Fame Game

by Louise Fennell

Britain's most famous family, The Spenders, need to get out of town in a hurry. They have been hounded from their London mews house by a riot of photographers following scandalous revelations and are now forced to move to a rundown Dower house in Oxfordshire where no one knows they are hiding.

But the family's country life is as colourful as their old town life, and with anonymous threatening notes arriving at their hideaway and the parents' marriage in jeopardy as well as financial crisis, life is spiralling out of control for them. So when Zelda's new agent comes to visit to discuss an offer she has had for Zelda to become a judge on the panel of a new TV Talent show called Fame Game, how can she afford to turn it down? And is Zelda about to find out that, in the Fame Game, the stakes are even higher than she thinks?

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

432 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2013

Reviews

[Tracey- Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow but good read. The Spenders are an interesting and rather intense family .
Zelda is a fascinating and strong woman divided in her working life and family life .
It's dark, funny and yet also like a thriller at times which has made it to be an intriguing read .

[Barbara Elsborg]

I hadn't read the first book but the author did a good job of seeding in enough information so that I didn't feel as though I ought to have read it to understand what was going on. That said, it turned out to be not my sort of book. It's of it's type - Jackie Collins, Jilly Cooper without the length and humour etc - dysfunctional sort of rich people who're down on their luck, and famous people who have the morals of alley cats. I didn't bond with any character but it's not that sort of book.

[Tamara Van dishoeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

in het begin was het even ingewikkeld want je hebt zo veel verschillende personages maar had het al redelijk snel door wie wie was. kwam er later pas achter dat er nog een eerder boek is over dezelfde familie. je volgt een aantal mensen uit een familie die een zeer bekende Engelse familie is en nadat er een boek is uitgekomen met hun geheimen en ze blut zijn doen ze er alles aan om er weer boven op te krabbelen niet alleen emotioneel maar ook financieel. een deel duikt onder bij een vriend van de familie en daar word Zelda gestalkt maar niemand neemt haar serieus denkt ze. ik had alleen wel sneller door dan Zelda wie de stalker was. een leuk boek wat een beetje voorspelbaar was. maar toch wel van genoten.

[PolkadotRussianDoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Desperate house wives meets mills and boons meets soap opera. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to like this book and even though it was a shallow read and is full of narcissistic selfish characters I loved it. There was something about the drama and scene setting that drew me in. I flew through this. This book is an enjoyable read, take it for what it is, which is a kind of dramatised reality tv type book. The ending was dreadful and rushed and there were cringing eye rolling moments at some points. But for some reason I couldn’t stop reading. I found the characters interesting. It makes
For a perfect spring read when you want something light and distracting and don’t want a book that makes you think too much.

[Gianina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried finishing this book and I failed. This book has no plot what's so ever. The 'suspense ' aspect of the book didn't even help keep my interest what's so ever.

The characters (UGH!!!) I just wanna murder almost all of them. I thought maybe towards the half through the book we'll see some characters development, but as I read on there was second to none.


The writing style was very confusing. They just jump to pov to pov without warning in each new paragraph.

The more I read on. The more I wonder why this was published in the first place.

[Noel · Rating 2 out of 5]

what a load of rubbish awful characters you despise,and nothing actually happens dont bother reading it, jackie collins and jilly cooper write much better and with more content and entertainment.

[Orlanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many characters in one story and not a good enough effort to tie them up together neatly. Quite a loose plot also; at the end what happens with Valentine and the Boy family, and Milo?

[Nicola Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow, barely a story to read. Would not recommend.

[Spencer Slovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really, really hard to get through the first half but I did it for work lol. The latter half was tightly plotted and a lot of fun, though!

[Libby Andrews · Rating 1 out of 5]

A celebrity family meets a hard up aristocratic family. Everyone sleeps with everybody, the younger children are neglected. Theres a murder, a plane crash and a kidnapping. Far fetched, dull, boring and awful characters!

[Carol Peace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great free book from Simon and schuster.
Part mystery, part murder, part romance and all brought together with an at times witty writing. The Spender family were rich and famous, well they are still famous but it seems for all the wrong reasons. They retreat to the country house of an old friend but things do not work out quite the way they hoped. Zelda and Jack take the family away from the limelight but find themselves involved in an awkward situation with Boy's family who's house they are staying in. Boy's wife has dissapeared and whilst he has a large house himself and his daughters don't need to be saddled with another near bankrupt family but the friendship wins him around. What happens after they move in is absolutely unmissable.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its a very easy read I would recommend it. Put this in your suitcase or take to the beach I can promise you a great read.

[Kaiti · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish the book. It didn't keep me interested at all, and despite supposedly being a murder mystery there was zero suspense and no sign of a story arc by the end of the first third of the book (and judging by the fact that the first one had no story arc or real development to speak of, it's not surprising). just like its prequel, it read like mediocre fanfiction. My biggest regret is having spent money on it.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly didn't enjoy this book, I couldn't even read it all and ended up skipping to the end chapter. I can honestly say it is only one of few books i havent been able to read all the way through. There are far too many characters and all have so much background info half of it is pointless and doesnt help you get a feel for the characters. I love to get lost in a book but unfortunetly this just bored me.

[Di McLean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the author's second book, sadly didn't find that out until I had finished or I'd have bought her first one.
Loved the book, fast paced, enjoyable story, funny at times and it left me wanting more when I had finished. Hope that book 3 is on it's way soon.

[Angie Rhodes · Rating 4 out of 5]

great free book,from Simon & Schuster. The Spender family,rich,rich rich,and famous! They lose everything,are hounded by photographers,so go into hiding,with Jakes best friend,Boy..then the fun begins,stalkers,affairs..and very dry wit

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I confess I liked this book. It was something of a revelation, not necessarily in a good way, but it make me laugh! An easy read, and full credit to the author, who observes fame and human nature in a marvelously satirical way.

[Bev Dulson · Rating 3 out of 5]

couldn't get into this as quickly as her first book and i couldn't remember some of the plot of the first book when it was referred to in the second book. still a good read though

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

got this free from Simon & Schuster and a great read on hols. I didn't know it was book two but that didn't really matter.

[Deyara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Rich people behaving badly, trainwreck lifestyles, children parenting adults, over-the-top drama - check.

[Lainy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Danielle Dent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved this series and really hope there will be more from the Spenders! It was a good old fashioned romp with glamour mystery and a bit of sex thrown in. Love Cleo and her missions!

[Annika Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the Spenders! Hope there is a 3rd book!

[Sheila Howes · Rating 1 out of 5]

An easy enough read but didn't enjoy it.