Read Around the World Blog Tour: Stop One, Hollywood!

Today is the start of a very exciting Blog Tour and Giveaway here at aimiekrunyan.com! We will be featuring 10 novels, all historical fiction, by some of the most talented authors in the business. One thing that ties these books together, aside from some fantastic writing, is a gripping location. We'll take you all the way from the Golden Age of Hollywood, Napoleonic-era Paris, Feudal Japan--and beyond!





​Keep watching this space for the next two weeks and enter to win a mega-prize that includes all 10 of these books (signed!) and a gorgeous travel tote! The first stop on our tour is to Hollywood, and our tour director is none other than the lovely Anne Girard, author of Platinum Doll! 

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Some might think that the glittering Hollywood of yesteryear lives now only in grainy black and white photos, and on film, but there are still some wonderful locations for walking down memory lane, spots that harken back to the early motion picture capital of the world. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard is one such spot. In 1929, the hotel hosted the first Academy Awards in their ballroom. You might try to take a peek inside and imagine the linen draped tables, the tuxedos, gowns and champagne. This Hollywood landmark also boasts a beautifully reminiscent Spanish Colonial revival style interior (and guest rooms reputed to house ghosts!). It’s certainly worth a visit, or a drink at the bar where the likes of Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and Cary Grant once sipped martinis. Once you’re in the spirit, then move back outside and, just across the street, you can step into the shoes of icons from Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable to, my favorite (of course) Jean Harlow at what was once the famed Grauman’s Chinese Theater. To cap off your nostalgic tour, just a few blocks away, The Hollywood Museum is a must-see. The museum, housed in the historic art deco Max Factor building, is a place to linger among movie props, costumes, scripts, and fabulous old photos from Tinseltown’s golden era. I especially loved their collection of Jean Harlow memorabilia, including a copy of her novel, Today is Tonight. It is a day not to be missed by anyone who loves old Hollywood.

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Set against the dazzling backdrop of Golden Age Hollywood, novelist Anne Girard tells the enchanting story of Jean Harlow, one of the most iconic stars in the history of film.
 
It is the Roaring Twenties and seventeen-year-old Harlean Carpenter McGrew has run off to Hollywood—to escape her small, Midwestern life and see her name in lights. Harlean becomes Jean Harlow and as she is thrust into the limelight, Jean learns that this new world of opportunity comes with its own set of burdens. Torn between her family, a fragile young marriage, and her passion to perform, she is forced to confront the difficult truth—that fame comes at a price, if only she is willing to pay for it.
 
Amid a glittering cast of ingenues and Hollywood titans—Clara Bow, Clark Gable, Laurel and Hardy, Howard Hughes--Platinum Doll introduces us to the star who would shine brighter than them all.

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Anne holds a master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University, and a bachelor's degree in English Literature from UCLA. A chance meeting with the famed author Irving Stone 25 years ago sharply focused her ambition to tell great stories from history, and write them only after detailed research and extensive travel to the places her characters lived. That determination has provided a fascinating journey that has taken her from the halls of Chenonceaux, to a private interview with one of Pablo Picasso's last surviving friends, and most recently an invitation inside Jean Harlow's home.

Since the publication of her acclaimed first novel, Courtesan, in 1993, a novel that remains in print today, her work has been translated into 18 different languages, bringing her international success and award-winning status.

Visit Anne at: www.annegirardauthor.com

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