Marlowe Banks, Redesigned
A Novel
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- $329.00
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- $329.00
Descripción editorial
In Marlowe Banks, Redesigned, Jacqueline Firkins wonderfully captures the messiness of failure, forgiveness, and embracing a second chance on life and love.
Marlowe Banks’s life has come apart at the seams. Her engagement ended abruptly. Her latest costume design was shredded by critics. Her student loans are overdue. Her parents have never been more disappointed. Desperate to hide from her failures, Marlowe flees New York City to embrace invisibility in Los Angeles as a menial Production Assistant on a popular TV show. While sorting socks and taking care of her boss’ spoiled Weimaraner, no one can confront her poor artistic choices or the end of her engagement, the end her ex refuses to accept.
When a costume mix-up requires Marlowe to step into in a scene, the camera catches a heated look between her and Angus Gordon, the show's arrogant bad boy, thrusting Marlowe into the spotlight. As the pair is forced together on set, Marlowe learns she's not the only one hiding. Walls come down for both of them, revealing a life Marlowe isn't sure she's ready for, and when her past comes calling, she has to decide if she's going to stay invisible or if it's time for a redesign.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Firkins's uneven adult debut (after How Not to Fall in Love) finds costume designer Marlowe Banks having fled New York's theater scene, and her ex-fiancé, for a fresh start on the set of TV soap Heart's Diner. Her production assistant job doesn't utilize her skills, but it does shield her from the harsh critiques she's come to fear. That is, until she's forced to fill in as a background actor for a day, placing her near the show's brooding star, Angus Gordon, with whom she disastrously collided earlier that same day. She's happy to leave her brush with stardom—and Angus's intense stare—in the past, but when the episode airs, a tricky bit of editing turns their obvious dislike into sexual tension and sends fans clamoring for more. Despite some false starts, Marlowe and Angus bond as production forces them to spend more time together. Both feel a connection, but Marlowe quickly learns she may not be ready for the scrutiny that comes with dating a star. Though the main couple has chemistry to spare, the rest of the story falls flat in comparison; the backstory behind Marlowe's life in New York comes too late and feels too tepid to make readers invested in her personal growth. It's a shaky start, but Firkins shows some promise.
