The world thinks that pop superstar Kiara Anderson has it all, but she spends her nights drinking away memories of her childhood and life as a teen runaway. The Jacobs family are desperate to see the girl next door again and discover why she ran away, especially their son, Shane, who blames himself for her disappearance. When Kiara's manager forces her into a reveal-all TV interview, she knows the family she loved more than her own will finally discover the truth. Can she overcome her demons or will the shadows of the past rob her of fame, fortune, and a chance to finally fall in love?
Helen has spent over thirteen years working and volunteering for charities in the UK and abroad, including four years in Honduras. She currently works as a charity communications manager and lives in Bedfordshire with her husband and son.
Customer
Reviews
9 reviews
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Writing from the heart blog
This book had me enthralled from the start, I felt compelled to stay with this story until the end, and I fell in love with Kiara’s character. I would happily shout from the rooftops about how good this book is! People need to seriously add this to their TBR list, as it is a tremendous read.
This writer was new to me before reading this book, but I will be keen to read more of her work in the future. She has a wonderful writing style and is a brilliant story-teller.
I would 100% recommend this to anyone who is looking for a new, exciting, dramatic read!
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Little Miss Book Lover blog
I absolutely loved this book, Helen captured my interest right from the beginning with this beautiful story. I have loved the writing style used in this book, it is a fantastic read and extremely easy to get lost in. This is a book that should be on everyone’s list. This has been the perfect rainy Sunday afternoon read. I have loved every moment of this book, although this is my first read by this author. It definitely won’t be the last.
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Ms Buckley gives us extraordinary characters in unbelievably disturbing and tragic detail. Kiara’s strength and determination to survive a life of poverty and abuse by pursuing her love of music are notable, and the love and support of the incredible Jacobs family are refreshing and heartwarming…. It is a story you can’t put down.
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I have to say this book wasn’t really what I was expecting – it was so much more.
What really comes through is that the author seems to have experience or has really done her research and this is not just something that is paid fleeting lip service too.
As a work of fiction, it is heartwarming overall and has wonderful characters. It’s a brilliant plot with depth and thought-provoking narrative.
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This book caught my attention from the beginning, instead of being a traditional romance it focuses on a girl and the family that looked after her and provided an escape from her everyday life
The writing style drew me in and then step away from the traditional romance was interesting but totally suitable for this book
I would recommend this book to anyone who would enjoy seeing behind the fame of celebrity and what it can do as well as looking further into the importance of relationships and blood isn’t always thicker than water in certain situations
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And as soon as I read the synopsis I knew that I have to read this book. And I can honestly say that I don’t regret this decision at all because this book is so much more than just a story about the superstar.
I have read all the book in a few hours because I couldn’t put it down. And I have to tell that I read many books about stars but this one is definitely one of my favourite and it makes me feel so many emotions.
I really hope I will have the opportunity to read more of Helen Buckley books in the future. Her writing style is brilliant and I would love to see what else she could create.
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This book is a love story, but not in the sense of man-woman love. I think it’s more about family love. The unconditional love Kiara gets from the whole family is so amazing, and a lot of people in real life can really take an example from them.
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Right from the beginning, I was sucked into the story, I couldn’t help but feel for Kiara who had a tough start to life, her dad was awful. I had to admire the Jacobs family for looking out for her how they did. I thought that this was written really well, how the story developed following Kiara from a child to adult life, flashing back to moments from her childhood, both good and bad.
I wasn’t expecting so many twists and turns, poor Kiara went through so much in such a short time, I won’t spoil anything but there is so much drama, and I love a bit of drama. There were a few cheesy moments, but I will admit to loving a bit of cheesiness in a romance book too, cheesy/cliche romance is one of my favorite genres and always help if I find myself in a reading slump.
I thought the story was well written and flowed really well, it is written in the third person, which was different as most of the books I read are from a first-person perspective, but I really enjoyed the narrative.
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Becks - Writing On The Walls
In short, I loved it. It’s a very real down to earth story that has a sweet romance flowing through that doesn’t overtake the whole book, it allows all the characters to breathe and the storyline to come alive.
Every character has their own part to play in the story, each as important as the other. But the main character is a girl named Kiara and that’s who’s a story we follow.
Kiara has a rough childhood but she finds comfort in the Jacobs family. They take her in, show her love and what it’s like to be a family, but there is no escaping her own thoughts and emotions or her father, who betrays her in the worse way imaginable.
Thinking that the only way out is to run away, she leaves everything and everyone behind. Not realizing that by trying to escape she breaks the hearts of the family who loved her the most. Leaving questions and blame hanging in the air.
But even though she thinks she has escaped, she is still trapped by her own mind.
I loved that this book focuses on mental health and the effect it has not only on that person but those around them. It is well written. It’s believable and frustrating all at the same time. You want to scream at Kiara, to just talk, open up, contact the Jacobs.
That to me is a sign of good writing, you go on this rollercoaster ride with her, you care about her and the family she leaves behind. You want it all to be okay. I also like that there is no quick fix, no magic potion and poof suddenly everything is fine. I love that it is a journey and we get to go along with it.
Kiara felt so lonely, felt like she couldn’t turn to ones who loved her most because of the shame when in reality all the family wanted to do was help.
The ending is believable and so are the characters.
Helen is a very good writer, she gets you to believe in the characters and to connect, it also shows great writing that you can tackle something like mental health and have it be believable.
If you would like to read Star in the shadows click the link is below:
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