Books with title The Understudy

The high school play is in two months and senior Wren Barlow just became director. Wren still isn't over the fact that she got stiffed as a stagehand instead of the lead role that she totally deserved. Now she is in charge of rehearsals, costumes, navigating around cast member hookups and managing the real life drama at home. The principal counts on her to succeed because tickets have been sold and the money has been spent. But when he drops a gorgeous bad boy on her and wants him to help the play for extra credit, she falls hard for someone she knows she can't date. With everything spinning out of control, the mysterious and secretive detention king named Derek has a few tricks up his sleeve and wants to help—too bad Wren is scared to give him a chance to prove himself.

Adam Wharton died on his birthday, and to make things worse, Kat feels partially responsible for it. But when Adam suddenly appears in the woods, she starts to wonder if she has finally lost her sanity - which she realize is a small price to pay if it meant spending more time with him. And if that’s not enough, Eric, Adam’s identical twin brother enters the picture, throwing Kat’s already dysfunctional life out of balance. Eric has a dark secret himself and going home to a place where everybody seems to hate him doesn't make things any easier. But Adam’s death forces him to do so, and as strange as it may sound, he feels it’s his duty to take care of Kat. That is, if she even allows him to get near her. Because for some reason unknown to Eric, Kate hates him with burning passion. Understudy is a YA fiction novel dealing about two young people's struggle to let go of the past and forgiving oneself. It's a love story that transcends death as the living tries to cope with the uncertainties of life and the challenges of living it.

The high school play is in two months and senior Wren Barlow just became the director. Wren still isn't over the fact that she got stiffed as a stagehand instead of the lead role that she totally deserved. Now she is in charge of rehearsals, costumes, navigating around cast member hookups, and managing the real-life drama at home. The principal counts on her to succeed because tickets have been sold and the money has been spent. But when he drops a gorgeous bad boy on her and wants him to help the play for extra credit, she falls hard for someone she knows she can't date. With everything spinning out of control, the mysterious and secretive detention king named Derek has a few tricks up his sleeve and wants to help - too bad Wren is scared to give him a chance to prove himself.

“A zippy comedy with laugh-out-loud lines, grounded on a solid plot and first-rate dialogue. . . irresistible." -- Daily Mail (London) Recently divorced actor Stephen C. McQueen (no relation, unfortunately) appears to have a knack for bad luck. But a failed marriage, a stalled career, a horrid little studio apartment in the far reaches of the London suburbs -- all these pathetic elements seem to pale in the chiseled face of his newest tormentor: Josh Harper, the Twelfth Sexiest Man in the World. Josh is the star of Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know, a play about Lord Byron -- and Stephen is his understudy. Not only is Josh fantastically, infuriatingly good-looking, internationally renowned, and remarkably talented, he's also frustratingly healthy. Stephen doubts he'll ever get his chance to tread the boards in the role that would certainly be the break he's always waited for. And just when Stephen's sure he couldn't resent Josh more, he meets Josh's witty, restless American wife, Nora. . . and discovers he likes her a little too much. Caught between his stirring feelings for Nora, the demands of an insistent and secretive Josh, and his lifelong desire for a real career in show business, Stephen must make a terrible decision: Will it be the girl or the fame? A hapless, bumbling bloke in love, an arrogant megastar with a potpourri of addictions, a sexy married woman out of her element in the fast lane -- David Nicholls brings them all together in this knockout romantic comedy. David Nicholls is the author of A Question of Attraction. He is also a successful television screenwriter in the U. K. whose credits include the third series of Cold Feet (seen on Bravo in the United States). He co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Sam Shepard's Simpatico Reader Tristan Layton has appeared in plays in London and New York. His voiceover work includes documentaries, television, and radio commercials.