Flirting with Fame

Joyce's marginally believable romantic bildungsroman drives home the importance of self-acceptance. Scars and deafness caused by an accident keep self-conscious 19-year-old Elise Jameson, pen name Aubrey Lynch, from submitting a real book jacket photo for her young adult novels. Instead she sends her publisher a random picture she found on the Internet. When a TV series based upon her books is due to begin filming in her small Ohio town and they want her on the set, Elise must locate the woman in the picture and plead with her to continue the ruse. Fake Aubrey, aka Veronica Wilde, agrees but demands 50% of Elise's royalties, plus Elise must pose as her "assistant." Even worse, Gavin Hartley, the celebrity crush of Elise's life, is cast in the lead role. Soon everyone gets caught in the 21st-century version of a Shakespearian web of deceit. It ends up being a nice story, but it's built upon a remarkably flimsy set of premises. Agent: Kathleen Rushall, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Feb.)