When I Think of You by Myah Ariel
Contemporary Romance
April 16, 2024 by Berkley

Review by Melanie

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

Grade: A