NEW RELEASE
Priceless - Nicole Richie (2010)
Charlotte Williams has it all. She's got a rich, doting father, great friends and has just spent a year in Paris. Upon her return to her penthouse in New York, Charlotte gets back into the groove of clubbing with her friends and enjoying the good life. It's a short-lived reunion however, because Charlotte's father has pleaded guilty to a massive Wall Street fraud. Before she can blink her eyes, Charlotte's friends have abandoned her and she's lost everything she's ever known. Not knowing what else to do, Charlotte heads to New Orleans to stay with her former nanny, Millie. While New Orleans is nothing like New York, it does have its charms and Charlotte soon begins to enjoy herself. She meets new friends and even falls for Millie's handsome son, Jackson. Charlotte also discovers her singing voice, which she inherited from her late mother. This is a novel which fits well with Nicole Richie's own lifestyle: celebrities, money, drugs and other Hollywood cliches. However, it's a bit drab and boring in parts. While Charlotte has a wild streak - reminiscent of Richie's - and she is able to find her strength when faced with adversity, it's not enough to save this novel from itself. In the end, it's nothing more than another novel by another celebrity. It doesn't bring anything new to the table and certainly leaves a lot to be desired. (AS)
Nicole Richie's second novel Priceless shows that the very life you run from is the one that won't let you hide. The summary says: "Tall, blonde, and willowy, 22-year-old Charlotte seems to have everything going for her - she's rich and gorgeous, a talented singer, and has just returned to her Park Avenue penthouse after a year studying in Paris. But since her mother's tragic death years ago, her father, an extremely successful financier, has been her only family - and if she's being honest, her only true friend. All that changes when Jacob Williams is arrested on charges of fraud, and the SEC freezes the family's bank accounts. With her father in jail and her partying pals suddenly scarce, Charlotte escapes Manhattan and heads to the one place she doesn't think anyone will come looking: New Orleans. Determined to rebuild her life, Charlotte moves in with her beloved former nanny and finds a job in a local restaurant. Between trying to make ends meet and hiding from her past, she meets Kat, a fellow fashionista who introduces her to the best of the Big Easy's bohemian style. With Kat by her side, Charlotte begins to haunt nightclubs, securing singing gigs that soon begin to heat up - as does her friendship with a local boy, Jackson. But Charlotte's being followed by an angry stalker who wants nothing more than to destroy her for her father's crimes. And with Mardi Gras just around the corner, the masquerade has only just begun." Priceless is out in September.
Nicole Richie has released the cover of her second novel on her website. Priceless is due out in late September and is reportedly about the daughter of a wealthy financier arrested by the SEC for fraud who escapes Manhattan for New Orleans, where she tries to make it as a jazz singer. Richie tells her fans: "This book has been a project that I've put my heart and soul into." Her first novel, The Truth About Diamonds, a very thinly veiled story about a young socialite crowd, was published in 2005.