The First Assistant by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare

The First Assistant is one of those books I bought at TRINOMA back in June. It's just now that I finished reading it, thanks to the horrendous traffic earlier at SLEX. The Human Walrus blogged about it and I truly share his sentiments. The novel was a fun read for me. I actually thought of acquiring such a job in Hollywood too (Not here in the Philippines, please! Even if it meant hobnobbing with our local celebs who, in my opinion, are a bunch of snotty pricks in real life...ok, most of them, that is.), in between pages of the main character's whirlwind of a so-called pathetically blessed life. 

I haven't read  The Second Assistant, which is the prequel of this book. I heard it's even more exciting! I'll get a copy, maybe, as soon as I finished the other dozen (or more) books I bought which I haven't even began opening. I haven't even read Harry Potter Book VI which I bought early last year! Ugh!!! Yeah, compared to the uber Potter addicts, I AM PATHETIC. Booh meeh!

Anyway, I'm pretty sleepy already. It's almost 2 am now and I have to wake up at 4:30 am. Let me share with you a book review by TRASHIONISTA which I totally agree with. Oh, and just for the record, I liked The Devil Wears Prada more.  But it wouldn't hurt to be an assistant to a celebrity like Hillary Duff perhaps? Ok, how about Oprah? Hehehe. I can dream, can't I?
 

  ~~~oOo~~~

So how is Lizzie's life looking twelve months later? Well, she's been dating producer Luke Lloyd for most of that year, has been promoted to first assistant and is great friends with her predecessor Lara, who also happens to be her boss's wife. Heck, she's even made up with Jason Blum, the screenwriter friend who screwed her over.

But there are a few things stopping Lizzie from being truly happy...

First, there's evil Amber, the new second assistant, who's snotty, underhanded and - of course - British. Is she out to sabotage Lizzie, and if so, how? Then there's a new client at the agency, LiLo-esque actress Emerald, who Lizzie's being sent to Thailand to babysit. AND on top of all that, Lizzie isn't sure if she's ready to settle down with Luke without establishing a career and cash flow of her own first. It's going to be an interesting few months...

I don't know if it's ever possible to enjoy the sequel to a successful first novel as much as the original, and I didn't like this book quite as much as The Second Assistant. But the authors haven't had a sophomore slump, either - this is a perfectly entertaining book, and definitely kept my interest. I was pleased that it ended in a more Hollywood fairy-tale way, which was lacking from the previous novel. That makes the ending a bit unrealistic, but in a novel about Hollywood, who wants gritty realism?

It seems like the last we've seen of Lizzie - I hope we've left her to enjoy her happy ending - so I am interested to see where Naylor and Hare turn their attentions next.

- From Trashionista.com