Published 18th February 2021 by Head of Zeus.
From the cover of the book:
Ruthless Women takes readers on a wild ride behind the scenes of beloved TV drama Falcon Bay, beamed globally to millions three days a week from its picturesque location in the Channel Islands. But even in this beautiful coastal spot, tensions swirl.Once one of the world's most popular soap operas, but now with ratings and syndication at an all-time low, the production has been sold to an American business woman, beautiful and malevolent Madeline Kane, the new network owner who arrives on the tiny island just off Jersey, determined to do whatever it takes to get the show back to number one.
Writer Farrah, star Catherine and producer Amanda are the driven, ambitious women who keep the show on the road. But Farrah is losing episodes to the network's lead male rival, Catherine is terrified of the public falling out of love with her and Amanda's evil husband Jake, vice president of the network, is plotting to get his own wife kicked off the show.
As the dawn of a new era begins, cast and crew turn against each other with loyalty, decency, and trust, replaced by scandal, betrayal, and an outrageous ambition to survive.
In a true battle of the sexes, these women will do anything to stay on top. But can they team up to bring down their male rivals? Or will jealousy, betrayal and revenge tear their long held friendships apart?
As the story reaches a climax so shocking readers will be talking about it for decades, one thing is certain: only the most ruthless woman will survive...
Melanie will be launching the book alongside two of TVs leading ladies Coleen Nolan and Beverly Callard who will be spilling the beans on their own personal lives for a digital book launch “Melanie Blake’s Girls Night in” that members of the public can buy tickets to for £10 including a copy of the book. Find out more here: A Girls Night In With Melanie Blake.
As one as the UK’s most successful agents, managers and publicists for music stars and TV actresses, Melanie Blake has represented some of the most famous faces on British television and international screens.
Where her debut novel, the No. 1 bestseller The Thunder Girls, was inspired by the early years of her career spent working in the music industry, her follow up novel Ruthless Women is heavily influenced by the last 15 years Melanie has spent representing more female actresses than any other agent in her genre. Nicknamed The Queen Of Soaps, there is no one better placed to write a novel based around a continuing drama and its leading ladies.
With no formal education herself, Melanie is a true champion for working class women who are so often overlooked in our society.... and she might also just be the world's biggest Jackie Collins fan!
Writer Farrah, star Catherine and producer Amanda are the driven, ambitious women who keep the show on the road. But Farrah is losing episodes to the network's lead male rival, Catherine is terrified of the public falling out of love with her and Amanda's evil husband Jake, vice president of the network, is plotting to get his own wife kicked off the show.
As the dawn of a new era begins, cast and crew turn against each other with loyalty, decency, and trust, replaced by scandal, betrayal, and an outrageous ambition to survive.
In a true battle of the sexes, these women will do anything to stay on top. But can they team up to bring down their male rivals? Or will jealousy, betrayal and revenge tear their long held friendships apart?
As the story reaches a climax so shocking readers will be talking about it for decades, one thing is certain: only the most ruthless woman will survive...
**********************
Welcome to Falcon Bay!
Before we start, I need to set the scene a bit. Falcon Bay is a TV spectacular in the old style - there is nothing of the grey and tawdry about this baby. Instead we are talking the full on glamour and pzazz of the 80s style soap opera... sorry, continuing drama... here - the wonderful, over-the-top Dallas and Dynasty days, with big characters and salacious storylines.
Falcon Bay, set on a tiny, picturesque island in the balmy Channel Islands, was once the world's most popular soap opera, but is now fighting to stay on top in the dog eat dog sphere of television productions, where money talks and the viewing figures are everything. Now under the control of the beautiful and malevolent Madeline Kane, there are changes afoot to try to get Falcon Bay back to the number one spot - and not everyone on the show is happy about it. Heads are rolling, power is shifting and our driven, ambitious female characters writer Farrah, star Catherine and producer Amanda are fighting for their professional lives.
Madeline is also determined to spice things up by introducing a new 'bitch' to the cast - one who will be chosen by the audience from a line-up of once famous older actresses, in an unconventional 'behind the scenes' reality show contest.... oh, and she also plans to kill off one of the main characters during a live screened extravaganza episode on Christmas Day in the most extraordinary of ways. Feelings are running high, everyone is under pressure to perform and all bets are off in this game of last man, or woman, standing. Only the most ruthless will survive... on both sides of the camera.
Prepare for a thrill ride of Machiavellian machinations, devious designs and raunchy ruses that will keep you hooked, as all the gloriously twisty threads play out...
I cannot tell you how much fun I had reading this book! As someone who grew up watching the glamorous soaps of the 80s - the glitz, the power dressing, the Alexis vs Crystal cat-fights, the drama of trying to work out who actually shot JR - this book was like a walk down nostalgia lane, with an intriguing glimpse behind the scenes too. Add in the kind of sexy interludes reminiscent of the well-read paperback copies of Jilly Cooper, Jackie Collins and Shirley Conran books that used to be passed between friends during my youth and you have yourself a winning combination. For anyone of more tender years, just picture beautiful locations filled with beautiful people, steamy sexual encounters, affairs galore, back-biting, power plays, recriminations and revenge and you get the picture.
But as entertaining as all this is, there is so much more than 'Sex, Drugs and Cameras Roll' here, and these are the things that bring this book right up to date. Look behind the storylines and there is a lot to reflect on - modern sexual politics, female ambition and the glass ceiling; the pressure on women to look good, at all costs; the lack of acting roles for older women; the cut-throat nature of the acting profession and the fragility of many of those who work within it; the ongoing effects of the #MeToo movement; the power of social media; and the nature of female friendship and support networks. It was such a refreshing change to read a book filled with strong, older women too!
Melanie Blake also brings a lovely vein of humour to the whole piece, and shows us her cynical side at the same time, by the way she pokes fun at the way soaps feel the need to come up with ever more bizarre story lines to get the edge over the competition.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole glorious book and was gripped from page one all the way to the spectacular ending - which will have you punching the air, by the way. Move over Alexis Carrington... the era of the bitch is back, and long may she reign!
Ruthless Women is available to buy in e-book, hard cover and audio formats from 18th February 2021.
Thank you to Head of Zeus for providing me with an e-book copy of this book in return for an honest review and to Bei Guo of Midas Public Relations for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
MELANIE BLAKE IS BACK!
AND ONCE AGAIN SHE’S WRITING ABOUT A WORLD SHE KNOWS WELL.As one as the UK’s most successful agents, managers and publicists for music stars and TV actresses, Melanie Blake has represented some of the most famous faces on British television and international screens.
Where her debut novel, the No. 1 bestseller The Thunder Girls, was inspired by the early years of her career spent working in the music industry, her follow up novel Ruthless Women is heavily influenced by the last 15 years Melanie has spent representing more female actresses than any other agent in her genre. Nicknamed The Queen Of Soaps, there is no one better placed to write a novel based around a continuing drama and its leading ladies.
With no formal education herself, Melanie is a true champion for working class women who are so often overlooked in our society.... and she might also just be the world's biggest Jackie Collins fan!
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