Girl Gone Viral

Starred review from February 10, 2020
Rai (The Right Swipe) riffs on the viral Twitter #PlaneBae story in this gorgeous romance. Privacy-obsessed Katrina King, a former model turned angel investor, copes with her social anxiety and the specter of her abusive father with the ample support of her female friends and sexy bodyguard Jasvinder “Jas” Singh. Former soldier Jas, meanwhile, is nursing an impossible crush on Katrina and struggling with PTSD. When a stranger approaches Katrina in a café, she flirts with him but says no when he asks her out. Unbeknown to either of them, an eavesdropper livetweets their entire exchange, along with surreptitious photos, and “#cafebae” quickly goes viral. To escape the social media frenzy, Jas suggests that he and Katrina retreat to his family’s remote farm in Northern California until it blows over. There, their true feelings bubble up. Rai handles her characters’ mental health issues with incredible care while not shying away from depicting the effects such issues would have on a relationship. Katrina and Jas’s loving, mutual support of one another is truly touching. This sensitive and sexy contemporary is sure to be a hit. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency

February 15, 2020
The dangers of fame in the internet era draw a former model and her longtime bodyguard closer together. Katrina King is a retired model-turned-successful angel investor. She has battled debilitating anxiety and panic attacks all her life, thanks in part to her abusive and controlling father, but became terrified of venturing far from her well-secured home after she was kidnapped 10 years ago. She has a loyal, honest, and incredibly good-looking bodyguard in Jasvinder Singh, who also helps run her many ventures. Katrina has had a deep crush on Jas for years but is reluctant to risk their friendship by making a move. She's finally ready to try some exposure therapy at a local cafe when she becomes the subject of a viral social media post. When Katrina is endangered by the ensuing publicity, they retreat to Jas' family's farm north of Sacramento. Jas is an Army vet with PTSD from a horrifying event that left him with a busted knee and a sense of deep betrayal. Little does Katrina realize that Jas shares her feelings: "It was her small acts of kindness that had sucked him in, her clever intelligence and sweetness that had kept him hooked." Forced proximity on the farm finally breaks down her caution and his reserve, and they give in to their desires in sexy, sweet scenes. But Jas, a man of few words not used to acknowledging his pain, must stop hiding from his military past and his family issues in order to earn Katrina's love. With so much going on, the romance can feel secondary at times, although the couple's strong history somewhat makes up for Rai's (The Right Swipe, 2019, etc.) slowest of slow burns. The leisurely pacing may frustrate some, but this sweet tale of mutual longing finally expressed repays the investment.

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February 15, 2020
In her second Modern Love novel, following The Right Swipe (2019), Rai dramatizes what happens when a viral meet-cute story goes awry. After she married a famous millionaire, became a widow, and survived a kidnapping, Katrina's panic attacks forced her into a quiet life under the protection of a handsome bodyguard, Jasvinder. One day, in a crowded caf�, a man asks to share a table; Katrina feels no chemistry, and so when he asks for a date she turns him down. But another customer took pictures of Katrina and her table mate and turned it into a Twitter love story. The stranger lies, saying he did get together with Katrina, and she is terrified that she will be recognized. Jasvinder takes her to his family farm, where she helps thaw the familial divide that resulted from his long struggle with PTSD from his time in the military. Rai's lovely, slow-building romance between the very appealing Katrina and Jasvinder will delight readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)