By: Julie Murphy

Release Date: July 21st, 2026

From #1New York Timesbestseller Julie Murphy comes a heartfelt and hilarious tale of a woman who thinks life and love have passed her by untilshes thrown into her grandmothers quirky world of octogenarian free love andgets a second chance with the one man she never expected to see again. Perhaps its never too late to play the opening credits

Welcome to Starlight Palms, a favorite retirement facility among Hollywood actors and industry professionals tucked away just outside of sunny Palm Springs. Filled with forgotten scream queens, eccentric screenwriters, and heartthrobs of the past, it has a brand-new resident: Vera Stein, age forty.
Vera knows shes missed her chance at a life worthy of the silver screen, just like she missed her chance at ever finding true love. But Vera isnt one to take chances. Shes spent most of her adult years caretaking for her dying motherandher movie star bosss ego. Now abruptly houseless and jobless, Vera has nowhere to land, so to grandmothers house we go!
The Starlight Palms Senior Living Center is midcentury Hollywood down to its pastel-painted bones. This desert gem isnt lacking in saucy plot twists (swinging seniors, anyone?) or a leading man: Elias Buckley, the on-site doctor and Veras former ill-fated college fling andfor reasons that will stay in Vegaslegally her ex-husband according to the state of Nevada.
Its not long before Vera falls into a job as the activities coordinator and under the spell of a certain smart-mouthed doctor Suddenly all those empty years in LA look less like mistakes and a lot more likebackstory. With a fresh start at her fingertips, Vera begins to see that even with all the detours shes taken, theres still a Hollywood ending (and maybe even a happily ever after) in sight
TROPES

• Second Chance Romance
• Workplace Romance
• Multigenerational Family Drama
• Forced Proximity
• New Lease on Life and Spice