Christine D’Abo’s Tik Tok Boom is the delightful first contemporary romance in a new series, Trending For You, that looks at romance in the current age of social media.

Photographer Andie, now forty-five, never thought her dream of being a world class photographer would end up with her taking a job in the Walmart Photo Center to make ends meet while teaching a part-time photography class at a local community college. Always carrying her camera with her, a walk in the park leads to a chance encounter – a man, sitting on a park bench, talking on a cellphone. He’s oblivious to Andie, but she can’t take her eyes off of him, finding him to be incredibly attractive. She can’t resist taking some pictures of him, and normally she would have asked for consent first, but he appears to be in a really serious conversation and she doesn’t want to interrupt. But just as she’s about to approach him, he gets up and heads towards her. Introvert that she is, Andie pre-empts any conversation by telling him she has to work, and flees.

To call Milo a ‘homebody’ is putting it mildly; he pretty much never leaves his condo unless absolutely necessary. His voice-over career means he can do all his work from home, but he knows what he’s doing isn’t healthy (he’s not agoraphobic, he’s just content to be cocooned inside), nor is it setting a good example for his teenage daughter, Mia, who has her own mental health problems stemming from the abrupt departure of her mother four years earlier. Milo has a therapist, Dee, whom he ‘sees’ over the phone and she convinces him to go to the park, all while on the phone with her. When Dee suggests he strike up a conversation with someone with a simple task, like asking for directions to Starbucks, he notices a female photographer of around his own age taking pictures. But when he approaches her and starts to speak, she runs away. Despite his failure to connect with someone, it’s a first step to getting back out there.

The picture Andie has taken of Milo is stunning. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of shot. Her sister Cara thinks she should post it online, but Andie knows she can’t because she hasn’t asked permission. But when she’s late for her class, her students bug her into revealing the cause and before she knows it, one of her students has posted Milo’s picture on Tik Tok with a request for her followers to try to identify him and tagging Andie. Within a short time, Andie’s phone starts dinging with notifications as the word gets out and boom, she’s gone viral – as has Milo. Mia is the one who finds her dad’s picture online and shows him, leading to him connecting with Andie in person. The last thing Milo wants is to be recognized and internet famous, while Andie has been looking for that breakout photo to lead to a better career. But they are definitely both attracted to each other. Can they find a way to navigate their sudden (and complicated) social media fame while developing a real relationship?

Going viral can have consequences and that’s the main theme of this contemporary romance, along with dealing with normal teenage problems in addition to more severe mental health ones. Mia has anxiety attacks and difficulty making real friends and succeeding at school, making Milo a parent constantly on guard for her, exhausting himself in the process. Once he meets Andie again in person (a meeting which is unexpectedly captured and posted on social media by someone who recognizes them both), they have to figure out a way to take control of the situation, something which Mia can help them with and which gives her a project to focus on. It also gives Mia a chance to have a positive female influence in her life.

Milo and Andie gradually become closer, leading to a sexy physical relationship, but Milo is still holding back, afraid of emotional intimacy after the failure of his marriage. The recognition of Andie’s talents leads to career options she’s been waiting for forever and Milo will have to step up and declare his true feelings if he wants a future with her. The end result is a social media masterpiece leading to a true happy ending for this new family. Tik Tik Boom is a truly enjoyable read with compelling characters and is a great start to what should be a topical and interesting series!