by Emma Brodie
First published 2026
AJ Graves works at a video rental store in a Massachusetts small town in the summer of 2000. She wants to write for SNL but feels trapped by her circumstances and large family. Noah Drew walks into her store one day. He comes from a famous acting family and carries an air of mystery. Despite their different backgrounds, AJ and Noah develop a strong friendship that evolves into an acting partnership. Then Noah vanishes without explanation. Seven years pass. AJ finds herself in New York City, cast in an intergalactic television show. She discovers Noah is her co-star. He has become a Hollywood star during their time apart. Their characters grow closer as filming progresses. The boundary between their roles and real life starts to dissolve. AJ and Noah cannot resist each other, but they must face what drove them apart years earlier. A devastating secret threatens to separate them again, even as circumstances keep pulling them back together.
Genres: fiction, drama, romance, contemporary-romance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, second-chance
Setting: Massachusetts, New York City
Period: 2000, 2007
448 pages · Paperback · Ballantine Books