THE HOLLYWOOD ASSISTANT is a juicy psychological thriller that will pull you in with the glitz and glam, but keep you greedily reading with the duplicity, secrets, and salacious antics. Cobb brings to life her characters as she throws them down the rabbit hole of her making.

From beginning to end, this story was one wild ride. Cassidy is a completely relatable woman. But then, things shift in her relationship with her employer, Nate. Does she spiral out or is she being played? This is the question I kept asking myself until the very end. The layers of deceit compound as does the tension between all those intertwined in this thriller. The push and pull between what is real and what is for show makes this so good! And not one person you will meet within these pages is exactly what they seem.

Let’s face it. Cobb knows how to craft a down-right addictive read. Her ability to delve into the psyche of her characters and play around with their insecurities, struggles, and compulsions is top-notch. THE HOLLYWOOD ASSISTANT is a scintillating read that calls into question who we surround ourselves with. Honestly, it was such an entertaining book. Though, did I expect anything else from the author of THE HUNTING WIVES?

I'm a big fan of May Cobb's slightly spicy summer thrillers, and this was another great one! I also like anything to do with Hollywood/celebrities, so it was right up my alley. Great twist at the end, although I should have seen it coming as the clues were there.

This author is just not for me. I was looking for a fun, juicy summer story and this was too repetitive, long, and not interesting enough for me. Yes there is drama, but everything is just so predictable and slooooow that it didn't quite produce the desired effect. I hated every single character, their dialogue was immature and cringy (does every sentence need to start with either "Ha!" or "Hey chica" or "Heeeeyyyy". Do people really talk like that? I feel like the dialogue was trying to make the story laid back or something, but it annoyed the heck out of me. There wasn't even anything remotely interesting until about 80% and by then I could barely care less and just wanted to get the answers. There was one good twist but I didn’t care much by that point.

I'm sure people will enjoy this book, but I think this author's writing/storytelling is not for me.

Offered a dream job in Hollywood with a famous director and his actress wife, an insecure woman becomes their personal assistant where their secrets and lies place her in the crosshairs of a murder investigation.

Cassidy Foster is heartbroken, stuck in life, and getting a little too obsessed with plants. Then when a well-connected friend becomes sick of Cassidy’s moping and gets her a gig with famous Hollywood couple, Marisol and Nate Sterling, Cassidy jumps at the chance to move to sunny L.A.

The Sterlings aren’t the perfect couple. Marisol isn’t the perfect wife. And when one of them is found dead, Cassidy becomes the perfect suspect.

The book centers around very tight cast which made for such an intimate experience. At times I almost felt like I was eavesdropping on their conversations, peering through the bushes and getting a behind the curtain look into the life of this Hollywood couple.

I am a huge May Cobb fan! I love that she has short chapters and she keeps you on the hook of all of her characters. This was an excellent read, and it kept me on my toes trying to figure out what was going to happen next! I read this four out of five stars.

May Cobb is a favorite for an author who writes complicated over-the-top characters who get themselves into bad situations. The Hollywood Assistant is her latest and will be a great vacation read to escape into this story. Push through the first third because once it goes off the rails is when the story gets good.

Thank you Berkeley Publishing and Netgalley for the electronic advanced copy.

Thanks to Berkley for a copy of May Cobb's newest book - The Hollywood Assistant which came out last week - July 16th! #berkleypartner #berkleyig

I enjoyed May Cobb's previous books and this one was fun but had a different style to it with the Hollywood assistant and not as much a suburban Texas feel as her other books.

This one starts slow and is slow through most of the book, so if you're looking for a fast paced book, this isn't it. I liked how it started with the fight scene but it takes until 70% to get back to that scene and I just wanted to know who died. The ending was different than I expected, and it did surprise me. I don't mind a book full of unlikeable characters, but it was really hard to root for Cassidy.

If you like Hollywood settings and a personal assistant accused of murder along with unlikeable characters you'll enjoy this book. I enjoyed reading it but it felt too long.

🎬Book Review🎬
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Summary- Cassidy Foster is heartbroken, stuck in life, and getting a little too obsessed with plants. Then when a well-connected friend becomes sick of Cassidy’s moping and gets her a gig with famous Hollywood couple, Marisol and Nate Sterling, Cassidy jumps at the chance to move to sunny LA.

The Sterlings are warm and welcoming. A perfect couple. All Cassidy has to do is be available a few hours a week for errands. In return, she has access to luxury: Designer clothes. A sparkling pool. Great pay.

When Nate takes interest in her, asking her to read scripts he’s written, Cassidy thinks this could be the key to kickstarting her writing dreams. As their business relationship grows, so does their attraction. Nate is sexy and talented, and Cassidy can’t believe her luck. Clearly, Marisol doesn’t know what she has. Maybe that’s why the two are always fighting when they think Cassidy isn’t around.

But Cassidy learns she was hired for a different purpose. The Sterlings aren’t the perfect couple. Marisol isn’t the perfect wife. And when one of them is found dead, Cassidy becomes the perfect suspect.
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Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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My thoughts- This was fantastic and I think this might be my new favorite Mae Cobb book! This book has it all and left me shocked by the twists! I loved the setting in Hollywood and how intense the sterling’s were. This one is full of twists and turns that you just will not see coming ! Cassidy was a great FMC and this one was a better version of The Housemaid in my opinion! Thank you @berkley and @netgalley
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When CASSIDY, recovering from a recent breakup, moves to LA, her friend, LEXIE uses her connections to help Cassidy land a dream job working as an assistant to a famous Hollywood couple, NATE and MARISOL STERLING.

With short hours, fantastic designer clothes, and access to the pool, Cassidy is in heaven, and she quickly becomes involved with the couple, learning all of their secrets, and even witnessing (i.e. spying on) their heated arguments and passionate makeups.

As Marisol becomes increasingly busy with her acting career, Cassidy often finds herself alone with handsome Nate. Soon she feels an overwhelming attraction to him. But when one of the couple is suddenly murdered, Cassidy becomes the number one suspect.

This character-driven psychological drama is a slow-burn, which builds in intensity. The story is told from Cassidy’s point of view, with dual timelines: the present and a few weeks in the future. While the reader is aware early on that there is a murder, the murder and victim are not revealed until very near the ending, at which point the action moves to a very swift conclusion.

I did enjoy this story and I remained engaged throughout. However, I will say that the overuse of the f-word detracted from my enjoyment. There were also several steamy scenes, which I don’t 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 like to see in my thrillers, but they did seem to be necessary in this particular story! The conclusion came as a surprise.

I think May Cobb might just not be for me. I LOVED her first book, but her follow ups have fallen a bit flat. This one definitely built up the tension and suspense, but the whole plot happened in the last 20% of the book. Unfortunately, it just has not lived up to the hype which was Cobb's first thriller, which I will continue to recommend and love.

This is a spicy guilty pleasure of a thriller incorporating all the toxic relationship triangle vibes with a bit of stalker qualities and some fun twists! Cassidy takes a leap from Texas to Hollywood when her BFF lands her a personal assistant job for a celebrity couple. She finds her smack dab in the middle of some hot mess crazy that is definitely Hollywood style. It’s a fun twisty thriller with a murder at the center and lots of cray cray drama going on and I was there for it page by page! Definitely an entertaining and steamy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own. @BerkleyPub @BerkleyRomance #BerkleyPartner #Berkley #BerkleyBookstagram #BerkleyBookTok

This was a super fast-paced book. I finished it in under two days. With that being said, I think The Hunting Wives is still my favorite May Cobb novel. I do think that this would also make a good movie or mini series adaption.

This was a fabulously juicy beach read and I think that May Cobb is a very underated author.


Many Thanks again to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Cassidy is getting over a heartbreak, living in Texas when her friend sets her up with a job in LA as a personal assistant to two big Hollywood stars so she can get a fresh start away from heartbreak. Once she arrives, she is greeted by Marisol and Nate Sterling and begins her new job. Marisol is beautiful and bubbly and so nice to Cassidy and Cassidy is smitten with Nate. Soon, Marisol ends up bonding with Nate over reviewing scripts when he asks her for a favor - to spy on his wife. Things turn crazy from then on.

This one is hard for me to review. I'm not sure if July has just been too busy or what but it took me a long time to read this one. It has an interesting plot and I wanted to know what happened but it was a slow burn and I didn't particularly like Cassidy. A few of the twists were unexpected but I'm not sure how much I liked them and the ending left me a tad bit confused. It was entertaining and I could see this being made into a movie!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own. 3.5 rounded up

This is one of my favorite book covers for 2024! I love May Cobb and couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of her newest release.

THE HOLLYWOOD ASSISTANT falls very middle of the pack in terms of thrillers that I've read so far this year. I enjoyed it, but there were some things that held me back from loving it. This story felt similar to some others that I've read, so it was a little predictable. This was a quick read that I finished in less than 2 days. I really liked the ending and didn't see it coming!

4.25/5 - rounded down

Thank you Berkley Pub for the advanced reading copy!

SYNOPSIS -- Cassidy Foster is desperate to start fresh and, when given an opportunity to do that in LA, she takes it. As assistant to the Hollywood couple Marisol and Nate Sterling, Cassidy settles in quickly to her new job and the perks, including time by the pool and Nate's willingness to let Cassidy read scripts for him. As an aspiring writer, she's thrilled to be given this insight into Nate's career and get her foot in the door... not to mention Nate is sexy and enticing, blurring the lines for Cassidy even further. As she learns more and finds out that the Sterlings might not be as perfect as they seem, Cassidy becomes an easy suspect when one of the Sterlings is found dead, and she's determined to figure out what really happened.

This was the perfect, salacious, summer thriller, right from the start! Almost gave me Verity vibes at times, and I was so here for that! This book certainly didn't feel like some-400 pages; it went so quick and I absolutely devoured it. I ended up listening to the majority of this one on audio, simply because I couldn't be bothered to put down the story when I couldn't sit and read anymore -- that's how you know it's great, and the narrator did a phenomenal job. There were some great twists throughout the book, and surprises at every turn. Every character was infuriating in their own way, and as I kept reading I grew more and more suspicious of each of them for different reasons. This book was reminiscent of a few others - IYKYK - but with shocking revelations that made it unique. Honestly, perfect if you're looking for a quick summer read that will take your breath away!

Hello to a must read author! Cobb once again brings some juicy goodness to a delightful thriller. It has celebrities, obsession, affairs and so much more. Yes please.

Oh how I love to get lost in a MAY COBB book & THE HOLLYWOOD ASSISTANT was square in my dark + messed-up sweet spot.

There’s something so wonderful about a book being the exact right book you needed in the moment. I tore through this one, finishing the last 100+ pages in one page-turning sitting.

We meet Cassidy, fresh off her move from Austin to LA, as she’s starting her new job as the Personal Assistant to Hollywood director Nate Sterling and his model-turned-actress wife Marisol. Cassidy is getting paid a lot of money to spend her days making trips to the grocery store, picking up scripts for Nate and reorganizing Marisol’s designer-filled closet.

She’s quickly welcomed into their lives, sharing dinners and drinks, swims in the pool and becoming a confidant. When Nate learns Cassidy’s a writer he asks her to do coverage for his scripts - read them and provide a summary. She’s thrilled at the opportunity, hoping it will take her one step closer to her dream career.

But the glamour and glitz of Hollywood are just a facade for secrets, lies, deceptions and dangerously alluring offers. Cassidy finds herself drawn into the Sterlings’ world and has to ask herself — How far she is willing to go to get what she wants?

The book centers around very tight cast which made for such an intimate experience. At times I almost felt like I was eavesdropping on their conversations, peering through the bushes and getting a behind the curtain look into the life of this Hollywood couple.

I love a rich people behaving badly story. MAY COBB delivers another twisty mystery and adds some more sultry scenes with a noir vibe. The setting is perfectly painted (I’ve never been…but now I feel like I have). And as always there something I unexpectedly wholeheartedly connected to — this time it was HS bonfire parties in the woods.

MAY COBB is the perfect writer if you’re looking for a bingeable read, with delicious characters and plots that will twist you and keep you on your toes.

In The Hollywood Assistant, a recent transplant from Texas gets a job as an assistant to an actress and her producer husband and is quickly immersed in their lives full of secrets and deceptions. This was such a fun, juicy book. I loved the way it slowly unfolded but the entire time, it was clear something terrible was going on and the assistant was going to be caught in the middle. The kind of book where bad decisions are made but you need them to be made for the mess to continue. I also loved all of the LA references, especially since most of it took place not too far from where I live. It was a really fun, fast-paced page turner of a summer read.

I have been looking forward to reading this book for awhile now and I finally got to read it and let me just say, I haven't read a thriller that quick in a long time. This book was awesome and it was a super fast paced. First things first, the short chapters which was a plus! Then just the whole story outline was well written and kept you wanting more. I was so curious about what was going to happen with Cassidy,Nate and Marisol. The story had so much mystery behind it and you never knew what was going to happen next. Then of course the twist, oh that twist I did not see coming!!

Def a great way to end it and I hope everyone gets the chance to read this one soon!

May Cobb is a reliably great author who is skilled at writing a twisty and suspenseful thriller, and a writer who is having her stories adapted to the screen. I liked A Likeable Woman very much, and I am going to read Hunting Wives this summer.

My problem with this particular book was the unlikeable characters. I have had this issue before with Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, so am I supposed to rate the book on its skillful storytelling and leave out my disdain for the unreliable narrator fueled by drinking who has a somewhat questionable or sordid history? I am new at this, so forgive me if I cannot consider that this is one of my least enjoyed tropes. I probably will continue to read all the stories with this trope anyway. I can’t seem to avoid it.
Writing and plot get a 4.5, and overall due to my dislike of the unreliable narrator- 3.75/5 overall for my reading. I should say it takes so much skill as an author to make me despise someone so thoroughly.

I did really love the ending of this one, it was so satisfying.

Readalikes: Girl On a Train, Woman In The Window, Woman In Cabin 10
#newbooks #arcreading #bookstagram #bookreviews #thrillerbooks #suspensebooks #unreliablenarrator

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