Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Christina George has worked in the publishing industry for 20 years, and it shows in The Publicist. The inside look at the life of a publicist is the best part of the story. George claims on Amazon in her biography that some of the stories here are true, which makes them even more fun to read, even though she’s not telling which ones are real.
Kate is a young publicist who is on the way up. She is really good at her job and at handling difficult clients and messy situations. It helps that she really cares about the authors she is assigned, for the most part. She is also single and lonely. She finds herself drawn against her will to Mac, a married man whose marriage really is a sham and who is not a sleaze or a bad man. They embark on an affair. But can Mac ever give Kate a real relationship? He never makes promises he’s not sure he can keep.
Then another man shows up who may just offer her more. This traditional love triangle between the single woman, the man she shouldn’t love, and the man she probably should is the core of the story.
This is the first book of a series, and it is somewhat unusual for a continuing plot as, outside of the love triangle, there’s very little intrigue or mystery or suspense going on at the end of the book.
Nevertheless, The Publicist, Book One, is very well-written and Kate and Mac in particular are complex and likeable characters who readers will care about. There is potential love and sex, which is described with a briefness this reviewer finds refreshing, and there is a great deal of humor as Katie deals with authors and egos. Book One will probably make you look forward to Book Two, although you probably won’t be holding your breath too much. There are only so many ways a love triangle like the one Kate is in the middle of can end, after all.
But from the brief excerpt at the end of this story, it seems as though Book Two may have a lot more suspense. That is something to look forward to and should be fun to share with these characters, so go ahead and get Book One of The Publicist and get acquainted with them now.
