Let's Take It from the Top: A Novel

Two estranged actors must reunite to shoot the sequel of the movie where they first met—and fell in love—in this charming and heart-melting second chance romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion

Eight years ago, Anna Edwards broke her co-star Freddie Wright’s heart. Now, she has to shoot a sequel with him.

After wrapping a multi-movie run with a blockbuster superhero franchise, Anna can’t wait to finally be in the driver’s seat of her own career. As a former child sitcom star turned spandex-wearing, Bechdel-test-failing sidekick, she has spent most of her twenties creatively unfulfilled but resolute knowing at least her paychecks are keeping her hopelessly incapable father and younger sister afloat.

Just as she’s beginning to put out feelers for her next role, Anna receives news that the studio that produced First Light—a romantic drama she filmed when she was nineteen—has greenlit a sequel, and Anna is contractually obligated to star in it. The movie was her breakthrough success, but it was also where she met Freddie, the gorgeous, unknown actor playing her love interest. As they shot on location in a picturesque Vermont town, Anna and Freddie were swept up in a whirlwind romance that ended in a catastrophic breakup by the time they wrapped.

Now, eight years later, Anna is dreading her reunion with Freddie, who has skyrocketed to fame and become a beloved Internet Boyfriend. As Anna returns to the same small town where the two first fell in love—albeit in decidedly different circumstances—she must reckon with the fallout of the choice she made all those years ago and decide if she’s finally ready to go after what her heart wants.