Tuesday Oct 14, 2025
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
POWERHOUSE Arena
28 Adams Street (Corner of Adams & Water Street across from the Archway)
Brooklyn , NY
11201
About the Book.
The tabloids wish they could give you gossip this jaw droppingly juicy…
Mona Mashad grew up on camera, with millions of fans around the world tuning in to see her every move. Nothing was off-limits: not her first pimple, her first crush, and definitely not the death of her father, Mashad family patriarch and the best dad ever, Ali.
After more than a decade on screen, Mona has discovered the key to being the most famous teenager on the planet: never let your guard down and never give your heart away (because if it breaks, the whole world will know).
But she didn’t expect to meet Lucas Sterling, notorious heartthrob and only son of Jordana Sterling, the beloved President of the United States. Lucas sweeps Mona off her feet—he literally saves her when she falls down the stairs at the Met Gala—and for just one second Mona wants to let her walls come down. So, it hurts a lot when he betrays her, and even more when their moms demand they pretend to keep dating to appease their respective fan bases.
Normally, a fake relationship would be manageable for Mona. After all, she’s used to playing a part for the camera. But pretending to fall in love with Lucas when she’s still furious with him is no easy feat. And things get extra complicated when she meets Kai. A (hot) surfer and all-around normal guy. For the first time in her life, she can forget the cameras and just be…Mona. Could he be the escape from this fake reality that Mona needs? Or will fake dating America’s most eligible bachelor lead to real feelings?
About the Author.
Candice Jalili is an Iranian American writer whose work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, The Cut, Rolling Stone, Elite Daily, and more. Finding Famous: A Mashad Family Novel is her YA debut. Candice lives in New York City with her husband, where she is a convenient walk away from her cousins and childhood best friend. She grew up in the Bay Area and spends hours of her days FaceTiming her parents there. You can find her on Instagram @CandiceJalili and online at www.CandiceJalili.com.
About the Moderator.
Ella Dawson is an NYC-based sex and culture critic and the author of But How Are You, Really, a romance novel about college reunions and millennial angst. She is also the host of the Rebel Ever After podcast about progressive romance novels. She was once internet famous for having herpes, but that’s a whole other story. Ella is proudly bisexual, anxious, and aspires to adopt a kitten. Follow her on social media as @brosandprose.
In her nonfiction work, she digs into topics we usually avoid in polite company including domestic violence, trauma recovery, and sexuality. She is reader-supported via Patreon, where she shares exclusive essays, videos and pop culture recommendations.