Liv Latimer grew up on TV.

As the star of the popular teen drama Girl on the Verge, Liv spent her adolescence on the screen trying to be as picture perfect as her character in real life. But after the death of her father and the betrayal of her on-screen love interest and off-screen best friend Ransom Joel, Liv wanted nothing more than to retreat, living a mostly normal life aside from a few indie film roles. But now, twenty years after the show’s premiere, the cast is invited back for a reunion special, financed by a major streaming service.

Liv is happy to be back on set, especially once she discovers Ransom has only improved with age. And their chemistry is certainly still intact. They quickly fall into their old rhythms, rediscovering what had drawn them together decades before. But with new rivalries among the cast emerging and the specter of a reboot shadowing their shoot, Liv questions whether returning to the past is what she needs to finally get her own happy ending.

I have two jobs: As an author, I write romantic comedies, and as a TV writer, I work on a reboot of a beloved 2000s TV show. So when I heard about The Reunion by Kayla Olson—a rom-com about two actors on a reboot of a beloved 2000s TV show—I knew I absolutely had to get my hands on a copy.

And let me tell you, The Reunion did not disappoint!

The novel follows Liv Latimer, the breakout star of the hit teen drama Girl on the Verge. Twenty years after the show premiered, Liv has mostly left acting, save for a few indie films. But now that Girl on the Verge is filming a reunion episode, Liv is questioning whether she was right to leave stardom behind—and whether she should rekindle a friendship (and possibly more?) with her searing hot co-star, Ransom Joel. (Side note: If picturing this Ransom as Chris Evans in Knives Out is wrong, I don’t want to be right.)

I went into this book expecting a juicy romance with some Hollywood glam, but The Reunion is much more: It’s a story of a woman reckoning with her past and what she wants from her career. The novel smartly blends the thrills of gossip and nostalgia with the satisfaction of rooting for a character who has truly worked to earn her happy ending. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!