Soap-Stud & Blue-Movie Girl

High-octane Tales of Hollywood

Fiction - Chick Lit
216 Pages
Reviewed on 09/28/2022
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

Author Biography

I have worked in London and the Persian Gulf and traveled extensively in the USA. Under the pen-name of David Gee I've published four previous novels. I live on the Sussex coast near Brighton.

One of my friends was London stage-and-screen-actor Cecil Brock, who appears as a character in BLUE-MOVIE GIRL. Cecil was close to Ramon Navarro and Joan Crawford. And a dear friend here in Sussex, Diana De Rosso, was the sister of Pamela Kellino Mason, James Mason's first wife. These two, both now sadly dead, told me stories of Hollywood in its heyday and encouraged me to write a movieland novel - though mine are set in the 1990s (with a planned sequel set in the 2000s).

    Book Review

Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

Soap-Stud & Blue-Movie Girl: High-octane Tales of Hollywood by David Godolphin features two short novellas with passionate characters with a story to tell. Short and satirical, both novellas are set in 1990s Hollywood where the characters yearn for success and fulfilled dreams. Blue-Movie Girl follows the story of Joylene Duchat. A daughter of a televangelist, Joylene became the queen of adult movies when all she ever wished for was to make it big in Hollywood. She dreams of becoming a successful actress, but can Joylene break free from the porn industry? Soap-Stud follows Jason Howl, a young man scouted by a talent agent who earns him roles of extras on sets. However, when some nude scenes of Jason are leaked on the internet, he enjoys success he never imagined. Can Jason hold on to the newfound success, or does he want something else from his career?

Author David Godolphin created the perfect image of 90s Hollywood and filled it to the brim with angst and nostalgia. Reflecting the era of bombshells and sex symbols, David’s characters are believable, human, and imperfect. Jason is more often than not out of his element and is floundering. His success came at a price, and he wasn’t ready for it. However, he is a fighter, and that worked in his favor. Joylene, on the other, is stuck. Unhappy with her current job, she is depressed and almost panicking to make it out of the adult movies. The narrative reflects the predicament of both characters almost flawlessly. The dialogues were exceptional, the pace was perfect, and the overall feel of the stories was realistic. The descriptions reflect the mindset of the characters. It is nostalgic, wistful, and even exciting when the characters are feeling those emotions. Highly recommend it!

Pikasho Deka

Soap-Stud & Blue-Movie Girl is a two-story collection from David Godolphin's High-octane Tales of Hollywood series. Godolphin tells the stories of two people who choose very different paths to make a name for themselves in Hollywood. "Soap-Stud" follows the life of John Howell, a young playboy who becomes a soap opera star, eager to break into movies. John's mother escaped from an abusive marriage to San Diego, where young John grew up to be a handsome young man the ladies found irresistible. Seeing his looks and talent, an agent soon gets him into the TV industry. In "Blue-Movie Girl," young Joylene Duchat embraces her love of sex and movies to become one of the breakout porn stars of her generation, Katharine Kane. Now, she awaits her rise to stardom as the latest big movie star in Hollywood.

With two captivating stories, Author David Godolphin paints a vivid portrait of life in Tinseltown and the entertainment industry in general. Soap-Stud & Blue-Movie Girl are two tales of two very different people trying to get into Hollywood as outsiders. Godolphin's narrative is cinematic, with fast-paced plots that are described in the third person. Sometimes it feels more like a screenplay than a novel. But regardless, it is absolutely immersive and gives readers a rare glimpse into the entertainment industry as you've never seen before. The characters feel like real people in chase of their Hollywood dreams. Overall, I enjoyed Soap-Stud & Blue Movie Girl. Recommended to readers who love slice-of-life stories or tales about Hollywood.

Stephanie Chapman

Soap-Stud and Blue-Movie Girl by David Godolphin are two separate stories from Hollywood. The first story features the son of a sheriff whose mother ran with him to Los Angeles. After high school, under the name of Jason Howl, he gets a part in a soap opera named El Dorado. During his years in the soap opera, he meets many influential people who he discovers may be more important than he realizes. The story of Katherine Kane is the transformation of Joylene, the daughter of a television evangelist. Her mother moved to Seldom, Arizona, where her mother ran a small motel. After her grandmother passed away, Joylene began waitressing for her stepfather’s restaurant and living in a small apartment with her mother, who gained massive weight. When she goes to college, Joylene’s boyfriend admits to being a nude model. It isn’t long before Al Kazman scouts her, and she starts her acting career.

Godolphin didn’t leave out any details in describing the difficulties both characters faced to start their careers. I found Katherine’s ability to set boundaries with what she would take part in quite admirable. She lacked true parental guidance but learned how to use her looks to get what she wanted. Jason was drifting in life before a scouting agency picked him up. He also didn’t plan on a future beyond what was in front of him. The history of how both characters grew up as children into young adults was realistic, and their choices in life followed suit. While there are sexual scenes, they did not dominate either story. I will admit that I laughed at the end of Katherine’s story. Goldophin left both stories with an open ending that would allow for a sequel. I recommend Soap-Stud and Blue-Movie Girl to mature readers who are open-minded and want to read how some actors and actresses make it to Hollywood.

Asher Syed

Soap-Stud & Blue-Movie Girl: High-octane Tales of Hollywood by David Godolphin is a comedic adult novel that is essentially two novellas in one volume. The first story revolves around Soap-Stud Jason, who rapidly transitions from a walk-on extra and bit part actor, auditioning for shows like X-Files, ER, and Friends with inconsistent success, to a full-blown [bad pun intended] television celebrity following the 1990s version of going viral. In Blue-Movie Girl we meet small-town girl Joylene who is sexually promiscuous from a young age and evolves unexpectedly into super porn star status. Her own rise to fame is chronicled, as is the mixed but mostly negative reception of her adult success by her parents and friends of her youth. There is crossover in mentioning between the two stories and it is hinted that more is to come in subsequent books.

There's no question that David Godolphin is a skilled writer of black comedy and stinging satire as the entirety of Soap-Stud & Blue-Movie Girl is written pitch-perfectly in this narrative. It's intelligent, self-deprecating wit that refuses to hold back on the weirdness of Hollywood and the drivers that fuel some to stardom while brutally kicking most to the side. The characters are well-developed and you do get a true sense of who they are and what motivates them. While I didn't find either character to be particularly endearing, Joylene is the less offensive of the two even as a porn star, especially after Jason does one of the worst, most horrible things possible to an LGBTQ+ 'friend'. Godolphin writes for an audience that enjoys comedic gibes and prose reminiscent of authors like Terry Pratchett. Overall, Soap-Stud & Blue-Movie Girl is a fun, raunchy romp into 90s Hollywood.