Best Supporting Actor

Creative Types, Book 3

By: Joanna Chambers, Sally Malcolm

Narrated by: Simon Goldhill

Lights, camera…attraction!

When Tag O’Rourke, struggling actor-slash-barista, meets Jay Warren, son of acting royalty, it’s loathing at first sight. Loathing…and lust.

Tag’s dream is to act, but it’s a dream that’s crumbling beneath the weight of student debt and his family’s financial problems. If his career doesn’t take off soon, he’s going to have to get a real job. After all, feeding his family is more important than feeding his soul.

Luckily, Tag’s about to get his big break…

Jay never had to dream about acting; he was always destined to follow in his famous mother’s footsteps. But fame has its price and a traumatic experience early in Jay’s career has left him with paralyzing stage fright, which is why he sticks to the safety of TV work—and avoids relationships with co-stars at all costs.

Unfortunately, Jay’s safe world is about to be rocked…

After an ill-judged yet mind-blowing night together, Jay and Tag part acrimoniously. So it’s a nasty shock when they discover that they’ve been cast in a two-man play that could launch Tag’s career and finally get Jay back onto the stage where he belongs.

Sure, it’s not ideal, but how bad can working with your arch-nemesis be?

All they have to do is survive six weeks rehearsing together and navigate a cast of smarmy festival directors, terrible landladies, and vengeful journalists. Oh, and try not to fall in love before the curtain rises…

Break a leg!

©2023 Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm (P)2024 Joanna Chambers and Sally Malcolm

Cute Story

I enjoyed this story, it is funny and cute, featuring two struggling actors, both have their own challenges to overcome as they meet and fall in lust. I love stories with forced proximity between two characters who start out not liking each other very much, and this one hit the right spot with talented writing and character development. Narrator did a good job with voices and the story. Overall this was a very entertaining listen.

Sweet story with a FAB narrator

First, let me say that Simon Goldhill did a fab job as narrator for this book! His voices for each of the characters was distinct and reflected the personality of the characters! I very much enjoyed listening to him and it made the experience of this book even better.

As as the story itself - I very much enjoyed it. I absolutely loved the side story/plot of the play featuring the WWI poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen
And appreciated how the authors use that story as the backdrop for Tag & Jay's love story. Tag is definitely the show stealer for me - he is so plucky and such a caring person. Jay is also a kind and caring person, but oh his insecurities make me want to give him hugs. I love how their friendship blossoms and then from that, they start to fall for each other.

All in all, this was lovely and I will most likely read/listen again. Overall, though, I enjoyed this very much - just wish maybe it had been slightly shorter (this is unusual for me, haha).

Changing perceptions

I loved seeing Tag and Jay get their chance to shine on stage while having to deal with their own complicated relationship. The author did a great job of showing Tag struggling to establish his career before finances force him to give up his dream for a "regular" job and how while he initially resents and envies what he sees as Jay's easy entree into acting world he comes to understand as do we the listener that what might look on the outside like a gift can in some ways be a burden and a curse. These two characters have real depth and this is a marvelous entry in the series. Simon Goldhill does a wonderful job making us understand both characters and their realization that they have much more in common than either initially believed.

Kudos, Standing Ovation, Throw Roses On The Stage

This was a re-read for me, but I got just as swept up and invested this time round, thanks in large part to Simon Goldhill's wonderful narration. I'm so happy he was contracted to do the whole series, and would listen to him read the phone book. Definitely a favorite, and I believe Chambers has him slated to read at least a couple more of her backlist titles, which I will assuredly be purchasing.

This is a rivals to lovers where you actually believe that they believe they don't like each other, even though there is chemistry from the start. I love a scrappy working class hero, and Tag really is scraping by while trying to follow his dreams and help support his family. Jay is from the privileged elite, and it is their class differences that are the starkest contrast that make any sort of relationship between the two seem difficult at best and impossible at worst.

The process of them rehearsing the play, learning to trust each other, and eventually the forced proximity does its work was lovely to see . . . these are flawed characters who mess up, but recognize their faults and failings and try to atone. I was passingly familiar with Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon from some college literature courses in the dim and distant past, but this book has inspired me to go back (lol) and revisit some of their poems and learn more about their relationship.

All in all, this is a fantastic, nuanced story told with equal nuance and sensitivity from a wonderful narrator. You really can't lose!

Brilliant! - by Shana W

This brilliant story contains the forced proximity and  enemies to lovers tropes. It is very well written and features two wonderful MCs whose relationship develops against the backdrop of a play they are performing in for a festival. Jay and Tag make a lot of assumptions about each other based on their backgrounds, but as they work together they learn to trust one another and they learn more about each other, so that friendship blossoms into love. They are entirely believable and likable characters, and I found myself cheering them on with every success they had. The background characters are just as wonderfully developed. This is part of a series, but you can read it as a standalone, although having the background on the previous characters makes the experience richer.
Simon Goldhill is a truly fabulous narrator, using perfect pacing, expression, and individual character voices and accents to make the story come alive.
I received an audiobook copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.