A4A: Mission Hollywood By Michelle Keener

As with all my book reviews, I never use spoilers!

What the Author Does Well:

Keener’s style is humorous. Some sort of fun, witty writing.

This is a delightful read also. A warm Hallmark kind of romance … Well, at least that’s what I thought I first started reading, before I realized that Keener was actually writing about something very important.

And I have to say I appreciate that her Christian Romance is “Christian” + “Romance.” I’ve read a bunch of Christian Romance, which were really “Clean” Romances, but where God is mentioned very little.

In Mission Hollywood, the Bible is read … and not just a verse. One of the characters reads for hours, studying, asking questions, like a searching Christian actually does. (Or maybe that’s just me? I read all of Philippians in two days just this week, asking God a bunch of questions.)

But I give a nod to Keener because, well, I appreciate this a lot.

And there are actual prayers from the pastor, so that as a reader I am being influenced by the pastor right alongside the characters. And the pastor isn’t a minor character, but is an active shepherd (like, actually praying for Ben’s soul and listening because he cares).

It’s not every day you read a novel where prayer is a part of the dialogue and feels like it has a place there. That it’s as much a part of dialogue as, well, the dialogue.

God is a very important character in the book, another aspect I appreciate. Faith is described as I, as Christian would describe it to someone who doesn’t believe in Christ as Savior. This “Christian” novel is as easy to read as if Michelle is talking to you in your living room. It’s that real. It’s that simple.

If you’ve ever explored faith, read this book.

If you have no idea what Christianity is and don’t care to, read this book. You’re in good company!

And this is where I want to highlight Keener’s strength in writing: Keener’s novel is relatable. These characters might as well be next door. The struggles are real. Too gripping in fact.

The stuff the characters go through, shucks, it could really happen. This is different than most novels, and may I elaborate a moment:

Most novels have an element of truth, but it’s seeped in fiction. Okay, Main Character Miss A loses her job and needs to move, where she meets Love Interest Mr. B. And then there’s a car crash, where Mr. B discovers he has a sister which is also Miss A’s daughter … Are you following? Yeah, it could happen. And definitely is interesting. But … the drama is layered in. (But, hey, we gobble it up and escape for ten hours from our own mundane lives, so that’s good!)

Back to Mission Hollywood (where there is no car crash and no daughter):

Keener’s plot is actually very simple, almost a day-in-the-life of Hollywood movie star Ben Prescott and the pastor’s daughter Lily Shaw. Another premier, another outreach. Two very different lives that clash, except … doesn’t clash. Not with the typical drama I’ve described a second ago.

Nope. Because Keener goes deep. Into life. Into reality.

If you’ve ever asked, “Where is God in this?” you need to read this book. Because Keener delves into this topic. So deep in fact, you’ll be gasping for breath.

Case-in-point, when I got to page 249, I closed the book and started weeping. Not because of what happened to the character but because I totally understood what the character was feeling. I’ve been there. (Still am there!)

And since I’m there, let’s do it…

What I’ve received about life from this book:

God’s sovereignty.

God, who is Lord over all, in the midst of life as we know it, and is in control … when life really feels out of control.

Because, I’ll be honest, I’ve wondered if God is sometimes distant. That He puts His children in time-out and walks away for the required three minutes.

And, according to Keener, my view of God isn’t as strange as I used to think. Both Ben and Lily explore this.

This is where I should apologize to Michelle. I bought this book right after it launched (a year ago?!), but just read it last week. And I realized I misread the title as “Mission: Hollywood” as in the pastor’s daughter is intent on evangelizing a movie star, if she chooses to accept it.

Fun plot-line maybe … but Keener’s “Mission Hollywood” (no colon) is a million times more stellar! Keener’s version is about a simple church in California and a simple girl who loves Jesus, and a regular movie star who happens to be an actor for a living. Nothing glamorous. No deception. No one has a deep hate for God, or a seriously awkward passion for Jesus.

These characters are just like me. Almost like Keener interviewed two people and wrote their biographies.

My only guess as to how Keener takes a simple story and makes it engaging is that she pours her own faith and love for Jesus and her own questions into the story.

Mission Hollywood reads like that. Keener takes out her heart and hands it to the reader.

And even better is that Keener keeps this as a romance. A warm, wonderful, sweet romance between a guy and a gal, with all the trips and adventures of a typical romance …

Except the plot is overlaid by the story of God.

So, the only question that remains is…

Mission Hollywood: do you choose to accept it?

Book blurb:

“A Hollywood bad boy. A pastor’s daughter.
What could possibly go wrong?

Movie star Ben Prescott arrives back in Hollywood after causing a scandal with his ex-girlfriend in Rome.

Chased through the airport by paparazzi, he jumps into a limo hoping for a quick getaway. Instead he finds Lily Shaw, a pastor’s daughter and preschool teacher. When the paparazzi capture a photo of the two of them together, Ben’s agent demands that he do whatever it takes to keep the story from hitting the gossip pages . . . even volunteer to work at Lily’s church.

Sparks fly as the movie star and the pastor’s daughter work side by side. When Lily accompanies Ben to the premiere of his latest movie, Hollywood takes notice. Under intense media scrutiny and pressure from the movie industry, Ben must risk his career to follow his heart, but Lily wants the one thing he doesn’t have, faith.

Mission Hollywood is an inspirational story about love, faith, and second chances.”

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