Scarlett Love has a great opening with an interesting premise. The reader quickly discovers that eighteen-year-old Scarlett is wealthy, tech-savvy and on her way to Australia for a one-month stay. Scarlett’s family and friends believe she is going as an exchange student. However, Scarlett plans to catch up with Jane Gray who is one of the main journalists for the Fifteen Minutes of Fame social media app. Scarlett owns a popular website/blog called, Styled! It attracts millions of visitors and sponsors. One of her sponsors wants to buy the Fifteen Minutes of Fame platform. The app is designed like a community newspaper and highlights the positive contribution of local people in their community.
Jaya is quickly introduced into the story. She is unable to speak due to the emotional trauma she suffered as a result of her mother’s death and her father’s quick decision to move to Australia. While Jaya doesn’t speak she is a good writer and a keen observer of all that happens at her school, Coast Hills Grammar. This is also the school where Scarlett is doing her pseudo-exchange. The chapters continue alternating between Scarlett and Jaya’s point of view.
The drama heightens as Scarlett becomes frustrated in her attempts to meet Jane who isn’t answering her messages. Plus, the Fifteen Minutes of Fame app is becoming a source of negative gossip but it’s unclear who is behind this.
Overall, I enjoyed the story and found it well-written, but it does become a bit complex with a host of characters. Several of the characters are in the other books in Elaine Fraser’s Beautiful Lives series, so it may have helped if I’d read the previous books in the series. There’s some Christian content but it’s not a significant part of the story.
This book is not yet on Goodreads but others in the series can be found here and for more of my book reviews click here.
