Book Review: Becoming Mila by Estelle Maskame #BecomingMila @EstelleMaskame @inkroadbooks

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Mila lives in LA with her mom and A-list actor dad, whose fame constantly thrusts their lives into the media spotlight. But when Mila’s antics around town make waves ahead of her dad’s next big movie, something needs to be done. So Mila is dispatched 2,000 miles away to Nashville, Tennessee, where she can cool off for the summer with her aunt and grandfather. The perfect solution – right? 

Mila’s not so sure. She’s dreading the idea of a summer away from her friends, not to mention being shipped to the other side of the country. Apprehensive and out-of-sorts when she arrives, it doesn’t take long for her to get off on the wrong foot with the mayor’s son, Blake. In spectacular style. 

But Blake’s no stranger to Mila’s issues. He knows exactly what life’s like with a parent in the public eye – the pressures and politics, dramas and dynamics . . . Perhaps Mila and Blake have far more in common than either of them care to admit.

Set in Los Angeles and Nashville over a long, hot summer, Becoming Mila is the first book in an irresistibly addictive and exhilarating new trilogy from Estelle Maskame, shimmering with love, friendship, family frictions – and lots of romance.

My Review

Meet Mila, the daughter of movie star Everett Harding. At the press conference for her father’s knew blockbuster summer release, Mila once again ends up in headlines for all the wrong reasons, meaning that the press conference will be remembered for a very different reason and not for the movie itself. In order to let things calm down and to stop any further negative publicity ahead of the movie it is decided that Mila will be shipped off to the family home in Fairview, Tennessee to stay with her Aunt Sherry and her grandfather who she lovingly calls Popeye.

Whilst there she reconnects with her old childhood friend Savannah and her brother Miles. It’s through them that she meets Blake, their cousin who is also the son of the Mayor of Nashville. Although Mila might have been sent to Fairview to lay low, she quickly realises that trying to blend in is harder than she thinks especially because of who her father is. But this will be a trip that Mila will never forget because she’s about to unearth secrets that have been buried for many years.

I loved the storyline and with the turn of each page felt like I was transported into Mila’s world and to Tennessee and Nashville. It was hard not to love Mila’s character or the other characters in the book. Mila as a character grows throughout the story and in some ways by being sent to Fairview to live with her aunt and grandfather she finds the stability that’s been lacking in her life in LA. When Mila meets Blake they instantly clash but there’s definitely an intense spark between them and a lot of chemistry. The more they get to know each other the more they realise they have a lot in common, which includes living in the shadow of their very public and successful parents.

When I started to read this book I knew it was part of a trilogy but that cliffhanger at the end was not only shocking but made me want to read the second book straight away. I really can’t wait to see what happens to Mila next so I am eagerly anticipating the next book.

Definitely a book I’d highly recommend.

Author Bio

Estelle Maskame lives in Peterhead. She started writing the DIMILY trilogy when she was 13; it was first published by Black & White in 2015. Rights are now sold in 19 territories. Estelle was winner of the Young Scot Award 2016 (Arts) and shortlisted for the Young Adult Romantic Novel Award 2017.

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