Before He Was Famous by Becky Wicks Review

Before He Was Famous by Becky Wicks

Release Date: May 29, 2014

Blurb

Falling in love with your best friend isn’t always a great idea, especially when he’s Noah Lockton – the sexiest, most famous new talent on the planet. When 21-year-old small-town photographer Chloe Campbell is offered the chance of a lifetime – to join her celebrity childhood friend Noah on tour as an exclusive blogger for a New York magazine – she’s certain both have put what happened four years ago behind them. But his eyes still burn; his voice is still a jackhammer to her heartstrings; all his songs are about her. Is it possible that that night still haunts them both?

The music industry is a machine, spinning hype and rumors as much as his records. It’s not just Noah’s girlfriends who’ve got it in for Chloe (there’s no stopping the Twitter-obsessed, cat-loving pop-star Courtney Lentini for starters). Pretty soon, the jealousy and media frenzy surrounding these so-called-friends takes a life-changing turn and it seems making love means making enemies at every turn. When tragedy threatens to pull the final curtain on their relationship, both Chloe and Noah must make a choice. As much as this world leaves them starstruck, is living their dream really worth living without each other?

A story of lifelong friendships, love and hope, set in a world of celebrity, fame and social media gone very, very wrong.

Excerpt

Let me guess. When you say the name Noah Lockton, you see him standing with one of a hundred guitars around his neck, glistening with sweat in the glare of the stage lights.

You see him grinning, maybe on a pap shot, maybe snapped on a red carpet, smiling at you from the middle of a magazine. You see him in the spotlight; hot in more ways than one, right?

You see shouting headlines, hear the shrieks of infatuated fans, visualize the vacuous presenters buffing up his ego on all those TV channels and him batting away compliments like they’re bees. You see bulbs flashing, neon flickering, videos playing on loop everywhere. They’re in the gym, on the seatback screens of airplanes; in your Facebook sidebar when you’re messaging your friends.

You hear his music, obviously. How could you not? It’s everywhere. His voice is everywhere. You know the stats. Noah Lockton. Twenty-three. Five-foot-eleven, messy brown curls and steel-gray eyes. Pisces. You think you know him, this superstar, guitar-playing rock star.

But there are some things you don’t know about Noah Lockton.

You don’t know how proud he was that time, to have made me a cake out of Lego, mud and toothpaste. How when he was eight, he sat up in the tree house for three whole days after Prairie died. I was freaking out that if the dog fell down from heaven no one else would be as close to the sky to catch him. Noah just didn’t want anyone else to see him cry. So we sat up there together, neither of us saying a word. Just holding hands.

You don’t know how crazy he made me, teaching me guitar till my fingers bled. How we perfected the art of burping the entire first Britney Spears single together after four cans of Diet Coke and convinced a radio station to put us on air.

You don’t know how his arms felt wrapped around me when my world came crashing down; how I clung to the feeling of him inside me, filling me up; bringing me back to life again when all I could feel otherwise was numb.

You don’t know how we avoid the subject now.

When we were kids, his dad said his eyes were so shiny in all my photos because of all the stars inside them.

Noah was always going to shine.

He was always going to be mine.

But sometimes even I forget the way things were before he was famous.

My Review

And love is just friendship with wings, isn’t that what they say? – Before He Was Famous by Becky Wicks

Looking for a fun afternoon read that is perfect for a beach day? Before He Was Famous is a young adult novel about best friends who lost each other and have a second chance at love. It’s light and easy to get lost in the characters.

Before He Was Famous by Becky Wicks is an easy read at 280 pages. We see what life was like when Noah and Chloe were growing up, we find out what happened four years ago, and we see what happens when Chloe becomes a blogger following along Noah’s musical journey. There are twists and turns throughout the story, but it all comes down to this second chance romance.

She kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to see what happened next and I loved the way the book flowed from scene to scene. Becky Wicks takes us on a Reality-TV/Blogging journey that really keeps you engaged. I love that you have the push and pull throughout the story of will they or won’t they actually get together.

I’ll put this in my sweet beach read, summer read category. Give it a go and let me know what you think.

★ ★ ★ ★ Stars

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About the Author

Becky Wicks is a HarperCollins author going indie! Itchy feet has led her to live and work all over the world since leaving England at age 21, including NYC, Sydney, Bali, South America and Dubai. Right now she’s scribbling the second book in the HotFlush series in Vietnam, and will soon be in Vancouver if any hot Canadian men want to make her a cup of tea?

Becky has also written three funny travel books about her time in Dubai, Bali and South America (HarperCollins). Her first book, Burqalicious – The Dubai Diaries, her second book, Balilicious – The Bali Diaries and her third, Latinalicious -The South America Diaries are out now as ebooks.

Becky has also written a comedy romance with author Sarah Alderson under the name Lola Salt, called The Extraordinary Life of Lara Craft (not Croft) which should raise a giggle or two… think Bridget Jones if Jackie Collins had written it!

Follow her on twitter at bex_wicks and her blog www.beckywicks.com

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