An in-depth celebration of the romantic comedy's modern golden era and its role in our culture, tracking the genre from its heyday in the '80s and the '90s, its unfortunate decline in the 2000s, and its explosive reemergence in the age of streaming, featuring exclusive interviews with the directors, writers, and stars of the iconic films that defined the genre. No Hollywood genre has been more misunderstood--or more unfairly under-appreciated--than the romantic comedy. Funny, charming, and reliably crowd-pleasing, rom-coms were the essential backbone of the Hollywood landscape, launching the careers of many of Hollywood's most talented actors and filmmakers, such as Julia Roberts and Matthew McConaughey, and providing many of the yet limited creative opportunities women had in Hollywood. But despite--or perhaps because of--all that, the rom-com has routinely been overlooked by the Academy Awards or snobbishly dismissed by critics. In From Hollywood with Love, culture writer and GQ contributor Scott Meslow seeks to right this wrong, celebrating and analyzing rom-coms with the appreciative, insightful critical lens they've always deserved. Beginning with the golden era of the romantic comedy--spanning from the late '80s to the mid-'00s with the breakthrough of films such as When Harry Met Sally--to the rise of streaming and the long-overdue push for diversity setting the course for films such as the groundbreaking, franchise-spawning Crazy Rich Asians, Meslow examines the evolution of the genre through its many iterations, from its establishment of new tropes, the Austen and Shakespeare rewrites, the many love triangles, and even the occasional brave decision to do away with the happily ever after. Featuring original black-and-white sketches of iconic movie scenes and exclusive interviews with the actors and filmmakers behind our most beloved rom-coms, From Hollywood with Love constructs oral histories of our most celebrated romantic comedies, for an informed and entertaining look at Hollywood's beloved yet most under-appreciated genre.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The modern romantic comedy’s origins can be traced back to the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan in 1984, when Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner met for what would be one of the most remarkable lunches in Hollywood history. #2 Ephron’s ability to get to the heart of something and share it with the widest possible audience was a skill she had come by honestly. She had taken her mother’s advice that everything is copy, and used that to her advantage. #3 The movie has no plot, but it is still difficult to find the perfect Harry and Sally. The movie depends on your caring about those two people. #4 For the music for When Harry Met Sally, Billy Crystal recommended Marc Shaiman, with whom he had previously worked on Saturday Night Live. The soundtrack album for the movie was a hit, and it launched the career of a pianist named Harry Connick Jr.

It could be said that the career of Canadian-born film director Allan Dwan (1885-1981) began at the dawn of the American motion picture industry. Originally a scriptwriter, Dwan became a director purely by accident. Even so, his creativity and problem-solving skills propelled him to the top of his profession. He achieved success with numerous silent film performers, most spectacularly with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Gloria Swanson, and later with such legendary stars as Shirley Temple and John Wayne. Though his star waned in the sound era, Dwan managed to survive through pluck and ingenuity. Considering himself better off without the fame he enjoyed during the silent era, he went on to do some of his best work for second-echelon studios (notably Republic Pictures' Sands of Iwo Jima) and such independent producers as Edward Small. Along the way, Dwan also found personal happiness in an unconventional manner. Rich in detail with two columns of text in each of its nearly 400 pages, and with more than 150 photographs, this book presents a thorough examination of Allan Dwan and separates myth from truth in his life and films.

In 1919, Florence Deshon—tall, radical, and charismatic—was well on her way to becoming one of Hollywood's brightest stars. Embroiled in a clandestine affair with Charlie Chaplin, she continued to remain romantically involved with the well-known writer and socialist Max Eastman. By 1922, she was found dead in a New York apartment, rumored to have committed suicide. Love and Loss in Hollywood: Florence Deshon, Max Eastman, and Charlie Chaplin uses previously unpublished letters between Deshon and Eastman to reconstruct their relationship against the backdrop of the "golden age" of Hollywood. Deshon's tragic life and her abuse at the hands of powerful men—including Chaplin, Eastman, and Samuel Goldwyn—resonate with the concerns of today's MeToo movement. Above all, though, this is a book about an extraordinary woman unjustly forgotten: a brilliant writer and campaigner for women's rights, driven both by her ambition to succeed and a boundless desire for life. Rich in tantalizing detail, Love and Loss in Hollywood chronicles crucial years of American film history, overshadowed by the pervasive fear of Bolshevism after World War I, the Red Riots, and the emergence of the big studios in Hollywood. This beautiful edition features dozens of unpublished photographs, among them six mesmerizing full-length portraits of Deshon by Adolph de Meyer, Vogue's first fashion photographer.

True love doesn't always follow a script.... Tracy Vance's love life is a total flop. Sure, she has a cool job as a tour guide at a real Hollywood movie studio, but when it comes to her personal life, she can barely get her crush, Connor, to notice her. Then Tracy gets a brilliant idea: Why not win Connor's heart with some help from the big screen? Taking her cues from her favorite chick flicks, Tracy puts Operation Ro Com into action, and it actually seems to work! But Tracy soon realizes that getting the leading man isn't the same as keeping him. Maybe things never work out like they do in the movies--or do they?

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING THAT MAN SERIES, A NEW STEAMY ROMANTIC COMEDY THAT WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH, CRY, AND SWOON! Brandon: I've just woken up from a life or death coma. And learned that not only am I Hollywood's number one heartthrob, but I'm also engaged to America's It Girl, Katrina Moore. She may be a blond goddess, but my brain can't remember shit. And my cock doesn't give a shit. Because my heart started beating for another the minute she came through the door. Zoey: Screw Brandon Taylor. Recovering from his hit and run accident, my demanding, egotistical boss is more of jerk than ever. And with those violet eyes, more ridiculously panty-melting beautiful. As his personal assistant, I have to attend to his every whim and need and contend with his stuck-up fiancee. Life isn't easy for me. Despite my visible size, I've always been invisible. Maybe, the amnesiac is beginning to remember. A girl can dream. No man is more unforgettable in every way. Join Brandon and Zoey as their unlikely Hollywood fairy tale unfolds in three full-length books. From Los Angeles to the South of France, their love story has it all-romance, passion, steamy hot sex, glitz and glamour, plus an adorable little dog and a murder that could unravel everything."

After publishing many books, and many failed TV opportunities, Bette Roseman finally signs a network contract for a TV series based on her novel, The Viagra Diaries, and dreams of a hit show. But when WC Network changes her protagonist’s age from sixty to twenty-something, Bette angrily confronts Network CEO Joshua Bitterman. She demands that her protagonist maintain her original age, but he insists the public “wants young.” After betrayal, intrigue, bartering with the multi-million-dollar network, the impassioned Bette finds herself in the middle of a high-stakes Hollywood legal court battle. Wanting to make deeper connection with her feelings, writing, and her two adult daughters, she begins to explore her past and her subconscious for her truths.