Showmance by L.H. Cosway Pages: 282
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Also by this author: Six of Hearts, King of Hearts (Hearts, #3), Hearts of Blue, The Player and the Pixie, Thief of Hearts, Hearts on Air
Goodreads
Damon Atwood was Hollywood’s golden boy. Having won an Oscar at the tender age of thirteen, he had the life many could only dream about. But his success came at a price, and after a short but fruitful film career, he chose to live a life of obscurity on a remote Scottish island. Almost a decade later he’s finally ready to make his return, starting with a lead role in a musical on London’s West End.
As a choreographer’s assistant, Rose Taylor has always faded into the background. She watches shows come to life from the side lines, but has never craved the attention of stardom. When rumours begin circulating of Damon’s involvement in her latest gig, she doesn’t predict how she will be thrust into the limelight, nor how the mysterious and strangely introverted man will need her to teach him how to be a star again.
Rose knows that show crushes don’t last. Actors fall for each other during the intensity of a production, often losing themselves in their roles. These kinds of affairs burn bright and then they fade. The question is, should Rose let herself shine with Damon, or guard her heart from being broken after the final curtain call?
Showmance
LH Cosway
Showmance was a different type of story for me! I liked the characters, especially Damon. Here is a hero who isn’t an alpha, he isn’t a jerk, and he isn’t all those things that seem so common in romance heroes today. Getting his inner monologue was wonderful. He was so devoted and in love with Rose from so early on and I found that amazingly attractive. Rose wasn’t a crazy heroine either. She was, get this, NORMAL! Yep, totally normal! Don’t get me wrong, her roommate is a legit whore, and her mom raised her in a polyamorous household so she has some baggage, but she is a normal girl. The story is set in the theater as they are preparing a stage version of Moulin Rouge. Alicia, Blake, and Julian all add to the drama in various ways. Both Alicia and Blake are scheming and that provides the drama in the will they won’t they relationship of Damon and Rose. Julian is a really interesting character though-he provides both amazing insight as well as comic relief. Sometimes I felt the book was a little slow. I wanted to shake the characters for falling for Blake and Alicia’s schemes and drama. Damon and Rose are smarter than that, so I was annoyed when they seemed to fall for their tricks.
If you enjoy the sort of behind the scenes stories about movies or plays, showmance is a great choice. Its the whole play within a play thing! I love Cosway’s writing style as well so that is always a plus! Seriously, if you haven’t read Six of Hearts, you are totally missing out! Its my favorite of hers!
- POV: Dual
- Tears: no
- Trope: Famous, Friends to Lovers
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: Standalone
- Cliffhanger: no
- HEA: View Spoiler »
Wicked Heart by Leisa Rayven, The Fall Up by Aly Martinez, The Consequence of Revenge and The Consequence of Seduction by Rachel Van Dyken…then you will probably like Showmance!
L.H. Cosway has a BA in English Literature and Greek and Roman Civilisation, and an MA in Postcolonial Literature. She lives in Dublin city. Her inspiration to write comes from music. Her favourite things in life include writing stories, vintage clothing, dark cabaret music, food, musical comedy, and of course, books.
She thinks that imperfect people are the most interesting kind. They tell the best stories.
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Fun Fact #1: When Rose tells Damon how she got to meet Gene Kelly’s wife, that was actually me! I didn’t hug her for too long or creep her out like Rose, but she did mention that Gene used to have a thing for women who wear glasses. I like to imagine this means I could’ve been his wife if I were born a few decades earlier 😀
Fun Fact #2: There are some “easter eggs” sprinkled throughout the book, which I mostly included just to amuse myself. For example, in the show Damon plays the lead role of Christian, while Alicia plays Satine. So the names sort of have interconnected meanings. Damon (as in demon) as opposed to Christian. Alicia reminds me of angel, and her character’s name is Satine (as in Satan/Lucifer the fallen angel).
Fun Fact #3: Another easter egg of sorts. There are some parallels in the story that mirror some aspects of Moulin Rouge. For instance, Julian is a real life male escort while the musical tells the story of a fictional courtesan as played by Alicia.
Fun Fact #4: When Rose tells Damon about Gene Kelly sneakily making Cyd Charisse’s skirt shorter during the filming of Singin’ in the Rain, this was an anecdote his wife told when I went to see her give a talk about the film. I’ve searched high and low but cannot find any mention of this story online, so perhaps it only exists as a word of mouth tale. Well, now it will live on in Showmance.
Fun Fact #5: When Julian tells Alicia about the French demi-monde, this actually comes from research I did during my post-grad thesis, which focused on depictions of courtesans in 18th & 19th century French literature. For years I’ve wanted to use this research in writing a novel about a real life sex worker, but set in modern times, and it’s finally going to happen when I write Julian’s story next year.
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