Welcome to my blog tour stop for The Valentines - Happy Girl Lucky by the amazing Holly Smale!
What They Say About the Book:
The Valentines… the most famous family in the world! With a grandmother who is an acting legend, a superstar screen goddess
for a mum and a world-famous director father, sisters Faith, Mercy and Hope, alongside their brother Max have lived their whole life in the spotlight. How do you cope when your every move becomes an Instagram sensation? And how do you find true love when your
life isn’t actually a Rom-Com and most boys aren’t leading men material!
I was lucky enough to be able to ask Holly who she pictured bringing The Valentines to life on the big screen. Check out who she chose, I think they're perfect!
HOPE - Ella-Rae Smith
Loving, optimistic, positive and bubbly, the youngest sister Hope is an instantly loveable character and needs an actress with natural sweetness and charisma. I was asked by my publishers for actresses I’d like to read the audiobooks,
and Ella-Rae Smith was my first choice. She’s amazing in Into The Badlands
and Clique and is so beautiful yet so completely unpretentious and warm. We managed to get her as our audiobook narrator - which I’m stoked about - and if there’s a film or TV show she’s my first choice for Hope again.
FAITH - Nathalie Emmanuel
Faith is famously beautiful, tall and statuesque; she’s also calm and has a natural poise and air of serenity. I’ve actually been watching Nathalie on the screen for decades - she used to be in Hollyoaks, back in the day - but she’s better
known now as Missandei in Game Of Thrones. She’s stunningly beautiful, obviously, but she also has a stillness and a slightly mysterious, composed aura which is so perfect for middle sister Faith. She’d be my perfect choice, and - like Ella-Rae - has been
pinned to my “mood-board” since the very start of The Valentines.
MERCY - Lenora Crichlow
I’m a huge fan of Lenora’s; I loved her in Sugar Rush, over a decade ago, and she’s also amazing in Black Mirror. She’s spot on for the snarky, sharp, hard-nosed eldest sister, Mercy, and would be capable of being genuinely fearless and
terrifying, but also showing glimpses of genuine softness and vulnerability. She’s a big talent, and I can’t think of anyone who encapsulates Mercy more perfectly.
MAX - Alfred Enoch
We all loved little Alfred in Harry Potter, but big Alfred is just perfect for Max, the eldest of the Valentine siblings. He’s got exactly the right cheekiness, charm and playfulness, and would be great as the brother who winds
them all up constantly yet shows surprising insight and thoughtfulness and brings support and warmth to all of them when they need it most.
MUM (Juliet) - Kristen Scott Thomas
For Juliet, the mega A-list movie-star Valentine mother, I knew straight who I had in mind before I even started writing her: I’ve loved Kristen Scott Thomas for a very long time, and her classic beauty combined with her air of slightly
detached elegance were so right for Juliet. I needed her to be both slightly clipped, cool and distant, but with capacity for huge emotion just below the surface, and that’s Kristen’s speciality. Dream casting.
DAD (Michael) - Blair Underwood
Blair Underwood is so great in LA Law, and has the easy warmth, humour and magnetism of American director dad Michael. He’s a huge part of Happy Girl Lucky - one of the most prominent secondary characters - so it would need a great
actor to carry the part and a Golden Globe nominee would nail it.
GRANDMA (Dame Sylvia) - Diana Rigg
British titan Diana Rigg was another actress who had a huge impact on how I wrote Dame Sylvia Valentine, the family matriarch. Her face appears in my head every time she enters a scene: she has such authority, such power and so much presence.
She also has a classic, ageless beauty and ties in so well as the mother of Juliet. I needed a woman you don’t mess with, who is very much at the helm of the family, and Diana would be everything I could hope for.
What I Say About the Book:
I was devastated when Geek Girl finished and I was sooooo excited when I heard that Holly had a new series coming out! I'm a huge fan of the woman and her work!
Happy Girl Lucky is a book aimed at mid to late teens, I think, but it is really relatable and I would urge anyone to pick it up. Hope is a wonderful character. She's sweet, funny, naïve and a little ditzy. I loved her! She comes from a mega famous family, royalty of the silver screen but isn't yet allowed to be in front of the cameras, this is to be saved until she turns 16, in just a few months.
Hope is so desperate to begin her acting career and she is constantly plotting her big romance in her head. She creates dialogues, sets scenes and creates perfect scenarios. She does this in such detail that they are almost real. There is a bit of boy meets girl, a bit of romance and kissing. It's so sweet. I felt everything Hope felt, she's that real.
The Valentine family have it rough in some respects. They can't do anything without it being public knowledge. This is especially tough as their parents are both away and they are lacking some direction and guidance, Mercy in particular. The siblings have each other. They fight, argue, steal clothes (mainly Hope!) and name call but ultimately, they have each others backs. I admire them as a family. Mum and Dad have their demons and struggles but I feel they will deal with them in time and the family will be fine.
I absolutely loved this book! Holly really is one of my fave authors and I'm so thrilled this new series is out in the world!
I laughed, I cried and I fell in love. I think you will too! 11/10
About The Author:
Holly Smale wanted to write from the age of five when she discovered that books didn’t grow on trees like apples. Her passion for stories led her on a number of adventures, including modelling, teaching children in Japan, PR and backpacking across dozens of countries around the world. Holly has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Shakespeare and Feminism from Bristol University .
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