Book Review: "The Hollywood Assistant" by May Cobb

Holy twists and turns, Batman! May Cobb’s upcoming thriller definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. While not everything was a surprise, there was a lot that kept me guessing.

Since the end of her last relationship, Cassidy has been struggling emotionally and professionally. An aspiring novelist, she can’t seem to find the right story to hook a publisher. So her best friend Lexie convinces her to move to Los Angeles, and she lines up a job for Cassidy, as the personal assistant to a famous couple, Nate and Marisol Sterling.

Cassidy quickly realizes the job is a dream come true. She does a lot of shopping, runs errands, and organizes Marisol’s stuff, but there are a lot of perks, including being gifted a large amount of clothes that Marisol doesn’t need. And when Nate offers her the opportunity read a script and share her opinions, she gets to do that fairly often.

With Lexie shooting a film in Prague, Cassidy is pretty lonely, so she enjoys the easy camaraderie she feels with the Sterlings. They are a tempestuous couple, often fighting and then making up, which is awkward to watch, especially the more Cassidy feels a connection to Nate.

And then things start to go off the rails for the Sterlings, and Cassidy finds herself entangled in the mess. Amidst the chaos, she learns that things aren’t what they seemed. But is Cassidy, for that matter?

This definitely reads like a movie, and it is twisty and melodramatic. It’s fun when you don’t know whom to trust or how things are going to unfold. Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the advance copy. The book will publish 7/9.