This Rec League comes from Nancy. Thanks, Nancy!
Elyse: Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade happens on locationI just finished reading Don’t Look Down by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. Since I retired I’ve been doing extra work on tv shows that are filmed locally and I really enjoyed that the action of the book happens on a film set. Loved all the details that I’m now actually familiar with. I’d love to have some recommendations of other romances which take place on a film set (not just a story about actors) with the day to day details of what that’s like.
Sarah: Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren – and definitely Ship Wrecked!
If reality tv is an option there are many – Accidentally Engaged, Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, Recipe for Persuasion.
Lucy Parker’s books take place in and around theatres, but in The Austen Playbook they’re broadcasting a play live with audience voting to determine the scenes.
Battle Royal is a reality show, too
Elyse: The Reunion by Kayla Olson although it didn’t work for me personally
Tara: If TV is okay, then Breaking Character by Lee Winter is fantastic.
I haven’t read it in a long time, but I remember also liking Just Physical by Jae, ( A | BN | K | AB ) which takes place on a film set and is a romance between an actor and a stunt person.
Susan: I must not recommend a fifty volume manga series, no matter how much Skip Beat ( A | BN | K ) fits this brief.
Sneezy: Jesus! I forgot about Skip Beat!
Daytime Star on Line Webtoon also fits.
What romances would you recommend? Let us know in the comments!
I wrote a series of cosy mysteries that started out as romcoms, and they’re set in a village that’s used to film a TV show. The hero is one of the stars; the heroine a runner. (Together, they solve crime!) mybook.to/DCTC
Kathleen Gilles Seidel’s Again takes place on the set of a day-time soap opera. The FMC is the show runner/writer, and the MMC is one of the lead actors. Although it’s from the 1990s, I read it maybe five years ago, and thought it had generally aged well. There’s lot of day to day minutiae about television, and it’s one of the earliest romances I’ve seen that use interstitial snippets from the script, etc. between the chapters. A truly interesting book.
If you like Golden Age mysteries, a number of Ngaio Marsh’s books are set in and around theatres. She was very involved in theatre production, so they’re pretty accurate for their time.
And Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly. Silent movie era Hollywood. There’s also a sequel. And Hambly has recycled(?) the characters with new names into another series without the paranormal elements. Jayne at Dear Author has reviews of all of them on that site.
Sarah Mayberry wrote a trilogy called Secret Lives of Daytime Divas for Harlequin Blaze that should fit the prompt. (They’re in my TBR so I can’t fully vouch for them… But Sarah Mayberry wrote for Australia’s longest running soap, Neighbours, so she’ll have the details right.)
Penny Reid’s Grin And Beard It is set on location in the Great Smokey Mountains. He is a park ranger, she is the plus sized heroine. I remember it being cute.
A few more:
A Merry Little Meet Cute – set on location in Vermont (?) while filming a Hallmark-type Christmas movie
The Charm Offensive – Bachelor reality show, m/m romance between contestant and producer
You Had Me at Hola – Spanish telenovela romance with lead actors
One to Watch – Bachelorette reality show, romance between two contestants
MERRY LITTLE MEET CUTE by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone is set on a Hallmark Channel-esque Christmas movie set.
Lucy Parker’s London Celebrities Series is theatre based and a lot of fun.
@ReadKnitSnark I read the Sarah Mayberry trilogy long enough ago that I don’t remember any details, but I’m pretty sure I liked it; in fact, I put it back on my list to reread.
As for things on my TBR that I haven’t read, Kennedy Ryan has one called REEL that features a biopic about the Harlem Renaissance.
The first two that come to mind are:
AGAIN by Kathleen Gilles Seidel (already mentioned above) which is a favorite.
CHAOS CHOREOGRAPHY by Seanan Macguire (No. 5 in the Incryptid series) about a dancing reality show, with tango, magic, monsters…
Not sure if this is too adjacent, but The Astronaut and the Star (Jen Confort) is about an astronaut training an actor to be in a space movie and Ashley Poston’s Once Upon a Con series has actors and fan-cons and suchlike.
Alexis Daria’s Take the Lead is a romance on a dance-competition reality show. Made even more fun because the dancer and her partner know that the show wants them to be the “showmance” for the season and neither of them want to give them the satisfaction despite all the sparks that fly.
I second and/or third all of Lucy Parker’s London Celebrity novels, they are fun and sweet in a way that never fails to make me smile.
BEHIND THE SCENES by Karelia Stetz Waters is a f/f romcom and one of the characters is a film director who fell out of Hollywood’s good graces and as part of the story is trying to make a film and rehabilitate her reputation. Very enjoyable and I recommend.
Alexis Hall’s “Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake” and “Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble” both take place at least partially on the set of a reality show that’s *definitely not* Great British Bake Off, and are hilarious and heartwarming. Of the two, “Rosaline Palmer” features more on-page time on set.
Speaking of reality cooking shows, some other variations on the theme are:
– “Recipe for Persuasion” by Sonali Dev (CW for parent death and abuse)
– “Battle Royale” by Lucy Parker
– “Love & Other Disasters” by Anita Kelly (CW for transphobia)
Agree with @Emmy Barry about Kathleen Gilles Seidel’s Again. The daytime soap opera is set in a regency romance world, so there are discussions about details of the costumes, fictional rakes and Almacks and things like that. It’s a really unique book — I wish that she’d written more like it.
Tawna Fenske’s “Juniper Ridge” series is about a TV reality show set on on an old cult compound in Oregon, where the showrunners are a family of TV actors and other escapees from fame. The on-set storytelling/drama is supposed to be 24/7, given the show’s format, but it’s not constantly in the reader’s face in the books. The series is cute, but I wouldn’t think them actually representative of an intensive reality show experience.
I want to second Mayberry’s Secret Diaries of Daytime Divas; it’s the first thing I thought of. Barbara Hambly’s 2 Silver Screen Historical Mysteries are a great take on Silent Screen era Hollywood from the pov of a really likeable couple who aren’t “stars” or power players. There’s lots of period detail and reality checks on the glamor. Also, can I just say that I adored Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade.
For those who are into reality show romances, I enjoyed Elizabeth Harmon’s Turning It On, book 2 in the Red Hot Russians series. Most of the series is focused on figure skating, but you don’t need to read book 1 to enjoy Turning It on. The heroine is a reluctant participant in a quasi-romance themed show with her fiance–less said about him the better–and the hero is a former figure skater with a bad boy reputation. The other reality show themed romance I enjoyed was Rosalind James’s Welcome to Paradise, book 1 in her Kincaids series. This was a living history type show with contestants entering as pairs (not necessarily couples) and competing in teams to win the typical Big Prize.
Jennifer Crusie’s Welcome to Temptation involves the making of a low budget film.
A number of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ books involve actors. If I remember correctly, the one that takes place on a movie set is Heaven, Texas.
Meghan Quinn has a few that are “movie adjacent”; the one that first came to mind is That Forever Girl, where the FMC gets a job as a location scout. Also, the MMC in Runaway Groomsman is a screenwriter, and the Wedding Game is set on a reality tv show.
Cara Dee’s Breaking Free and the second book With Brave Wings is set on the set of a movie – it’s the romance of the director and an actress, I highly recommend it if stellar may-december works for you.
@Viktória: I went to Amazon to take a look at Cara Dee’s Breaking Free and see that it is currently free in the US. Thank you!
One of my favorite mm series is Character Bleed by K.L. Noone – 2 actors fall in love while filming a gay historical romance. They are adorable and so caring toward each other dealing with Jason’s trauma around an on-set accident and Colby’s past abusive relationship… the consideration and support of each other was really amazing. And there are great side-characters and LOTs of film-making details and scenes.
Hot Target, Infamous, and Heartthrob by Suzanne Brockmann all involve/take place on movie sets. Possibly others? I think she’s worked on movies. Hot Target is part of a series, but it’s a great series even if the rest of them aren’t on target, and it would probably (?) work as a stand-alone. Iirc Infamous is mildly paranormal.
Sweep of the Heart by Ilona Andrews is part of the Innkeeper series, so it might not be read as a standalone. But if you like some sci-fi with your romance, this is an intergalactic and interspecies reality marriage competition. Lots of backstage action and romance in this one.
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner is an f/f story about a showrunner and her assistant.
If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy is a cinderella retelling that takes place on a reality show.
Thanks so much for all these great recommendations! I can’t wait to get to them all.
I Kissed a Girl by Jennet Alexander is a f/f where a make-up artist and low budget horror movie star fall in love. It’s New Adult and it isn’t as good as some of the others mentioned here, but it is almost entirely behind the scenes stuff on set.
It’s a mystery, not a romance (although there is some romance as a secondary plot)…. Every City is Every Other City by John Mcfetridge. MC is a location scout for movies/TV filmed in Toronto, and a part-time private detective too. My Canadian spouse thought it was funny, in a dry, sarcastic way. I enjoyed the audiobook.