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A page-turning tale of marriage, scandal, and fame, perfect for readers of Taylor Jenkins Reid: “The glitz and underlying darkness of Hollywood make for a setting as complex and compelling as Ramisetti's characters . . . rings with insight—and with heart” (Meena Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author).
At age 26, Advika Srinivasan considers herself a failed screenwriter. To pay the bills and keep her mind off of the recent death of her twin sister, she’s taken to bartending A-list events, including the 2015 Governors Ball, the official afterparty of the Oscars. There, in a cinematic dream come true, she meets the legendary Julian Zelding—a film producer as handsome as Paul Newman and ten times as powerful—fresh off his fifth best picture win. Despite their 41-year age difference, Advika falls helplessly under his spell, and their evening flirtation ignites into a whirlwind courtship and elopement. Advika is enthralled by Julian’s charm and luxurious lifestyle, but while Julian loves to talk about his famous friends and achievements, he smoothly changes the subject whenever his previous relationships come up. Then, a month into their marriage, Julian’s first wife—the famous actress Evie Lockhart—dies, and a tabloid reports a shocking stipulation in her will. A single film reel and $1,000,000 will be bequeathed to “Julian’s latest child bride” on one condition: Advika must divorce him first. Shaken out of her love fog and still-simmering grief over the loss of her sister—and uneasy about Julian’s sudden, inexplicable urge to start a family—Advika decides to investigate him through the eyes and experiences of his exes. From reading his first wife’s biography, to listening to his second wife’s confessional albums, to watching his third wife’s Real Housewives-esque reality show, Advika starts to realize how little she knows about her husband. Realizing she rushed into the marriage for all the wrong reasons, Advika uses the info gleaned from the lives of her husband’s exes to concoct a plan to extricate herself from Julian once and for all.
Includes a Reading Group Guide.
Genre: Romance
At age 26, Advika Srinivasan considers herself a failed screenwriter. To pay the bills and keep her mind off of the recent death of her twin sister, she’s taken to bartending A-list events, including the 2015 Governors Ball, the official afterparty of the Oscars. There, in a cinematic dream come true, she meets the legendary Julian Zelding—a film producer as handsome as Paul Newman and ten times as powerful—fresh off his fifth best picture win. Despite their 41-year age difference, Advika falls helplessly under his spell, and their evening flirtation ignites into a whirlwind courtship and elopement. Advika is enthralled by Julian’s charm and luxurious lifestyle, but while Julian loves to talk about his famous friends and achievements, he smoothly changes the subject whenever his previous relationships come up. Then, a month into their marriage, Julian’s first wife—the famous actress Evie Lockhart—dies, and a tabloid reports a shocking stipulation in her will. A single film reel and $1,000,000 will be bequeathed to “Julian’s latest child bride” on one condition: Advika must divorce him first. Shaken out of her love fog and still-simmering grief over the loss of her sister—and uneasy about Julian’s sudden, inexplicable urge to start a family—Advika decides to investigate him through the eyes and experiences of his exes. From reading his first wife’s biography, to listening to his second wife’s confessional albums, to watching his third wife’s Real Housewives-esque reality show, Advika starts to realize how little she knows about her husband. Realizing she rushed into the marriage for all the wrong reasons, Advika uses the info gleaned from the lives of her husband’s exes to concoct a plan to extricate herself from Julian once and for all.
Includes a Reading Group Guide.
Genre: Romance
Praise for this book
"Kirthana Ramisetti is quickly becoming the go-to author for nuanced stories about fame, family, and love. Advika and the Hollywood Wives is an insightful and moving portrayal of a woman fighting for what shedeserves. Told with equal parts humor and heart, this delightful novel is sure to be a favorite for book clubs!" - Saumya Dave
"A Cinderella tale with a dark twist. Beneath the glamorous exterior of this page-turner is a thoughtful story about female empowerment and what happens when promises of happily ever after don't quite meet fairy tale expectations." - Margarita Montimore
"This delicious book is for all of us who love romantic comedies - and yet also mistrust the ways Hollywood romantic tropes can stifle our individuality and creativity in real life. Ramisetti's zippy, nuanced take on the Bluebeard tale is especially insightful about who gets to be a professional storyteller, and about the pressure to squeeze our lives and stories into the boxes prescribed by popular culture." - Kate Reed Petty
"This book is deliciously suspenseful. I raced through the pages and found not just a delightful intrigue but also a thoughtful exploration of manipulation, power, and the legacy of sisterhood." - Marie Rutkoski
"Advika and the Hollywood Wives is my favorite kind of novel: smart yet unassuming, entertaining, and deeply compassionate. With sharp characters and complex insight on fame, ambition, love, and loss, Kirthana Ramisetti has given us a page-turner for movie buffs and book worms alike." - Liv Stratman
"A rich portrait of a family facing their powerful matriarch's death, Dava Shastri's Last Day is full of music, magnetism, and familial obligation. If Succession were about a multicultural family who actually loved each other, it might look like this." - Emma Straub
"Advika and the Hollywood Wives is my favorite kind of page-turner: packed with juice, humor, intrigue, and a complex heroine on a quest to discover what's real beyond the mirage of all that glitters. Kirthana Ramisetti's knowledge of celebrity culture shines through in every scene, and I couldn't help but binge!" - Dawnie Walton
"A Cinderella tale with a dark twist. Beneath the glamorous exterior of this page-turner is a thoughtful story about female empowerment and what happens when promises of happily ever after don't quite meet fairy tale expectations." - Margarita Montimore
"This delicious book is for all of us who love romantic comedies - and yet also mistrust the ways Hollywood romantic tropes can stifle our individuality and creativity in real life. Ramisetti's zippy, nuanced take on the Bluebeard tale is especially insightful about who gets to be a professional storyteller, and about the pressure to squeeze our lives and stories into the boxes prescribed by popular culture." - Kate Reed Petty
"This book is deliciously suspenseful. I raced through the pages and found not just a delightful intrigue but also a thoughtful exploration of manipulation, power, and the legacy of sisterhood." - Marie Rutkoski
"Advika and the Hollywood Wives is my favorite kind of novel: smart yet unassuming, entertaining, and deeply compassionate. With sharp characters and complex insight on fame, ambition, love, and loss, Kirthana Ramisetti has given us a page-turner for movie buffs and book worms alike." - Liv Stratman
"A rich portrait of a family facing their powerful matriarch's death, Dava Shastri's Last Day is full of music, magnetism, and familial obligation. If Succession were about a multicultural family who actually loved each other, it might look like this." - Emma Straub
"Advika and the Hollywood Wives is my favorite kind of page-turner: packed with juice, humor, intrigue, and a complex heroine on a quest to discover what's real beyond the mirage of all that glitters. Kirthana Ramisetti's knowledge of celebrity culture shines through in every scene, and I couldn't help but binge!" - Dawnie Walton
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