Daytime Drama
by Sarahlyn Bruck
Publish Date March 2, 2021
by TouchPoint Press
About Daytime Drama
Soap opera star by day, harried, single mom by night, Calliope Hart’s life is a delicate balancing act. When the network cancels her show, Callie’s world crumbles and she must decide whether it’s more important to fight to save the show or take a risk and start over from scratch.
By day, for 25 years, soap opera fans have known actress Calliope Hart as Napa Valley’s resident diva, Jessica Sinclair. By night, Callie is a flustered breadwinner, scrambling to provide for her 12-year-old son and her mother. So when the network announces that her show will be canceled, Callie is beyond shocked—she doesn’t know who she is anymore.
At first, driven by financial concerns for her family that include blackmail payments to her son’s biological father, she rallies fans to save the show. But is that what she really wants? When she learns that her mother has been driving her son to auditions she’s strictly forbidden—and worse, that he’s been offered opportunities —Callie sees her own child’s youth and drive in competition with her age and experience. Set in modern-day Hollywood, Daytime Drama is a story about having the guts to reach for the sky. Callie must decide whether to play it safe or summon the courage her son displays to risk her lucky meal ticket and reinvent her career— and, for the first time, test her mettle as an actress and a mom.
Book Blurbs
She can’t be the love-to-hate-her character she is on screen, especially now that her long-running soap opera series is being cancelled. Instead, Callie Hart is a soon-to-be-unemployed single mom hiding some soap-worthy secrets and asking: What am I supposed to do now? With heart, humor, and the right dose of drama, Sarahlyn Bruck brings her characteristic insight and literary precision to this story of braving the world outside your comfort zone. Loved every minute.- Jennifer Klepper, USA Today bestselling author of Unbroken Threads
With her sophomore novel, Daytime Drama, Sarahlyn Bruck builds on her reputation as a master craftsman of relationships. Prepare yourself for a compelling journey as Bruck’s characters plunge into the depths of self-discovery when love and trust are brought into question by circumstance. Callie Hart, a soap opera actress, carousels through an evolving cast of characters that include her adorable yet ambitious young son, Jonah, and his conniving biological father, all the while maintaining satisfying relationships with her boyfriend and her mother, as her career comes under fire – whew! Bruck’s deft approach and keen eye for nuance is both clever and ultra-relatable, creating a story and characters that stay with the reader long after the book is done.- Maureen Joyce Connolly, author of Little Lovely Things
I read this book cover-to-cover in just two sittings! Daytime Drama centers on likeable Callie Hart, a famous daytime soap star, and her family. Callie is a well-developed heroine facing difficulty on a multitude of fronts: a potential career change, interfering mother, and stalled relationship. Just when things seem to be at their worst, Callie is contacted by the absentee father of her adorable son. The novel offers a fun glimpse into the world of daytime soap operas; yet, the emotional pull of the above plotlines remain fully intact. Moreover, Bruck expertly navigates five different points of view, lending further depth to the plot and authenticity to her characters. Daytime Drama is highly enjoyable and memorable read guaranteed stay in readers’ hearts long after the final page. Highly recommend! –Leanne Treese, author of The Language of Divorce
From the first page of Daytime Drama by Sarahlyn Bruck, readers are drawn into the fascinating world of Callie Hart, the star of a long-running soap opera whose carefully constructed world begins to fall apart. Chapters from the various people in her world show how the crisis affects them, and we understand the intriguing interrelationships among Callie, her mother, her son, her boyfriend, and others. In addition to reading about Callie and her approach to life’s problems, readers are treated to an inside view of Hollywood and how it treats aging female stars. You will love this book—women’s fiction at its best!-Diane Byington, multi-award-winning author of Who She Is and If She Had Stayed
“What Escher-esque brilliance, to place the implosion of Calliope Hart’s life inside the fictional drama of a daytime soap opera. Every character grows, every scene matters, every conflict escalates…Sarahlyn Bruck weaves her magical storytelling into a brilliant page-turner. Brava!”- Carol Van Den Hende, award-winning author of Goodbye, Orchid
My thoughts
A daytime drama turns into a lifetime drama in Sarahlyn Bruck’s second novel and it’s an eye-opener.
Ok, in a nutshell, single mother and soap opera star Calliopie Hart’s life takes a turn when the TV network cancels her show. She’s already doing acrobatics to balance her life with her son, mother, and leech ex husband. Now she has to figure out what to do next, does she try to fight for the show or does she make the attempt to start over, which isn’t easy for an average every day soap actress. With all this Callie finds out her mother is taking her son to auditions – which she has has forbidden him to do – and that he’s even been offered positions. On top of this her ex is pressuring her to see the son he’s ignored for years and she’s not sure what to do.
Callie is faced with multiple dilemmas, does she allow her son to work in television? Does she let her ex into her son’s life? Does she fight for the soap to be reinstated or does she attempt to start over?
Daytime Drama is a well written novel about making choices. Told in alternating viewpoints, Bruck sucks you into this story immediately and welcomes you behind the scenes of Hollywood. Callie’s character really shows us that being a star isn’t easy at all and that actors are really people with real problems. This was an easy and fast read as well as a complete eye opener to what we don’t see behind all the TV glamour. I really enjoyed this one. Perfect for a one day outing or a beach read.
I just would like to thank Sarahlyn Bruck, Suzanne Leopold of Suzy Approved Book Tours and TouchPoint Press for the gifted copy of this book for my unbiased and honest opinion for review.
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About the Author
Sarahlyn Bruck is the author of Daytime Drama (2021) and Designer You (2018). Her debut novel, Designer You won the 2019 Indie Star Book Award and was included on the 2018 “35 Over 35” list.
Sarahlyn grew up in the Bay Area and spent a great deal of time in Southern California, where she attended college before moving to West Hollywood. The years of living and working in L.A. gave Sarahlyn a taste for the fun, fast, ambitious, and creative people involved in the entertainment industry.
When Sarahlyn and her family moved to Philadelphia in the summer of 2007, she fell in love with the east coast feeling of being close to the center of politics and culture, but she never forgot or lost her affection for the buzz of the entertainment industry. Her latest novel, Daytime Drama, was born of that love and the cold Philadelphia winter. When she’s not writing novels, Sarahlyn teaches writing and literature at a local community college. She still lives in Philadelphia with her husband, daughter, and cockapoo.
You can find out more about Sarahlyn on her blog at: www.sarahlynbruck.com
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