Chicklit Club
 

NEW RELEASE

 
 

The Spotlight - Roxy Jacenko (2014)

 

In this third instalment about Jasmine and her PR company Queen Bee, readers are thrust straight back into the cliffhanger moment from The Rumour Mill (and trust me, it isn’t really worth the wait!). Jasmine decides to shed some of her PR clients and expand into a talent management agency, aimed mainly at fashion bloggers. Meanwhile, she’s renovating the house – yet again – and relocates herself and her toddler daughter, Fifi, to a posh hotel suite for the duration. Her marriage is also in trouble, with husband Michael contemplating a job offer in the US. All through this series, you wonder how much of the story is based on the author’s real life and business, as colleagues, clients and celebrities get skewered – often for no good reason in terms of plot development. Then Fifi becomes an Instagram star, paid to promote products, and you realise perhaps you really are reading less of a novel, and more of a memoir (with names changed to protect the innocent – and guilty). Which is a worry because Jazzy by now is completely detestable.

Rating 4/10
 
 

The Spotlight is the third novel in Roxy Jacenko's series about the cut-world world of fashion PR in Sydney. The summary says: "Jazzy Lou, aka the Queen Bee, is back and she's busy juggling life as wife to Michael, mother to Fifi and boss to the busy Bees. The PR game is as fast paced as ever and Jazzy is up all night closing deals. But are the rumours true? Is she about to ditch the clients she worked so hard to get and pack it all in? Or is she about to change things up and reinvent the game? With her toddler daughter Fifi making headlines of her own, her husband contemplating a move to New York, and her father dating one of the social scene's most outrageous characters, there is never a dull moment." The Spotlight is out in November 2014.

 
 

The Rumour Mill - Roxy Jacenko (2013)

 

Somehow after the end of the first book Strictly Confidential, PR queen Jasmine got with Michael – the ex of one of her enemies - and now she’s about to give birth to their first child, Fifi. Right in the middle of Fashion Week no less! Even in the labour ward, she’s busy manning her phone and solving publicity crises all over Sydney. Jazzy had been planning to sell her company to a Russian couple and spend more time with her baby but that plan hits a snag. So Jazzy does a 180 and instead palms the baby off on to a nanny, jets off to LA for some Vera Wang gown shopping and continues on her merry way being a workaholic celebrity-wrangler and publicity-spinner. Poor Fifi barely gets another look in, and neither does Michael, even in the lead-up to their wedding. With lots of dramas as Jazzy’s first boss, Diane, rears her head again, the story is a quick and salacious read. But it sometimes comes across as a series of plot points and event notes, rather than a fully fleshed-out novel. But the cliffhanger may well entice you to reach for the third instalment.

Rating 5/10
 
 

The Rumour Mill continues Roxy Jacenko's fictional series about the cut-world world of fashion PR in Sydney. It follows PR princess Jazzy Lou through fashion week meltdowns, client tantrums, nefarious backstabbing and motherhood. The summary says: "Having braved Sydney's cut-throat PR scene, and established her own successful PR firm, Queen Bee, Jasmine Lewis, aka Jazzy Lou, is back. Just when Jazzy thought she had escaped from her evil boss, Diane Wilderstein, she discovers that she has resurfaced again, and has her heart set on poaching Queen Bee's clients, including an international make-up guru, whose involvement with Queen Bee could help put Jazzy on the international map. Jazzy's having trouble at home, too--her husband, Sebastian, is pressing her to relax and take some time off to be with their new baby, Fifi. Their impending nuptials are also causing some strain, due to an over-enthusiastic wedding planner who is paying absolutely no attention to budget constraints." Jacenko is founder of Australian PR agency Sweaty Betty and a former contestant of Celebrity Apprentice.

 
 

Strictly Confidential - Roxy Jacenko (2012)

 

Jasmine’s boss, PR queen Diane Wildenstein, has no qualms getting her out of bed in the middle of the night to go save a drug-afflicted client from being caught out by the paparazzi. But Jazzy’s creative solutions for getting clients out of trouble and into the spotlight in a positive way aren’t enough when she locks lips with the wrong person and gets her marching orders. As her relationship with boyfriend Will ends because they never see one another, Jazzy decides to set up her own agency, Queen Bee. But of course her old boss is not too happy about her treading on her turf. Jazzy is very much all work and no play when it comes to personal relationships so this story never really shows any intimacy. That boyfriend barely makes an appearance, so their break-up really has no impact. Written by a PR agency boss and Celebrity Apprentice contestant, this novel – the first in a series – offers an entertaining insider’s view into the PR industry, with lots of label dropping and thinly veiled references to real-life socialites and events. But like the main character herself, it’s all very shallow.

Rating 6/10
 
 

Strictly Confidential, by Roxy Jacenko, gives an insight into the cut-world world of fashion PR in Sydney. Told through the eyes of 20-something publicist Jazzy Lou, the novel charts her rise from hard-working employee to owner of a business empire; documenting her romantic liaisons and A-list mishaps. The summary says: "Meet Jasmine Lewis, the smart, young publicist trying to work her way up from the bottom in Sydney's hottest PR company. She's done the coffee runs, the dry-cleaning pickups, the 5am starts, the 11pm finishes. But, still, her evil boss Diane Wilderstein is never happy. So when Jasmine finds herself being summoned to Diane's office early one morning, she knows something's got to give. Luckily for Jasmine, faith lends a hand and helps her escape from the evil Diane to launch a fabulous new career. That should be a dream come true, right? Or is it the start of a whole new world of nightmares?" Jacenko is founder of the Australian agency Sweaty Betty PR. There are plans to continue the series.

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