Preet’s Rating    

I knew the moment I read the synopsis of this book I was going to have to read it. It has so many of my favorite things in a story: second chance romance which equals angst and solving unresolved feelings, a Hollywood setting, a romance between an every day person and someone who is a celebrity, and humor. Elissa Sussman delivered on all of my hopes and surpasses them in the best ways possible. 

I love how the story goes back and forth between the past and the present, slowly allowing you to see what happened to lead Chani and Gabe to where they are now. It's both hopeful and heartbreaking, while being highly entertaining. I love Chani and Gabe. Gabe is already a star when he's chosen to play an iconic role, one he's immediately derided and panned for, even before he shoots his first scene. Seeing him open up to Chani when they first meet is magical and you can't hope but wonder if something will happen between them. Chani's worry about what she's doing with her life and the judgment she gets from her peers are something I can relate to on a personal level. Seeing them 10 years later, so changed was a bit of a shock, but the magic between them is still there. 

This book was an utter delight and I am so glad Elissa Sussman wrote and is hopefully writing more adult novels! 

 

A restless young journalist with big dreams interviews a Hollywood heartthrob--and reunites with him ten years later to discover exactly how he feels about her in this sexy and engrossing novel

"You will absolutely devour this book. It's filled with delightful banter, hot romance, and a love story that's worthy of the big screen."--Kate Spencer, author of In a New York Minute and host of Forever35

Then. Twenty-something writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing high-profile book deals, all she does is churn out puff pieces. Then she's hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker: her number one celebrity crush and the latest James Bond. All Chani wants to do is keep her cool and nail the piece. But what comes next proves to be life changing in ways she never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing--and Chani getting closer to Gabe than she had planned.

Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a healthy amount of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles as a successful writer with the career of her dreams. Except that no matter what new essay collection or online editorial she's promoting, someone always asks about The Profile. It always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she's forgotten about the time they spent together. But the truth is that Chani wants to know if those seventy-two hours were as memorable to Gabe as they were to her. And so . . . she says yes.

Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.

Elissa Sussman received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and in a previous life managed animators and organized spreadsheets at some of the best animation studios in the world, including Nickelodeon, Disney, DreamWorks, and Sony Imageworks. You can find her name in the credits of The Croods, Hotel Transylvania, The Princess and the Frog, and Tangled. She lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and their rescue dog, Basil. Stray is her first novel.