Holly Would Dream - Book Review

Holly Would Dream
By Karen Quinn
Simon & Schuster 2008
Author Website

I found another Karen Quinn Book. And this book was so good, I stayed up to 2 AM to finish it. I could not put it down. This is the story of Holly Ross who lives in NYC, and who dreams of living happily ever after, just like her favourite actress, Audrey Hepburn. And yes, Holly was named after Holly Golightly.


Holly has a masters degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology and works as an assistant to the Director of the National Museum of Fashion. The Director (name of Tanya) is the Boss from Hell.

The story opens with Holly, about to be offered a promotion at the museum, and also about to be married. But by the next day, her world has collapsed. Holly did not get the promotion and she dumped the fiance after he was busted by the police for soliciting a minor.

Holly has just one thing to keep her going. Her favourite actress Audrey Hepburn. She gets her inspiration from Audrey's movies.

Tanya has hired a "dumb blonde" socialite (named Sammy) who has family "connections" to the rich and famous. Holly was told that she does not bring anything to the table, which is why she was not promoted.

A few days later Holly and Sammmy get into a fight and make a wager - to bring a one hundred million dollar donation to the museum. Tanya agrees. She makes the rules. Whoever shows me this donation dollar amount first, gets the job of senior curator.

Holly wangles a trip out of Tanya, to be a speaker on a luxury cruise ship called the Tiffany Star. She also "borrows" some clothes from the Museum for an exhibition that is due to open in Rome at the end of her trip. Holly promises to keep the trunk of clothes safe during the cruise.

Things go drastically wrong as Holly loses the trunk of valuable clothes, spends most of her cruise either worrying about it or looking for it, and she falls in love with a man who is planning his wedding to someone else.

Like I said, I stayed up until 2 AM to finish this book. I had to know what happened next. Audrey Hepburn is also one of my favourite actresses as well. My most favourite Audrey Hepburn movie of all time is Paris, When It Sizzles.