But soon after signing a NDA and six month contract, Adam’s dark side starts to surface and things turn toxic! But as both their lives and careers move on, Lily and Adam are never too far apart and with a ringside seat to Adam’s death and growing suspicions about who wanted him out of the way, Lily turns detective. Lily’s old stage-school friend from many moons, Adam Harker is on the brink to huge success, but to keep up appearances needs a ‘trusted’ life companion.

A clever, darkly entertaining and suspenseful mystery, yielding an intriguing and immersive, fly-on-the-wall peep behind the showbiz scenes. My main criticism is that the ending of the novel felt rushed and would have benefitted from both being made clearer and also explored in a little more depth. But the brutality has very little to do with gore of upsetting scenes (there are none), but with the choices that our cast of characters will have to live with. Enter Adam Harker, Lily's theatre partner from school, on the brink of making it big but in need of a red-carpet companion. Her stuttering acting career appears to be on the mend, but she'll have to put up with their poisonous relationship.Let's Pretend is a novel about the world of acting and fame, and the kinds of performances it causes people to undertake. Lily Thane, former child star, now a struggling actress in her thirties, bumps into a friend from stage school. This is definitely acts as a reminder too that you can never know what truly goes on in a relationship unless you are in it; contrary to what the press would have you read!

We follow the main character, Lily, a former child actor who has really done nothing of note for some time. Laura Vaughan has created a character in Lily Thane that has a family that is known in theatrical circles, even if it’s not for the sort of lightweight roles that she is currently linked to in her efforts. How true Vaughan’s got the shenanigans that are orchestrated by agents and PR, who knows but I felt the apple she wrote didn’t fall too far from the tree. She is shown as having a lingering element of fame as a child actor, but that seems a long time ago as she is shown as having her nose fixed, watching her weight, guarding her image.Let’s Pretend has been a really eye-opening read showing the darkness that can be lurking behind the outward persona of those in the public eye. It seems like maybe her struggling acting career could be on the rise, but she'll have to content with their toxic dynamic. Following a chance meeting there is an undeniable spark, and although Lily is wary of Adam's dark side, they soon decide that a public faux-mantic relationship between them could be good for both of their careers. Lily Thane is a thirty-two-year-old actress best known for her twenty minute appearance in a low-budget British romcom as winsome orphan ‘Little Lucie’ at the age of four, and it’s clear that her star is waning, not that her mother and manager, “the momager”, is willing to give up on a dream that easily. When she bumps into an old stage school companion, Adam, she is drawn into his (more successful) world.

She is good at what she does, being a perfected attractive blonde who is always auditioning for parts, but real success in being cast is eluding her. Just when you think it is ending, another story comes through that didn’t even have a real ending to it, felt it was just left hanging. When I first read the title, saw the cover and read the synopsis, I thought I would like to read this book because it sounded like a thriller book about the troubles of a fake toxic relationship. Some of the characterisation in Let's Pretend can come across as a bit cliched; for example, when we are introduced to former child star Lily Thane - now a struggling 32-year-old actress - at the start of the novel, she is passing a joint to Nina Gill (a friend who Lily's mum - referred to throughout as the Momager - disapproves of) after another failed audition and this along with Lily 's nose job at 15 could be interpreted as all too familiar tropes about the trappings of fame.When it comes to celebrities, there is always this divide and curiosity on how genuine and real they and their relationships are, and I think Sarah Vaughan makes a commendable effort in painting that picture, almost like an insider's view on what happens at A-list parties, behind the scenes at award shows, red-carpet events and how much you can actually take at face value. When Adam is found dead in a swimming pool a few months later, Lily is the only one who wants to get to the bottom of it. The story then develops into their publicity stunts, with Adam trying to help Lily in her new found passion to get her fame back, but to what extent are they just pretending?

In spite of the serious issues it addresses Lily’s story is told with a light touch, and Vaughan’s brilliantly observed and witty descriptions of her characters made me laugh out loud. I was intrigued to learn more, just like Lily, and particularly loved the final chapters in this section of the book as there were lots of things that took me by surprise!

This is especially true when first-person narrator Lily reveals in chapter two that, less than a year on from her chance reunion with Adam, she would be staring at his lifeless body in a swimming pool. Because here, my Faithful Reader, is where Vaugh employs an array of paradoxes that make ‘Let’s Pretend’ such a captivating read. This is a thriller set in the celebrity world behind the red rope, where things can be safe and separate, but also be a pressure cooker of emotion and varied desires.