Looking for a fun and fantastic read with a bit of the supernatural and a little romance? A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife by Kendall Kulper is the novel you need.
A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife is a mesmerizing tale that effortlessly blends the unglamourous side of Hollywood with a touch of mystery and a sprinkle of romance.
Set during the golden age of Hollywood, the novel introduces us to the charismatic protagonist, Henrietta. She announces to her family over dinner once evening that she’s going to be a star and leaves Chicago. As a newcomer to Hollywood, Henrietta finds it’s not so easy to get into pictures. Then she starts seeing dead starlets. Wha??
This mystery of the many, many dead girls gets entwined with her shot at stardom. What’s a girl to do?
Then she meets Declan, who has his own secrets. He can’t die. At first this serves him well as a stuntman. Then, it becomes a problem when there’s an accident where he should have died and he’s not even injured. He had a hard life and came to Hollywood hoping to find his mother. She had run off to try her hand at stardom when he was a boy.
The pacing is well-balanced, keeping the reader engaged with a combination of suspenseful revelations and heartfelt moments.
I loved the balance of supernatural, mystery, history, and romance. I highly recommend this book.
Here’s the blurb:
A budding starlet and her handsome-but-moody co-star go from bitter enemies to reluctant partners when they get tangled up in the disappearance of a beautiful young actress in 1930s Hollywood.
Eighteen-year-old Henrietta arrives in Los Angeles in 1934 with dreams of trading her boring life for stardom.
She’s determined to make it as an actress, despite her family’s doubts and rumors of would-be starlets gone missing. And by the skin of her teeth, she pulls it off! A serendipitous job offer arrives and Henrietta finds herself on a whirlwind publicity tour for a major film role—with a vexingly unpleasant actor tapped by the studio to be her fake boyfriend.
But fierce Henrietta has more in common with brooding Declan than she realizes. They both have gifts that they are hiding, for fear of being labeled strange: he is immune to injury and she can speak to ghosts. When the co-stars get tangled up in the disappearance of a beautiful young actress, they go from bitter enemies and pretend lovers to reluctant partners—and possibly even friends.
Together, they might be the only people in Hollywood who can do something about these poor missing girls. And in doing so . . . they might just fall in love for real.
This whip smart, seductive caper by the author of Murder for the Modern Girl has the perfect combination of romance, vengeance, and a hint of the supernatural, set in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
