“The article I did on Gabe Parker ten years ago had been a PR team’s wet dream. It gave Gabe the kind of publicity that people would buy if they could. Which is, in essence, what they’re attempting to do now.”

The request for Chani Horowitz to do a follow-up 10 years later on her celebrity profile of Gabe Parker is the novel’s inciting incident, the action that sets the present-day story in motion. The Prologue establishes the shadow that Chani’s earlier article casts over the story, representing the failed romance of the 10-years-prior storyline as compared to the second-chance romance of the present-day storyline. This passage also captures Chani’s voice as the first-person narrator: dry, frank, funny, and direct.

“He was my number one, heart-fluttering, palm-sweating, thigh-clenching celebrity crush. I’d entertained multiple, extensive, detailed fantasies about him. I’d done numerous searches for paparazzi pictures of him. Until this morning, a shirtless photo of him had been the lock screen of my phone.”

Chani’s reflection as she approaches Gabe for their first interview introduces the infatuation she has with him as a celebrity. Her image of Gabe will conflict with the reality she experiences, commenting on the novel’s theme of The Relationship Between Fame and Fantasy. This passage also sets up the playful tone and style of the novel.

“We stood there a moment—him shirtless and holding a puppy, me with my crush on him growing exponentially larger with every second. And me helpless to do anything about it. I felt like a teenager again, with hormones I couldn’t control.”

In terms of the romance genre, this is the meet-cute: the memorable moment when the two romantic leads first encounter one another. The puppy provides a link between the two of them, a symbol of the affection they seek and the bond they come to share.