Just Like Me, Only Better by Carol Snow

Just Like Me, Only Better by Carol Snow. Penguin Books. April 2010. ISBN #: 9780425232484

It is said that everyone has a double right? Well, what if your look-alike is a drop-dead gorgeous blonde actress who can't go out because the paparazzi hound her every move both day and night? Hire your look-alike who in this scenario is a newly divorced, struggling California mother and substitute teacher. Veronica. Yes, Veronica is really struggling, hustling to work, be a Mom and driver of her landlord's always late kids.

Yes, Veronica gets the opportunity of a lifetime, to pose as the star Haley Rush in order to give the real Haley time to have some private moments to do what everyone loves to do in public. But substituting for a hot star means the makeup, the clothes, the mannerisms all have to be duplicated as well. So begins this comically absurd scenario in which it turns out that the superstar's acquaintances, managers and others are initially experienced as a bunch of boobs who are manipulating a product and not a person. That's Hollywood, right?

Romance begins slowly but then fans into a flame that may or may not sputter out at any moment. Initial perceptions t'aint necessarily true, and Haley's life is really a walking disaster, one step shy of having health problems from her wacky diet and far from what the real world values.

Veronica after surging her way through this disastrous minefield begins to fall in love and really communicate with a few of the apparent parasites around the star. The end result is a lot of scenes that make the reader roar with laughter and others that give us much more of the Hollywood lifestyle that will either thrill or totally disgust the reader, with very little in-between.

Just Like Me, Only Better is a light, funny, satirical romantic comedy sure to be an entertaining tale to many who want a real look at the inner workings of Hollywood!