In Over Her Head: Lights, Camera, Anxiety (The Cecily Taylor Series Book 2) by Krysten Lindsay Hager – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur.

In Over Her Head: Lights, Camera, Anxiety by Krysten Lindsay Hager
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cecily Taylor returns in this second installment of the series about her life and she is on top of the world, her dream crush Andrew Holiday is now her boyfriend, it is looking like a career in acting could be on the horizon and she has two best friends she tells everything to, well apart from that she has a boyfriend because they have agreed to keep things private at the moment. As the day dawns, Cecily is already up to say goodbye to Andrew which is a shock to those around her, she isn’t normally an early riser in the slightest, but she is already missing him, so when one of her best friends Lila comes over for a visit, she is more than happy about it. As they go shopping and talk about the things happening at school, Cecily gets the feeling that she is distracted by something and that feeling is increased when she doesn’t ask Cecily’s opinions about anything, then rushes out of the store and when they stop for a drink, she is constantly on her phone until a beaming smile appears on her face and she rushes to stop the afternoon and Cecily has a feeling it is because she is talking to her ex again, who treated her badly and that she is ditching her to spend time with him.

When she is unceremoniously dropped off home, Cecily goes up to her room, checks in with her other best friend and finally watches an old tv programme she enjoyed and when Andrew checks in with her, they end up watching it together, even though they aren’t next to each other. The next day she heads to school as if everything is normal again, but there is still a distance between her and Lila, even her other best friend notices and over the next few days it is a pattern which keeps repeating and Andrew is working hard so can’t talk to her as much as she would like, but when she does get to talk to him, it makes up for it and they start to confide in each other more and more. When Andrew gets a gap in his schedule he comes back home for a few days and introduces Cecily to a couple of his friends, but things are a bit weird and Cecily cannot understand why until she talks to Lila, on one of the days when she isn’t ditching her for her boyfriend, but amid all the anxiety, they talk it out and get back on good terms. Meanwhile, Andrew tells Cecily that someone in his management team has spoken to a magazine who saw her in his music video and want her to go to New York and model for them, but Cecily has to convince her parents that this is a good idea and she has no idea whether they will let her, however, they relent when her grandma agrees to go with her.

Cecily meets her grandma at the airport for their flights and the break starts off with a beautiful hotel, upmarket treats and a little bit of shopping, but when it becomes close to the time for the shoot, things start to go wrong, there is a protest and she is late, the staff are rude and this leads to a huge anxiety attack, however, despite it all, when she gets on set they are really impressed and she makes friends with the other models. Andrew is really proud, but also breaks the news that he has to go on a retreat with his brother, his brothers girlfriend and her sister, Cecily is nervous about it, but accepts that things like that are out of her control, however, when a photo of Andrew and the sister come out on social media, the way it looks sends Cecily on an anxiety trip like no other and she immediately fears the worst, but with Lila on another period of not talking to her and her other best friend busy, she struggles to handle it all. Will this be the first major hurdle to get over, or will the past repeat itself and be the end of her and Andrew’s fledgling relationship? This sweet romance whirls you along with Cecily as she deals with life, dating a star and everything which goes along with it, but also teaches you a lot about anxiety at the same time, well worth a read for anyone of any age.

Review by @roxsannel

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