If you don’t get lost, there’s a chance you may never be found.
Jenna McGovern has spent her whole life training for the stage. She’s taken dance classes, voice lessons, and even earned her performance degree from one of the most prestigious musical theater programs in the nation. At graduation, she’s stunned when a chance audition lands her a prime supporting role in the hottest Broadway touring production in the country. In more exciting news, Jenna discovers acclaimed television star Adrienne Kenyon is headlining the production.
Jenna settles easily in to life on tour and has a promising career laid out in front of her, if only she plays her cards right. She’s waited for this opportunity her entire life and will let nothing stand in her way. The one thing she didn’t prepare for, however, was Adrienne. Her new costar is talented, beautiful, generous, and the utmost professional. As the two women grow closer onstage and off, they must learn how to fit each other into a demanding lifestyle full of unexpected twists and difficult decisions. But is Jenna ready to sacrifice what she’s worked so hard for in exchange for a shot at something much deeper?
What a enjoyable read. I will admit to knowing little to nothing about Broadway, dancing, acting or the lives of a touring cast but none of that mattered. What I needed to know was laid out for me simply, I could go along with it and feel like I could understand the day to day grind of being in a show and the close knit relationships of the cast and crew. Often in an ensemble story there are so may supporting characters I lose track of them and/or decide I just don’t care. Waiting in the Wings didn’t bog me down with unnecessary characters, just a couple of best pals and a rival or two, everyone else was set dressing.
The relationship between Jenna and Adrienne seemed realistic, great dialog and some palpable sexual tension. We didn’t get too much a sense of the interior dialog, the neurotic angst but instead a pretty clear vision through their eyes. The romance was believable, it felt plausible, it certainly had me rooting for them. The sex was yummy, not too chaste, nor too explicit.
The jump forward 4 years in time was at first difficult for me, but as the story moved forward I could see the evolution of the characters, how the story I’d been privy to earlier had changed the characters into who they now were. It ended up working very well, and I was impressed with Melissa Brayden’s skillful handling of that.
I only gave it 4 stars because as enjoyable as it was it wasn’t OMG fantastic, but it was well worth the time in reading it and I look forward to her future novels.
Waiting in the Wings by Melissa Brayden
