Full Exposure
A Novel
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- £1.99
Publisher Description
Happy Endings author Thien-Kim Lam is back—with a rom-com set during the divine madness of Mardi Gras as two lovers ask: Can a Big Easy fling become the real thing?
Boudoir photographer Josie Parks never ever takes a vacation. But when a client cancels a New Orleans shoot at the last minute, she decides to fly out from her Washington, D.C., studio anyway. Maybe the trip will reawaken her recently stagnant muse. After all, it’s Mardi Gras season…
Spencer Pham has come home after twelve soul-sucking years in corporate hell to pursue his passion: making a docu-film on his family’s history as the first Vietnamese Mardi Gras krewe. The last thing he expects is getting whacked in the head by a beautiful woman trying to snag some parade beads.
Over some beignets and coffee, Spencer and Josie connect over their artistic pursuits. He offers to show her the real New Orleans, if she’ll help him with the camerawork for his film. Despite Josie’s type-A personality clashing with Spencer’s laissez-faire attitude, they seem to make a great team, and soon, the good times are rolling both on and off camera. But Josie has a life in D.C., and they both have big dreams they’re chasing. When this Big Easy fling starts feeling awfully serious, can they find a way to choose between personal and professional passion?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A whirlwind vacation fling kicks off this rushed and unsatisfying romance from Lam (Happy Endings). On an impromptu New Orleans vacation, photographer Josie Parks accidentally bonks a handsome stranger in the head with some freshly caught Mardi Gras beads. Dazed but still conscious enough to notice how attractive she is, NOLA local Spencer Pham seizes the chance to ask her out. They share a first date that Lam works a bit too hard to convince readers is magical, skipping right past any kind of getting-to-know-you dance. After serendipitously running into each other again the next day, fate tempts them to explore their connection further. Spencer offers to help Josie build her photography portfolio for an art gallery, and Josie encourages Spencer to finally fulfill his dream of making films. But Josie is only in town for a week, and both are acutely aware that the deeper they fall for each other, the harder it will be when their time runs out. It's not entirely unusual for romance protagonists to fall in love in such a short time frame, but Lam fails to make her protagonists' spontaneous connection convincing through a disjointed and unnaturally paced plot. It's a shame, because the New Orleans backdrop is vibrant and alive. This one misses the mark.
