In Development

Publisher's Summary

From a young age, Cobie Galloway made a career of playing the girl-next-door on the silver screen. Only, she's not a teenager anymore. Ready to challenge herself artistically and earn the part she's always dreamed of, she's forced to face the realization that in order to win the roles afforded to edgier actresses, she might first have to audition by playing someone edgier in her day-to-day life.

Pop star Lila Wilder built a multimedia empire by always having her finger on the pulse of what's hot. However, as she struggles to produce her next smash hit record, she's finding it hard to keep her name in the public eye, and a string of tumultuous relationships with Hollywood boy toys no longer captivates anyone's attention.

Both women tentatively agree to a headline-grabbing fauxmance, with two simple rules: Always stick to the script, and never forget that on the stage of public perception, nothing is real. Can two women find love in a world of carefully crafted illusions, or will a successful charade mean the potential for something more gets left on the cutting-room floor?

©2018 Rachel Spangler (P)2019 Rachel L. Spangler

A Crackling Drama about Love and Social Media

Highly recommended. The wonderful narration by Ms. Etter keeps the action moving.

The premise is droll - two women entertainers accept their scheming managers plan to have them stage a wild public relations campaign: the two will live together VERY publicly while attracting as much media attention as possible. The (straight) cynical pop music star is creating her latest album; the (lesbian) actress wants to crash her teen ingenue image to fight for a dramatic role she feels only she can bring to life.

The opening sequence with the managers is high-level farce, but the story opens up as the two women examine how this live-action drama fits self-interest and self-awareness. Two women who barely know each other discover even a penthouse can provide insufficient personal space. And both carry baggage from previous, less public, relationships.

Along the way there are warm moments and huge arguments, a lot of female-empowerment and a few side trips regarding celebrity and its coverage in new media, ageism, heterosexism, the horror of conversion therapy and one ringing soliloquy about the value of books. Hear hear!

A very good story. It would make a terrific movie, but I won't hold my breath. DR. .

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Another new favorite

Rachel Spangler did a wonderful job developing the characters of In Development. I fell a bit in love with Cobie and got frustrated with Lila. But in the end a wonderful love story that touched on so many current topics - the #metoo movement, conversion therapy and women’s empowerment. So many hard subjects to talk about but that need to be addressed. Thank you Rachel - you gave me a lot to think about! Keep writing and sharing your stories!

Narrater's choice of voice for Lila ruins it

I actually think this book is pretty good however the mini mouse voice the narrator choose for Lila's character ruins the entire experience. It robs the character of all depth and any likability. I think I might just go buy the book on Amazon and finish reading it on my own.

Nicely done.

First book in a long time that I enjoyed. Wished she told her sister the same thing her
sister told her.

Great book, uneven reading performance

The reader spoiled this for me, the voice she chose for lila was awful...to my ears. This writer is great, and I think this story was also good, but the reader made it hard to tell... Such a shame. The sample didn't really reveal this, or I wasn't focusing when I heard it... Not sure which.

unputdownable

A great read. After starting in, I could not put it down until it was finished. I even read the "credits".