Reprise Review: Catering Girl by Laurie Boris

 

Genre: Women’s Fiction/Humor/Contemporary Fiction

Description:

“Frankie Goldberg, struggling actress and stand-up comic in Los Angeles, can't keep her day jobs thanks to her smart mouth and a lot of other bad habits. Now a thirty-something catering assistant on a movie set, she reluctantly agrees to bring a cappuccino to the resident diva. The young star Anastasia Cole is in tears, distraught about disturbing changes in the script. Frankie serves a side of common sense with the coffee, and excited to have an ally, Anastasia offers her the role of a lifetime. It's not what Frankie had in mind -- but being needed might be exactly what she needs.”

Author:

“Laurie Boris is a freelance writer, editor, proofreader, and former graphic designer. She has been writing fiction for over twenty-five years and is the award-winning author of six novels: The Joke's on Me, Drawing Breath, Don't Tell Anyone, Sliding Past Vertical, Playing Charlie Cool, and A Sudden Gust of Gravity. When not hanging out with the universe of imaginary people in her head, she enjoys baseball, cooking, reading, and helping aspiring novelists as a contributing writer and editor for Indies Unlimited. She lives in New York's lovely Hudson Valley.”

Ms. Boris’ novel Sliding Past Vertical was the winner in the Contemporary Fiction category of BigAl’s Books and Pals 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards.

You can follow Ms. Boris on her blog or stalk her on Facebook.

Appraisal:

I haven’t read The Joke's on Me, so this is my first introduction to Frankie Goldberg. She has a strong devil-may-care personality, which tends to lead her into trouble when expressing her opinion. She moved from New York to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, but bless her heart, she just can’t catch a break and this plays havoc with her self-esteem issues. What she does have going for her is intelligence and courage to try new things. Ms. Boris has a talent for writing realistic characters in believable situations and managing to invest her readers’ attention in whatever journey may be at hand.

Poor Frankie is having trouble finding where she belongs, since her dream of becoming an actress has fallen flat. She has learned along the way that she has a knack for cooking food in large quantities, organizing events, and managing other people. She just has trouble applying these talents to her own life. I laughed when Frankie caught herself sounding like her own Jewish mother while dealing with Anastasia Cole. Ana is a young bombshell actress who seeks career guidance from Frankie, despite the Oscar she possesses for supporting actress. This relationship works well for both of them for a while. Then a few unexpected twists set the whole story spinning out of control.

I found Catering Girl a fun, captivating story. I would highly recommend this book if you are looking for something quick to read. Now I am interested to see how Frankie makes out in The Joke's on Me.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Catering Girl is a prequel novella to the romantic comedy The Joke's on Me.

Original review posted on July 11, 2016.

Format/Typo Issues:

None!

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 14-15,000 words