(Recycling this from the C&E blog tour so I can add it to my extras page.)
Cinder & Ella
is a contemporary spin on the classic fairy tale Cinderella wherein my “Prince”
is a famous movie star. I will admit it: I like books about celebrities. A
couple of my favorites off the top of my head would be, Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot, This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith, and Teen Idol by Meg Cabot. Call it a guilty
pleasure if you must, but I love these types of books and will read every one I
come across. It’s not a surprise to me that I’ve written a few myself.
Cinder & Ella
is my third book that stars a male celebrity as the lead love interest. (The
first two being my V is for Virgin
series, which features my infamous rock star Kyle Hamilton.) But that doesn’t
mean that if you’ve already read the V is
for Virgin books, you don’t need to read Cinder & Ella. The books are completely different. Kyle and
Brian may both be celebrities, but they are two very different characters with
two very different stories.
Yes, they’re both charming, passionate, creative guys with
slightly inflated egos, but that’s really where the similarities stop. Kyle is
a larger-than-life attention hog. He loves the spotlight and is a natural-born
performer. Brian just wants to do what he loves best—act. The rest of it—the
fame, the women, the parties—he could go without. Okay, well he does have a
fondness for his Ferrari, but other than that he likes to keep things low key.
Cinder & Ella
is not a sequel, or even a companion novel to the V is for Virgin series, but it does take place within the same
fictional world, and Kyle Hamilton and Brian Oliver not only know each other,
but they have a bit of history. (Which you already know if you’ve read A is for
abstinence.)
I thought it would be fun to do
a little comparison between my two Hollywood Divas to give you a feel for just
how different these two guys are. I think Brian and Kyle could probably tell you
better than me, so I’ll let them do it by pulling a few short excerpts from
their respective books.
Kyle and Brian On
Fame:
~Kyle Hamilton, A is for
Abstinence
A
lot of celebrities grumble about the inconvenience of fame—the lack of privacy,
people only loving you for your money and connections, the constant hounding by
fans and the paparazzi. I can’t say I agree with them. If ever someone was
meant to live the life of a celebrity, it was me.
I
got my first taste of fame when I was eighteen and my band, Tralse, got our big
break. Our song “Broken Passion” topped out at number one on the charts and our
debut album went platinum. Our follow-up album, S is for Sex,
went triple platinum, won six Grammys, and turned me into an international
superstar.
For
the last three years people have worshipped at my feet, and I’ve yet to tire of
the attention. I’m never without friends or something to do, I always get
everything I want, and I’m treated like a king wherever I go. I’m not ashamed
to admit that I love it.
~Brian Oliver, Cinder & Ella
I hadn’t had a say about anything since my
first teen movie hit number one in the box office. Agents, managers,
publicists, lawyers, image consultants, personal trainers, a million others… They controlled my life now—what I could and couldn’t wear, what I could and couldn’t eat, what functions I could and
couldn’t
attend, what I could and couldn’t say. Hell, they’d scheduled this entire publicity tour without once consulting me.
Before I could
storm out of the meeting, Lisa, the executive producer of the film, and the
only person in the room besides Scott I could actually stand, met me at the
door and blocked my way. “Brian,” she said, taking my hand. Her smile was completely patronizing,
but I still softened to it. “We know you’re frustrated. You’ve had some bad luck with the paparazzi over the last year, but
this press tour is important.”
Some bad luck? Ever since I was cast to play Cinder,
I’d become
the paparazzi’s new golden boy for the entire female market. They’d stuck to
me constantly in order to sell millions of magazines to every woman in the
country between the ages of twelve and sixty. They followed me everywhere. I
couldn’t wipe my ass anymore without having it plastered on every magazine
cover in America. I hadn’t had a moment’s peace in
over a year.
Kyle and Brian On
Education:
~Kyle Hamilton, V
is for Virgin:
“What about you? Do you ever think
about going back to school?”
Kyle shrugged. “Not really. I
already get to do what I love, so I don’t see the point in a college degree.”
“But what about high school? It
doesn’t bother you that you dropped out?”
“Can you keep a secret?” Kyle
asked giving me a sly look. When I nodded he grinned. “I didn’t drop out. When
the band got the record deal I transferred to an online high school so I could
finish my education while I traveled. I’ve even taken a few random college
courses in things like accounting and basic entertainment law—stuff that’s
helped me keep up with the business end of my industry.”
I stopped walking to stare at
Kyle in astonishment. He laughed at my shock then linked his arm through mine
and started pulling me forward. “Ignorance is dangerous in my line of work,” he
explained.
“Then why do you tell people
you’re a high school dropout? Is it really that important to have the bad boy,
rebel, rock star image?”
Kyle sighed. “The image is almost
as important as the talent, sadly. When ‘Broken Passion’ made the radio, and it
looked like Tralse had a real shot at becoming successful, my managers
suggested the dropout thing. They made me break up with my girlfriend too.”
“Really?”
Kyle shrugged like it was no big
deal.
“That’s appalling.”
“That’s fame. Gotta
be sexy. Three point six GPA and faithful devoted boyfriend don’t exactly spell
sexy rock star.”
~Brian Oliver, Cinder & Ella:
“How about enrolling him in college?” another
person suggested.
Yes! I could get on board with that. I’d always
wanted to go to college. I’d been homeschooled with a private tutor my
whole life. The closest thing I’d ever gotten to a real school was playing a
high school student in the movies.
“Hey, yeah, I could do that. I could go to UCLA—go Bruins! I’d like to study English Literature.”
Joseph shook his head, sending me a sympathetic
smile. “That’s a really good idea, but you wouldn’t have the
time.”
“But we’ve wrapped
on The Druid Prince,” I argued. “I don’t have
anything going on right now. I could totally do it. I can take a couple years
off and go to school. It’d keep me out of trouble.”
Everyone in the room collectively shook their
heads.
“Why not?” It pissed me off that they were so quickly
dismissing the idea. “What would prove that I’m
responsible more than getting a college degree? I’m plenty
smart enough. I’d get good grades.”
Lisa smiled, but it was full of pity. “Of course
you would, but there are five books in The Cinder Chronicles series.
When The Druid Prince hits theaters and breaks box-office records—which it
will—the studio will green light the other four movies. They’re already
working on the next script. You’ll be filming again by spring.”
My heart sank.
I should have known I wouldn’t be allowed to do something as normal as go to college.
Kyle and Brian On Temptation:
~Kyle Hamilton, V is for Virgin
“Is sex really that vital? Am I really
not worth waiting for?”
Kyle
swallowed hard. “If ever a girl was, Val, it’d be you, but I can’t promise
that. You have no idea what my life is like. There are always too many
beautiful and willing women. There’s too much temptation. Too much expectation. If I wasn’t getting it from
you I’d probably stray. I know how that sounds, but I’m just being honest. I’m
only human, Val. A weak one who’s been indulged way too long. I can’t give you
what you’re asking for because I’m afraid of breaking your heart.”
~Brian Oliver, Cinder & Ella
Kaylee stood
there, staring completely dumbfounded, as she finally realized she’d lost this argument. In one last
desperate attempt to get what she wanted, she crossed the room and placed her
hands delicately on my chest. “Brian…”
She gazed up at me with lust-filled eyes as she slid her arms up over my
shoulders and pressed her body against me. “Baby, please don’t go.”
As Kaylee brushed her lips over my
freshly-shaven jaw, I wondered how I’d ever found her tempting. I grabbed her arms
off my shoulders and untwined myself from her grip. “Sorry, Kay.
There’s only one woman for me now, and you aren’t her. You don’t even come close.”
As you can see, Brian and Kyle live very similar lives, and
are put in a lot of the same situations, but they react to things very
differently. They feel like very different people when you read them, and their
stories are completely different. Thanks for taking the time to get to know
them a little bit better!
