Jett has a secret. She's a singer in Los Angeles and estranged from her sister Chantel, who stayed behind in their small hometown in Missouri, Chantel works for a newspaper and sings on the side. When their mother dies, Chantel is shocked and distressed that Jett doesn't come home. Then she finds out why. No spoilers from me but I wasn't as surprised as Chantel. The story is told alternately by both sisters, which works well here. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, An entertaining read that makes good use of song lyrics to open chapters.

Blind Ambition by Lutishia Lovely (4 stars) tells an interesting story about two sisters; Chantel and Jett, who have very different lives. Chantel is a single mother and local lounge singer in Missouri, meanwhile her older sister Jett is a singing superstar living in LA.

“Blind ambition can lead towards a path not worth taking. It's best to live life with eyes wide open and, bravely authentic, and unapologetically out loud.”

The two sisters are brought together following the death of their mother and a web of secrets that Chantel discovers. I enjoyed how this book was an unconventional story about family and the relationship between Chantel and Jett. Lovely does a great job in characterization between the cast and despite their flaws, I liked both Chantel and Jett. I enjoyed how the story flip- flopped between their lives and perspectives; often with a bit of overlap about a situation.

The opposing views lead to lots of laughs along the way, complimented with a dash of the ridiculous celebrity lifestyle and a couple spicy scenes; Lovely created a well-rounded story. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would!

Big thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for allowing me to be an early reader with the ebook ARC! If my review peaked your interest, I hope you check it out when it's released in May.

3.5 stars. This was a compelling read!

However, The book I read and the synopsis for this book do not line-up.

First, I’ll provide my brief overview of this book:

Chantel is a single mother to her son Artani and works as a copy editor for a small newspaper. Soon Chantel is reeling from the sudden death of her mother. When Chantel reaches out to her famous sister, Jett who is practically a stranger, she finds out that Jett is in no rush to head home for the funeral. Jett is trying to have a career comeback and is extremely private about her life and is hesitant to let anyone close.

Not long after her mother’s death, Chantel discovers a secret that contradicts everything she thought she knew. To make matters worse, both Chantel and Jett start receiving blackmail threatening to expose the secret.

This is where the book’s synopsis and the actual plot of the book differ. The book’s synopsis states that when Chantel learns this secret she seeks revenge by writing a “bestselling tell-all book that will reveal Jett’s stormy past — and wreak havoc on the stardom she prizes more than anything or anyone.”

That sounds juicy, but it never happens. I usually skim synopses, so I didn’t notice this discrepancy until I went back to look at it.

Ignoring the synopsis, I enjoyed reading this book, for the most part. I loved the chapter titles, which are throwback song titles. I was playing my own throwback playlist while reading this book. It was fun. The writing style was easy to fly through.

If you enjoy fast-paced novels about the bonds of family, you might try giving this a read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my opinions.

I guessed the big reveal about a chapter into the book and kept waiting for Jett to turn into a better person, which magically happened in the last 10 pages. The euphemisms for body parts and sex were too out there for my taste.

Chantel and Jett are sisters. They both are singers. They live in two different worlds and two different states. Chantel is a hometown girl while Jett is a celebrity. Both of their worlds are about to be turned upside down.

I really enjoyed the twists and turns of the story. The storyline and the plot is on fire. This is a fast-paced story. It took me a few days only because I was savoring the story. When I had to stop, I can wait to get back to the book. The author's writing style was clear and precise. I love how the author writes her stories. Also, the book cover is stunning.

The characters are loving, hateful, funny, realistic, and serious. I love all the characters, especially Chantel and Terrence; they are very relatable characters and you fall in love with all of them. I appreciate the author had several characters that intertwine, loved, and cared for each other.

I love how the author took each chapter and made them into the song titles. Every chapter of the author had me singing the song and wondering what twist was going to happen in that chapter. The two sisters had the ambition to become singers, but we're blinded by the circumstances in their lives. Will they overcome adversity and success and be successful, or will it be unsettling?

The themes are dysfunctional families, abandonment, lies, secrets, teenage pregnancy, death, and a lot of drama. The author’s storytelling is amazing. It had me on the edge of my seat and wanting more at the same time.

I recommend all my avid book readers to read this gripping tale of two sisters whose world gets turned upside down and filled with drama. I give this book five stars.

What I loved about it!

Number #1. Own voices!
Number #2 Realistic unconventional family story and dynamics.
Number #3 Alternating POV's.

It was a great, quick read with a satisfying ending.

Since childhood, Chantel has idolized her older sister, Jett, a superstar performer. But she's seldom seen her Hollywood-based sibling. More on the shy side, Chantel is perfectly happy with her own modest singing career and quiet Missouri hometown life. But when their mother dies and Chantel's world is upended, she hopes that moving to Los Angeles will give her a fresh start--and a chance to know Jett better. But the truth is, she doesn't know Jett at all.
 
When Jett rebuffs her efforts to bond, Chantel learns a devastating secret she never could have imagined. Reeling and angry, Chantel soon comes up with the perfect vengeful weapon: a bestselling tell-all book that will reveal Jett's stormy past--and wreak havoc on the stardom she prizes more than anything or anyone. But Jett guards her private life for a reason and will stop at nothing to keep the past from being exposed. Now, between hard hidden truths and bitter new revelations, Chantel must decide how much payback is too much--and if the reward is worth the life-altering price.-

For the record the summary is misleading and that is not what happens in the novel. The actual story,  although slow, was a good read. You read the story in both Jett and Chantel's point of view, which was good. Because if I had to read either one of them alone for the entire book, it would have changed my mind on this read.

I say that because while Jett was selfish (not because she choose a career over a family), Chantel was a pushover and consistently tired to be the good person and neutral party to everything. It didn't sound real. Jett sounded real but Chantel did not.

There were points in the novel where I was expecting intense escalation but it didn't really happen. Were there moments of confrontation? Yes, however, due to Chantel's personality things shut down really fast and was wrapped up in a neat bow. I wished this book had more drama. I wish the tension, the confusion was extended a bit more. Things were too cut and dry.

However, despite this, I thought it was a good book. I was invested and was interested in the characters as well as their development. Some of the relationship could have been written out better but I enjoyed what I was reading.

Overall,

3 Pickles

The beginning is boring and I DNF'ed it after some slut-shaming and lost interest. Not really my kind of thing, maybe others would enjoy but I'm not interested.

Another hit from Ms. Lovely! The story took you through a series of emotions, sadness, anger and then joy as the story was coming to a close. Thought I had figured out who leaked the secret but was totally wrong! Ms. Lovely knows how to keep your mind engaged. Great book! Can't wait for her next project!

𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐈𝐄𝐖:
📚 Blind Ambition | By Lutishia Lovely

3.5 stars

This is an interesting story about two sisters, Chantel is a local singer in Missouri and Jett is a superstar singer in LA. The sisters have quite an age difference and aren't very close. That is until their mother's death brings them together and Chantel finds out somethings about her life that only Jett can give her answers to.

I really loved this story, but I didn’t feel like it was a book “I just couldn’t put down,” and that’s how I landed on 3.5 stars.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃:
✨ An unconventional family story.
✨ Reading from multiple characters' POV.
✨ It's a little spicy!
✨ A fun story about fame.
✨ I felt like it had a really good ending and resolution.
✨ Own Voices author!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫:
💔 I liked that the book switched back and forth between Jett and Chantel's POV, however, it was not consistent after the first few chapters. Personally, I prefer when it is every other chapter, to make it predictable, but this one felt like sometimes I had to double-check who was talking in that chapter.

TW: racial slurs, sexual assault, rape, death (probably more).

𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞:
“Blind ambition can lead towards a path not worth taking. It's best to live life with eyes wide open and, bravely authentic, and unapologetically out loud.” 💝

𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: This was a good story, and I would recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the eArc of this book!

Beautiful cover and interesting story! I appreciate the chance to read a digital ARC of this book. Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books.