Tag / Malibu Rising

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Book 44 (of 52) – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid

When Monique Grant, a junior magazine reporter is requested to interview the reclusive former movie star Evelyn Hugo, sha has no idea what she is getting into.  Rather than a feature about her recent charitable donations, Hugo wants to give her life story, a story of rising from a motherless young girl in Hell’s Kitchen to the darling of Hollywood.  They story behind her seven husbands and the true love of her life.  Even a shocking secret that will rock Monique to her core.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is now the fourth novel from Taylor Jenkins Reid that I’ve read in a little less than a year and a half.  Hugo, based in part on Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, and Rita Hayworth, is a complicated character, one forged by the lengths she had to go to in order to make it in Hollywood, was forced to hide her true self in order to become and stay famous, and one who used her privilege to her advantage with little regard as to who else it impacted.

This tale was also the start of the Reid’s interconnected universe, as husband number three. Mick Riva, would appear again in Daisy Jones and the Six and Malibu Rising, which itself introduced the star of Carrie Soto Is Back.  I’m not sure what is coming next, but I look forward to reading it.

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Book 11 (of 52) – Carrie Soto Is Back

Carrie Soto Is Back – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Six years after her retirement after a knee injury, Carrie Soto decides to return to tennis for one last go-around, planning to retain her record of twenty Grand Slam titles which is being threatened by a a younger player.  Reuniting with her former coach, her father, she sets out to regain her spot at the top of the tennis world but instead starts to figure out that there is more to life than rankings and being the best.  After suffering a personal loss, she comes to terms with where she is in life and, just maybe, finds a way to broaden her horizons.

Introduced in Malibu Rising, Carrie Soto is fleshed out into a full character here by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  I enjoyed this trek through the 90s, just as I have Jenkins Reid’s earlier works.  I’m looking forward to whatever comes next from her and the eventual adaptation of this book into a movie or series.

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Book 4 (of 52) – Malibu Rising

Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reid

One of the biggest stars in the world, Mick Riva is loved by everyone.  Everyone, that is, except for his children, who he abandoned and hasn’t seen for years.  After years of struggle, they have found successes of their own, leading to a yearly party that has grown along with their status in the enclave of Malibu.  1983 promises to be the biggest party yet, but with each child reaching a turning point in their lives, can the re-emergence of their father cast a pall over where they are going next?

I first became acquainted with the work of Taylor Jenkins Reid last year with Daisy Jones & The Six, which was one of, if not the best book I read all year.  Malibu Rising is the follow-up to that book and again brings us behind the scenes of the rich and famous, focusing on the family left behind when someone becomes a big star.  Reid has an ability to bring the past to life, whether it’s the underdeveloped Malibu of the 1950s and ’60s or the home of the rich and famous it would become by the early ’80s.  I definitely look forward to whatever is next from her.