EXPOSURE

A contemporary romance about a woman who returns to California after years of photographing bears in the Arctic and falls in love with a movie star. 

In the most recent installment of her Love Stories series, Ewens (Playbook, 2017, etc.) follows Megara Jeffries, an accomplished magazine photographer who’s decided to move back to her hometown of San Francisco and finally put down roots. As a means of earning money now that she’s no longer traveling to exotic locations on shoots for National Geographic, Meg acquires an agent and is soon booked to speak at several public events. At the first, a nervous Meg is escorted onstage by Westin Drake, a Hollywood A-lister whose name means nothing to her. They quickly form a bond, though, as West helps Meg stave off a panic attack and get through her first public appearance. Soon the press becomes obsessed with their budding relationship. As a result of their shared interest in environmentalist causes, Meg and West are thrown together time and again, and each time, they grow steadily more attached to each other. Unfortunately, the closer they get, the more Meg realizes that West lives in a world that she may not care to inhabit. As Ewens creates one obstacle after another for the couple, she also explores deeper questions about personal choices and the true meaning of success. Along the way, she effectively shows how the pair struggles with whether they can have a meaningful future with each other and how they begin to question their own individual paths. The narrative has a light and fast-paced feel throughout, and, as in Ewens’ other books, it engagingly tackles complicated questions without ever sacrificing its quick tempo. As the eighth book in the series, this satisfying tale of love and risk does recycle some characters from prior installments, including Meg’s sisters, but for newcomers, it will stand solidly on its own.

A high-energy love story about identity and attachment, perfect for fans of romances with unlikely pairings.