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    Catch A Falling Star
    Catch A Falling Star
    Catch A Falling Star
    Audiobook9 hours

    Catch A Falling Star

    Written by Kim Culbertson

    Narrated by Andrew Eiden and Erin Spencer

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A deliciously charming novel about finding true love...and yourself.

    Nothing ever happens in Little, California. Which is just the way 17-year-old Carter Moon likes it. But when Hollywood arrives to film a movie starring former child star-turned public relations mess Adam Jakes, everything changes. Utterly annoyed, Carter feels like the only girl not buying what Hollywood's selling.

    Then Carter gets an offer she can't refuse: Play the part of Adam's girlfriend while he's in Little, to improve his public image, and take home a hefty paycheck, which her family desperately needs. So instead of a summer hanging out with friends and working, Carter begrudgingly poses for the tabloids but soon finds that Adam isn't who she thought. Worse yet, she might actually be falling for him.

    As they grow closer, their relationship walks a blurry line between what's real and what's fake, and Carter must open her eyes to the scariest of unexplored worlds — her future. Can Carter figure out what she wants out of life and get the boy? Or are there no Hollywood endings in real life?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScholastic
    Release dateMay 1, 2014
    ISBN9780545677370
    Catch A Falling Star
    Author

    Kim Culbertson

    Kim Culbertson has taught high school English, creative writing and drama for over ten years in both public and private schools and sees her writing as an extension of her teaching. She lives in the Northern California foothills with her husband and daughter, where she loves to drink coffee and look at the clouds.

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    Reviews for Catch A Falling Star

    4/5

    221 ratings16 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Even though this is a YA offering, it was written and acted well enough to be a great light read (listen) for a 65 yr old woman. Highly recommended.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Loved this book! I Couldn't put it down! Highly recommend.
    • 2/5
      It won’t go off my home page keeps coming back even after I start a new book:(((
    • 5/5
      This is an amazing book. It has such meaning, that it just gets you thinking. The ending almost had me, I was totally fooled. And then bam, the real beautiful ending. Such a good book. I highly recommend it
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars.

      This book is about a small town girl who is picked by a teen movie star’s agent to play as his fake girlfriend in real life for the tabloids and the public to help turn his “bad boy” image around. Only Carter can’t tell anyone but her parents. Not even her two best friends. How long can she keep up this facade? We also learn that things with Adam aren’t exactly what they seem, and he may be lying more than we realize. At first I was not a fan of Adam, but as time goes on I ended up rooting for them to get together for real.

      I thought this book would be cornier and I was pleasantly surprised that the way Carter and Adam’s relationship evolved was actually very organic and believable. Of course there was a happy ending.
    • 4/5
      This was an enjoyable read with lessons of honesty
      and being true to your self.
    • 4/5
      I listened to this book in a matter of 4 weeks, mainly because I only listened to it on long drives. And I have to admit, I did enjoy listening to it and was sad when I got to my destination and had to turn it off. I finished the book today, and overall it's a good book. I like that the main character deals with more then just her romantic conflict in the story, and that the characters have some depth to them. Only thing I didn't like is, I love romantic books, so I love all of the romance between characters and the build up and I just didn't see enough of that in this book. By the end of it I wasn't exactly sure why they had fallen for each other since it was only minor things here and there. But with that being said, it is still a very nice story, and the ending left me with a giant smile.
    • 5/5
      It was a Cute and easy read. Pleasant voice reading it.
    • 5/5
      This book is so amazing. I love how well they told this beautiful story.
    • 4/5
      Carter is bribed to be Adam's fake girlfriend to give the movie star a better reputation - in true romance fashion, both characters discover there's more to each other than meets the eye
    • 4/5
      When superstar Adam Jakes rolls into the small town of Little, California to film a Christmas movie in the middle of summer, native Carter Moon is unruffled. Happy in her small town, working in her parents' café, Little Eats, Carter's never gotten caught up in all the hoopla about Hollywood. Adam is an overgrown child star fresh out of rehab and also looking to rehab his image after a very scandalous public break-up with a Disney starlet. When Adam's manager stumbles over the only dark spot marring Carter's simple small town life, he sees an opportunity he can't pass up. Soon Carter is playing a role of her own, small town love to Adam Jakes.I have to admit, I've got a real weak spot for a well done YA romance. My favorites are the ones that don't let the main character become a lifeless puppet of the love story, and Catch a Falling Star definitely doesn't. Carter comes off as a real, genuine person who is struggling to find her place in the world, but doesn't know it yet. Easily content with her life and its routines, happy to help those around her and watch the night sky with her friends, she doesn't ambitiously imagine a life for herself in some unknown elsewhere, but her parents want her to open her eyes to a world that's a little bigger than Little.As Adam and Carter's scripted courtship deepens to something more than staged photo ops and publicity stunts, the pair start to open each other's eyes to different ways of life. Adam's worldly ambition plays nicely off Carter's small town contentment, and it's satisfying to watch both characters realize that maybe there's a sweet spot in between where they both could land. In addition to likeable, if flawed, characters, Culbertson's small town summer setting leaps off the page.Catch a Falling Star is a great coming of age story for both characters taking on themes of what it means to grow up and carve out a place for themselves in the world. I loved this page turning read with a little extra substance!
    • 4/5
      I liked this surprisingly a lot. I would even be tempted to give it 5 stars which I rarely do, except for the last couple pages which seemed tacked on to make the required cheesy happy ending. I liked that this book made the message that in finding your passion and purpose in life, you don't have to fall in love or run off to the big city or have a grand adventure, but maybe everyone should take opportunities that stretch you beyond your comfort zone. One of my favorite lines is when the MC is telling her dad how she is happy and loves their small town life and her dad says, "Honey, you're one of those lucky people who will like a lot of places." That sums up the MC's outlook and personality.
    • 5/5
      Carter Moon is an unusual teen. She's perfectly happy living in Little, California, helping her father at the cafe he runs and supporting her activist mom with her causes. At night, she loves sitting on the roof with her best friends Chloe and Alien Drake who are a couple. In fact Carter and Alien even have a blog called Yesterday's Sightings where they post about what they see and think about up on that roof.Not everything's perfect in Carter's life. Her older brother, John, has a serious gambling addiction and has lied and stolen. Not even the extended rehab that strained the family finances made an impact and now one of the local sleazeballs is threatening him and the family in order to get what John owes. There's also the issue of Carter's abruptly dropping out of her dance activity right when she had a chance to go to New York on a summer scholarship.When Adam Jakes, a teen actor, rumored to be having substance abuse and attitude problems, comes to Little to film a Christmas movie that's a take-off on Dicken's A Christmas Carol, Everyone in town is excited. Everyone except Carter. She's immune to such things, but when the agent for the teen star corners her and makes an offer, she's faced with a real dilemma. If she agrees to go along with pretending to be Adams' new girlfriend while filming is taking place, she'll be paid enough to get her brother out of debt, but she can't tell anyone.This story line has been done before. It would have been very easy for this book to become complete cheese, but it's anything but. It's a smart, sensitive and intriguing look inside Carter's head and heart as she sorts her way through a situation that starts out as something she thinks she can handle, gets emotionally involved, manages to maintain her integrity and comes out a winner in the end. She's an extremely likable girl who has to struggle with her beliefs in some situations where they're severely tested. It would have been easy, for example, to wrap up her brother's problems in a happily ever after way, but that's not how it happens. I liked this enough to immediately order one of the author's earlier books.Teens who like movies/movie stars and good love stories will like this one a lot.
    • 4/5
      **rec’d an eARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**Catch a Falling Star by Kim Culbertson is a cute coming of age story hidden within a YA contemporary romance. Everyone around Carter thinks she will regret not taking her scholarship and pursuing a professional dance career. Feeling pressured from all sides Carter has decided to give up dance altogether. Adam grew up in front of everyone’s eyes on the big screen. Caught up in having to be whatever he needs to be to please Hollywood and his fans, Adam like Carter struggles with finding out who he really is and what is an act. The two are thrown together and slowly realize they share a chemistry that cannot be denied.Culbertson does a beautiful job of capturing the dynamics of small-town society and the struggles of fame and fortune vs. struggling working class America. It was refreshing to read a character like Carter that was not filled with teen angst. Instead of having a “me, me, me” mentality, Carter chooses to place the needs of others before her own. I can completely relate to that, I’m guilty of it myself. Carter does not feel the need to be famous or competitive. She is quite content to live her life in her little hometown and help others. She is conflicted over wanting more than what she has when she compares her life to those less fortunate.Adam, although he does show character growth, is my least favorite from this story. I find it hard to relate to someone that places so much value on what the public think about them. Some of the stuff he does just to create good press or “save face” almost made me stop reading because it was becoming irritating. His ability to manipulate the situation and work people made it very hard for me to tell what was an act, and what was a lie. On the other hand, I would feel bad for him at times because he sacrifices a normal childhood to act.The romance in the storyline was a miss for me. There is just very little attraction between the two main characters, more than anything they come off feeling like friends to me. I would have like to see a bit more interaction between them alone and less of the couple that presented in public. Maybe then it would feel more romantic and less friend-zone.Overall this is a very light, fun, and fast paced read. I thoroughly enjoyed going along for the ride while these two discovered who they truly are and what they mean to each other. I would recommend this to anyone who likes coming of age stories and contemporary YA fiction. This will definitely make a great read to take on vacation or to the beach!
    • 5/5
      I honestly wasn’t too familiar with this book. I saw a review for it on a friends blog and was in the mood for a contemporary romance so I requested it from Netgalley. A few days later I sat down and read the entire book from start to finish: it was THAT good. This review is mainly going to focus on the characters and why I loved them, because I loved them all.Carter Moon is a small town girl who appreciates the little things in life (see what I did there?) like working at her parents cafe and stargazing with her best friends. I instantly liked Carter, she was sweet, spoke her mind, and loved her family more than anything. Don’t think just because Carter was a sweet small town girl she was boring. She wasn’t. Adam Jakes may have started out as a privaleged jerk but he starts to let down his gaurd around Carter and we get to see a really sweet and thoughtful guy is hiding behind that public perosona. While it was easy to see that Carter and Adam were starting to fall for each other, it was hard to tell just how much of it was real on Adam’s part. He was a pro at hiding his feelings and putting on a show so it’s understandable that Carter didn’t know what to believe either. Carter’s best friends Chloe & Alien Drake (nicknamed for his fascination with UFOs) were great secondary characters who added to the story. Chloe had a big celebrity crush on Adam Jakes so I was totally expecting her to throw a hissy fit and stop talking to Carter when she found out Carter was dating Adam. But she didn’t. Chloe acted like a real best friend would and was happy for Carter, which is why I loved her. Alien Drake has been BFFs with Carter since they were in like second grade. They star gaze on Drake’s roof almost every night and co-author a blog where they discuss the sky, stars, constelations and relate them to things going on in their lives. I thought it was going to be a little weird having random stargazing blog posts scattered throughout the book but they easily became one of my favorite parts. These characters seemed so much wiser than their 17 years, sharing thoughts about the sky & life that really make you think. Overall, this was an awesome contemporary filled with lovable characters, great friends and a sweet romance. I’ll definitley be reading whatever comes next from Kim Culbertson!
    • 4/5
      Kim Culbertson's novel Catch a Falling Star is a teen romance novel that makes for a light, lovely summer read--or a great read for your commute. Small-town girl Carter Moon (cutesy names, but trust me, it doesn't detract from the overall quality of the text), falls for teen movie star Adam Jakes, even though she's only PRETENDING to be his girlfriend for money.The plot is very similar to Susan Donovan's The Kept Woman, but this is the teen version and as the plot moves on, it is different. Drugs, addiction, stargazing, Hollywood, and small-town charm all make this a fun, lighthearted and enjoyable read. The ending threw me for a loop, but it won't disappoint you.Opposites attract in Catch a Falling Star. Adam Jakes is a spoiled, misunderstood, and slightly troubled young star. With all the media attention around Hollywood's effects on child stars, Adam's character is an interesting one, to say the least.Carter is hired to be Adam's girlfriend while he is in town to shoot a movie. Her presence in his life is an attempt to soften his image after a dramatic breakup with his Hollywood girlfriend. (Wouldn't this be the most opportune situation for so many Bieber-fans?) Carter discovers that there's more to Adam than his good looks or his successful career, but the fact that they are from two different worlds spells out heart break for the young couple.It's not the next bestseller or a sizzling romance, but the premise is sweet and it was a good read. Carter is every small-town girl and Adam is every teenage celebrity heart throb who we wish would stroll into our lives and sweep us off our feet.A solid B+ book. Catch a Falling Star will be published on April 29th, 2014