Then. Katee Rose is living the dream as America’s number one pop star, caught in a whirlwind of sold-out concerts, screaming fans, and constant tabloid coverage. Everyone wants to know everything about her and her boyfriend, Ryan LaNeve, the hottest member of adored boy band CrushZone. Katee loves to perform but hates the impossible demands of stardom. Maybe that’s why she finds herself in the arms of another CrushZone member, Cal Kirby. Quiet, serious Cal, who’s always been a good friend to Katee, is suddenly Cal with the smoldering eyes and very good hands. One unforgettable night is all it takes to blow up Katee’s relationship with Ryan, her career, her whole life…

Now. Kathleen Rosenberg is okay with her ordinary existence, and leaving her pop star image in the past. That is, until Cal Kirby shows up with the opportunity of her dreams–a starring role in the Broadway show he’s directing and a chance to perform the way she’s always wanted. The two haven’t spoken since the joint destruction of their careers, and each of them blames the other, making their reunion a tense battle of wits and egos. Katee reluctantly agrees to the musical, as long as she keeps her guard up around Cal. But rehearsals are long, those eyes still smolder, and those hands are still very good. Despite everything, Katee can’t deny the chemistry between them. Is it ever a good idea to reignite old flames? Especially if you’ve been burned in the past?

A former pop star finds herself back in the spotlight–along with an old flame from her past–in this “friends to lovers” meets “enemies to lovers” romance from the bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask, the sensational Tik Tok romance!

Kathleen Rosenberg has spent a decade living in the shadow of regret. Once the biggest pop star in the world — Katee Rose — her career and popularity were burned to the ground after a cheating scandal, when seemingly overnight she went from hugely loved to terribly despised. Her contracts were cancelled, her reputation was destroyed, and since then, she’s lived off her royalties and stayed out of the spotlight, with only her best friend Harriet and her cat Fish for company.

When Harriet’s newly written musical seems destined for Broadway — a huge breakthrough for her own career — Kathleen seems about to achieve her long-awaited moment to shine. The lead role was written for her, after all. But the show’s director and choreographer is Cal Kirby, her summer camp crush and a contributing factor in her career implosion all those years ago. To live out her dream and finally get a shot at Broadway, Kathleen will have to find a way to work with Cal, even as old resentments (and much warmer feelings) start to bubble to the surface.

Once More With Feeling is told through a dual timeline, with a primary focus in the “now” sections, as the Broadway show is developed, rehearsed, and prepared for its premiere. There are also “then” chapters woven throughout, which follows Kathleen, Harriet, and Cal’s first meeting at a summer camp for theater kids, to Katee Rose’s stardom, the rise of boy band CrushZone (which includes both Cal and Katee’s boyfriend Ryan), and then the scandal that ruined it all. We don’t truly find out what happened “then” until close to the end of the book, but there are plenty of clues, and having seen the aftermath through “now” Kathleen’s experiences, it’s clear there’s a trainwreck coming from early on.

The storytelling and dialogue is snappy and propulsive. Even when Kathleen is wallowing with edibles and ice cream, she’s interesting to be around, and I enjoyed both the “then” and “now” sequences. As a Broadway fan myself, I really got caught up in the show prep and all its tensions (and seriously, I wish that Riveted was a real show — I’d love to at least hear the soundtrack!)

Adult Kathleen still has Katee’s propensity for terrible decision-making when it comes to her personal life, and some poor choices threaten to torpedo both her life-long friendship with Harriet and her chemistry with Cal, not to mention sinking her best (and perhaps only) chance at a new stage in her failed career.

Although I enjoyed the book, I had some quibbles with the plotting as a whole. My main complaint is that the timeline takes quite a bit of effort to figure out (which perhaps is made worse by listening to the audio version — it takes much longer for things to unfold that way). It really isn’t clear early on what happened when. How long after summer camp did Katee become a pop star? How long did that last? How long ago was the scandal? When did Katee’s career fall apart? How many years has it been since? Eventually, I pieced enough together — my assumption is that after camp (age 14), Katee got a break and was cast in a teen variety show, then from there launched her solo career and became a breakout star; then at about age 25, things fell apart, and ten years later, Kathleen gets her shot at Broadway. But I wish the book had just told us this, rather than making readers guess.

A few other minor complaints: Kathleen’s camp nemesis shows up at a few key points in the Broadway casting and rehearsal process, and I expected there to be some major confrontation or crisis involving this person — but no, that element just fades away. Also, as mentioned, Kathleen really makes some poor decisions, and we can see the fall-out coming from miles away. As the ultra-processed/managed/autotuned popstar, it’s maybe understandable that she’s not able to control her own relationships and actions, but as a 30-something adult, there’s much less of a rationale for why she makes certain choices.

If you’re reading all this and thinking Britney and Justin… well, yes, I can only assume that the comparison is entirely intentional. Not everything in Katee/Kathleen’s story directly mirrors the early years of Britney Spears, but it’s clear that Katee is meant to be that level of pop star. It’s both entertaining and sad to see a young woman getting — theoretically — what she’s always wanted, and yet end up a prisoner of her own success.

The romance in Once More With Feeling is an important plot element, but not the only one. I appreciated the balance between the romantic storyline and the plot threads focusing on Kathleen as a person with frustrated dreams and deep, unresolved hurt stemming from public humiliation and abandonment.

The audiobook, narrated by Jaime Lamchick, is quite fun, with the narrator providing great personas for the characters. Her voice changes for teen Katee vs adult Kathleen, and I think it’s a sign of the narrator’s talent that we can identify that this is the same person, just at different stages of her life.

Overall, I enjoyed Once More With Feeling, and recommend it for theater kids, fans of popstars and boy bands, and anyone who appreciates a good comeback story!