Publisher's Weekly Review
The shooting of a film forces a divorcing couple to confront their conflicts in historical author Putney's second contemporary romance (following The Burning Point). Actress Raine Marlowe needs her estranged husband, action hero Kenzie Scott, to star in her directorial debut in order to secure financing. Although he never believed he could sustain a marriage, he still loves Raine and agrees without reading the script. Too late, Kenzie discovers that his role touches on his darkest secrets, and that playing it may tear apart his fragile emotional stability. Raine, too, has unresolved issues from a troubled childhood, and her directorial challenges are further complicated when her leading actress bows out at the last moment. The couple's fire and ice relationship is put to the test when she takes over the costarring role. Meanwhile, a vicious tabloid reporter launches a public campaign to uncover the past Kenzie has gone to great lengths to conceal. Putney handles her potentially melodramatic material with emotional honesty and insight while maintaining the taut romantic tension between her richly developed, complicated protagonists. Although many of the plot developments are predictable, including a denouement that borders on the saccharine, readers caught up in the spiraling developments won't mind. (Jan. 8) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Bravo! Putney proves she's every bit as good writing contemporary romance as she is with historicals. Film idol Kenzie Scott is so taken with actress Raine Marlowe he agrees to star in a remake of The Scarlet Pimpernel if she is cast as the female lead. After the filming they impulsively marry; then, four years later in the midst of divorcing, Raine persuades Kenzie to star in a movie she has written and will direct. At the last minute she is forced to play opposite Kenzie, and the angst-filled drama brings them together even as it rips emotions from the depths of their souls. They both had childhoods so painful that neither ever confided in the other, but when a cataclysmic revelation by a tabloid reporter threatens Kenzie's sanity and shakes both of them to their cores, they finally share the hurt with which they've been plagued. Putney's superb storytelling skills and complex and evocative characters make for an unforgettable story. --Diana Tixier Herald
