Tamara Tilley

Fame by Karen Kingsbury

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


FAME is the first book in the Firstborn series, which follows the Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury.

Dayne Matthews, Hollywood heartthrob, whom we briefly met in REUNION, is captivated by Katy Hart. Katy is a director of children’s theater that Dayne stumbled across while he was in Bloomington, Indiana. Though their meeting was brief and one-sided, for whatever reason he can’t seem to get her out of his mind. When he returns to Hollywood and is cast in a new romantic comedy, the only woman he can picture to play his leading lady is Katy. After digging into her background, and finding out she was once an actress before a director of children’s theater, he convinces the casting director to give her a call. Dayne’s infatuation with Katy is of overwhelming proportions. His mind wanders constantly about how it would be if they became more than co-stars. His fear–the Hollywood lifestyle will scare her off, and the down home, wholesome, Katy will never be able to see past his tabloid, playboy image.

Katy Hart cannot believe what is happening to her. One day she is casting the roles for her children’s theater, and the next, she is being contacted by a Hollywood casting director wanting her to test for an upcoming movie starring none other than Dayne Matthews, Hollywood’s own Don Juan. Though she is convinced it is some kind of joke or a mistake, Katy follows agrees to fly to Hollywood to do a reading. The electricity she feels with Dayne Matthews is immediate. And soon, Katy feels the struggle of wanting to reach for her dream, and the fear of being drawn into a lifestyle diametrically opposed to her conservative values.

I could not wait to read FAME. I’ve had it since its original release in 2005 but never found the time to read it. When the series, starting with the Redemption series from Karen Kingsbury continued to expand, I fell further behind. So, it was with much anticipation I began to read. Sometimes that kind of anticipation leaves you wanting. I would not say I was disappointed, but I did find myself breezing over some of the longer sections written from the authorial view, and would speed through the sections that did not center on Katy and Dayne. Ms. Kingsbury took her time in developing the story between Katy and Dayne, but all too soon, it came to an abrupt end. I was a little disappointed with the ending, feeling as if too many frayed ends were left exposed. I can only hope that FORGIVEN, the second book in the series, ties up some of those ends without it becoming more drawn out. I am all for suspense, and leaving the reader dangling, but not so much when the filler used to extend the story is not as intriguing.




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