Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson: Book Review

 **Book received for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

She’s Insta-famous. He uses a flip phone.

When her business partner is accused of serious financial crimes, superstar influencer Cat Cranwell—an engineered marvel of beauty, energy, and fun—falls from her penthouse perch. Des­perate to get away from the online trolls and paparazzi docu­menting her disgrace, Cat accepts her uncle’s offer to work with him in Kannery National Park, Montana. About as far as possible from life as she’s known it.

Cat’s world shifts from the swirling haze of likes and comments to lit­eral blizzards of frostbite temperatures and waist-deep snow. In place of negotiating brand deals, she finds herself negotiating at the ledge of a frozen lake with her die-hard Polar Bear Plunge coworkers. Instead of padding through the marble kitchen of her Manhattan loft, she’s sharing a tent-sized cabin with a roommate eager to bond like characters in sitcoms. But something curious is also happening in this overwhelming breath of fresh air as she reacquaints with the most honest parts of her­self and begins to ask the hard questions. Can Cat love herself with, and without, the world watching?

Then there’s that other tiny problem—she’s falling for Zaiah, the ruggedly handsome park ranger—and he hates anything remotely connected to social media, quite possibly her included.

Written with bestselling author Melissa Ferguson’s signature wit and charm, this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy of opposites attract is full of hilarious romp and a romance that will melt readers’ hearts.

Melissa Ferguson is the bestselling author of titles including Meet Me in the Margins, The Dating Charade, and The Cul-de-Sac War. She lives in Tennessee with her husband and children in their growing farmhouse lifestyle and writes heartwarming romantic comedies that have been featured in such places as The Hollywood Reporter, Travel + Leisure, Woman’s World, and BuzzFeed. She’d love for you to join her at www.melissaferguson.com; Instagram: @our_friendly_farmhouse; TikTok: @ourfriendlyfarmhouse; Facebook: @AuthorMelissaFerguson.

From the moment I saw this book and read the description, I knew I had to read it. I have read and enjoyed previous books by the author and thought this one seemed right up my alley as well. But I have to admit, while I DID enjoy it, it wasn't quite what I was expecting and as such didn't quite live up to those expectations I'd had.

Based upon the book's description and marketing as a romantic comedy, that was my expectation... and well, it wasn't really quite that in my opinion. Yes, it had many comedic moments and yes, there was certainly some romance... but the interactions between Cat and Zaiah really were quite minimal until over halfway through the book. Even in a slow-burn romance, I just expect there to be more chemistry-filled interactions before they finally get together... and all the swoon-worthy moments after the fact too. That was lacking here when compared to other books in the genre. So, when I am going in expecting a romantic comedy (which happens to be a current favorite for me), it was certainly a bit of a letdown there. 

However, I actually still really enjoyed the story... I just felt like it reads more like a chick lit about an influencer discovering who she is outside of social media rather than a romance. If you go in with that expectation, it's likely to be more enjoyable. The story does come across as a little anti-social media/electronics at times... and honestly, having a love-hate relationship with it, I didn't mind that horribly. I do think the author tried to show some of the good that can come from social media and networking as well. 

Overall, even though this wasn't at all what I was expecting when I chose it, I found it to be a very enjoyable read nonetheless.