Having heard so much about Melanie Blake's Ruthless Women, I was delighted to be invited to take part in the celebrations for its publication on 18th February by Head of Zeus.
Ambition can be deadly
Broadcast to millions from its picturesque location off the coast of Jersey, Falcon Bay was once the world's most popular soap opera. But with ratings at an all-time low, a new network owner, the malevolent Madeline Kane, arrives on the private island determined to do whatever it takes to get the show back to the number 1 slot.
Director Farrah, leading lady Catherine and producer Amanda
are the driven, ambitious women who've been trying to hold the
production together. But thanks to their handsome but corrupt boss, Jake
Monroe, Farrah is losing episodes to male colleagues, seventy-year-old
Catherine is terrified of losing the public's adoration, and Amanda is
battling her desire for a forbidden affair with a handsome new employee.
As
Madeline's pressure to revive the show intensifies, she unleashes a
true battle of the sexes where the women will do anything to stay in the
jobs they love and on the island they call home. Can they team up to
bring down their rivals? Or will jealousy, betrayal and revenge rip
their friendships apart? As the story reaches its shocking climax, one
thing is for certain: only the most ruthless woman will survive...
My Thoughts
As you read Ruthless Women, you know it could only have been written by someone who has worked in the media business it portrays, with inside knowledge of what makes this world tick. After the early chapters which establish the main characters, I found that the pace increased and it turned into quite a page turner. There is quite a cast of characters, all larger than life and with their own agendas. There is a cast list at the beginning, but I didn't need to refer to it. Each character seemed evident from the story itself.
There are certainly plenty of vices on show as the story evolves. Pride, deceit, ambition and revenge swirl around, as scores are there to be settled. You meet some truly narcissistic personalities, with a level of self- obsession which makes the mind boggle. You know that you would hate to meet most of them in the real world! The sharp style of writing suits the subject and although there are plenty of sexy scenes, there is a lot more to discover in the novel than those.It is an entertaining read which will have you looking with a fresh eye at those soaps we like to follow.
In short: Revenge is a dish best served cold
About the Author
Best-selling author Melanie Blake’s own real life Rags to Bitches story reads like the plot of an outrageous drama…
At fifteen years old Melanie Blake was told by her high school
career advisors that her decision to do work experience at a local
record shop was an ‘embarrassment to the school and a clear example that
she wouldn’t go far in life or her career’. They were wrong. By
twenty-one she was working at the BBC’s iconic Top of the Pops show and
by twenty-seven she had built a reputation as one of the UK’s leading
music and entertainment managers, with her own agency and roster of
award-winning artists who had sold more than 100 million records. During
this time she also built up an acting agency from scratch which quickly
became the most successful independent boutique agency in the UK where
she manages clients from some of the biggest internationally syndicated
shows in the world.
Her roster have won Baftas, Emmys
and pretty much every best actress award going and Melanie is one of the
most successful female agents in the world. In the UK alone – over 25
million people a week currently tune in to watch the very stars Melanie
represents in their globally syndicated shows. In 2018 after two decades
at the top of her game, Melanie decided to manage a smaller client list
and concentrate on her other passion, writing – first as a columnist
for a national newspaper, then as a playwright and now as a best-selling
novelist.
Her first book The Thunder Girls became a
Number 1 Best Seller in the summer of 2019 and the play she adapted from
the novel broke box office records for a new work at the prestigious
Lowry Theatre.
She still represents a high profile stable
of some of the best known faces on British television but is also now
enjoying success in her own right as a producer, author and playwright.
Her second novel Ruthless Women was released on 18 February 2021. You can follow Melanie here: Twitter | Instagram | Website
Book link: Amazon UK
Thanks to Melanie Blake, Head of Zeus and Bei of misapr for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Check out the rest of the tour!
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