Publishers Weekly
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Webb (The Next Ship Home) turns to the glamour, passion, and competitiveness of Golden Age Hollywood with a stilted reimagining of the stormy relationship between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner. The leads take turns, in remarkably similar narrative voices, recounting their love story’s twists and turns. The first time Frank sets eyes on Ava at the Hollywood Palladium in the early 1940s, he wants her, despite already being married to Nancy, his childhood sweetheart. Ava is, for him, “The kind of woman that knocked the air from your lungs.” The feeling isn’t mutual. Ava is married to Mickey Rooney and is focused on her career, determined to move from being one of MGM’s “love goddesses” to a serious actor. After five years of acting classes and studio publicity gigs, and two divorces, she’s finally on the brink of stardom. Ava and Frank have a series of chance encounters during those years, and despite her reservations, she senses a “tender and passionate” side to Frank. Webb stuffs in all the highlights of Frank and Ava’s Hollywood lives but offers no new insights or meaningful character development. As the couple’s on-and-off relationship brings tumult to their lives, readers, too, will wonder if it’s worth going the distance. For a story about two oversized and magnetic personalities, this is surprisingly flat. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Mar.)

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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

While Ava Gardner’s star is rising, Frank Sinatra’s career is tanking, and it causes a lot of tension in their relationship. As Frank is losing faith (and acting out on the paparazzi), Ava is becoming the most wanted starlet in Hollywood. She wants to ride high on her success but is brought crashing down when dealing with Frank. They fight, they make up, they cheat, and they make up, and it goes on like a roller coaster. But at the end of the day, they are always devoted to each other. The emotions are tumultuous throughout the novel, and readers will be turning pages to find out how the couple handles their latest controversy. Frank and Ava were there for each other’s successes as well as setbacks. Even when they ultimately ended their marriage, they still were close and never totally gave up on each another. Webb's snapshot of this stormy relationship, one of the most famous in Hollywood, will draw readers in with its romance and emotional highs and lows.