I really enjoyed this one second chance romances, except when there’s the constant conflict of questionable cheating and other man / woman drama. I think that’s what aggravated me about this story. There were so many “I can explains” from the MMC that after a few I was like well maybe we just need to move on if he keeps doing these things hmmm? When the much needed conversation happened between them it didn’t feel like enough.

That said, I absolutely loved Kaliya. She’s trying to make a name for herself in an industry that is full of obstacles. She’s not afraid to call out the moments when someone tells her to just do it when being able to just do it comes with privilege that person has when she doesn’t. She takes the action to make a change. I really admired her. My rating was bumped up to 4 stars for her and her story.

🫶🏻 second chance
🎬 hollywood dynamics
💻 workplace
❤️‍🔥 slow burn

single POV
4/5 stars ⭐️
1/5 spice level 🌶️

🎬 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙔𝙤𝙪 🎬
𝖬𝗒𝖺𝗁 𝖠𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗅
#BerkleyPartner #Berkley

This was a really good debut romance. The writing was super witty and I definitely found myself chuckling more than once at the banter between Kaliya and her bestie Neha and Bella is a hoot. You could tell Danny was still gone for Kaliya from the minute they reconnected after so many years. I appreciate how much he fought for her and made a place for her at the table. I didn’t love the jealous ex part of the story, which I’m just not a fan of in general. She was a pretty awful person so that didn’t help at all. Overall, this was a great second chance love story with all the ups and downs that can come along with an old flame!

Kaliya Wilson has spent years behind a reception desk, her filmmaking dreams seemingly out of reach. But when a surprise reunion with her college flame, Danny Prescott, offers her a shot at her dream job, it's a mix of excitement and hesitation. Despite the intense connection they once shared, trusting Danny again proves challenging. As they navigate the complexities of Hollywood and their own past, they find themselves opening up in ways they never imagined. But when scandal threatens to derail everything, Kaliya must decide if she's willing to risk it all for the chance at a second shot at love.

Read if you enjoy:
💞 Second Chance Romance
🔥 College Flames
🖇️ Workplace Romance
🫶🏻 Strong Female Friendships
🗣️ Witty Banter
🎟️ Redemption
🎥 Hollywood
🎬 Movies

Thank you to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good second chance, forced proximity, Hollywood romance and this debut was EXCELLENT!! Former college flames find themselves working on an up and coming director's vanity project about his family and try to resist their undeniable chemistry while also battling kickback from the racist producers funding the film.

Amazing on audio narrated by DeWanda Wise (a new to me narrator) and perfect for fans of authors like Jasmine Guillory, Yulin Kuang or Nikki Payne!! Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!!

Steam level: open door!

I love a good second chance romance where they get a HEA this book was that for sure but not without some tension, drama and all the chaotic feels of a rollercoaster romance. I loved the character development of Kaliyah and how she found herself along the journey to a second chance at love.Overall this book was a good read that i would definitely recommend to others. Thank you Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC.

This was an okay book. I feel it was overly ambitious with its plot and too many things were thrown into the mix which made it difficult to enjoy at multiple points in the story. The author has a very strong voice though and writing style so I'm looking forward to seeing what else she has to offer. But this one could have done with a little more editing and trimming down on some what happened because after a while it was dragging and it was a struggle to get through to finish it.

I gave this book 4 stars. I really liked that even though this was a romance it kind of took the back seat. I was very glad that we got to see the main character put herself first in the end and come back to her love interest when she had figured her shit out.
I wish we could get a movie because I want to see them get married.

The setting of the film industry and the topics of racism and nepotism, passion, and ambition were excellent. It was further enhanced by some excellent workplace drama. The romance develops gradually, interspersed with flashbacks that illustrate the beginnings and end of their relationship. The epilogue, which was a bit abrupt and unclear, was the only thing that made me laugh. All things considered, this was a really good read that examined the movie industry, race, and bereavement. I look forward to reading the author's next work.Thanks to Berkley for this arc for an honest review.

Second Chance! College sweethearts! Workplace Romance! Rivals and nasty employers!
This gave me all the feels, good and bad. There was a pretty awful ex of his that wouldn't back off her. Hate when ex's are bitter and cruel but it also makes for so much tension. Though Danny was a big time director so I get her trying to hold on. And he just kept getting steamrolled which affected her job.
(Maybe spoiler) Loved how they just didn't have an immediate hea, he kind of messed up big time and she needed to figure out her next moves with her career before she wanted to give him another chance.
The story they were telling with his movie was great! Would totally watch!

I haven’t been having a lot of luck with contemporary romances lately, but I have to say, Myah Ariel’s debut, When I Think of You, just blew me away. It may not be the steamiest romance I’ve ever read but it had an abundance of longing and tension, making me wait with bated breath to see if Kaliya and Daniel, one-time film school classmates turned lovers, would be able to mend their broken past and find their way to a HEA.

The book gets a lot of things right, making me emotionally invested in both of these characters as individuals and also as a couple. Kaliya works as a receptionist at a film studio, still waiting for her big break in an industry famous for dismissing or just frankly ignoring Black women. Daniel, the classic nepo baby of an acclaimed movie director, has already made his own mark in the industry. Their paths cross seven years after their short-lived relationship imploded, when the studio Kaliya works for buys Danny’s script. Through Danny’s machinations, the two former lovers are thrown into close proximity as they work to bring Danny’s film, about the epic, interracial love story of his own parents, to the big screen.

The book feels big and also feels uniquely suited to be turned into a screenplay, perhaps because the author herself went to film school. I really like books set in Hollywood, giving us an inside look at the entertainment industry. Many of those books usually feature MCs who are both navigating the pitfalls of fame. I appreciated the dichotomy between Kaliya and Daniel’s life experiences. She is struggling to get her big break whereas Daniel, born into a life of wealth and privilege, doesn’t always understand the roadblocks preventing Kaliya from seeking her own success.

I love a second chance romance as well and while I don’t always love books that go back and forth between the present and the past, here it works well in setting up their first meeting, a disastrous meet cute in the middle of New York City involving a broken suitcase, to their growing friendship turned romantic relationship, to how it all fell apart. Sometimes in a second chance romance, it’s one big thing that happened to break the couple up but here, it just feels like two young, emotionally immature people mixed in with bad timing.

Both of these people carry their own set of emotional baggage, Danny dealing with the loss of his father to multiple sclerosis and Kaliya who has her own abandonment issues. If there’s any complaint to be made about this book, I wish that Kaliya’s background, specifically her relationship to her own mom, had been explored further. It’s mentioned that she is primarily raised by her grandparents and clearly, there’s a sense of loss and abandonment that helps guide Kaliya’s choices when it comes to her love life and I think exploring those themes further would have added more context to this story. Secondly, I also wish it was a dual POV story because there are a lot of scenes where Kaliya feels betrayed, and it would have been greatly beneficial to get a little bit of Daniel’s POV. However, I will say that when Daniel professes his love to Kaliya, there is no doubt that he is absolutely for real and that his love is genuine.

I also really loved the side characters in this book. Kaliya lives with her best friend Neha, who is incredibly supportive of her best friend but also, in the grand tradition of excellent best friends everywhere, not afraid to tell Kaliya the cold unvarnished truth. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if Neha gets her own book. Secondly, there’s also Bella, the young director’s assistant, a nepo baby herself who ends up inadvertently taking Kaliya’s position and then eventually becoming a really good friend and the ultimate tool by which Kaliya is able to right all the wrongs in this book. (I actually wouldn’t mind a book featuring her either, but it would need to come after a significant time jump as Bella is pretty young, celebrating her 21st birthday in this book).

Overall, the writing was really strong, and I adored the 2 MCs. I love a good, messy, angsty, second chance romance and I love watching two people who are absolutely meant to be together, fight to figure their issues out. Both of these characters were flawed and made mistakes, but I never once doubted their love or their HEA. The book evoked a lot of emotions and left me with a contented smile at the end. I honestly can’t wait to see what Myah Ariel has in store for us next.

Content notes: racism, sexism, parental loss, grief

I truly fell in LOVE with this beautiful and inspiring debut. I connected with the FMC, Kaliya, in so many ways. This book is made for the dreamers and those that are not ready to give up on their dreams.

Read if you enjoy:
- Hollywood vibes
- Second Chance
- Supportive Friends
- Workplace Romance
- Books that make you shed a few tears

This book was a five star read for me. I just really connected with the characters and their struggles. There’s something so special about being able to find relatable characters and I am forever thankful to the author for writing this book! The story was engaging from beginning to end. There was no part of the book were I felt something was missing. The romance was just chef’s kiss. I just LOVED it! I will forever recommend this book.

Thank you Berkley, Berkley Romance, and Netgalley for the free galley.

I think this debut had a level of nostalgia that was great to see on page. However, I'm not sure if I wanted the couple to end up together (gasp), but maybe that's the point. I look forward to reading more from this author.

(3.5 Rating)

This is a second chance romance novel that follows my almost name-sake, Kaliyah Wilson as she navigates a career in the film industry. One day while at work, her life is turned upside down when her college crush, Danny Prescott comes back into her life. While Kaliyah’s career stalled, Danny’s took off as he became a hot shot director. He offers Kaliyah a job and we go on a journey to see if they’ll regain each other’s frustrations and end up together again.
•
One of the reasons why I didn’t bump the rating to a 4 is because this story was written only from Kaliyah’s POV. It would’ve been interesting to get Danny’s side of the story from his POV!

Don’t walk, RUN, and grab a copy of this book right now!!

Just a few things that make WHEN I THINK OF YOU great:

- Second chance romance with a side of self-discovery between old college flames that haven’t seen each other in seven years.
- Story set against the backdrop of glitzy Hollywood at a movie studio in a post #MeToo and #HollywoodSoWhite era, shedding light on an industry that still struggles to practice what it only recently began to preach.
- Gives flowers to every underpaid and overwhelmed entertainment worker doing the damn thing.
- Heavy on the HEA (happily ever after)!!

Two college exes with heated chemistry work together on a budding film (strictly, no, severely off-limits). Kaliya and Danny are an inevitable pair – seven years of no contact and unresolved built up tension – but they pick right back up on where they left off…

As someone who works in entertainment (and continues to fight for a spot at the table every single day) I absolutely adored the plot taking place at a fictional movie studio, all of the production and casting references and spotlighting the importance of those constantly utilized and never valued workers that make it all happen. I think too many of us fall victim to the idea of “paying your dues,” especially in the entertainment industry, and we allow poor working environments / mistreatment slide because we think we’re supposed to endure it before we move up. I loved to see Kaliya’s growth and recognition of her worth in this sense and how her and Danny shatter the glass ceiling that Hollywood has set. It was the best romance I could ask for without being overly cheesy or unrealistic and flowed so easily for start to finish. I didn’t want this to end!!

Special thanks to @berkleyromance for the advanced digital copy! WHEN I THINK OF YOU is out now.

Such a SWEET, sweetie debut! Was not expecting the emotional depth of it. The film plot was so fun with a friends to lovers second chance romance in a way I've never read before. Kaliyah and Danny discovered so much of themselves from college to present day, I loved the throwback moments when they first met. The mirroring of the film being directed to the reality of their life and moments was extremely precious. The way the book was even written, felt like watching a movie of their whirlwind romance. The second chance they deserved. LOVED the audiobook and just obsessed with the cover. I would've loved Danny's POV with Kaliyah! <3

I wasn't sure how I felt about this one because it was such a slow burn. I am an avid second chance romance reader so the fact this dragged for so long really had me feeling some type of way. But, I was so happy when I stuck with it because it was such an inspiring read! There were so many different levels of life lessons in this one. Grief, loss, heartache, just to name a few. I wish we were able to see dual POV because I think it's important in a second chance novel that we see how the other party is feeling. Getting Kaliya's view the entire time, really made it hard for me to relate to how Danny might be feeling throughout the entirety of the book. We were kind of left guessing to how it would all end. But overall, I think it was a great read just a few hiccups for me a long the way!

A second chance romance with a giant heart. The way this incorporates the glamour of the movie world with the mmc's parents real life love story as an interracial couple, alongside the main characters finding each other again and navigating Hollywood- so good.

Myal Ariel's debut novel "When I Think of You" takes readers on an exhilarating rollercoaster of emotions that grips you from the very first page.

In the whirlwind of film school, Kaliyah and Danny fall deeply in love, only to be torn apart by heartbreak. Seven years later, they reunite under unexpected circumstances. Danny, now a prominent film director, and Kaliyah, resigned to a mundane life, find themselves collaborating on a project that reignites old sparks.

As their professional relationship blossoms, so do the unresolved feelings between them, creating a tension-filled atmosphere reminiscent of a real-life rom-com. Amidst the chaos, Kaliyah embarks on a journey of self-discovery, rediscovering her passions and independence, all while navigating the complexities of love.

The authenticity of Danny and Kaliyah's journey is striking, drawing readers in with its rawness and relatability. Myal Ariel crafts characters that feel incredibly real, making it easy to become invested in their story. From Hollywood glamour to heartfelt struggles, the novel presents a compelling blend of romance and self-exploration.

Ultimately, "When I Think of You" is a stellar debut, offering readers a captivating second-chance romance intertwined with themes of personal growth. If you're craving a whirlwind of emotions coupled with moments of self-discovery, this book is an absolute must-read.

📣 a second chance romance featuring leads who also get a second chance to work together on movies that matter

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 what’s one of your Wednesday numbers? Mine are: 5:46 wake-up; 1 run I’m planning on taking later; 5 baby chicks.

Kaliya is a front desk person at the film production studio where she’s always hoped to get her big producing break when she encounters the director genius who also broke her heart in film school.

Though Danny Prescott’s arrival back in her life brings lots of emotions, particularly since he broke her heart, remains smolderingly attractive, and now has a girlfriend, it also presents the opportunity for Kaliya to get that big break she’s been wanting.

When I Think of You brings a charismatic heroine who has twists of phrase that often made me smile, a strong sense of emotional adeptness & understanding of people, & a thoughtful consideration of biracial lead Danny’s challenges but also privileges in Hollywood as the son of a Hollywood legend.

I loved the personal nature of the movie that Kaliya & Danny are working on, & how interviews with his mother & other bits of his family history are included in the book.

Though When I Think of You starts off so strongly for me, it gradually wears down some under the weight of the back & forth between the leads. Their romantic trajectory isn’t as straightforward as I would like, & Danny’s consistently poor communication & overall behavior while in a relationship—whether with Kaliya or his previous girlfriend—doesn’t inspire the warm & fuzzies from me.

This is one of those novels that has so many pieces of a great romance—I adored the writing voice. But unfortunately, the actual romance arc doesn’t work for me, & I didn’t love their love story.

3.5 ⭐️. Out now!

CWs: reference to interracial marriage & the challenges associated with that; MS; racism including reference to racial slur; privilege & challenges in Hollywood; grief.

[ID: Jess’s hand holds the ebook in front of a yellow & green mural.]

First, I have to applaud the cover! It's absolutely stunning!

I really enjoyed my time with this story. I liked learning more about their lives, what led to their split, and how they feel about each other today. Their story is sweet and it's clear that they both are still in love with each other.

The drama that happens on set was messy and I loved it. It added to the tension between our two love interests and kept this story interesting.

Spoiler Thought Below
The only thing I wish was done differently was the third act break up. There was so much drama happening with the production and on set that the breakup didn't feel necessary. But even with that I still found myself smiling and giddy at the end of this story.

Congrats to the author on a fantastic debut and I'm excited to see what she'll be releasing next.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for the advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @BerkleyRomance #Berkley #BerkleyPartner for the free book and @PRHAudio for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

This was a wonderful debut romance. It focuses on Kaliyah and Danny. They met in college as aspiring filmmakers. He was the son of a well known director, and his career immediately took off. In contrast, she has been getting turned down and stuck in front desk jobs with no chance for advancement for years. After seven years of not seeing each other, he asks her to work on his next film.

In many ways, this felt like we got a bonus story. Not only was there the second chance romance of Kaliyah and Danny. But we also got to read about the film he wrote as a tribute to his parents' love story. They were an interracial couple in the Jim Crow south, and the scenes with his mother were incredibly moving.

Throughout, I was so impressed by the beautiful prose of this book. It's the kind that made me re-read and re-listen to sentences just to appreciate them. I found the balance of the romance, tension, and many different plot elements superbly done. But the ending lost me a bit and felt overly complicated.

This is a book as much about Kaliyah's journey as it is about her love story. And I loved seeing such a strong Black woman at the heart of the story.

Dewanda Wise was a phenomenal narrator, and she made the audiobook come alive.

CW: infidelity