The Star Attraction

March 4, 2013
Actress and reality show host Sweeney (The Mommy Diet) hits it out of the park with her engaging fiction debut about an L.A.-based star publicist who lets her love life get in the way of work. After years at a top PR firm, Sophie Atwater is entrusted with representing handsome A-lister Billy Fox. She finds herself smitten when he proves to be just as charming as his image, and is taken aback when she realizes the attraction is mutual. Though she’s happy with Jacob, her boyfriend of two years (“pretty much a record for me”), his ambivalence about marriage leaves her feeling doubtful, and Sophie exacerbates matters by picking fights with him while escalating her flirtation with Billy. Sweeney uses many familiar chick-lit tropes (conversations with the best friend, sparring with the office nemesis, the inevitable happy ending with the spectacular romantic gesture) but does it very well and also infuses her story with insider-y Hollywood situations and realistic depictions of relationship woes. It all adds up to a pleasurable read, and a particularly impressive first foray into this genre. Agent: Matthew Elblonk, DeFiore and Co.

February 15, 2013
A highly entertaining debut from Sweeney, host of The Biggest Loser and star of Days of Our Lives for 20 years. Sweeney's insider knowledge adds authenticity to this laugh-out-loud story of working and romancing in Los Angeles. Her badass heroine, Sophie Atwater, has worked her way up the ranks of a PR company representing Hollywood celebrities. She has a great sense of humor, and the narrative voice is so real you might think you were reading text messages from a friend you've shared stories and laughs with over the years. Sophie, at 31, is still single, although she has a steady boyfriend and she knows her parents worry about her single status. She is not sure if she wants marriage or not. Jacob is an investment banker and travels in a different world that is not all that interesting to Sophie, but she feels comfortable with him and really does love him. Then she gets the prize assignment at work: representing a hot new movie star, Billy Fox, who never fails to let her know how attractive he finds her. Red-carpet events with Billy overlap with Jacob's cancer research fundraising events, and the tension builds. A beautiful and narcissistic co-worker at the PR company, who is not above creating problems for anyone and everyone at work, is envious and connives to create a particularly serious problem for Sophie, but in the end, it all works out as it should. After losing the boyfriend and the job for a period of confused self-examination, Sophie makes a triumphant comeback. What makes the book remarkable is not so much the plot, which is mostly predictable, but Sophie's reactions to what happens. You just have to love this girl. That sense of humor that can save a person in real life makes this an extremely fun read.

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