The Adoration of Emma Wylde by Kimberly Russell Guest Post, Review and Giveaway

The Adoration of Emma Wylde on May 5, 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult
Format: eARC
Goodreads

Emma Wylde is the world’s biggest pop star. After another drunken mishap, and with the threat of losing her record deal, she is forced to make drastic changes in her life. A promotional event lands Emma in Bayberry, a small town in Texas, where she is out of her element in every way possible. 

While there Emma meets people she grows fond of, and starts questioning herself and all of her past choices.

 

   Julie’s Review     

Emma Wylde is a spoiled brat of a girl, mainly due to the fact that she’s a pop superstar. Everyone does whatever she says, and she comes across as pretty bitchy most of the time. She goes out and parties too much, gets herself drunk (and she’s underage) and then is surprised when photographs of her drunken escapades are all over the news. To try to save her image, Emma’s managing company did a fan contest and the winner selected is a young girl with cancer in a small Texas town.

So first off, we are supposed to hate Emma because of her awful attitude and spoiled brat nature. But she is also relatable because wouldn’t we be a little bit like that if we were pop stars? They’re all divas for a reason. When she first gets to the small southern town, she complains about everything – from the B&B to the way people dress. Well, yea it is a bit of a culture shock from Hollywood. But as she learns more about the family she is there to meet, and spends more time with other people who live in that town, she begins to change.

I enjoyed watching Emma grow as a person while she saw aspects of herself that she realized she just doesn’t like anymore. I really liked Jenny, and thought her character was so inspiring. And of course there’s Tucker *drool*. I’m not sure how I feel about the insta-love, but it felt genuine with the actions and dialogue. Emma finally felt and displayed emotion she didn’t think she had felt before, and through that, her personality improved, she became more humble and she *gasp* thought of others before herself.

The rest of this might be spoilery, so feel free to stop reading, but given that Jenny has cancer, and was selected as the contest winner due to that fact, we know she is going to die. I mean, it wouldn’t be a good story if she didn’t. But that part happened quickly in the book and was a bit glossed over in my opinion. I wanted more information about Jenny and her family, but I guess since we’re getting Emma’s first person POV, we only know what she knows, or what she wants to tell us, which isn’t much. I really liked Jenny and I kinda wish there was a novella in her POV about what happened after Emma went home.

The ending was good, but left me wanting more Tucker! I really liked how things were pulled together, and I’m glad they got their happy ending. I wanted an epilogue about what happened next – did Tucker move to Hollywood? Did Emma decide to get a vacation house in Texas to be with him? Did she make up with her father? I want to know so much more! But, that just tells me that these characters came to life and became important to me and I was just not ready to let them go.

  Rose’s Review 

I was super excited to read this book, as the author was in a book club that I have attended.  While the premise didn’t immediately intrigue me (but that is simply a predilection on my part, I tend to shy away from books whose characters are supposed to be famous actors or rock stars, etc…) I was excited to read Ms. Kimberly Russell’s book.  I liked this book.  Of course I did not like Emma at first, as I was not supposed to.  I liked how all the chapters began with Emma’s preferences (such as what kind of accommodations she found acceptable and what type of food that should be supplied in her hotel room, etc…) and I found it interesting how the requests changed over the course of the novel.  I completely loved Jenny and would have loved to see more of her and Emma’s conversations and interactions in the book.  Tucker was a guy I could totally see myself liking.  I was definitely mad that he was not immediately up front with Emma, but I could see how it would be difficult to just completely break off from one’s past and jump into a new and unknown future.  I would have rated this book 4 stars except for one small thing… I did feel that the second half of the book was a bit rushed.  I wanted to see more of the character development and perhaps a longer resolution? Overall, an enjoyable read.  This book reminded me a bit of Tammara Webber’s Between the Lines series.

 

And now, please welcome Kimberly Russell!

Hello! In my book The Adoration of Emma Wylde I wrote about a pop star who acts badly. Emma Wylde seemingly has everything anyone could ever want but after another drunken mishap she could lose it all. I wanted to write about this because I find celebrities incredibly interesting.  Especially when they are train wrecks. Emma grows a lot as a person throughout the book. She may not be very likable in the beginning but I hope you give her a chance.

I’ve always been interested when celebrities lose it. It never made sense to me. You have everything! Pay someone to help you! Hire a driver! I always feel like a loved one should pull them aside and correct them (cough, like they did with Britney Spears, cough).

In honor of Emma Wylde’s wild I thought I would list my top five crazy celebrity moments.

5. Tiger Woods and his women. It was insane watching the numbers of women pile up. His poor wife!

4. Tom Cruise. Between jumping on the couch, Scientology and his divorce he was super entertaining to watch.

3. Nicole Richie drives wrong way on the freeway. I still don’t know how she isn’t in jail. If you or I did that . . . 

2. Kristen Stewart cheats. I still can’t believe it.

1. Lindsey Lohan. Feel free to pick your own occurrence.

Emma Wylde is bad but she never once did any of those things. 🙂

The Adoration of Emma Wylde Playlist:

• All Night Long – Demi Lovato
• You Know It’s True – Jules Larson
• Queen of California – John Mayer
• All You Need is Love – Lynden David Hall
• Lucky – Britney Spears
• Crazy for You – Adele
• Rumors – Lindsey Lohan
• Learned A Lot – Amos Lee
• Valerie – Amy Winehouse
• La La La Land – Demi Lovato
• Enchanted – Taylor Swift
• Barton Hallow – The Civil Wars
• Give In to Me – Country Song Soundtrack
• What’s Simple is True – Jewel
• The Last Time – Taylor Swift featuring Gary Lightbody

About the Author:
Kimberly Russell is obsessed with all things Jane Austen. She reads a lot of YA but her all-time favorite is a cozy mystery. As far as teen books go she really loves Stephanie Perkins, Sarah Dessen, Sara Zara, and Ann Brashares. As far as adult books go she loves Sidney Sheldon (he will always have her heart), Stephen King, Sophie Kinsella, and Charlaine Harris.  When Kimberly Russell is not reading or writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband, baking, and finding ways to meet Jimmy Fallon.

| kimberly-russell.com | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Tumblr |

Purchase The Adoration of Emma Wylde: Amazon, BN.

Giveaway! Since today is Kimberly’s birthday, I decided to give her a little present. One lucky commenter on this post will win an e-book of The Adoration of Emma Wylde, sent as a gift through Amazon.com!  So be sure to leave a way to contact you. Giveaway ends May 30.

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