Not many surprises in ‘Gift Bag’

At one point in “The Gift Bag Chronicles,” a character asks, “Who isn’t writing a novel in L.A.?”

More and more that seems to be the case, especially during the summer when “chick-lit” books abound. The genre has become so popular, it’s spawned sub-categories. The dating manual novel. The Hollywood wives novel. And the career-girl novel, which usually features a character with one foot in glam land and the other in civilian territory. Such is the case with Alex Davidson, a Hollywood event publicist and the heroine at the heart of Hilary de Vries’ novel.

Alex is one of those highly motivated girls: smart enough to successfully juggle high-maintenance clients but clumsy when it comes to her personal life. Does someone need a wedding extravaganza set on a Calabasas ranch in the middle of nowhere? A fashion magazine bash done in high style on a limited budget.? No problem. Alex can deliver. What she’s less good at is handling the stalled relationship with her boyfriend back in New York and a new flirtation here in L.A. Add into the mix her parents, living in the suburbs of Philadelphia, who can’t understand why their daughter isn’t settled into conventional domestic bliss and one has all the elements for a career-girl crisis.

Having worked the Hollywood beat for a while, not only in her previous novel, “So 5 Minutes Ago,” but also in her journalism career, de Vries gets the nuances and details right. She accurately depicts the split quality of being a below-the-line (credit-wise) girl in an above-the-line Hollywood world. In spite of Alex’s perks -- first-class travel, a lovely canyon home -- her job often means long hours working the red carpet and being a slave to a Blackberry and cellphone. The good news is communication has never been easier. The bad news is there’s always a way for a narcissistic celebrity in need of attention to track you down.

But there’s also a danger that comes with getting the details right, at least in Hollywood. Proximity to the action means there’s a greater chance of being tempted by the big prize. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to imagine that de Vries has thoughts about doing her own movie, which is where the problem with this book comes in. Often, “The Gift Bag Chronicles” feels more like a movie idea fronting as a novel. The book can be viewed as a collection of moments honoring all the conventions of a romantic comedy. Characters meet cute. They have silly moments that seem designed to make them likable to a Saturday night date audience. Their lust for each other bursts forth in unexpected G-rated scenarios. Their story ends in a way that surprises no one. You could argue that a summer novel doesn’t have to go deep.

But even if one doesn’t want to go deeper into the themes of PR land -- and clearly there is a darker tale to be told there -- summer reads still need to offer something new or scintillating to be a guilty pleasure. With so many writers working in this genre and covering the same information in differently decorated though similar plotlines, a Hollywood chick-lit book has to keep changing to stay relevant. And that’s what’s missing here -- something that grabs our attention and keeps the career-girl saga moving and vital. Without it we’re left feeling the way one does after scoring a gift bag at one of those Hollywood event parties, only to find later that it contains nothing we don’t already have. You can’t really complain -- even if there’s nothing in the bag that thrills you.

Carol Wolper is the author of several novels, including “The Cigarette Girl” and “Mr. Famous.”