Love is in the air with this month’s BOTM selection — THE REUNION by Kayla Olson — a friends-to-lovers glittering romance set in and around Los Angeles and the backlots of Hollywood. And, like one of my favorite book selections from a couple of years ago (ONE TO WATCH by Kate Stayman-London), Olson interweaves the narrative with our internet information age of “you heard it here first” fandom and celebrity press. With a debut romance like THE REUNION, Olson’s on my ‘one to watch’ list!

The inciting incident for our REUNION lovebirds is a red carpet event that kicks off the filming of a reunion episode celebrating their long-running (fictional) teen dramedy TV series, “Girl On The Verge.” Of course, reuniting the cast twenty years after their premiere (and fourteen years since the series wrapped) also reopens old wounds and unresolved conflicts. And, on top of it all, when the show was shockingly canceled all those years ago, romantic co-stars and real-life best friends Liv Latimer and Ransom Joel “took a step back” from each other and haven’t spoken since. But could the reunion episode reboot their relationship?

As someone who works in film and TV it was fun to experience the showbiz setting and cozy up with the nostalgia of the book’s fictional Boy Meets World-esque TV series. Add to that the brilliant layers of internet news outlets, fan theories, and the publicity business dynamics of it all and you get a romance that’s so much more than boy-meets-girl.

To take a peek behind the happily-ever-after Hollywood curtain with THE REUNION, buy it HERE.