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Addie Anne is determined to go on a trip to Hollywood, California with her family friend she calls Aunt Jean (who just so happens to be Marilyn Monroe) so she can finally leave her home town of Hockta, Florida behind.

The only thing she’s not telling anyone is that she won’t be coming home. This trip is the start of her new life.

On Amazon, the summary of this book says, “set in the 1950s, this thriller by Edgar Award–winning author Lori Roy reimagines the life of Marilyn Monroe, tying her fate to a dreamy teenager whose boyfriend runs afoul of the mob.

Desperate to break free of small-town Florida, Addie Anne Buckley dreams of following in the path of her glamorous aunt Jean―known to the world as Marilyn Monroe. When Aunt Jean plans a trip to Hollywood for Addie’s eighteenth birthday, Addie sees her chance to escape.

One thing stands in her way: her boyfriend. Truitt Holt is Addie’s first and only love and will be joining her in California. But days before Addie’s due to leave, Truitt does an about-face and gives her a painful ultimatum: stay and marry him, or they’re through. Addie chooses her dream.

Hurt and angry, Truitt unwittingly exposes the illegal bolita game he’s been running in mob territory. Now the Tampa Mafia is after him, and he has until midnight to cut a deal that will save his life and Addie’s.

What he doesn’t know…his trouble with the mob has already found Addie and her family. She’s already in a fight for her life.”

One of the main reasons I wanted to read this book was because I liked the visual of Addie and her Aunt Jean going to Hollywood, but they never leave Hockta. That was disappointing. I imagined them visiting the old studios and seeing the glamorous side of Marilyn’s life, but that never happened.

The summary makes it sound like Truitt was going to go to California with Addie, but he thinks she’s caught in a dream when she says she wants to be an actress. I don’t think he ever planned on joining her. But I guess this book is a reimagining and not a chance to show Marilyn in the life we knew she had.

This book is a thriller and it sticks to that storyline. I enjoyed how the story unfolded. I couldn’t predict what would happen next and I enjoyed that. I liked imagining Marilyn in the small Florida town trying to live a normal life.

Once Truitt gets caught up with the mob, the story goes back and forth between Truitt and Addie. That’s why I kept holding out hope that Addie would have a few chapters in Hollywood with Marilyn.

I gave the book 3.5 stars out of 5. I liked how everything worked out in the end, but it did feel like the mob boss went kind of easy on Truitt. I liked the flash forward at the end with everyone’s families. I thought it was an interesting and engaging story even if it showed a softer and unexpected side of Marilyn. It wasn’t what I expected and that’s what made me want to continue reading.