Readers of contemporary romance will find much to enjoy in Jenny Erlingsson’s debut novel. Erlingsson is of Nigerian descent and lives in Iceland now with her family, but she set Her Part to Play in her former state of Alabama.
Adanne Stewart is back in her hometown of Hope Springs after a stint in California. She’d dreamed of being a makeup artist to the stars, but one obnoxious actor had ended that dream when she took time off to visit her ill mother. Now she is rebuilding her life in Hope Springs, as well as trying to keep the Community Center alive, which her parents had helped build and run for years. Now she’s been called to help do the makeup on the set of Fighting for Home, a Hollywood project filming in Hope Springs.
John Pope, the film’s star, is recovering from a nasty and very public breakup with the woman he thought he’d marry. Now he’s stuck in Hope Springs with nothing but a bad attitude and a broken heart. Too bad he doesn’t recognize his new makeup artist, seeing as he’d gotten her fired three years earlier.
Adanne and John slowly build a friendship as he begins to heal and, with Adanne’s help, return to his spiritual roots. They grow closer to each other and to God as the weeks pass. But can the pair overcome their pride, the past, and Hollywood’s expectations to move beyond friendship?
Erlingsson has written a beautiful romance that unfolds smoothly and slowly as the protagonists face their struggles and as they begin to see a future together. (Revell)
About the Author
Ann Byle is author of Chicken Scratch: Lessons on Living Creatively from a Flock of Hens. She is a freelance writer and author of several other books, magazine articles, and reviews. She lives in Grand Rapids, Mich.