Everyday Magic

October 1, 2016
The daughter of a Hollywood director juggles her real feelings for a charming English aristocrat and a forced publicity-stunt romance with a movie star. In Albrights companion novel to her royals-inspired romance, The Heir and the Spare (2015), white teen Maggie McKendrick is in Scotland for the summer during her cruel fathers latest movie shoot. She has a meet-cute with Preston, a handsome, white Oxford student vacationing at a family estate (readers of the first book will remember hes Prince Edmunds best mate), but their blossoming romance takes a back seat to Maggies family troubles. Not only does Maggies mother finally file for divorce, but her father cuts Maggie off financially for deciding to attend a British fashion institute instead of UCLA. While shes at design school, Maggies egomaniacal father forces her to date his flailing movies white it-boy star, Ben, for publicitys sake, or else hell out Ben and leave Maggies mother with nothing. If this sounds clichd, thats because it isas is almost everything in this poorly executed romance. The voice is clunky and anachronistic (what 18-to-20-year-olds say "jeez," "crap," "jerk face"?); the British slang laughably false (particularly for posh, titled characters); the substantial themes (physical and emotional abuse, depression) barely explored; and the characterization underdeveloped. Maggie is simply too nave and immature to be believable as a young woman raised in Hollywood. Its telling that the most-uttered word is filler: "um." Skip it. (Romance. 13-17)

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October 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Maggie McKendrick, a recent high school graduate from California, is in Scotland, where her famous father Scott is directing a new movie starring the teen male actor du jour. To the outside world, she seems to have it all. In reality, Scott is controlling, manipulative, and abusive to Maggie, her older brother Marc, and their mother Diana. Their happy family is a charade for the paparazzi. The protagonist seeks solace in sketching, contemplating ways to tell her father she will decline acceptance to UCLA's law program and instead matriculate at an elite fashion design school come autumn. One day, while drawing outdoors, Maggie meets Preston, who is visiting his family in the home next door. A sweet romance begins to blossom, contrasted with Diana's decision to finally divorce her husband. Scott vows to make Diana's life miserable unless Maggie agrees to date his movie's star, Ben. Scott dangles payment for her fashion school as a carrot. Maggie reluctantly complies but secretly tells Ben, who has already agreed, and Preston the plan. Ben's motivation for going along will be obvious to readers long before it is revealed in dialogue. What ensues will test the teen's resolve, and Preston's, as the facade of her fake relationship comes under scrutiny from the tabloids. The ending is a happy one, if perhaps a bit melodramatic. While this is not a sequel, characters from Albright's The Heir and the Spare make appearances and are central to the plot. VERDICT An additional purchase for fans of Sarah Dessen, Meg Cabot, and Nicholas Sparks.-Jillian Woychowski, West Haven High School, CT

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