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.

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.

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.