The Monster of Fame (The Price of Fame Series) [Kindle Edition]

I downloaded this to my kindle yesterday after reading a review on Unwrapping romance. I absolutely loved it from the first page and couldn't put it down. Annabelle enters an Xfactor/The Voice style competition as her father had left them all with gambling debts. I rooted for her from the start and liked her immediately. I too was worried I wouldn't like Miles, after all he was trying to get her out of the show, but his reasoning for doing it melted my heart. I was on the edge of my seat, sizzling with all the sexual tension dying for them to get it on and when they did I was far from disappointed. For anyone who loves romance, women's fiction or shows like Xfactor, this is the book for you.

This debut novel from author Aimee Duffy is a very enjoyable read.
I'm not normally one for following TV competitions and apart watching from the odd episode (which someone else insisted we watched) I normally avoid shows like X-factor like the plague so I approached this novel with apprehension. At first glance the story's competition seems very much like X-factor and I did worry I might not be able to get Simon Cowell out of my head when visualising the hero.
I needn't have worried.
Aimee instantly painted a very clear picture of the hero, Miles, bringing his internal conflicts and worries straight up to the surface, creating a vivid, human character.
The story follows the reality singing competition and Miles is faced with a battle between his very real desires for the heroine, Anna, and his fear for what the `monster of fame' will do to her. I did feel initially that his bias for worrying about her strength of character was a little unfounded as he had such a strong reaction based almost solely on her being nervous for her first performance, and I would have liked to have seen a clearer reason for his doubts as a long passage of time had passed since his first wife had died under tragic circumstances and he remained within the industry for the time in between, however this didn't affect my enjoyment of the story.
The novel is very much centred on the conflicts of the hero and for this reason I did find more difficulties in relating to the heroine, but as I prefer hero biased romances, I had no issue with this, especially when the hero is as attractive as this one.
Written with a fresh voice, with just the right balance of humour and sensitivity, this story did not fail to please, and the ending completely lived up to the expectation of a `happily ever after' and then some. If you are reading this review Miss Duffy, more please.

This book was a refreshing change. Yes, it did all the things a romance does, but I especially liked the way it got to the heart of both leads. The stakes in terms of the conflict were high - won't give too much away. It would be spoiling, although the book is such a page turner, I think you'd read it anyway, just to see how the author handles these things. The prose is very easy on the attention span and I mean that as a compliment. Well done Miss Duffy. For a debut author, you're pretty amazing.