*Grabby Hands* Release & Review with Giveaway - Beyond the Stars by Stacy Wise

Image  and blurb from Goodreads

Title: Beyond the Stars

Release date:  February 8th, 2016

Author: Stacy Wise

Entangled Publishing

About the book:

Most girls would kill for the opportunity to work for Jack McAlister, Hollywood’s hottest actor, but twenty-one-year-old Jessica Beckett is ready to kick him out of her red Ford Fiesta and never look back. She should be spending her junior year in France, eating pastries and sharpening her foreign language skills. Instead she’s reluctantly working as Jack’s personal assistant, thanks to her powerhouse talent agent aunt.

Jack is private, prickly, and downright condescending. Jessica pushes his buttons—she’s not the type of girl to swoon over celebrity heartthrobs, precisely why her aunt thought she’d be perfect for the job—and Jack pushes right back.

But as she begins to peel away his layers, Jessica is shocked to find she craves her boss’s easy smile and sexy blue eyes. The problem is, so does the entire female population. And what started out as the job from hell soon has Jess wondering if a guy like Jack could ever find love with a regular girl like her.

Goodreads│Amazon

My thoughts:

4 "Reading People Magazine like it's Shakespeare and loving it" STARS!

ARC via NetGalley - Thank you, Entangled!!!

Guess what? I devoured my first book in 2016!!! Yay!!!!! *happy dances*

I couldn't have asked for a better, funnier and more romantic story to read on my trip back home. BEYOND THE STARS was much more than I was expecting.

Meet Jess, a super fun, clever and sarcastic girl who was forced to temporarily give up her dreams of studying in France and take the job as Jack's - Hollywood's Sexiest Man Alive - personal assistant. Sure, working for a hot and rich actor isn't the worst that could've happened to Jess, and I'm glad she doesn't give off that vibe. While she's bothered that she can't do what she wants - go to France - she isn't complaining about taking the job all the time, because that would make her look like a spoiled brat. And one thing I can say is Jess isn't that type -- on the contrary, she's the kind of girl I wanted to be friends with because, hello, she's hilarious. The author did an amazing job with her voice. It's strong, it's sarcastic, it's young.

You know who else rocks? Jack. The smoking hot actor who hires Jess pretty much against his will at his manager's insistence. At first, Jack is sort of a jackass. Not the worst I've seen, especially for A-list celebrity, but still not the nicest guy around. He's rude when he doesn't need to be and he has anger management issues, but he's never even slightly violent toward Jess or another woman. He just can't stand paparazzi. He's also portrayed by the media as a womanizer. In reality, Jack is a sweet guy with a hard past and trust issues, hence why he tries to push people away before making the "mistake" of trusting them. That doesn't work with Jess, because she's one tough girl.

Jess' attitude toward Jack and everything else, crazy paparazzi included, is what made this story so fun to read. That and the beautiful romance, which includes "hate to love", "friends to love" and a lot of longing and wanting and waiting for the right moment. Kill me now and I'll die a happy girl!!!

Fair warning, if you're looking for something steamy with descriptive sexy scenes, you're not going to find it here. To be perfectly honest, I missed the typical NA or Adult contemporary romance descriptive sex scenes, but not having it also fits the story, since the romance between Jess and Jack is so damn cute.

The glamorous life of Hollywood's rich and famous was portrayed well enough throughout the story, although some details seemed too distant from reality, mainly in the end of the book. I know a lot about celebrities and I can't see them doing what Jess and Jack did when they arrived at that party.

Last but not least, there's a pet that won my heart: Leo, the pig. He's adorable. Just. Adorable. I wanted to hug him all the time. Leo made me smile, but also made me tear up because his story gets pretty sad toward the end. I can't say I'm happy with the author's decision when it comes to Leo, but I understand what was done and why it was done. *sad face*

Aside from that crying moment, this was a book that made me laugh and smile a lot. So go get it if you're looking for something that will bring a bit of joy to your hard day, week, month or year.

Giveaway:

Do you want a chance to win a copy and see if my review is doing this book justice? Enter Goodreads Book Giveaway and cross your fingers.