Love Hollywood? Well, here you go. In Laura Wood’s Let’s Make a Scene, two famed actors reunite to make a sequel of their popular romance movie after fans begged for more. This sexy contemporary romance has enemies to lovers, fake dating, and a dramatic second chance romance! I didn’t always understand the push and pull of their relationship, but I enjoyed its sassy banter and spice.

Cynthie Taylor is in the middle of a PR crisis after she is caught having an affair with the director of her last movie after which he left her to go back to his wife. Her career needs help so when her agent tells her they are making a sequel of the hit movie she starred in thirteen years ago, it’s clear doing the film offers her a great opportunity for her to repair her image. There’s just one hitch: She’d have to see Jack, her costar, again.

Jack Turner-Jones is the son of two legends of stage and screen. Not only is he the proverbial nepo baby, he went to a famous drama school. (Cynthie had to make it on her own.) When they were making the first movie, Jack was under a lot of pressure and believed his career depended on the success of the movie. He complained that Cynthie was too inexperienced to handle her part. She overheard him and thought he was arrogant. When she and Jack were asked to fake date for publicity, the movie became a huge success (they had great chemistry). Cynthie insisted they were just acting but I suspected they liked each other more than they let on. In fact, back in the day, things did get spicy between them but they said it was a mistake and decided it was best to keep things professional. When they were done filming the movie, Cynthie swore she would never work with Jack again. But now, with her career possibly on the skids, she decides to break that vow.

Jack agrees to do the sequel but only if Cynthie agrees to do it too. The directors ask them to fake date again to promote the movie and so they get a second chance at romance and it’s a good time! As they attend events together, their banter and chemistry are dynamite. There’s a gala ball with dancing, glitz and glamour. The side characters in the story are colorful and full of humor, including Theo and Clemmie (from Under Your Spell).

The story is told in dual timelines and I liked the present timeline the best. Cynthie and Jack’s chemistry sizzled while they were making the sequel but Cynthie has trust issues from her past– luckily Jack is patient and kind. There are some conversations about what women in the entertainment industry have gone through (#MeToo) and this part crowded out the romance for a bit, but I won’t say too much–I don’t want to spoil it. (Jack was not the problem.) I felt like there was a lot of push and pull between them throughout the story, some of which I didn’t always understand but I liked them as a current couple a lot.

I am a fan of Under Your Spell and while this one doesn’t have the magic we saw in her last book, Let’s Make a Scene is a charming and entertaining second chance romance.