The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale

List Price: $24.00
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781596912885
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Seven months pregnant and far from home, Becky Jack walks into the office of a Hollywood producer to sell her first screenplay and, much to her shock, meets silver screen heartthrob (and the object of her celebrity affection) Felix Callahan. They spend an awkward and unexpected day together and, though his cursing and drinking contradict her strict Mormon values, Felix and Becky somehow form an unshakable friendship.

Through the next decade, Felix and Becky experience tests of their bond they could never have anticipated. The everyday challenges of raising four unique children and running her household are exacerbated when Becky’s community expresses increasing curiosity and doubt about her handsome, dashing best friend. When her sweet, supportive husband Mike expresses discomfort with Felix’s role in Becky’s life, Becky protects her marriage and ends her friendship. But as the years go by, both Mike and Felix’s gorgeous French wife Celeste realize that the strange love their spouses have for each other is utterly platonic. Felix and Becky see each other through the good times, like co-starring in a romantic comedy written by Becky and even walking the red carpet together, and the bad, when Celeste leaves Felix for another man and then, worst of all, Mike loses his battle with cancer. After Mike’s death, Becky finds herself restarting her life as a widow, and eventually wondering if, after everything, she can find a new way to love Felix, ’til death do they part.