Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner (Epub)

Description

Los Angeles, Present Day. When an iconic hat worn by Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind ends up in Christine McAllister’s vintage clothing boutique by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more enchanting than any classic movie….

Los Angeles, 1938. Violet Mayfield sets out to reinvent herself in Hollywood after her dream of becoming a wife and mother falls apart, and lands a job on the film-set of Gone With the Wind. There, she meets enigmatic Audrey Duvall, a once-rising film star who is now a fellow secretary. Audrey’s zest for life and their adventures together among Hollywood’s glitterati enthrall Violet…until each woman’s deepest desires collide.

What Audrey and Violet are willing to risk, for themselves and for each other, to ensure their own happy endings will shape their friendship, and their lives, far into the future.

User’s Reviews

Review Praise for Stars Over Sunset Boulevard“Susan Meissner tackles Old Hollywood with her trademark heart, depth, and lyrical style. A touching portrait of two memorable women who will remind readers of the friendships that shape us.”—Michelle Gable, International Bestselling Author“Susan Meissner deftly casts a fascinating friendship between two complex women against a glittering 1930s Hollywood backdrop. You will love this book for its very human characters and for its inside look at one of the greatest movies ever made.”—Marisa de los Santos, New York Times Bestselling AuthorMore Praise for the Novels of Susan Meissner“Rich with vividly drawn characters, places, and events…its themes of reinvention and redemption will strike a chord with readers.”—Booklist “Meissner’s prose is exquisite and she is a stunning storyteller.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Susan Meissner knits the past and the present with the seamless skill of a master storyteller.”—Kate Kerrigan, New York Times bestselling author “Sympathetic, relatable characters that readers will applaud. Touching and inspirational.”—Kirkus Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Stars Over Sunset Boulevard takes the reader on a journey from its opening in 2012 back to the year of 1939 where the story actual starts. Violet is a somewhat shy Southern girl who has decided to reconstruct her life in California after a life-altering medical problem. She accepts a secretarial position at Selznick Studios and meets Audrey who is looking for a roommate. Audrey is an almost-star who works in the secretary pool and knows everyone and everything. A good person to have as a friend. Add into the mix a shy man named Bert, Audrey’s best friend. Bert has a crush on Audrey but her feelings are very different from his. Audrey still has hopes of being a star; Bert harbors a secret desire to be an ornithologist; Violet’s dream of a husband, children, and a white picket fenced house seems just beyond her reach. Together the three form an odd sort of friendship. Add to this the fact that Gone With The Wind has just started filming and the three are kept busy at all hours of the day and night, and you have the sort of book that grabs your attention and won’t let go. The story starts with the discovery by a young woman named Christine who owns a vintage-clothing store and receives by mistake the green and gold hat that Scarlett creates from the drapes at Tara. How did this hat come to Christine? And why does she remember seeing this exact hat as a child and trying it on? The story will have you turning the pages and burning the midnight oil.I’m a huge fan of Gone With The Wind as well of 1930s and 1940s Hollywood. I love the glamour of it all. This story is rich in detail and it is obvious that Ms. Meissner has done her research on this one. I was captivated by the life of the two secretaries who lived on the fringe of the movie sets for months; and following their lives after Selznick Studios was just as captivating. By the third chapter I felt like these two were old friends of mine. The contrasts between Scarlett and Melanie from GWTW and Audrey and Violet were well drawn and it was easy to see how the bonds of friendship can form in the most unlikely ways.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and give it an easy five stars. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

⭐ A good, but not great, novel. I read Ms. Meissner’s ‘Secrets of a Charmed Life’ and absolutely loved it, which is why I purchased this book. Although I don’t usually compare different books by the same author, I found myself doing that here, and this one came up lacking in comparison. It was not the story itself, but the way the characters interacted with one another.One of the main characters in this book is less than ethical in my opinion, so it was not easy for me to feel compassion toward her. And it is difficult to totally enjoy a story line if you don’t care for a main character. Audrey was by far my favorite. I liked her – a lot. Although both women knew sorrow in their lives prior to when the novel began, it wasn’t enough to make Violet act unkindly or selfishly toward Audrey, who had been good to her, and to hold back the truth from Bert on more than one occasion. That’s all I’ll say about that without giving away any spoilers. It is not a given that if you experiences unhappiness in your life you will do all you can to get your way at the expense of others who you are close to. At the beginning of the book, Violet seemed better than that, but she wasn’t. Her character kind of took a nosedive once she set her sights on what she wanted. She knew what that was and would not let anyone get in her way of achieving her dreams.Friendship appeared to be the major theme in this novel, but Audrey and Violet spent most of their lives apart from one another, with one trying to avoid the other. True friendship finds ways to overcome obstacles, but that should not take a quarter of a century.Knowing very little about the filming of Gone With the Wind, I found that part of the story most enlightening and enjoyable. I appreciated the earlier part of the novel when the characters were young and enough of the story revolved around Hollywood and life working at a major studio.I would recommend this book if you are a Gone With The Wind fan.

⭐ This story took my breath away. I am a huge Gone With the Wind fan, as well as a avid reader of Susan’s books. I was transported to the set of Gone With the Wind, I felt as though I was right there with Vivian Leigh along with Violet and Audrey. The friendship between Audrey and Violet was a true picture of a friendship, that I was able to watch ebb and flow as all true friendships do.This book is a beautiful book of friendship, Hollywood in the golden age, it will sweep you away to another place and time, and never want it to end.

⭐ This was such an interesting book, especially if you are a fan of old Hollywood and in particular, Gone With The Wind. Audrey and Violet are 2 young women who have come to Hollywood to escape painful memories as well as a chance to become someone important in Hollywood. They are both secretaries at the studio while Gone With the Wind is being filmed, and through them we get a wonderful, nostalgic look behind the scenes of that great movie. Although Hollywood is the background, the story is mostly about these two beautiful women and their friend, Bert. While Audrey dreams of becoming a movie star, Violet dreams of becoming a wife and mother. Both women make fateful decisions, and harbor deep secrets that threaten their friendship, as well as their families. We follow their journeys as young women who each grow up to find their destinies, despite so many bumps along the way.

⭐ Stars Over Sunset Boulevard was the latest novel by my new favorite author, Susan Meissner. This book used a slower pace to focus on the relationship of three friends and a budding romance. The spans of friendship between Audrey and Violet reminded me of the friendship in Beaches. What made this book fun to read was that Violet, Audrey, and Bert all work for the studio producing the most talked about movie of their time, Gone With The Wind!It was fun to have the behind the scenes drama of the famous movie impact the characters in their jobs and life. Audrey wanted to be famous and her story was the quintessential starlet seeking fame. She only worked as a secretary to be close to the men who could discover her. Violet was a doe eyed girl running away from her family issues and broken heart, and seeking excitement in Hollywood. I was really interested to see how familiar Hollywood spots would be described in the era. The characters clothing, mode of transportation and outlook on life gave this an authentic quality.The catalyst for the story was the discovery of a green velvet hat worn by Vivian Leigh as Scarlet O’Hara in Gone With The Wind. The “mystery” of the hat wasn’t a mystery as much as it was a significant plot point that pushed the characters onto different life paths.This was a charming book, but by no means was it some spectacular plot driven mystery. Still, I enjoyed it and can’t wait to read more from this author. Please read more of my reviews on my blog: […]or follow me on twitter at @dana_heyde

⭐ I wanted more than anything for this book to be my pick read for 2016. I love the subject matter and the author wrote my 2 favorite books of 2015. I was sadly disappointed. It was a good book, don’t get me wrong….It just lacked a bit of that charming world that Fall of Marigolds and “Secrets of a Charmed Life” had. I LOVE GWTW and loved that something of Scarlett’s would have a spot in the story, what I did not like was the way it was intertwined in the story. I think I like the characters of Audrey and Violet, at times…then I think “nope she went in a different direction. I just could not love this and I wanted to so bad. I would say if you don’t like old Hollywood, or are not a huge fan of Meissner, you might pass on this one.

⭐ This could have been so much better if the story had focused on the behind-the-scenes intrigue of filming Gone With the Wind. Instead the author only used that as a backdrop for an unrealistic story with less-than-sympathetic characters. Credit to the author, though, for accurate research into the filming of the movie.

⭐ This one didn’t work for me. After GWTW is finished, the book became a retread for me. I really liked Violet until then, but not at all after.

⭐ This is my first book by Susan Meissner and I loved it. I’m a huge Gone With The Wind fan! It’s one of my all time favorite books and I’ve watched the movie numerous times. This is partly what led me to read this book.This is really a book about friendship and the ups and downs that can come with such a close relationship.I really enjoyed the historical aspect of this book.1930s Hollywood! A fun time!I’m going to look for more from this author for sure!

⭐ I enjoy books that go back and forth from past to present, tying the two periods together in the end. Gone With the Wind is my all-time favorite movie, and reading about goings on during the filming, whether fact or fiction, was great fun. The friendship of Violet and Audrey may have been an unlikely one, and not always an honest one, but ultimately it was a true and lasting one.

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