Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Unforgettable Loretta Darling.

I love revenge stories and main characters who plot to give the bad guys their comeuppance.

It’s 1950 and twenty-year-old Loretta Reynolds is determined to make it big in Hollywood as a makeup artist.

She's come a long way from England, leaving behind a traumatic past and eager to live out her dreams in LaLa Land.

But, she soon discovers not everything is glitz and glamor in Tinseltown and when she's betrayed by her new husband, she begins to craft a plot of revenge against those who took advantage of her and others.

But will her revenge plot ruin her ambitions to be rich and successful and leave her the same way she arrived in Hollywood? With nothing but a con and a dream.

The Unforgettable Loretta Darling is improperly categorized as a thriller, because it's not thrilling, or suspenseful.

The narrative takes us from the beginning from Loretta's arrival in Hollywood, how she gets her big break doing makeup for famous stars, and her revenge plot, and it's slow going.

There's a lot of filler about makeup and drug fueled parties and orgies, dealing with the patriarchal industry of Hollywood and egotistical actors and executives.

The writing was fine, but the narrative was a tedious slog, nor was I a fan of Loretta.

I realize she's young and a stranger in a strange land, but despite her chutzpah, she's very immature and not very street smart despite having run away from home.

How her life plays out, including finding a decent guy just shows how lucky Loretta is and this takes a certain amount of disbelief on the part of the reader.

But, I didn't care for the story; it was not exciting or suspenseful or interesting.

I do like the cover.

I really wanted to like this as I am always intrigued by the idea of old Hollywood, but the entire book fell flat for me as it was just extremely slow paced. Unfortunately, by the time I got the end, it felt so rushed that the entire story felt a bit all over the place leaving me with a sense of indecision.

this novel reminded me so much of promising young women. I love Loretta, a tale of revenge and mixed in with being a fierce makeup artist, what more could you want

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this book, because I’m a sucker for old Hollywood. Unfortunately, it all fell flat for me. The first two parts were painstakingly slow to the point where I felt I had to force myself to pick the book back up, but the final part seemed very rushed, with storylines messily tied up. While I still loved the concept, this one missed the mark for me.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

This book was a pleasant surprise. I loved the character of Loretta, who was extremely well written. The story did a good job of exposing how predatory Hollywood was and even continues to be today. The plot flowed extremely well and I finished it and less than a day.