**ARC Review: Captivating Second Chance Romance**

Myah Ariel’s latest romance novel delivers a heartfelt and believable second chance love story. Danny and Kaliya’s journey, shaped by timing, circumstances, and miscommunications, unfolds beautifully, making their eventual reunion feel well-earned and genuine.

Set against the backdrop of the entertainment industry, particularly the world of movies, this story is a treat for fans of that scene. Kaliya and Danny first meet at NYU in a Cinema Studies course, only to cross paths again years later under vastly different circumstances. Kaliya, now a receptionist at a production studio, finds herself in a rut, while Danny has risen to prominence as a director, following in his father's illustrious footsteps. Their reconnection happens when Kaliya gets an opportunity to work on Danny’s film, which aims to tell the love story of his parents. The narrative does a great job of depicting the realistic drama and political maneuvers of the film industry.

Supporting characters like Bella and Neha add depth to the story, and I found myself hoping they get their own books in the future. And Eric? He definitely deserves his own love story too!

This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a well-crafted romance with a touch of Hollywood glamor. I’m excited to see what Myah Ariel comes up with next!

🫶🏽What I enjoyed
I was really into the behind-the-scenes of Hollywood storyline, and following Kaliyah’s journey as she tries to make a name for herself in the industry. Her bestie was dropping snarky truth bombs that I absolutely adored, and Danny’s passion to make a movie about his parents’ love story was the sweetest. I thought the audio performance by Dewanda Wise was great! Very easy to follow and had me laughing.
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🤷🏻‍♀️What didn’t work for me
I was really loving this book until about the 75% mark. The third act break up didn’t make much sense to me. I can also see some people being bothered by the lack of communication revolving around Kaliyah and Danny’s first break up.
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Overall though, I did enjoy this book and would read another by Mya Ariel!

An earnest romantic story centered around the black experience and trying to find joy within the pain.

Cue the music!! **plays Janet Jackson on repeat** When I think of you is a second chance, workplace romance that is as touching as it is troubled.

In this story there are plenty of upsetting things such as microagressions, sexual ha but it is all balanced out by the life between two couples. Although this was Kaliyah and Danny’s romance I found myself even more interested in experiencing more flashbacks into Minnie and Nathan’s love story. To hell with what Hollywood critics may say, we indeed want another to see another story like the Love’s on our big screen.

The third act breakup in this story may have been one of the most emotional breakups I’ve read in a while. The way his emotions bleed out on the page and her raw and exposed fear showed up were exceptionally written. Also Kaliyah’s ability to take ownership was well great to read.

Although I felt like their romance could have been stronger, this was a solid debut. 3.5/5

I thought this was such a strong debut! The story of this book centers on Kaliya Wilson and Danny Prescott, her former college sweetheart. Both are attempting to establish themselves in the movie business. The way Danny and Kaliyah's tale addressed sexism in the entertainment industry, loss, grieving, and mental health in addition to their own journey is something I find really intriguing. I also enjoyed how they healed apart before reuniting.

Overall, this story was a nice read that blended a deeper message with the complexities of falling back in love with someone who has hurt you badly in the past.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read/review.

4.5⭐️ Thank you @berkleyromance for the copy I received at the Berkley Spring influencer event. From the moment I heard author Myah Ariel speak, I was so excited and couldn’t wait to read it. This was such a great second-chance love story between Kaliya Wilson and Danny Prescott, who had a college romance before he ghosted her.

As son to Hollywood royalty, now Danny is making his own way to the big screen and wants Kaliya as his assistant. I loved their slow burn romance and watching them rekindle that flame for one another.
The author gives great insight into this world of film making as well as the politics and racism that are present.

*many thanks to Berkley Romance, prh audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

The Second Chance At Love Trope will always be a hit or miss, it's very easy for the story to become a connection rooted only in the previous dating history of the characters. Luckily for readers the advanced copy of When I Think of You that i was lucky enough to receive via Netgalley demonstrated how this trope should be handled. This novel is the story of Kaliya Wilson and her former college sweet heart Danny Prescott. Both are trying to make their way in the film industry, an industry that isn't always kind to black creatives, even when they have the name and experience behind you to become successful.. Forced back together to work on Danny's passion project, a film to honor the love story of his parents, Kaliya and Danny can't avoid the resurfacing feelings they have for each other. Danny is also trying to tell his parents story as he realizes that he was only given a chance due to the race of his father. As the child of an interracial couple during a time when his very existence was a crime Danny is trying to respectfully tell of his parents hardships while it seems like everyone is working against him to keep from making a "woke" film. All in all this novel was a lovely novel that balanced a deeper message with the complexity of falling back in love with someone who hurt you deeply in the past. I enjoyed it and think others will too.

This was a beautiful debut from Myah Ariel! This was a second chance romance between college loves, Danny and Kaliyah, as they try to navigate working together on Danny’s new film.

I love how Danny and Kaliyah’s story not only explored their journey, but also loss, grief, mental health, and sexism in the entertainment industry. I also appreciated how they both healed separately before coming back together again. Say it with me y’all: GROWTH! It always makes the relationship better!

I do have to note that this book heavily utilizes the miscommunication trope (which I do not like) and another microtrope that I don’t particularly care for. However, because these tropes were so well integrated with the second chance aspect, it somehow worked for me in the end. Did I want to fight Danny every 5 pages because of his miscommunication? Yes. But was I rooting for him and Kaliyah to get together and work things out? Also yes.

This would be the perfect read for anyone who loves second chance romances like Seven Days In June or even lovers of films/the film industry!

Sadly this book is a DNF for me. J got 60% in before i have finally made the decision. I really enjoyed the writing, the author does a good job at describing the characters & i did believe in the romance but i just didn’t fee anything for their romance. I did feel for the characters especially the fmc but i just didn’t connect with her the way that i wanted to.

Even though this book wasn’t for me i do want to read more of this authors future books, i’m excited to see what she comes out with in the future!!

A second chance romance full of surprises! I loved reading about a past relationship that came back to life years later. Kaliya has another chance at love with her college beau and a stab at her dream job, but will Danny’s current girlfriend stand in the way? This book made my heart smile and it made my heart hurt at times. Well written and beautifully told! I also had some laughs in between the love.

When I Think of You was a really sweet debut novel. This second chance romance follows Danny and Kaliya who first met in school and had an immediate connection but something held him back from loving her too deeply too fast, at least what she thought. They reunite years later and he offers her a job on his big Hollywood film. A lot of drama ensues because of Danny’s ex and business partner on the project, but even with the obstacles in their way, it’s clear they belong together. I loved Kaliya’s path of self discovery and all the industry mentions. I’d definitely recommend this book especially to romance readers. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.

Link to published review provided below This is a sweet, well written debut romance. Fans of Hollywood and second chances should be thoroughly entertained.
Here’s a brief excerpt from my NPR review
“An edgy, hyper-current Hollywood based second-chance romance between former college sweethearts, Myah Ariel's debut novel When I Think of You radiates breakout energy..”

This was a solid romance. While I am a hard sell on a second chance romance, Danny and Kaliya were kept apart more by timing/circumstance/miscommunication than anything else so it made sense that they needed time (and a couple of grand gestures) to come back and find each other. If you love the entertainment industry, especially movies, this will be right up your alley. Kaliya and Danny meet at NYU in a Cinema Studies course (Myah Ariel must have attended NYU because she describes things so accurately in the flashbacks....) and reunite years later when Kaliya is in a dead-end job as receptionist at a production studio and Danny is a hotshot young director following in his father's footsteps trying to tell the story of his parent's love. Kaliya gets a chance to work on the production of his movie and there's a whole lot of drama and political machinations that occur but it all feels realistic to the times.

Would love to see Bella or Neha get their own books... they were great friends to Kaliya. Also, justice for Eric! He needs his own love story!

Will read from Myah Ariel again!

This book taught me three things about myself

1. I do not like single POV
2. I do not like other woman drama in books
3. There is a such thing as too much information. (Chapter 27 was completely unnecessary and just had me so confused)


At soooo many parts this book dragged and it was hard to get through.

I loved that Bella went from an obstacle to the FMC ally to friend

The FMC was desperate in my opinion and then went to the extreme in the end of basically ghosting him to “get her life together” and just hoped he would understand why she couldn’t talk to him for a year. Mind you she didn’t explain this the MMC.

Danny not getting the fact his ex was the issue for the majority of the book was also annoying

Three stars. While i thought the story was fun and I really enjoyed the diversity of the read I DID NOT enjoy the fact that the MMC had a girlfriend for honestly about half of the story and that the burn was super slow.

✨ Audiobook Review ✨ When I Think of You by Myah Ariel; Narrated by DeWanda Wise

Thanks to Berkley, PRHAudio, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

First, I'll say that second chance romances aren't my favorite and that has impacted my review of this book. I tried really hard to love it, but it's hard for me to love these. So if you like second chance romances, ignore my review 😂

Set in Hollywood, Kaliya finally receives a shot at helping produce a film after being sidelined for seven years working as an office assistant and other low-level work. The opportunity comes when her college boyfriend, Danny, appears. Danny's dad was a filmmaker and he didn't have these kinds of problems getting started after college.

As their flames rekindle, they have to consider a path forward. One that recognizes Kaliya's and Danny's career, and the integrity of Danny's film. I really appreciated how this discussed race, privilege, and Hollywood -- it did this brilliantly!

🎧 Enjoyable audio narration that I was excited to keep coming back and listening to!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5)
Genre: f/m contemporary romance
Setting: Los Angeles, Hollywood.
Length: 10 hours 47 minutes
Pub Date: Apr 16 2024

Read this if you like:
⭕️ second chance romance
⭕️ Hollywood
⭕️ marginalized voices in the film industry

Real Rating 3.5

Although I thought this book was going to be a favorite of mine, I spent a lot of my time yelling at her. She was set on her not having a relationship with that man I’m convinced. But even tho I was yelling at her, I still thought it was ok.

It’s been a minute since I didn’t necessarily like a character, but I still liked the book. But this is the one that did it. She was so annoying lol She didn’t know what it was she wanted. Idk if there was no other way to make it so they had a third act break up or what, but this one was completely unnecessary. She kept saying yes she wanted to be with him but when they got together she said no she didn’t? Idk it was so weird lol I DO get having to find yourself first and wanting to get to know the other person, but the whole like wanting to be with him all the time, and finally realizing that she wanted him, just to say she wasn’t ready? I didn’t get that she didn’t get it until after she had already said she wanted to be with him again?

The movie aspect of this tho was so cool! I loved everything about that part. From her finding the industry terrible, to the way she started from the bottom and rose all the way to the awards! And I loved seeing Danny make his own name in the industry and fighting tooth and nail to overcome the racists and those in the industry trying to do him dirty. Because every industry is just like that, but I never thought what it would be like for those in the movies.

The romance was also pretty cute too. I loved the way he like rescued her without making her feel like he did. No one deserved to be in the hell hole that was that receptionist desk. And the way he loved her and let her go all those times but still held out for her. I loved that. He was intentional and already knew that hw was going to be with her. But the whole scene when they went to see his mama and she sent them breakfast because she knew too?! Wooo chile! I love a support system and he had a goodt one.

This was cute even though I had some choice words for her. It wasn’t what I was expecting from a second chance romance, but I was okay with that. Definitely gave me a couple things to think about.

I couldn't believe the romance between the couple in this book, it was completely unconvincing. The second chance-at-romance plot was unoriginal, and the miscommunication trope was everywhere, which I found extremely frustrating. These characters were adults, yet the author wrote them as if they were incapable of communicating with each other, which made the story almost a dnf but I continued.

The main plot of the story revolves around the parents of one of the main characters, who had a forbidden love story. The story progresses as Kailya and Danny reconnect to finish the story they began while in college. The beginning of the book seems to be going well, but then the usual predictable storyline takes over. Miscommunication as I mentioned above is the main culprit, and there is also some drama with the girlfriend/ex-girlfriend. In my opinion; there was not enough time between the main characters to believe in the happily ever after ending.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read/review.

I love second chance romances and this debut by Myah Ariel hits all my buttons. I read When I Think of You in one day. Kaliya and Danny had my full attention, and I fully related to Kaliya’s fears of feeling stuck and left behind her peers. There’s some stiffness of language that can happen with debuts but I thought the tension between exes makes up for that. Really solid book. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

When I Think of You is a second-chance love story set against the backdrop of the film industry. The book is full of wholesome flashbacks and offers poignant modern-day commentary on what it means to be a young professional in the film industry without coming from a rich family. If you enjoy black love, workplace romance, and second-chance romance, you will enjoy When I Think of You.
Thank you, Berkeley Publishing Group and NetGalley, for the arc in exchange for an honest opinion!