When young Lizzie Scott becomes embroiled in scandal just weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, she resolves to leave her small hometown and find work in exotic New Orleans. Her brother Paul, a merchant mariner, is already living in the Crescent City and Lizzie is determined to make a fresh start by beginning her career there as a secretary. She bunks with her brother at Mrs. Gresham’s boarding house, where her genteel landlady becomes a surrogate mother and the other boarders an extended family. Lizzie lands a job with defense contractor Hogan Marine. She also falls for her brother’s shipmate, the handsome and enigmatic Juan Acosta. As the war heats up, Lizzie and her colleagues battle bureaucracy, betrayal, and espionage to help equip America’s fighting forces with the tools of victory. Lizzie’s romance with Juan reaches a puzzling crossroads just before disaster—and then mystery—strike. Navigating romance in time of war, Lizzie is forced to reconcile trust and suspicion, love and forgiveness. Praise for Kelly Durham’s The Movie Star and Me: “…carefully styled, thoughtfully developed, and thoroughly enjoyable… riveting … the right balance of suspense and romance… a very fun story worthy of a full recommendation.” 5 of 5 Stars. Sarah Guller, San Francisco Book Review