Rating: 3 stars
Jane Kaufman leaves her beloved Vancouver for the sunny shores of Los Angeles after meeting a woman on vacation who gets her a job as a producer on a reality show.
Her first moments in town make Jane realize she’s not in Kansas—or Canada—anymore when the women who are supposed to be her friends unceremoniously ditch her prior to a cast/farewell party.
Pulling herself and her pride back together, Jane begins work on a show, only to find that she’s pretty much a puppet whose main goal in life is to keep a spoiled prima-donna actress in line, while she watches others blatantly flirt their way up the promotion ladder.
Things get a bit more complicated when Jane gets a big break to produce a hot new show set in France. Just dumped by her self-centered action-adventure boyfriend, Jane puts everything into this new endeavor and finds herself caught in a love triangle between the host-with-the most, Alex and the very sweet and cute cameraman, Grant.
Back in the states, Jane is finding reality shows worse than fiction and her life not exactly where she hoped it would be. When Jane sees that a famed psychologist and self-help guru is moving his show to L.A., Jane is sure that’s where her salvation lies. With a little help from Alex and a stern warning from Grant, Jane gets the gig. However, it’s not long before she learns that moving up Hollywood ladder isn’t as glamorous as she thought and those big rewards don’t come without total sacrifice.
Reality Jane is a cute, chick-lit look behind the reality show curtain. Jane is a sweet likeable girl who has the best intentions, but quickly learns that morals won’t get you anywhere in Hollywood.
Shannon Nering does a good job of illustrating the cut-throat, soulless world of show business and provides just the right cast of characters to perfectly compliment the story.
With just the right amount of fact mixed in with fiction, Realty Jane confirms the suspicions of how real reality TV is, while providing entertainment and an occasional laugh.
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Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Bancroft Press (October 31, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-1610880282