Close Up

If stars were based on reading time, this would be 5; I accidentally polished it off in one sitting last night. It hums along at a nice, quick clip, both the heroine and her lover are a little dark and stormy but not obnoxiously so, and the plot is clever - I didn't see the end coming, but also didn't get the feeling that it was because it was wildly implausible, either. Good heat in the sex scenes, although I could have stood for one or two more! The 1930s setting is interesting, as there's some “modern woman” talk sprinkled throughout that I liked. My one quibble, which grew as I kept reading, was that many of the details feel “historical fiction,” but the dialogue didn't, with a few notable exceptions (e.g., “pros” for prophylactics/condoms) that actually make the rest of the language stand out more. Obviously, I have no real idea what people sounded like in the 1930s, but there was some very modern-sounding conversation that distracted from the otherwise immersive setting of Hollywood that Quick created. Actually! Another quibble. Both of the protagonists had intuition that was described as sort of paranormal, but it's almost like Quick didn't commit to that idea. I would rather she had just left it as very deft interpersonal awareness, or amped it up to more actual magical realism.