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Lori Culwell

Author of Hollywood Car Wash: A Novel

6 Works 102 Members 15 Reviews

About the Author

Lori Culwell has worked on some of the best-known websites in the world. She served as writer and content manager for several start-ups in San Francisco during the dotcom boom, and as content strategist and usability specialist for US Web/CKS, where she consulted on sites for Apple Computer, Sega, show more Harley-Davidson, Mattel, and Sun Microsystems. She is a consultant for Johnson Johnson, where she helped create www.discovernursing.com, the number one nursing website in the nation. Visit her website at www.getcreativeinc.com. show less

Works by Lori Culwell

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Reviews

Lori Culwell's emotional intelligence, insider knowledge of Hollywood, and excellent writing skills combine to create the ultimate reading experience in Hollywood Car Wash.

Amy Spencer, a young, hopeful, dreamy actress, plunges headfirst into the starring role of an edgy TV weekly drama. Culwell perfectly captures Amy's innocence and naivete. I fell in love with Amy and identified with her. How can one resist a character who embodies the sweet idealism of youth?

Amy's idealism slowly erodes through three seasons on Autumn Leaves. Bit by bit, Amy compromises to keep her acting job. Bit by bit, Amy becomes one of those stars you read about in People or watch on Entertainment Tonight. But throughout the journey, Culwell shows the emptiness and desolation Amy feels inside which no one else understands except the reader who witnesses everything.

An excellent read for anyone who has followed a dream only to be blindsided by the fulfillment of that dream and the costs that it entails.

I am looking forward to Culwell's next book. I will definitely pick it up.
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AngelaLam | 5 other reviews | Feb 8, 2022 |
Lucy has been surrounded by “The Whitley Family scandal” for the past 9 years and just when she thinks she is finally going to be able to distance herself from her dysfunctional family, everything just gets even more complicated. All she wants to do is go away to a boarding school in Connecticut where she can step out from under the shadow of her evil, perfect and uber popular older sister Sloane and out of the little desert town that seems to be obsessed with gossiping about her family. Her plan to move across the country relies on her father’s second wedding which does not go as anybody expected.

This book can be summed up in one word: Drama, drama, drama! I thought this was a very enjoyable and quick read. The plot wasn’t as unpredictable as I would have hoped, but it did have its fair share of twists and turns which held my interest. I wasn’t really satisfied with the ending though, I felt that there was something...missing. I don’t even know why, it just felt a little unfinished to me.

As for the characters, the Whitley sisters could not have been more opposite if they tried. I felt that Lucy lacked a lot of confidence which was understandable since she was always being put down by Sloane. I kept rooting for her to grow and stand up for herself, but she never really did. She kind of just hid behind Megan who did most of the fighting. This really made Megan become my favorite because she didn’t seem to be scared of anyone.

The cover is cute and simple. I’m assuming the two girls on it are supposed to represent Sloane and Megan. Why Lucy wasn’t included (since she is the main one), I don’t know, but I still really like it.
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joanab951 | 5 other reviews | May 21, 2015 |
The Dirt takes us through a time in a young girls life when everything is in turmoil. The Whitley Family is in for a shock.

Our main character Lucy, is one of three sisters. She is the nerdy one, that just wants to be invisible. Lucy in incredibly intelligent, and is looking forward to their fresh start in a new place after her Father's wedding. Lucy may be quiet, but she has a spunky side that I really liked. Her sister Sloan on the other hand is part of the popular crowd and let me tell you these give a whole new meaning to "mean girls". The things they do and say to other girls are horrible. Which comes to bite one of them in the butt. I did like Sloane at times, because was so outspoken but a lot of the time she was kinda bratty when it came to getting what she wanted.

There are a few twists and turns that keep the pace of the story going and definitely kept me interested in finding out just what really going on. I will say that the sister are very different from each other and each had their own voices in the story, so I enjoyed each one of them in a different way. Needless to say, this is a fast paced roller coaster ride through a scandal that has rocked Palm Desert. There was a point that I thought I knew who was the cause of all of this, but I didn't have it right at all. I want to tell more about the scandal, but I really don't want to give away to much...

This is about staying true to yourself and not letting other people influence how to act or feel. It had tons of high school, and family drama, blackmail, and learning to trust and forgive. I would recommend reading this one for sure.
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jeneaw | 5 other reviews | Sep 30, 2013 |

Statistics

Works
6
Members
102
Popularity
#187,251
Rating
3.8
Reviews
15
ISBNs
13

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