Felt like there were tons of details in some parts of the story, mostly psychological, and then big gaps in time. A little hard to follow.

Mallory's life is consumed by managing her sisters life. Being a big sister is not easy when you are trying to protect your younger sister from falling back into habits that consumed her life. Tyler has worked tirelessly to bring a movie to the big screen that is near and dear to his heart. Rekindling a connection from the past they both finally begin to heal. A great story of a sister's devotion.

I liked Devoted not as much as I hoped I would but it was still a great book. Mallory I can relate to her so much it was kind of scary I usually read about women I want to be. I loved how Tyler was so passionate about his job and he wanted to do his sister justice.

Net Galley ARC received from Escape Publishing for an honest review

4 Talk to Me Stars

I am sure you know the feeling where you start a book with very little expectations or assumptions and find a diamond in the rough. 
It is a lovely feeling, isn’t it?
Well, I had that exact experience when reading Devoted, and what gave it those sparkly diamond qualities was the original characters, plot tension and steamy sex scenes.
Tyler Wentworth is a career-driven Hollywood director and is about the venture on his most personal project yet – depicting the demise of a young drug addicted women, based on his sister’s final days. Not happy with the unpredictable starlet, Bobbie Lawrence, the studio executives have thrust upon him to play the leading role, he is even more unimpressed that she fails to appear at the first location read through. Bobbie’s young and awkwardly shy manager is sent in her stead, Mallory Hughes, sparks not only his memory but his desire.
Mallory is Bobbie’s older sister, guardian, manager and assistant, after the death of their parents two years before. Working with Tyler is reigniting her old teenage crush on him, as his sister used to babysit her. But never in a million years did shy, mousy, vintage-loving Mallory expect to arouse interest in the famous director. As one brief glimmer of courage had her kissing him, she discovered that he was kissing her back and wanting more than just a fling. But blurring the lines between the professional and personal is always fraught with danger, as they quickly discover.
I honestly loved Mallory, as she was a clever woman, whilst awkward at times did not shy away from her true emotions and desires when coaxed. I also loved that Tyler did the coaxing, as his director role made me expect an ‘alpha male’ dominant relationship but I was surprised as he recognised Mallory’s limitations and gently guided her out of her shell. This coaxing was also great in the sex scenes as he always wanted Mallory to voice her desires, wants and to take control of the sexual encounters. It was so refreshing to have the woman taking her pleasure, and the man encouraging her power – as the ‘alpha male’ trope wears thin after a few romances. 
However, even with the empowering sex scenes, interesting characters and relationship tension, the novel felt lacking in some way. As I finished the book, I felt that the character development was not greatly present, as change comes late for both Tyler and Mallory. So, by the end of the novel, I was a little disappointed that the moments of change were glossed over, even if the shorter time frame held a lot more dramatic tension. 
All in all, a wonderfully engaging romance to read at the beach, by the poolside, in front of an open fire - anywhere really.

Sometimes you stumble upon a book and when you finish it, you need a minute to contemplate. What was it about this book, that made you wonder?

In this case, after reading Devoted, I had to ask myself: was it a bad book? Well no, it was a fine book, nicely written and definitely believable. Then were the characters unlikeable? No, definitely not. Mallory is a wonderful and devoted girl, who tries to keep her little star sister out of trouble. She is a bit of a grey mouse, but she works very hard to keep her sister on track and to keep their boss, Tyler Wentworth happy. Tyler, on the other hand, is a very nice, handsome (and did I already mention droolworthy???) guy. And we have Bobbie, the girl who turned famous and now is struggling to adjust to stardom, while having lost both her parents at a very young age.

Then, what was it with this book? I have been thinking about it and I just can't put my finger on it. In all, it is just a really nice book. You are drawn in by Mallory and you can feel her conflict of interests between the welfare of her sister and her obvious attraction to Tyler. The story has enough twist and turns to keep you interested. There are some ghosts from the past, some prejudices and wrong interpretations of situations. So, the story perfectly flows and you keep on reading.

So, would I recommend this book? Well definitely. But somewhere it is still nagging me, that I just couldn't swoon over the book. So, droolfactor: definitely there, but no swooning. Is that a bad thing? Definitely not, but if you find a book to sweep you of your feet, you won't find it in this book. But if you want to have a nice read with a hot guy and a happily ever after, please read this one.

Four out of five stars from me. With a thank you to Netgalley for providing the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Devoted is a good solid story with a few minor flaws. Romance was good.

a good quick read.

Devoted, JC Harroway

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  Romance,

I loved JC's Recovery, pushed my film star/Hollywood romance buttons and really enjoyed Entwined, the follow up, so when i saw this up for review I was excited to see it was back to film star trope. 
It proved a fun and entertaining read but didn't quite have the magic of Recovery for me. 

I expected Tyler to be older, it's kind of hard to feel someone can be "jaded" at just 28....I'd expected mid thirties or thereabouts. He does act as if he's around that age so its just technicalities in a way, but his age kept coming back to me. 
Its kind of hard to think heavyweight Hollywood director at 28, but then I know nothing of the realities of that life, only the fiction side! 

Likewise Mallory and Bobbie at just 20 and 22. Bobbie was a child star but given her rep, and the fact she's already spent time in addiction clinic, and has now been clean 3 years I'd have placed her a bit olderl. Mallory, could she really step into her father's shoes and manage Bobbie's career so well? Dunno? 
Just questions that made the story feel a bit unreal to me. 

I loved Mallory, she's so sweet, caring, an innocent in a tiger world, but shows her teeth when it comes to protecting Bobbie. 
I really didn't like Bobbie though, she's so selfish, doesn't seem to care that her actions impact heavily on Mallory's life, and I can see the sister bond in them, though Mallory doesn't resent Bobbie at all. 
I just wanted to get so cross with Bobbie, tell her to respect her sister, to look at what her life was doing to her, to look at what she'd given up so Bobbie could have the life she chose. 
That's a mark of good writing IMO, that it made me feel the characters were real, that their actions gave me real emotions.

I liked Tyler too and the chemistry between him and Mallory was there from the start. Some serious steam gets generated by them and it fits the story perfectly. 
Regular readers of my reviews will know I Hate when sex overtakes the story, even though I love spice and sensuality in a book. Here its a perfect balance and that makes for a much better read IMO. 

Its a fun read, with some serious back issues for the characters. It seems its hard to stay away from addictions when fame comes knocking - its something we see reported in the media all the while, and it creates tensions in families, leads to heartbreak too often and surviving members struggle to get past events. 
When Mallory is looking at Bobbie's behaviour and wondering, is she using? - well, after what the past gave her I could understand. 
I think addicts have to accept however much they feel they're past the problems others will always wonder. 
It comes from love in Mallory's case, she wants to help Bobbie, but at times it seemed Bobbie really resented it. Trouble is surrounding herself with people like Jez doesn't help either of them. 

I really enjoyed the story, the romance worked well, the backstory felt very genuine, and the plots flowed one into another perfectly. 
There were hints given about events that I kind of picked up but not all, and what transpired came out a bit differently to what I expected. That's good, I like being surprised.
I did feel the final events played out rather too quickly, that the Tyler/Mallory issues felt a bit overdone, storm in a teacup style but that's a small criticism. 
Overall its another fun read, solid romance with a good backing story. 

Stars: Four, a romance to sit back and relax with. 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

Dreams do come true for Mallory when she meets her childhood crush.A whirlwind romance ensues for the selfless protagonist as she battles between her commitment to her unpredictable sister, Bobbie and her undeniable attraction to Tyler, her childhood crush.

The dangers of a glamorous lifestyle is touched upon, as well as lessons on being selfish. 

It's a great romance-based, summer-y read with characters possessing enough depth to set the backdrop for an interesting ride.

** Unable to review on amazon yet due to their policies **