Australian author Kate Forster's novel, Close Up, has been renamed Picture Perfect for its April 2015 release. The summary says: "Movie stars aren't always picture perfect, especially when it comes to secrets from their past. Zoe Greene manages the careers of Hollywood's biggest stars. She'll do anything to help them and herself get ahead. Actress Maggie Hall has been America's sweetheart for nearly twenty years. And she's about to learn that there are two things in life you just can't fight: growing older and falling in love. Dylan Mercer - young, beautiful and defiant - has run away from New York to try her luck in Hollywood. She's not after fame and fortune, though. Dylan's on a quest to find her birth mother. All three women are swept up in the search for the actress who will score the role of a lifetime. But ambition and desire can bring out the worst in people. And in a town built on illusions, believing you can escape your past might just be the biggest deception of all."

Close Up - Kate Forster (2014)

Managing the future of Hollywood stars is no easy feat, yet Zoe Greene pursues her role with tenacity. Best friend, superstar Maggie Hall, realises that ageing and falling in love are completely out of her control. Both women have a secret past where the only family they have ever known is each other. New Yorker Dylan Mercer is beautiful and young. Working her way in Hollywood, Dylan's search isn't for fame and fortune but a more personal one - the search for her birth mother. As the latest romantic novel is set for film production, the role of young Simone is up for grabs; Hollywood beauties are lining up for the role rumoured to catapult any actress into stardom. It's Zoe's job to find the perfect female to take on the role. Add to the mix a struggling film company; an alcoholic writer in the throws of depression, an egotistic leading man; and a young man with a new heart. And it's a storyline perfect for Hollywood! Close Up is charming, entertaining and funny; taking the reader into an authentic take on Hollywood as three characters embark on their own individual journey without realising their fate and futures lie within the lives of each other. Even though the reader can at times pre-empt what might happen in the unfolding chapters, it doesn't deter you from turning the page and becoming enthralled in the drama! The reader will cheer for the underdog; shed a tear or two; become mesmerised in a world unknown to the average person and most of all, fall in love with the characters who have real stories behind their Hollywood shells. (MP)

Kate Forster has written a festive short story called The Perfect Christmas, returning to her characters from her novel Close Up. The summary says: "Hollywood movie star Maggie and friend and manager Zoe need an escape from their complicated star-studded lives in LA. With its history and Christmas charm, London feels like the perfect getaway. But can they truly leave their realities behind? In their luxurious quarters, the girls meet Holly who is ideal at showing Maggie and Zoe the sumptuous sights and sounds of London in their most glittering light. But behind her bright facade, Holly is hiding a secret: suffering from unrequited love, she's looking for a Christmas miracle. Desperate to see an unattainable love story for Holly come together, will our LA starlets succeed in providing a Hollywood ending before the dawn of Christmas Day?"

Kate Forster's latest novel, Close Up, is set in the world of Hollywood. The summary says: "In Hollywood, not everyone is ready for their close up, especially when it exposes the secrets of past ... Zoe Greene manages the careers of Hollywood's biggest stars. She'll do anything to help them - and herself - get ahead. Actress Maggie Hall has been America's sweetheart for nearly twenty years. And she's about to learn that there are two things in life you just can't fight: growing older and falling in love. Dylan Mercer - young, beautiful and defiant - has run away from New York to try her luck in Hollywood. She's not after fame and fortune, though. Dylan's on a quest to find her birth mother. All three women are swept up in the search for the actress who will score the role of a lifetime. But ambition and desire can bring out the worst in people. And in a town built on illusions, believing you can escape your past might just be the biggest illusion of all."

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