Read if you like romances with some steam; a pessimist snarky woman and her golden retriever himbo; books set in California; books about famous people; and lots and lots of snarky humor.

I am so terribly and desperately in love with this book. I found it so easy to get swept up in this story and feel invested in these characters lives. buuuuut I just wish the author would have given us a little more at the end…or maybe, dare i wish, a sequel!! I would even settle for a longer epilogue. I just feel like there was a lot that went unresolved and was left very open ended.

I don’t know this book just made me wish I could do yoga on the beach, drink some green juice and then maybe chase it down with a pina colada. So basically, it was a roller coaster of emotions.

Fiona is a former child star whose career imploded after a long string of high-profile incidents of "behaving badly" while her former co-star, Sam, is fighting to keep his celebrity after yet another project of his is cancelled. When the pair are approached to join a revival of their show, Fiona is adamant that she's out, while Sam jumps at the chance to bring back the hit show. Knowing that without Fiona, the show won't get the greenlight, Sam approaches Fiona to try to convince her that its in her best interest to revive her own career. But when his attempts to reconnect with her for the sake of the show turns into the possibility of a real relationship between them, they have to decide what's more important, and secrets about what happened in the past begin to threaten the future.

Birds of California is both a romantic comedy as much as it is a commentary on the post #metoo society and our obsession with celebrity - specifically exploiting their mistakes and humanity. Years after she allowed her career to implode, Fiona's still working to avoid the spotlight and reclaim her own identity and sense of self. But all her moves are still followed by the media, and both fans and critics approach her and demand photos while also making passive-aggressive comments about her to her face - behaving badly as if they own some slice of her for their own consumption and enjoyment. These incidents send her into a spiral and prevent her from enjoying life. On the flip side, Sam courts the press and celebrity, believing that it gives him an identity and a life worth living, so he begins chasing it. When he feels it slipping from his grasp, he becomes desperate to stay relevant in order to maintain the lifestyle he's become accustomed to living. The opposites-attract has never been more pronounced between them when the clear and obvious differences between how they chose to live their lives contradict their obvious chemistry. But resolution between them seems nearly impossible without each having to give up control or something they're desperate to maintain - their privacy or their celebrity - in favor of a chance at happiness together.

Original review at Smexy Books:

I had to go back and re-read the blurb for Birds of California about halfway through, because this is one of those cases where the marketing and the content don’t match. The promotional material refers to it as a “whip smart romantic comedy.” Whip smart, I will give it, but romantic comedy? No.

Birds of California is a novel about two actors who starred as kids on the television show by that name but went their separate ways as they neared adulthood. Sam, charismatic and attractive, left the show to pursue his acting career. Fiona went down in flames, attracting media attention as she self-sabotaged all over Hollywood until the show got cancelled mid-season. The book takes place years later when the head of the network and one of its adult stars decide to shoot a reboot. Sam has had some successes over the years, but his current show gets cancelled, leaving him with an expensive Tesla lease and no money. Fiona has been keeping her head down, evading attention and leading a reclusive life that involves keeping her clinically depressed father’s business afloat and taking care of her little sister. Since the show, she has received inpatient counseling and suffers from PTSD for reasons that aren’t clear until the end of the book. Sam needs the reboot, but Fiona flatly refuses to sign on.

For me, trying to figure out what Fiona went through overshadowed the slow build of the feelings between her and Sam. I got an inkling, but there is little to confirm my suspicions until deep into the book. She is prickly, defensive, and very self-aware. I thought the PTSD rep was good and appreciated the range of reactions and Fiona’s internal monologue. The book alternates between a close 3rd person view of both her and Sam. We see her thoughts, but we don’t know what is behind them. The concealment of what caused Fiona’s PTSD distracts from the slow building romance to the extent that I wasn’t as interested in whether they got together as I was in learning the truth. It builds a kind of suspense, but it also seems manufactured, given the window we have on Fiona’s other thoughts.

The characters both remember a kiss they shared at the last wrap party for Birds of California, and it seems like there is an attraction that was unexplored then. But the narrative does not make a great case for their relationship in the now. Sam is most convincing. Even though he seems a bit shallow, it’s his thoughts about Fiona that seem most caring. He struggles between his need for a paycheck and honoring Fiona’s wish to not do the reboot, despite not understanding her reasons. But he also puts up with a lot of verbal abuse from Fiona. Sure, it’s often said in a witty way, but I kept waiting for him to draw a line. You get the sense that this yet another defense mechanism, and maybe even her being dishonest with herself, but it doesn’t make for compelling romance.

We learn for certain what happened to Fiona at the end of the novel, but there are hints dropped starting about halfway through the novel. I understand why Fiona doesn’t tell Sam, and the moment she does is a signal of trust. We see Sam do a lot to earn that trust, and hopefully after the conclusion, she reciprocates.

CW: PTSD, clinical depression in father, sexual grooming, off-page sexual assault

Fiona St. James was child star of the hit show “Birds of California” until after several public incidents, her career as an actress was over. Years later, she helps her family’s printing business and has put her past behind her. Sam Fox who played Fiona’s older brother on the show, has hit rock bottom. His latest show is cancelled, he’s broke, and his mother is also ill. When his agent approaches him with the idea of “Bird of Paradise” reboot he is ecstatic, this may be the big break needs to save his career. The only catch, everyone needs to be on board, including Fiona St. James. Sam is tasked with trying to convince Fiona to take on the reboot which is harder than he thought. As the two spend more time together, they are both caught by surprise by the tension and passion between them. But there is things Sam does not know about Fiona’s past, the true reason for her public meltdown.

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The premise of the story immediately caught my attention, two Hollywood stars in a second chance romance. In the beginning I was not a fan of Sam given that at first his reasoning for reaching out to Fiona were completely selfish and for his benefit, but it was nice to read how their relationship changed and how slowly but surely Fiona is able to come out of her shell and find happiness. My heart broke for Fiona and everything she went through, and how it drastically affected her life. My main issue with this one was that I feel like at the end of this story we are left with A LOT of unanswered questions. There is one crucial situation to the plot that is briefly mentioned how is resolved but I really would have liked some more insight as to what happened afterwards, maybe even in an epilogue or something. I couldn’t fully connect with these two characters as well; I would have loved to see some more character development particularly on Sam’s part. I want to thank NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This title will be released on April 26th, 2022.

Former teen TV actor Fiona St. James has kept hidden from the spotlight since the famous crash and burn that ended her career. Now years later, in the age of TV reboots, she is contacted to reprise her role. Meanwhile, Sam Fox, her TV brother learns his current show is being canceled. Sam is all for the reboot, but it’ll only happen if Fiona is on board. Can he convince her?

When I was starting this book, I thought I would be reading about the bad behavior of an actress, but it was so much more. Fiona’s character is deep and there are a lot of layers to her life even from when she was a teen. It actually made me sad and think of child stars like Britney Spears who had to grow up in the spotlight. How is it possible to know who wants to be with you for you or for your fame?

Learning about Fiona’s past and present through Sam’s eyes was interesting. Fiona questioned his motivation for wanting to hang out and even had me questioning it.

Letting us know that not everything on the surface or in the media is real or what it seems, this book was an impactful read!

Unfortunately this book felt a bit derivative of one of my favorite novels, The Comeback, but not nearly as good. I wanted to like this so much and although I don't take issue with the writing, I didn't really enjoy reading it. It was quick, which was good, but I felt like so much was lacking with the ending and the motivations behind the characters. I hope you have better luck!

Birds of California comes out next week on April 26, 2022 and you can purchase HERE.

"Why do all Goodwills smell the same?" he wonders out loud.

"Human dander and broken dreams," Fiona says glancing at him sidelong.

Birds of California is one of the better post-#MeToo showbiz-kids –grow-up-in-Hollywood novels.  Warm and inviting,with engaging characters who are enjoyable, it gets slightly dinged for pacing issues.

Fiona St. James was once the child star on the family dramedy The Birds of California, which combined the joys of ornithology with various issues surrounding growing up.  The show only lasted for four seasons, but Fiona is still an object of curiosity and sometimes has to battle back Twitter rumors that she’s died, especially as she took to the party scene when she was still a minor and went through a very public meltdown along the way. Her penchant for acting out and rebellion resulted in – among other things - her riding naked on the back of a lizard, leading to a media frenzy.  She doesn’t want to talk about it.  She’s in her late twenties now and is happily living her life out of the spotlight, working at her father’s print shop.  When her agent tries to get in touch with her, she ignores the call.

Sam Fox portrayed her brother on the show, and he’s eked out quite the life for himself, both in the Hollywood limelight and in several TV shows since then, becoming a minor heartthrob.  But after all of those highs, lows arrive. His last series was just cancelled, and his party lifestyle has resulted in an empty bank account.  His previous job went badly enough that his agent won’t take his calls. He’s currently jobless and prospectless, which causes him to agree to show up on a Birds of California reboot series.  The producers won’t agree to back a pilot for the show without Fiona, and since Fiona’s acting career has boiled down to taking community theater work, getting her to sign on will be quite a feat.

While Sam tries to convince Fiona to show up for the show, Fiona learns that the naturally comic Sam has secretly hidden dramatic ambitions that no sitcom role could scratch, and he learns that Fiona had a terrible reason for leaving Hollywood behind – and for breaking down.  But can Fiona trust Sam’s motives for getting the show together, and can Sam avoid letting the creature known as Hollywood swallow him up for good?

Birds of California is a good contemporary romance with a solid core and relatable/believable characters.  I loved Fiona a lot, although it takes a while for Sam to get over his oily behavior (there is a Big Downbeat moment where he has to reevaluate his behavior and realize what he’s lost in her).  The romance is a traditional enemies-to-friends-to-lovers slow-burn that’s engaging and involving, funny and touching, in equal amounts.  The way Fiona’s mental health crisis is handled worked for me, and I liked these completely flawed and messy and yet human people.

But the pacing toward the end of the book is definitely where it trips up, because everything happens at once.  This is one of those books that needed more time and pages to percolate its denouements, both of which drag the grade down.  But Birds of California is still a worthy if flawed piece of work.

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Two former child stars reunite, years after one of them had a very public meltdown and the other continued to be successful.. Now his success has come to an end and the only way to regain it is to convince her to get back in the game.

I LOVED this book. Fiona is a former child star gone wild. Sam is a working actor who is broke. I love how messy and complicated Fiona is. She is flawed and relatable and there is no quick fix. People love her in spite of her flaws. I feel like I will be thinking of this book for awhile.

BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA – Katie Cotugno

Harper Perennial

ISBN: 978-0-06-315914-3

April 26, 2022

Contemporary Fiction



Los Angeles, California – Present Day



Former child star Fiona St. James left the show that made her a star after she began to spiral out of control. Now she lives with her father and little sister, working in the family printing business by day and helping out a small theater company at night. There are rumors that the network wants to revive Fiona’s old show, Birds of California, but they will need to bring the former actors onboard. Sam Fox, who played her older brother until he left the show, contacts Fiona asking her to at least consider reprising her role. She lets him know that she has no interest in cooperating and for him to go away. But Sam is persistent.



Sam has a reason that he wants Birds of California to be revived on the streaming network. His latest TV show was just canceled and he’s desperately looking for new work because he has bills to pay. Sam turns on the charm with Fiona, but she’s a tough shell to crack. He continues to visit her, and they talk. Soon, their relationship turns into a sexual attraction. But at the core of their friendship is that Sam needs Fiona to do the show.



BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA is an unusual tale and shows the dark side of Hollywood and what happens to young actors. For Fiona, as the show continued through the years, the more she wanted out. But she had a contract, and to break it, she started acting out. Wild parties, shoplifting, breaking stuff. She finally got her wish, but it blacklisted her career. Does she regret what she did? But she had a reason for what happened…



Sam continued his career, but jobs are far and few between. He owes money and getting Birds of California revived would be a huge boost to his wallet. He tries charming and cajoling Fiona to sign on, but she is stubborn. Yet, being around her has him falling for her. He wants to protect her, but he doesn’t understand if he’s protecting her from herself or something else.



Readers will wonder at first how likable Fiona is, but it quickly turns out the answer is yes. She has fallen on her face and is slowly picking herself up. Will the reappearance of Sam in her life set her back? Sam, on the other hand, begins to see a new side of Fiona. He needs her but doesn’t realize until midway through BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA as to how much he does. An intriguing tale that will capture your attention, don’t miss picking it up today.



Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

This is one of those books that you don't quite see coming. It is about a former child star living a quiet life after she basically pulled a Britney and self-destructed to end her career years prior. Fiona was a complex character with lots of big emotions, and good reasons to now live a totally reclusive life away from fame and fortune. I felt compelled from the beginning to follow her story with rapt attention and loved the budding romance between Fiona and Same. For his part, Sam was one of those uber beautiful people in hollywood who is living beyond his means and trying to figure out where he went wrong with his life. I loved the story of how these two reconnect and how it impacts his self reflection so deeply. This was an extremely powerful story at the heart and the romance was just enough to help the reader swallow the other stuff.

Sadly I did not love this one and it's a shame because I have loved Katie Cotugno's books in the past. Specifally How to love & 99 Days so I was excited for her foray into adult romance but this fell flat for me.
There wasn't a ton of character development and they never really addressed the big issue at hand. It was also short, not even 300 pages. I just wanted more from it.

This quick, enjoyable read straddles the line between contemporary romance and women's fiction. The plot is fresh, with a nod to recent show-biz revelations that reframe so many female stars' "breakdowns" in the 2000s.

I'll start off by saying this was not what I was expecting... and I'm so glad! This was SO good. The character development, plot, witty banter, and relationships were so well written. I was drawn in and truly was rooting for the main character the whole time. There is a lot of real-life trauma and hurt that was spoken in such a dire way that I think a lot of people will feel safe while reading this novel.
My only con was some of the language the male character used and the number of times it talked about him "getting off" randomly.
Besides that, this book was fantastic and such a fun read!

Thank you, NetGalley, Katie Cotugno, and Harper Perennial for allowing me to review this!

I definitely wanted to love this one so much, but I found that I really didn't enjoy the main characters. There was a lot of back and forth and I felt like so many problems were self-created. I absolutely love the cover.

ARC Review

Birds of California is the story of two teenage television stars all (mostly) grown up. Fiona St. James strives to live a low key life post her acting days as a character on Birds of California. She doesn’t enjoy the spotlight anymore but the spotlight of Hollywood can still manage to track her down. Sam Fox, her costar on the show, on the other hand looks for all the spotlight he can find. When the cast is approached to do a reboot of the show, and Sam finds himself out of work, there’s an all hands on deck approach to try to get Fiona onboard for the reboot. As Sam makes a play to try to sway her opinion he also finds himself catching feelings for the infamous Fiona St. James. And as the two spend more time together they learn about each other’s pasts and what landed them where they are, they both start wondering if they’re not better matched than would have originally assumed.

What a delight this read was! This was our first read of the author’s and we’d definitely be interested in checking some more out. This one releases this month on April 26th so check it out!

ARC courtesy of @netgalley @katiecotugno - thank you for the opportunity for preview this one!

#birdsofcalifornia #katiecotugno #aprilnewreleases #arcreview #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #addtoyourtbr #netgalley

I'm not gonna lie to you, originally I was taken by the cover. I mean it is STUNNING. The story didn't disappoint either! We have Fiona a former child star who crashed and burned mentally which lead to the cancelation of her show. When news they want to reboot the show on a new digital platform the whole cast is ready to jump back in, but Fiona is a hard sell. So they stick Sam, her former co-star and old secret crush, on her in hopes he can convince her to reconsider. What no one excepts is a relationship to form between them and secrets from their past to be revealed.

If you love a Hollywood drama this one is up your alley! It has a lot of depth and goes flawlessly between Sam and Fiona's perspective from past and present. There are real life issues like the me-too movement, and the problems in Hollywood in general. Overall this was a fun read, there was no sugar coating or light perfect moments, but realistic and beautiful.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 4/26!

Birds of California is the first adult romance by a popular YA author Katie Cotugno. It's a fun, quick read, and it doesn't have a lot of depth, even though it touches on some complex topics, such as fame and mental health. I liked the premise of the book, and I mostly liked the characters, but I didn't feel invested in their love story. The characters are in their late 20s and early 30s, but they came across as young adults in their early 20s, lacking emotional maturity. This book reads more like a YA romance and not an adult romance. I think fans of Katie Cotugno's YA books will enjoy Birds of California. For me, an avid reader of adult romance, this book fell a little short.

. Fiona, a former childhood star is trying to live a normal life after having a breakdown, (think Lindsay Lohan). When her former co-star Sam, who she had a crush on approaches her for a possible reboot for the show, she immediately tells him no, she is done, The book alternates POV between Sam and Fiona, both with there own struggles. Sam is also out of work and trying to care for his family back home in Wisconsin. I enjoyed the Wisconsin references the author made, she nailed it as I am from here. This is my first book by the author. I enjoyed the book.

Birds of California was my first Katie Cotungo book I read. I wish I had read another one of hers first like How to love.

The pacing of the book didn't work for me and it was hard to stay interested in the whole thing. It was almost a did not finish but I did finish it. It was just ok.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for allowing me the chance to read and review.