The story becomes a twisted and tangled mass of deception, lies, heartache, and confusion. It was hard to put down from the moment I started it. The story weaves in and out of the past and present and each chapter alternates between Sam’s and Melody’s voices. I love the way Laurel gives us enough background information on the characters but manages to keep it relevant to the present day story. This book definitely took me by surprise and really held my attention the whole way through. If you are looking for a great read then this is it!

Laurel dropped by CLC today for an interview. You can also win a copy of this novel either in paperback or e-book (see post for details). Giveaway ends July 5th.

1 comment:

Samantha said...

Thanks for the review!