I absolutely loved this book ,it was stylish and fun to read .It gave me a peek into the craziness of the celebrity world and their Stylists .I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Amber in the end .As a debut book it was brilliant I hope there will be more books by Rosie Nixon

What a great book. Whenever you see celebrities on the red carpet and they detail what they are wearing it makes you wonder about the people behind the public face that are just the little cogs make that person's crazy schedule and brand commitments all mesh together. It was a witty and entertaining book that had true comedy value moments.

I was kindly supplied an advance copy of this book from NetGalley for my honest review, and I have to say I absolutely loved it - it was so much fun all the way through. I think the main character Amber just lurched from mini-disaster to mini-disaster but pulled it all off so well considering she'd been thrown in at the deep end. You can really imagine the mad life of stylists and the red carpet 'dos' from this book. I really engaged with all the characters, mostly good with of course high maintenance Mona who was certainly a character, and there's also a really cute micro pig called Pinky, a great addition to the story. Someone else mentioned it would make a great film and I totally agree, I'd love to see it on the big screen. You would never know this is a debut book, it is so well written and just flows so well. I can't wait for Rosie Nixon's next book, the next in the series, even if we unfortunately have to wait until next year.

I don't think it is possible for me to put into words how much I ADORED this book! There would be too much gushing...

Amber Green is working in Smith's boutique, a high end shop offering fashion that's not for every pocket. She has a real knack for window dressing which is appreciated by her boss, Jas, ex supermodel, yet not valued by Kiki aka The Stick, wannabe fashionista who demoralises Amber wherever possible. That is until the day Mona Armstrong arrives, the shop is gleaned to perfection except for the mistake a harassed Amber makes with the shoes in the window. Mona thinks she is seeing an inspired moment of fashion genius and asks Amber to accompany her to LA to work the awards season and help to style the industry's finest. Amber, only just knowing her Prada from her Primark grudgingly agrees - much to the annoyance of The Stick who feels her dream job has been snatched from beneath her.

It's probably the riskiest move Amber has ever made, but she manages to blag her way through the craziness of the Golden Globes, making allies along the way, then back to the UK for the BAFTAs where she truly saves Mona's skin (who is quickly unravelling from her public persona to be quite a train wreck of a person) the press are quickly on to her and Amber has to do lots of damage limitation. No more than at the prestigious Oscars when things threaten to go disastrously wrong.

Unfortunately for Mona her demise has been captured by the reality TV crew that have been shadowing her for a pilot episode of her new show which proves to be a step too far for the crumbling star. The book culminates with a fantastic ending at the celebrity wedding of the year in Hawaii which goes about as well as you can expect when the ring bearer is a micro-pig in a white tuxedo and leather jacket.

The Stylist really is the most fun I've had from a book in a really long time. I loved the glitz and glamour, it really is like a behind the scenes of Heat magazine. It wont be for all but highly recommended as a really good, escapist light read.

4.5 Stars

The Stylist is a fast paced, hugely entertaining story, set during the madness that is award season. Amber Green despite not really knowing fashion, stumbles into an assistant stylist job, with big stylist to the stars Mona Armstrong. In a story that goes from the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Ocscars, taking in a premiere, multiple red carpets and then an exotic wedding, you barely pause for breath as Amber helps keep all the stars looking brilliant.

Of course nothing is as simple as it sounds, nor should it be for entertainment purposes. Mona is not exactly the easiest boss to work for and it soon becomes apparent the Amber is doing all the work. She also seems to be able to strike up a rapport with some of the starlets that she is styling.

I loved how the action flitted between Los Angeles and London, but in keeping with a busy work schedule, you barely get to see much of the locales, focusing more on the many work emergencies that keep cropping up.

There are fabulous descriptions of the various designer dresses involved, and although I know nothing about fashion, I had heard of a lot of a lot of the designers being mentioned.

In some respects this book really did remind me of The Devil Wears Prada, both have bosses that expect far too much, with assistants that barely know the industry. Both are funny, and exhaust the main character regularly.

Amber meets two men that peak her interest, LA actor Liam, and TV Producer Rob, who she has a lot of contact with as there is pilot about Mona being filmed during this whole time frame.

My favourite minor character was Pinky. There is just something very entertaining about a pet miniature pig, and this one seemed to take a liking to Amber.

I really enjoyed this debut book from Rosie Nixon, it was just what I needed to counteract, the chilling book that I read the day before.

Thanks to Netgalley and MIRA for this review book. This is my honest opinion.

 
 
The Stylist,  Rosie Nixon

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:   women’s fiction

Some years before the film I found the book The Devil wears Prada....it was a fun read but with a serious side hidden among the humour. this book reminds me of that, the way it details the silliness of life in Celeb World, where a fashion faux pas could be a simple as the wrong shade of nail polish, and the wrong outfit is a fate worse than death. In fact this is epitomised in the hotel fire alarm scenario and I could envisage that little snippet as being very true of certain people. 

I liked Amber, she’s like lots of girls, hard working and lives life to the full, and hoping for a good career in her chosen area. Currently she’s working in a fashion store, when due to a window dressing malfunction which is taken for real, she gets a temporary job with a top Stylist helping as her assistant for the awards season....Mona is a real enigma, crazy in the extreme, she’s a steamroller, a force of nature, she barely pauses for breath and before she knows what’s happened Amber is out in LA. 
Its mayhem from the moment Amber steps (hung-over after celebrating with her flatmate the night before) on the plane. Its a steep learning curve for her, and the first thing she learns is Mona is chaos personified, she doesn’t seem to have any kind of system, she takes on far more than she can control, and Amber gets left in the lurch to sort disasters again and again. Along the way she somehow manages to get persuaded to pose as someone else for celeb Belle Beau when she needs backup for her story to her fiancé...that lie leads to more and more. From a love live that seems to have died in the water she goes on to meet rising star Liam, who seems to be interested in her if the flurry of texts are anything to judge, and gorgeous Rob, whose producing a TV show pilot staring Mona and her life, who becomes very friendly with her. Mona only wants them filming the good parts but they seem to be around for much of the chaos that seems to permanently surround her.

So its a barely time to breath, comedic romp, through a stylists job with the stars...and the would-be stars. Dresses, bags, accessories from broad, beautiful bangles “they’re called Cuffs darling...” and brilliant, burnished barrettes to devastating, dripping diamonds that have to have their own security guard. Amber finds herself thinking and scheming on the spur of the moment, dropped by Mona in some real knife edge scenes. It might be just a dress to you and me, but to the stars, designers and stylists its career making and breaking, and the press are there to catch every potential disaster – they want dirt not just pretty pictures and they’ll do their utmost to find it.
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Stars: Four, its a fun read, sharp and sparky at times and full of fun at the sheer ridiculousness of some situations.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

I

The Stylist is Rosie Nixon's debut and what a debut! As it says in the cover, it's perfect for The Devil Wears Prada and Shopaholic fans because it has that same fun spark that made those books so great. Actually, now that I think of it, this book would make a fabulous movie too with its fast paced plot and with the lovely Amber Green (almost) getting the hand of the crazy world of fashion and styling the stars.

But now to the story. I found it highly entertaining and fun. As I said, I really liked the main character, Amber Green (who was not named after the traffic lights, if you were wondering). She was really down to earth and naive enough to find herself in the most hilarious situations, like attending one of the most prestigious award ceremonies of the world in an onesie. She didn't have a great knowledge about fashion but by being in the right place in the right moment she landed a job for stylist to the stars, Mona. Or should I say crazy completely unreliable stylist to even crazier stars, Mona? You get the picture. Luckly, Amber seemed to have a natural eye for styling and was a real hard worker.

So as we follow Mona and Amber during award season, we immerse in the crazy world of stardom. But also we learn about how much work goes on behind the scenes. I love these stories that gives us a glimpse to the other side of the story. I mean, who doesn't love checking what celebrity wore what in the Oscars? (I certainly do). But do you ever wonder why they chose that dress or those shoes?

But the book not only focuses on fashion and what to wear. It is also about following your dreams, finding the courage to stand up for yourself and recognizing who the good people are. Ah! And how to care for a miniature pig too! Plus, we also got a good dash of romance with Amber's not one but two love interests during her adventures, I really liked one of them and was really happy with the ending.

There was not a thing I didn't like about The Stylist. Rosie Nixon's style was fresh and fast paced and managed to entertain me non-stop for several hours. She is definitely an author to watch. I'm sure next time I check who wore what in the Oscars, I'll be reminded of Mona and Amber.