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October 12, 2005 12:47 PM

Adored

The bonkbuster is back with Tilly Bagshawe's debut novel. Adored is a glamorous take on the chick lit style. Hollywood, super-starlets, supermodels, super-everythings are in abundance with a book that take us from Paris to New York, Las Vegas and LA.

In seventies Hollywood, legendary actor Duke McMahon is a tyrant; hated, loathed and loved in equal measures. We first meet him when he is bringing his mistress, Caroline, to live with his family, which include his cowed wife Minnie and two children who hate him. Quite why they are such a wet bunch of people is a bit of a mystery and it’s hard to feel sympathetic for them when they don’t put their foot down to Duke’s antics!

Into this seething snake pit is born our heroine Siena McMahon, Duke’s grand-daughter and seemingly the only person who actually likes him. Packed off to a boarding school in England to protect her from the fallout after Duke's death, we find Siena, in the present day, to be quite a feisty little madam. Determined, beautiful (of course) and abandoned, she’s on her way back to Hollywood to make her name.

Siena is a fantastic character. There aren’t any of the usual crises of confidence that we normally see in chick-lit. Instead Siena sees what she wants and goes all out to get it, learning love and a little humility on the way. It can, however, be hard to find Siena endearing especially with the way she treats the other characters, but ultimately, she is quite loveable. Despite some improbabilities in the plot (a 5 foot 4 inch supermodel, really?) Adored is a good read. Woven into Sienas rise and fall are a number of subplots and characters, ranging from her delightful uncle Hunter to evil mogul Randall and the loveable Max.

Adored may not be the most intelligent of reads but it does what it says on the tin. It's got plenty of plot twists, a sublime cast of characters and is the kind of juicy, escapist read that you will get lost in. This is the kind of book to read if you want pure, escapist fiction that bears no resemblance to real life whatsoever! [Camilla Chafer]

Did you know?
Tilly Bagshawe is the younger sister of chick lit luminary Louise Bagshawe?

Buy Adored by Tilly Bagshawe for £5.59

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Posted by Gemma on October 12, 2005 in Bonkbusters, Debut Novels, Rating: 4/5 | Permalink

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