Making Up

Lucy Parker’s PRETTY FACE had been one of my favourite books last year, and I was thrilled when I saw MAKING UP. Now, I wish I had never noticed that Ms. Parker had a new book coming. MAKING UP was a colossal disappointment, and one of the most unpleasant books I have ever read. The way things stand right now, I will have to reconsider any book by Lucy Parker in the future. I think I finished it only to see if there were going to be any more clichés (and alas, there were plenty). It is an enemies-to-lover trope and there is so much insult-trading and bickering that, by 30% I was fed up with it. Trix was seriously disagreeable, while Leo was a very nice guy. Of course, there was the inevitable lie that had caused a misunderstanding TEN YEARS before. Yes, Trix had good reason to be mad at Leo THEN, but behaving like she did now was puerile. If the reason for the endless insult-trading had been explained earlier in the book, and if the whole unpleasantness had been much, much, much shorter, it might have worked for me. I didn’t find it amusing. At all. It was tedious, repetitious, and to repeat myself unpleasant. Had I been in her shoes, I would have simply accepted his apology, and he would have been sent firmly in the friend zone. Case closed. But of course not, because what better way to a HEA than hate and insult each other first? So, a little explanation ten years after the “big misunderstanding”, and sex, that inexplicable cure-all, makes everything alright. In my book, the only magic “wands” belong on Diagon Alley. So finally, after sex performs its magic, the bickering ends. For a while, until Leo’s sister Cat is introduced, which was totally unnecessary. Cat is basically a redux of Trix: ex boyfriend was a toad (Trix also had the ex from hell), she spews insults (at Trix) and the unpleasantness recommences. I don’t believe I have ever seen so many clichés in a single book by an author of Lucy Parker’s stature: everything except the stepbrother is in there. There is also another mean girl, added to the mix for more unpleasantness. By the time we got to Leo and Trix talking about their childhoods and life in-between the name-calling, I honestly didn’t care about the “romance”, I had had enough of the truckload of clichés. And I almost forgot: Trix is teeny-tiny and Leo is gigantic (when they dance, her head reaches his ribs and she’s wearing 5-inch heels!!!). MAKING UP felt like having to consume Christmas, New Year’s and Thanksgiving dinners all in one sitting. Thank goodness for brilliant secondary characters: Jono Watanabe, Scott and Ryan; I would have rather have spent my time with those two, Trix’s flatmates, than suffer through Trix’s romance. Lucy Parker is an immensely talented writer: as in her previous books, the exceptionally vivid descriptions of the art world are heart-stopping, be it the show in which Trix performs, quite similar to the Cirque du Soleil, the stunning SFX makeup championships that Leo enters; such eloquence is rare. Basically, if you enjoy a story where every twist and turn is predictable, if you like endless bickering, if you relish almost every cliché in the book, and of course steamy sex scenes, you will love MAKING UP. Otherwise, read PRETTY FACE.

Another winner from Lucy Parker. Once again set in London's theatreland, this story concerns an acrobat, Trix Lane and a make-up artist Leo Magasiva. Trix is playing one of the key supporting roles in a daring production called The Festival of Masks, part-burlesque, part rock concert, part carnival, part dark fairytale and maybe a leetle bit of a smutty night out (according to one critic). When the lead aerial performer loses concentration and breaks her arm in a nasty fall, live on stage, Trix as second understudy is suddenly catapulted into the role. What would have thrilled Trix a few years ago now fills her with terror, a relationship with a manipulative and controlling older man has left her doubting her own abilities. Just when the day couldn't get any worse, her school-girl crush, Leo, the boy who devastated her, turns up, having been given the role as make-up artist to The Festival of Masks. Oh, and he's got his bitchy little sister a dream internship with the wardrobe department and the stage manager Marco Ross is a bully! Leo's career is in tatters after an actor willfully neglected to mention an allergy to certain facial products, his little sister has come back after a year in New York at school a changed woman, he is forced to share theatre accommodation with three strangers and the woman he blames for the end of his promising career in rugby is one of the stars of the show he is working on. This could have been an angst and hate-filled novel where Trix and Leo fight for 75% of the book. Luckily, that's not the sort of book Lucy Parker writes. Instead what we see is two antagonists forced to work together and share a flat (of course) quickly settling their differences. But it isn't all plain sailing. Leo's sister is like the Wicked Witch, Trix is struggling with self-doubt and can't do some of the more difficult acrobatics, there is a reality TV crew filming backstage at the show and they have manufactured a romance between Trix and her co-star (and friend) Jono. On his part, Leo is desperate to retrieve his career and hopes to win a special effects make-up competition being held in London which might give him the opportunity to work in the USA. Despite his impressive good looks and fit body Leo is insecure and suffers fits of jealousy and his little sister is clearly unhappy but won't open up to him. This book also revisits Lily and Luc from Pretty Face who are getting married at a fairytale castle. I'm adding Leo to my book boyfriends. I mean apart from the good looks, the hot bod, the humour, the kindness and the drawing ability the man can do your make-up!!! Loved it, loved it, loved it. Same sparky humour as before AND a cute hedgehog - what more could you ask? I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.