Star of the Show

by Julianna Keyes

Desperate to revive their fading careers, romcom queen Meredith Holly and former boybander Gabe Anderson have reluctantly pinned all their hopes on Last Christmas, a disastrous holiday horror movie.

Now trapped together on a snowy, low-budget press tour, they’re forced to smile for the cameras and pretend they don’t loathe each other while promoting a film that’s far more likely to become a viral punchline than a box office hit. As every disastrous stop on the humiliating tour chips away at their comeback dreams, Meredith and Gabe find themselves relying on the one person they never expected: each other.

But Meredith wants to be known for her talent instead of her tabloid headlines. And Gabe wants to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight he barely got to see as the fifth member of a five-man band. And the only thing that could derail those dreams faster than the extremely offensive movie they’re promoting is a romance that threatens to steal the show…

350 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication November 1, 2026

About the author

Julianna Keyes is a Canadian writer who has lived on both coasts and several places in between. She's been skydiving, bungee jumping and white water rafting, but nothing thrills - or terrifies - her as much as the blank page. She loves Chinese food, foreign languages, baseball and television, not necessarily in that order, and will go to her grave swearing that 'ain't' is not a word. She has volunteered in Zambia, taught English in China, and dreams of seeing pink dolphins in the Amazon. It'll happen.

She also writes happily offbeat thrillers as Elaine Murphy.

Reviews

[kaitlyn]

𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯

Star of the Show by Julianna Keyes - ★★★★☆
Spice Level: 🔥🔥
Release Date: 1 November 2026

“𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙤, 𝙈𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙝.” “𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚, 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩.” “𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚, 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚.” ₊˚⊹ᰔ

This was such a fun and cute book! A great premise with a romcom actress and ex boybander trying to revive their careers.

The cast in this was great! I loved the banter we got between Meredith and Gabe, how naturally their characters went together and the chemistry we got from very early on. The humour from our characters made this so much fun. I loved Cornball and I always think having an animal as a part of the story makes it 10x better!

“𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩,” 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙. “𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩?” 𝙃𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙. “𝙔𝙤𝙪.” ⋆˙⟡

The story in this was adorable, seeing our characters go from not tolerating each other on set to the premieres for their movie and slowly spending more time together. I really enjoyed seeing the two slowly realise they don’t have to be lonely and that they can lean on others around them.

Overall, I’d recommend this read to anyone looking for a lighthearted, humorous, and entertaining read! ❤️🐶🎤🎥🍿

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC copy of this wonderful read!

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵: ❤️🍿🎤
𖥠 Romantic Comedy
𖥠 Dual POV
𖥠 Forced Proximity
𖥠 Forbidden Love

[Maja]

Not gonna lie, I do have a thing for celebrity romance and Hollywood plots - as alien and strange this world is to me, I am fascinated by it just the same. I am not sure if I would ever want to watch a Christmas Horror movie, though. And, not only that - I am also always wondering what makes people producing and playing a role in such a production. Money, most likely. And hoping to be at least a tony bit popular one day....

Anyway - this was really fun to read! The chemistry between Meredith and Gabe felt real and their relationship formed at a good pace - no instant lusting or love at first sight. At least for me, this is a plus. Especially in Hollywood.

I am not sure if the book really needed to be 370 pages long - sometimes it felt dragged along which was not so much fun - but overall, it was a cute story. 4,5 stars.

[Ruby :)]

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with the ARC!

My god, I loved this book! It had me captivated throughout the entire story without ever feeling bored. It had such a 2000s Romcom vibe which I had been chasing after for sooooo long! This book follows a former Hollywood sweetheart, Meredith Holly, and the forgotten member of Vo1ce, an old boy-band, Gabe Anderson. To resuscitate Meredith's acting career and help build Gabe's new identity in the music industry as more than just Vo1ce's overshadowed member, they both star in a horrendous film called Last Christmas. Due to some misunderstandings about each other, they are forced to deal with their strained relationship while trying to promote this horrid movie that may not even see the light of day.

Now about the story itself, I was really happy that the misunderstanding between Meredith and Gabe cleared up fairly quickly, as the story might have suffered if they spent a majority of the book despising each other because of a silly misconception. I really loved how the characters' relationship built and developed throughout the book. It felt like I was genuinely watching the love story of two actors! I also greatly enjoyed reading about the promotional tour Meredith and Gabe went on. It was so humorous and the characters had such chemistry between each other. It's been so long since I've gushed over characters like this and felt butterflies from reading their interactions.

Throughout the story, I really loved how both characters showed a deep understanding of each other's pasts and the reasoning behind their actions. Both Meredith and Gabe had different fears due to their pasts, and seeing how both of them understand each other and try their best to support one another despite dealing with their own problems and insecurities was truly beautiful.

Next, about the characters. First off, there's obviously Meredith. For a Hollywood sweetheart who used to have it all (of course before she was shunned), I expected her to be a total snob who needed everything to go her way. But to my surprise, she was nothing like that at all! Sure, she did have some moments where she felt like she was better than the others due to her status, but beneath all of that she was just a down-to-earth woman who was trying to find her place in the world and be genuinely seen by someone for who she really is, rather than the image she's had painted for her. I really sympathised with her struggles throughout the book and found her to be a very likeable FMC. I honestly wish this book was part of a series just so I could see more of Meredith.

Next up, Gabe. I don't have that much to say about him other than that he is PERFECT. And not perfect in the spineless MMC with no boundaries who will let the FMC hurt him, then accept a short apology from her at 97% of the book kind of way. Gabe was someone who had actual boundaries! Though he struggled with his self-worth throughout the book, he knew what he wanted and wouldn't bend over backwards just for someone to like him back. Despite his personal struggles and insecurities, he was never whiny or lashed out at the other characters. Instead, he was kind and loving towards his friends and family, and of course, Meredith. Sure, he forgave Meredith for her early misassumptions of him pretty easily, but it wasn't like she wronged him in some crazy way, like I have seen in many other contemporary romances.

As for the side characters, I really loved Meredith's neighbour, Julia. She added so much humour to this book + her sisterly relationship with Meredith was very heartwarming. I also really enjoyed the friendship between Benji and Gabe. It was sweet that they both had genuine love and care for each other without it being damaged by some needless rivalry. The presence of Gabe's family in his home also provided for some great entertainment. Of course, Cornballs was the best part of it all.

Despite the struggles faced by both the MMC and FMC, this book was a very sweet and light read, so it doesn't require any kind of mental preparation before reading. This book was by no means a masterpiece, but I can't remember the last time I've had so much fun reading about a contemporary romance, so it's perfect enough for me! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Julianna Keyes' other books :)

(I would totally buy tickets to watch Last Christmas if it was real)

[Laura Vignals]

Rating: 4.25/5 ⭐
This was such a fun surprise! Star of the Show takes a premise that could easily have been just another celebrity romance and turns it into something funny, messy, romantic, and surprisingly heartfelt.

Meredith and Gabe are both trying to revive careers that haven't exactly gone according to plan. Being forced to promote a disastrous Christmas horror movie together creates the perfect setting for all the awkwardness, tension, and reluctant bonding I wanted from this story.

I especially enjoyed the dynamic between them. Their relationship doesn't feel instantly perfect, and I loved watching the hostility slowly shift into understanding. Both characters have their own insecurities surrounding fame and how the public sees them, which gave the romance more substance than I initially expected.
The humour was probably one of my favourite parts.

The increasingly disastrous press tour gives the story a wonderfully chaotic energy, and there were several moments that genuinely made me laugh. At the same time, the book knows when to become more vulnerable.

I did feel that the pacing dragged slightly in a few places, particularly when I was waiting for Meredith and Gabe's relationship to move forward. A couple of conflicts also felt as though they could have been resolved with better communication. Still, those were relatively minor issues.

Overall, this was funny, warm and extremely entertaining. The combination of celebrity romance, forced proximity and Christmas chaos worked incredibly well for me.

[Raegan Billinger]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for Star of the Show. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3.5/5 rounded up to 4.

Starting off, I think this book may benefit from an additional round of editing. Multiple grammatical errors and typos throughout kept taking me out of the story.

What I appreciated a lot was Meredith’s growth throughout the novel, starting off as someone claiming to have turned over a new leaf but was really still acting out of touch and selfishly (such as being late to set every day while filming and for some of the beginning promotional materials), while by the end she committed to being one hour early to everything. I also enjoyed the relationship between Meredith and Gabe, but I think the closed door aspect of this book took away the audience’s chance to really experience the sparks and tension they supposedly felt towards each other. Their sexual chemistry and the tension between them seemed more like a “tell not show” situation in this instance.

I loved Gabe and his journey of learning how to stand up for himself and how to accept the spotlight instead of being hidden at the back of a group. I also appreciated his continuous respect of Meredith and her boundaries. He was an incredibly lovable MMC.