REVIEW: "I'll Be Watching You" by Leslie A. Kelly
Is there anyone who hasn't — at least at some point — had a Hollywood crush?
I remember my first-ever crush — not just of the Hollywood variety, but ever.
It was Brad Pitt.
Not Thelma and Louise Brad Pitt...
or even Legends if the Fall Brad Pitt.
Nope. The role that got my adolescent engine running was Brad Pitt from The Favor.
Never heard of that movie? I'm not surprised, because most people haven’t.
It was a relatively low budget, definitely inappropriate for a pre-teen, movie with which I had a passing obsession.
Even though I still wouldn’t kick Brad Pitt out of bed for eating crackers, my Hollywood crushing has since evolved. Now, my heart belongs to Colin Firth — and, of course, my husband… but mainly Colin Firth.
But even though my preferences have changed, my memory of this first ever crush — the first time I really understood the idea of being physically attracted to a guy — hasn’t faded.
And I certainly tapped into it as I read I’ll Be Watching You by Leslie A. Kelly, a re-release of a novel originally published in 2018 under the title Watching You.
Like most women, the first time Jessica Jensen lost her heart, it was to a teen heart throb.
But unlike too many teen stars, the apple of Jessica’s eye, Reece Winchester, didn’t spontaneously combust under the bright lights of stardom. Though his youth wasn’t without trauma — including the death of his older sister who was, herself, a child star — Reece managed to prevail. Decades after his rocket to fame, he still works in the industry, though now as a writer/director.
Like Reece’s youth, Jessica’s was also rich in struggle. She spent many of her formative years bouncing from foster home to foster home. Like most children stuck in the painful cycle of the system, she saw things she never should have seen and had experiences she would rather forget.
Fortunately for Jessica, she eventually found a forever home. And, grounded by this sense of belonging, has finally started working towards her own goal of becoming a Hollywood screenwriter.
Given their similarly tumultuous childhoods, perhaps it was some prescient knowledge of their shared history of struggle — and not the bouncy ponytail holding her stunning red hair in place and voluptuous young body, not well hidden in a sports bra and leggings — that draws Reece to Jessica when he first sees her through the feed of a security camera while visiting an art gallery that he financed for his aunt.
But whatever the attraction, the draw Reece feels to Jessica is strong. Stronger, probably, than the feelings Jessica developed for him when watching him on the big screen all those years ago.
Though time has changed many things, Jessica still feels a lingering attraction to Reece, so when he approaches her for the first time at a gallery event months after he first admired her from afar, she is taken aback to say the least.
Not only had she spent many an adolescent night dreaming about him, she finds that he’s even better in person.
He’s strong and confident and assured and chivalrous in a way few men are.
And that should be it.
They are made for each other.
Happily ever after.
Roll the credits.
But it won’t be that easy for Jessica and Reece.
Though their love may seem written in the stars, there are forces working against them, threatening not just their blossoming relationship but their very lives. Someone does not like the direction in which Jessica and Reece’s relationship is headed. And this someone will stop at nothing to break their union before it’s even fully formed.
Can their love — and, more importantly, Jessica and Reece themselves — survive?
Overall, this novel… made me feel really good.
Having never read anything by this author — who I have since learned is relatively prolific — and not being a frequent reader of the romantic suspense genre, I didn’t really know what to expect.
What I found, to my delight, was an engaging story with simple, clean characters and a surprisingly twisty plot.
As a whole, I’ll Be Watching You had the feel of 50 Shades of Gray, minus the chains-and-whips-excite-me parts.
Which I know will probably leave you thinking, "Well how can this be 50 Shades reminiscent with no red room of pain?"
For me, it was the dynamics between our love interests.
The wealthy, powerful, physically beautiful — slightly older — man who becomes infatuated, basically on sight, with a young, innocent, nubile lady who — while not completely helpless — is definitely prone to finding herself in situations from which she needs saving.
As a bonus, I really did care about these characters.
Kelly did a pretty exceptional job of building not just Jessica and Reece, but also her cast of secondary characters. She sustained her readers on a steady diet of new information about her characters, and their respective pasts, throughout the novel. In doing this, she effectively developed her characters without boring the audience with an unduly long introductory section.
This method of character development also allowed Kelly to continually increase the degree to which we cared about each of the characters. This made me feel like, as I read, I was falling in love with Reece and Jessica much in the same way they were falling in love with each other — organically, slowly, and then, suddenly, all at once.
When I grabbed this book off the shelf, I didn’t have any grand notion that it would be the perfect book to read right now. But, in the end, it turned out to be.
Ultimately I think reading a book like this against the backdrop of the COVID-19 lock down is oddly comforting — and not just because of the relatively graphic sex scenes that made quarantine a little less chilly.
In general I consider myself relatively feminist.
I don’t need you to pull out a chair for me.
I don't need you to open my car door.
I don't need you to lay your coat down over a puddle so I can step daintily across it.
But right now, like so many people, I feel really unsafe. And the prospect of some big strong strapping Hollywood man — who I for some reason pictured the entire time as Brad Pitt from “World War Z” — seems really appealing.
And, ultimately, my desire to be protected right now probably significantly enhanced my enjoyment of this book as a whole.
With a surprising depth of character development and an inarguably engaging plot, I’ll Be Watching You will capture readers’ attention and likely induce them to stay up past their bedtimes.
It earns 4 out of 5 cocktails.
I am actually super pumped that this is the first novel in a series — called “Hollywood Heat”... which is cheesetacular and makes me chuckle. I don’t often read serieses in the genre of romance, but I will certainly be continuing this one. Are you a romance series reader? Which ones are your favorite? Tell me about them in the comments, below.
I’ve been on a good run of 4- and 5-cocktail reads. Let’s see if I get lucky with my next book. To keep up with my reading and drinking, subscribe to updates in the sidebar to the right and follow me on Goodreads.
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