Review: LAST NIGHT AT CHATEAU MARMONT ****

Heartbreak, headlines and Hermes – welcome to Brooke's new world…
Brooke and Julian live a happy life in New York – she's the breadwinner working two jobs and he's the struggling musician husband. Then Julian is discovered by a Sony exec and becomes an overnight success – and their life changes for ever.
Soon they are moving in exclusive circles, dining at the glitziest restaurants, attending the most outrageous parties in town and jetting off to the trendiest hotspots in LA.
But Julian's new-found fame means that Brooke must face the savage attentions of the ruthless paparazzi. And when a scandalous picture hits the front pages, Brooke's world is turned upside down. Can her marriage survive the events of that fateful night at Chateau Marmont? It's time for Brooke to decide if she's going to sink or swim …

I'm such a sucker for 'rags to riches' stories so I was really looking forward to reading this one! To tell you the truth, I've never read anything by Ms Weisberger before - I've only *seen* The Devil Wears Prada (loved it!), which I own a copy of along with Everyone Worth Knowing, and I'm definitely planning to read both eventually, they really do sound like my type of reads ... Well, so did this one, but I was left unimpressed ... Don't get me wrong, this is certainly not a bad book by any means, I actually quite enjoyed it, but I just thought it lacked that X factor, something special ... But I'll get back to that later.

The story revolves around Brooke and Julian's relationship and their world, which turns upside down when Julian, previously a struggling musician, becomes a massive star overnight. The lives change almost immediately and it's no surprise that they're struggling to adjust to all the changes, however fabulous they may be. Sure, they're partying with all the biggest stars and the money's not a problem anymore, but while Julian is playing the biggest shows and touring the country, Brooke's job is suffering and she's often lonely. On top of it all, the paparazzi are following them 24/7 and printing lies and speculations and trying to break them apart ... Brooke is not sure she can cope with all the madness - how much is enough to ruin her marriage? Will Julian even try to prevent it?

As I said, this is certainly an enjoyable read and I can't really fault it, but for me it was just missing that spark ... I often have this problem with American chick lit where I feel like I'm just watching the story through the window and I don't really connect with the characters all that much. On the other hand, I often find British and Irish chick lit so much more fun to read - it's often not just about following the story, but also about having a blast while reading it!
So while this book didn't make me fall asleep or roll my eyes, it also didn't make me laugh or engage me, I was more like, "Oh, I see, okay ..." On the plus side, I did enjoy reading about the lifestyles of the rich and the famous (beware, there is a lot of name dropping and celebrity cameos in the book, which I thought was rather fun).

Obviously recommended to chick lit fans, but not quite the best the genre has to offer, in my humble opinion.

overall rating:
plot: 4/5 | writing: 3/5 | characters: 4/5 | cover: 3/5