-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
A Novel
by Katherine Blake
An aspiring makeup artist takes on predatory Hollywood in this addictive debut novel with bite—a sultry, thrilling blend of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Killing Eve, and A Promising Young Woman.
It's 1950 and Loretta Reynolds is newly arrived in Hollywood, fresh off a con that brought her from England to the sunny shores of California. She's running away from a complicated past to fulfill her ambition of becoming a makeup artist to the stars.
When her new husband, a would-be actor, takes her to a sex-fueled Hollywood party on their wedding night—hoping to trade her to a powerful director for a favor—she discovers the dark side of Tinseltown and sets out on a path of revenge against the cruel men who use their money and power to play with lives and dreams.
In her quest for vengeance, Loretta gathers a band of La-La-Land misfits: a fading starlet past her prime, a friendly neighborhood sex worker, and a brooding screenwriter who proves yes, not all men are evil—just most ...
Now, Loretta is about to get her big break—and Hollywood better beware. Loretta has learned a lot about makeup, and more... and some of her clients might not make it out alive.
"Picture Daphne from Frasier gone rogue and you have Loretta Darling! You will love this saucy little British grifter unleashed in 1940s Hollywood with a makeup brush and a plan for vengeance on very bad men—what a delicious dark delight of a book!" —Bestselling author Jenna Blum
"So sassy and delicious. Loretta is one cool character." —Josie Silver, New York Times Bestselling author
"Great fun—Loretta is glorious!" —Lucy Diamond, Sunday Times bestselling author
"Set in the Golden Era of Hollywood this is a glamorous, deliciously fun read which will keep you hooked until the very last page." —C. L. Miller, internationally bestselling author of The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder
This information about The Unforgettable Loretta Darling was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Katherine Blake is a pseudonym for an author who has written over twenty-five children's books and was a Bookseller Rising Star thanks to her publishing consultancy, Speckled Pen. She regularly appears on podcasts, including The Bestseller Experiment and SJ Bennett's PrePublished. She lives in London and runs a biweekly newsletter filled with fun news, book reviews, and regular updates about her miniature schnauzer.
If you liked The Unforgettable Loretta Darling, try these:
Stop Me If You've Heard This One
by Kristen Arnett
Published 2026
From the New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things, a sparkling and funny new novel of entertainment, ambition, art, and love.
by Danzy Senna
Published 2025
A brilliant dark comedy about love and ambition, failure and reinvention, and the racial- identity-industrial complex from the bestselling author of Caucasia.
by Miranda July
Published 2025
The New York Times bestselling author returns with an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious and surprising novel about a woman upending her life
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
