The Stand-In
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4.2 • 201 Ratings
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- $1.99
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
Featured in USA Today's "Best Rom-Coms" of May 2023 and one of the Washington Post's best romances of the year!
“The Stand-In is a charming, engaging rom com that drips in glamour and sparkles with banter. Chu’s exploration of multi-racial identity was resonant and nuanced. The Stand-In is truly a stand out romance.” — USA Today bestselling author Andie J. Christopher
Gracie Reed was just fired by her overly "handsy" boss at the worst possible moment. She's been scraping together every extra dollar to get her mother into a top-notch memory care center. To make matters worse, a paparazzo has mistaken her for a famous Chinese actress in town for a new project and the resulting snapshot’s gone viral. Gracie's barely holding it all together…until a mysterious SUV rolls up beside her on the street, and she's offered the opportunity of a lifetime.
Gracie can’t believe what she's hearing: due to their uncanny resemblance, gorgeous actress Wei Fangli wants Gracie to be her stand-in. The catch? Gracie will have to be escorted by Sam Yao, the other half of Chinese cinema's infamous golden couple. Problem is, Sam is the most attractive—and infuriating—man Gracie's ever met.
But if it means getting the money she needs for her mother, Gracie's in. Soon Gracie moves into a world of luxury she never knew existed. But resisting her attraction to Sam, and playing the role of an elegant movie star, proves more difficult than she ever imagined—especially when she learns the real reason Fangli so desperately needs to step out of the spotlight. In the end all the effort in the world won't be able to help Gracie keep up this elaborate ruse without losing herself...and her heart.
Readers will delight in this glamourous, swoon worthy enemies-to-lovers romance that is as hilarious as it is heart-wrenching.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
An ordinary woman discovers that looking just like a gorgeous movie star can be less than glamorous. Lily Chu’s smart, funny rom-com revolves around Gracie, an ordinary office worker who’s fired just as she’s trying to move her mom into a better nursing home. So she can’t say no when she’s offered a job by Chinese actress Wei Fangli, with whom she shares an uncanny resemblance. Wei pays Gracie a small fortune to pose as her for publicity functions, but this dream job quickly becomes a major roller-coaster ride, especially when it comes to Wei’s handsome but exasperating co-star, Sam Yao. The Stand-In is a charming and romantic “be careful what you wish for” story.
Customer Reviews
good book
such a good book!
Great Read
Love the characters. The main character is definitely something you can relate to. Great real life situation. Loved it.
Well Done
I adore the author’s voice. The characters came alive for me; I laughed, I cried, I dreamed - I felt seen, and I saw.
I too, love a good 80’s makeover montage - and enjoyed how she wove that ‘squee’ feeling right into the scenes (which were mostly also plot-relevant + character dev.) (… also, that closet!!)
I enjoyed the inclusion + consideration of multiple viewpoints, how she richly portrayed insight into each character - including some of those ‘offstage,’ as it were - throughout, revealing expertly drawn personalities, incl. body language, emotion, motivation, etc. while maintaining the integrity of the protagonist’s viewpoint.
I like how she touched on a variety of social challenges, some of which many of us would have been oblivious to, and the multi-faceted dilemmas inherent therein, and why and how the protagonist chose to deal with them the way she did - and why and how her choices changed (and how they might have changed over time, given different eras and/or social contexts).
Trying to be careful re: spoilers, but yes, there were some weak areas - particularly the culmination and resolution of her interactions w/ Sam - (the conflicts didn’t hold as well past a certain point) - more satisfying was the resolution of plot threads with the rest of her family.
However, this was an absolute gem of a book, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
It made me think, it gave me insight, and it gave me hope.
It was satisfying and well done - Lily Chu has earned herself a spot on my very short auto-buy list.