Selfie (Bluewater Bay #13) by Amy Lane #BookReview

*** This review is SPOILER-FREE! Read on with confidence! ***

From author Amy Lane’s Selfie prologue:

So, for everyone who has ever felt the pressure of too many eyes, whether in front of the world and the national press or in front of a classroom with social anxiety, here’s to finding out who you are and holding fast to what is true. We never look at a selfie and think, “Oh, that’s the best picture in the world!” Here’s to finding the beautiful person in every snapshot we take.

This book killed me. I actually tweeted author Amy Lane “I am SLAIN!!!” when I finished it (she, of course, found this particularly gratifying and practically cackled in virtual glee). I read Selfie nearly a month ago and am STILL thinking about it regularly. Dang it, woman, now I need more! I WANT WOLF’S LANDING TO BE A REAL SHOW!!

Actually—since this was the first story I’d read in the Bluewater Bay series—”I need more” was exactly what I thought about the in-book TV series when I finished Selfie, so I went on a mini binge of all the Wolf’s Landing-related stories I could find. Let me tell you, that is no simple task since not every book in the series features the TV show and its cast. And after reading them all, Selfie is still my clear favorite! Connor…it’s all about Connor!

I remembered that feeling, saying words that weren’t mine, having reactions, emotions, presence that had nothing to do with me. It was like getting struck by lightning and filled with someone else’s soul.

Oh, holy God, blessed were the actors—I was going to be somebody new.

I freaking love Connor. He’s this big-hearted, hunky, wounded, vulnerable movie star with the spirit of a kid and the energy of a certain just-keeps-going bunny. Connor is all at once loveable, hilarious, relatable, and pitiable. He’s one of those guys who is so convinced he’s not worthy that he can’t see just how amazing he really is, and he steals nearly every scene he’s in. And since the story is told from his perspective, that’s pretty much all of them.

“Watch—he can pick kitsch out of a designer boutique. It’s insane—it’s like a superpower.”

I ignored the heathens. “Look at this!” I called from the corner of the store. I held it up and watched both sets of brown eyes widen. “It’s great, isn’t it?”

A bear—with arms that caught the wind—flailed and chased a hunter. As the bear’s arms spun, the hunter’s pants fell down and pulled up and fell down. You know—’cause he was bare-assed, shitting in the woods and now he was being chased by a bear?

I loved it.

Delighted, I spun the arms around as fast as I could and bloop-whoop-bloop, there went the poor hunter’s trousers.

Enter Noah. Just a kid who drives Connor around and has a crush on the movie star…until the real Noah comes out to play, and he’s pretty spectacular too. Noah is all focused energy and laser intensity—aimed right at Connor. Noah forces Connor to face his demons, encourages him to live for himself, and stands beside the broken-hearted actor through his journey out of the depths of grief.

“I will never cheat on you,” he said. “And I will never need rehab. I like my job driving you around—we could put you in the front seat and call me your personal assistant, and I would not have a problem being by your side wherever you go. I don’t want to be an actor, but I sure do love watching other people do it, so that would not be a problem. So I can pretty much promise to be everything you need in a man and never got before. But there is one thing I cannot promise, and I’m not even going to try.”

He stared at me, hard, until I looked away. “Everybody dies,” I said into his shoulder.

“Everybody dies,” he confirmed, stroking my hair back from my face. “The only thing I can promise you in that area is that if you lose me like you lost Vinnie, you’ll be strong enough to survive it.”

Holy wow. Amy Lane just reaches right in through your bleeding heart and tugs a nice hey-how-are-ya on your freaking soul. Just when I thought this story couldn’t possibly get MORE gut wrenching, it went and just DID.

I. LOVED. IT!

Selfie is a story about grief, life, and digging deep to find the real you under the face you show the world. It’s about love and need and the scary emotions that make us human. Selfie is a love story, and not just between a man and his dead boyfriend (and that guy gets a surprising lot of page time, and I loved all of that too). This is a love story between a crumbling soul and the man who is his future, the actors of his on-set family, the loved ones he draws together in his search for self.

“Some traditions you lose because they’re bad, and some you lose because it’s no longer their time.”

This is a story for anyone who has lost someone special and wondered, “How will I go on? Was it every really real?” And I think, regardless of how sad our individual histories can be, Selfie carries a message that can bring a smile and a feeling of hope to any broken hearts out there. What a beautiful, charming story. Exceptionally memorable and enjoyable. Grab a box of tissues (or two) and go read it. Right now!

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