I was intrigued by Cover Girl and Birdie’s journey through the modeling world, and that initial curiosity carried me through, even when the pacing lagged at times. The dual timelines offer a compelling look at her adolescence and the lasting scars it left behind. The story’s emotional core, Birdie’s search for identity and agency in a predatory industry, kept me invested. Overall, it’s a heartfelt debut with a strong theme, but one that didn’t fully click for me.

I received an eARC to review.

One of the things I love about this book is that the main character's boyfriend is never given a name. He's not worth a name based on who he is. Same as all the other predatory characters in the book. Impactful writing choice. This book had me feeling all kinds of things. The story is just so tragic. Just when you think there’s hope, Birdie is made to feel and experience something more heartbreaking. Usually when a book is so good, I want to devour it.. This book is so good, I wanted to slow it down and savor it. Its heartbreaking. I had to stop multiple times because I felt so much for Birdie. Thank you for the advance copy. I loved this book.

Birdie Rhodes was discovered as a teen and swept into the glamorous world of modeling, but her rise was quickly derailed by a toxic relationship with a much older rock star. Years later, she’s living a quiet life, trying to forget the past—until an invitation forces her to confront everything she left behind.

I really wanted to love this story, but at the end of the book I felt it was just an okay read for me. I think the writing was great, it the story has a lot of emotional weight and mindfulness, but not much actual plot movement. I feel like the plot just continued to go in circles. Birdie’s passivity and the lack of depth in some characters made it hard to fully connect. I felt more connected to the Present Day Birdie that I did throughout the rest of the years that I was getting to know her.

The unnamed rock star was clearly the villain, but I felt like there could've been more added to that story to give it more depth. I think even the name of the rock star would've helped me to connect just a little bit more. But alas, I get the purpose of it. While the book somewhat kept my attention, I just wish it had a little bit more oomph to the story. If the summary above sounds like something you may enjoy, definitely give this a go though!

Rating: 3/5
Spice: 2/5

Tropes:
Heartbreak
Redemption
Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll
Dual Timeline

Thank you MIRA, Amy Rossi, and NetGalley for this eARC. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you, Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A solid 3.5 stars! This novel is short but cuts deep. As a fashion girlie, I loved the BTS look into the industry - especially the darker, more intense things that hide behind the veneer of glamour. I also loved the many pop culture references as the years pass by, it gave it an IYKYK vibe.

This would've been a four stars for me, but I just wanted MORE - more revenge, more of the reunion moments. More everything. Amy Rossi gave us an incredible story highlighting how show business exploits young, vulnerable women. I highly recommend for anyone that has a love for fashion and the modeling world.

I also feel like the important scenes were cut too soon. There were opportunities when we could've felt more of the turmoil brewing inside Birdie.

I really enjoyed this debut! This is perfect for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, anyone who enjoys Hollywood/the entertainment industry in the 70s and 80s, people who like reflective novels with unreliable narrators. There were some great supporting characters and I loved that the rock star was just “the rock star” and had no other identity, as though he wasn’t human. A great choice. This was fun but also deceptively deep and insightful. Will definitely recommend!

This was not an easy book to read my heart broke so many times while reading.
It’s the 70’s and we Meet Birdie Rhodes who at the age of thirteen is discovered by Harriet Goldman an infamous agent in the modeling world. Immediately she’s thrown into a world she’s unsure of. Two years later at fifteen she meets a thirty one year old rockstar , despite Harriet’s warnings, Birdie falls head over heels in love and what happens next is dangerous and wrong and she’s taken advantage of and every adult who she’s supposed to turn to fails her. It’s a mix of My Dark Vanessa and Daisy Jones. This was a very intimate story but please be aware of many trigger warnings of rape, molestation, youth, aids, abuse and more

The Cover Girl was a sweeping novel about a model named Birdie Rhodes, and her crazy career in the modeling world during the 1970s. It has a lot of what you would expect from this type of story-very reminiscent of Daisy Jones and the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Thank you Net Galley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me access to this arc!

This was a great book! Very interesting throughout the timelines. Enjoyed the story and the writing style so I’d definitely recommend this read!!

Wow! What a story. My heart ached for Birdie as she was swept into the expected experiences while chasing dreams in the 1970s and as she tried to find her normal life. While traumatic at times, I enjoyed the book. Thanks#NetGalley

I did not end up completing this novel, as I found it very difficult to get into. I don't believe the genre was something that really matched my interests.

Although I don't usually enjoy stories told in the first person, this book is an exception—it reads almost like a memoir. The Cover Girl has a significant message and was a very enjoyable book. It reveals the darker truths beneath the glitz and how women were treated in the modeling profession prior to the #MeToo movement. I wanted a more in-depth look at her feelings and journey rather than a quick conclusion. Despite some flaws, I thought the story was nonetheless powerful and significant to read.

The Cover Girl by Amy Rossi is a sweeping debut novel that follows the haunting life story of Birdie Rhodes, a girl who becomes a model at thirteen in the 1970s and gets caught up in a whirlwind world she's far too young to navigate. Birdie is a character who will stay with me long after closing this book—my heart truly aches for this girl who had virtually no one looking out for her best interests. Discovered at thirteen and thrust into modeling, she falls hard for a thirty-one-year-old rock star in a romance that's as intoxicating as it is damaging. Her parents essentially sign away her life and welfare because they think it's what she wants, and even her manager falls woefully short of protecting her. Birdie is failed by practically every adult in her path, and thinking of myself at that age facing such impossible situations, it's honestly surprising she emerged as even a somewhat functioning adult.

"Made into a woman as a girl, broken into parts once womanhood became too real." This line perfectly encapsulates the tragedy at the heart of this story—a girl robbed of her childhood, then discarded when she grew up. It's a powerful debut that shines a necessary light on an industry that has long preyed on youth and vulnerability, exploring themes of trauma, resilience, and the long path toward healing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amy Rossi, and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love books set in the 70's that era just has so much going on that I think it makes for interesting reading. This book is a dual time line book and while sometimes those don't work for me this one did. The author's writing style flowed well and I enjoyed this story line and the characters.

The customers of the bookstore I work for were very interested in this title and I was excited to explore this title early in order to be able to discuss it.

💭: The story of a fictional model discovered at 13 years old, and the trauma and experiences she lived through.

This book was my favorite read in July! (I know- I am soooo behind in my reviews🙈)
I flew through it and felt so much empathy for Birdie (the model.) The poor decisions that were made, how she was taken advantage of, where her life took her as an adult. You won’t be able to put this one down either, I guarantee it!

-> 4.1 stars

thank you to netgalley and amy rossi for the arc! i absolutely loved this read :)

being 100% transparent, I really didn’t want to continue reading this book the first moment I picked it up. I was so uncomfortable with the topic — but this brings up the question: is assault ever comfortable? no. but it has to be discussed and needs a voice, even on paper. in no way is reading a book about assault supposed to be comfortable, romanticized, or even pleasurable.

i want to start of by saying that the structure of this book is amazing and does the topic so well. by this, I mean how the story was delivered in snippets jumping back and forth from the contemporary to the prior timeline. I feel like this just justifies so many important components of the novel and it’s purpose: assault is never black and white, victims and perpetrators (but not most of the time for the latter) can both have no idea what they are involved in, and of course, that it can take DECADES to recover from the trauma of assault.

although this book’s ending didn’t necessarily wrap up a lot of unstitched holes, I think it’s beautiful in what it already is, and a very heart-wrenching read. i LOVE how personal the narration sounds, how the layers of memories engage the reader to continue by wondering what truly happened and how it ended, and, of course, the growth of birdie through coming to terms with assault, dysmorphia, and family disparities.

P.S. I think this is one of those books that I’ll occasionally keep thinking about time to time because it just made me that sad.

This is a sweeping saga of the rise and fall of a cover model…

Birdie Rhodes is only thirteen years old when she is discovered by the legendary Harriet Goldman in a department store. At fifteen, Birdie falls hard and fast for a famous rock star who is twice her age. Their whirlwind love affair fizzles out as quickly as it ignited and Birdie will spend years trying to recover from the pain of that relationship. Now, it is decades later and Birdie is living a quiet peaceful life when she is invited to Harriet’s 50 year career anniversary party and she will be forced to leave her solitude behind and face the ghosts of the past.

Thank you Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on August 19, 2025

I cannot believe this is a debut and want to note up front that Helen Laser narrated this story so well, the audio was fantastic. This read like a memoir and at times it was hard to remember it was fiction. It was a heartbreaking read, I felt for Birdie and am sure in real life this was unfortunately not a unique story. Rossi covered abuse so well in here from several facets: parental, work, and domestic. Told in two timelines, 1970s and 2018, I thought it was done well this way. I loved that throughout it all Birdie seemed to have a good perspective on things, while she was trying to find herself, and while she continually found herself in bad situations, some she recognized as such and some she did not.

Thank you to Kaye Publicity and MIRA Books #partner for the gifted copy and to Macmillan Audio for the ALC to review.

When Birdie Rhodes was only thirteen years old, she was discovered by modeling agent Harriet Goldman. She quickly entered the world of modeling hoping she would finally fit in. When Birdie goes on a shoot for a rock album cover, the rockstar takes notice and that’s when Birdie’s life changes. Soon she is on the road, madly in love and still trying to fit in. When life takes a drastic turn, Birdie’s career and personal life are on the line.

Decades pass and Birdie is quietly living her life. When she gets an invitation to attend a party celebrating Harriet’s life, she is at a crossroads. Can she face the woman who started her career, the one person who truly loved her after thirty years apart? Should she finally face the truth of what happened so long ago?

This novel by Amy Rossi took us deep into the tragic life of modeling at a young age. I found the book fascinating and reading Birdie’s story tugged at my heart. The story wound together seamlessly throughout as the book went back in time and then forward to present day. I enjoyed the book but kept wanting to dive deeper into Birdie’s feelings to know her better. She went through the book somewhat numb to everything around her. Seen but not heard. My thanks to Amy Rossi, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Netgalley for my advanced readers copy which I voluntarily read and reviewed. Grab a copy and step into the complex world of modeling.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Mira Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the debut novel by Amy Rossi. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Birdie Rhodes was only 13 when legendary modeling agent Harriet Goldman discovered her and transformed her into one of Harriet's Girls. But two years later, she meets a 31-year-old rock star and begins a whole new life, despite Harriet's warnings. Then it's over and Birdie has to try and pick up the pieces of her life. Decades later, she lives a quiet life and is as content as possible. Until a letter arrives inviting Birdie to celebrate Harriet's career. The two haven't spoken in nearly 30 years.

This is a wonderful debut, a chilling look into the exploitation of children and young girls for the sake of a photo. Set in two timelines, this book takes you back into the 1970s and 1980s and beyond, with glittering settings of NY, LA, Paris. My heart broke for 13-year-old Birdie, with no one looking out just for her, not even her parents. I'm not sure I've read a book strictly about modeling during this time period and it was fascinating. If you liked Daisy Jones and the Six, you'll devour this one. I was rooting for Birdie throughout the book and her journey into self-acceptance. Looking forward to more from this author!