Walk on By by Stacey Solomon

 Ever since Charlotte Taylor was a little girl she’s wanted fame and fortune. She sings with the voice of an angel and is soon plucked out of obscurity and launched into the limelight as the overnight sensation ‘Lola’.

Charlotte attends wild celebrity parties and moves in circles with the rich and famous, but the people living the life of celebrity aren’t all she imagined them to be and neither is her life. Struggling to find the real Charlotte again she battles against the crazy life she’s thrust into, desperately trying to swim to the surface.

Blake Hudson is a self-made man. Successful in his own right, he’s busy making his own mark on the world. Self-assured, strong and determined, he’s not looking for a permanent relationship. But when he meets the sweet and charming Charlotte, he’s captivated. But the world of celebrity and business collide and commitments, half-truths and unintentional deception don’t make for smooth sailing.

Hilarious consequences ensue through this romantic comedy, but can Lola and Blake overcome the challenges that life and fame throw their way to find their own happy-ever-after, or will Lola just have to Walk on By?

Charlotte (“Lola”) is sick of being in the spotlight.  Don’t get her wrong, she’s happy to be doing what she loves, but she finds the downside of fame to be a big downer.  Lola is accomplished, but Charlotte just dreams of falling in love and being happy without all the bad stuff that comes along with being famous.  When she goes to New York, she embraces being Charlotte again, and when she meets Blake Hudson she feels like maybe all of her dreams can come true.  But Blake has secrets of his own, so the real question is if they can both be happy when reality comes back into focus.

I’m not a fan of first person point of view in books.  All too often it is done poorly and it detracts from the reading experience for me.  Luckily, this author can do first person and do it well. In this case it did what it was meant to do which is take the reader inside the mind of Charlotte and tell her tale as if you were her.  I was impressed.

I really, really liked Charlotte.  She was a very real character even if she’s rich and famous.  She has all the same insecurities as every other real woman on the planet and she was funny and fun to read about.  I was a bit surprised to find myself getting a bit emotional with some parts of this book, because when I picked it up I thought it would be one of those fluffy romances that don’t make you think too hard.  It’s really not.  There’s more to this book than you might assume on the surface and I really enjoyed it. 

Overall, I thought this was a fun, funny and really well written story.  Perfect for a rainy afternoon read, cuddled on the couch with some blankets. 4 stars.

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