Close Relationships with Strangers
By Krista Diamond
Simon & Schuster, June 2026, 320pp.

The Short of It:

Celebrity obsession and its aftermath.

The Rest of It:

Ben, a “sometimes” wildlife photographer unsatisfied with life, is forced to sling food to make ends meet. Las Vegas is a tough town. There’s so much going on, but the glitz and glam don’t make it to him the way they seem to for everyone else. He’s miserable and lacks direction. He watches other people become successful. You know the type.

Enter Ellory. She’s a beautiful burlesque dancer. She’s matter-of-fact and blunt but sees something in Ben that Ben simply cannot. Although their relationship quickly gets physical, the connection between the two grows slowly as they figure out who they want to be and how they want to live.

Creating a life with Ellory sounds good, but Ben’s obsession with an actor named Jack Whitlock becomes all-consuming when Jack’s sex scandal goes public and every paparazzo is on his trail to get that pictorial. Ben decides he could crack the story if he heads to Hollywood.

This is the part of the story where, as a reader, you begin to question all of Ben’s choices. Ben is impulsive and so caught up in the chase that it doesn’t occur to him what he’s asking of Ellory. He’s lost with a false sense of direction. That’s a deadly combination.

I found this story to be very realistic in the telling. The desire to be part of that elite circle clouds Ben’s judgment in the most real way possible. Diamond’s handling of LA culture was spot on. I grew up on the streets of Hollywood, and the grittiness can be heartbreaking, but then you turn a corner and it’s glamorous again. That’s Los Angeles. Homelessness on every corner, but celebs too. It’s impossible not to have a hope or a dream when you wake up and see the Hollywood sign every day.

I liked the imperfect nature of these characters and the glimpse of Hollywood behind the curtain. I found parts of it to be a little surreal, but that’s celebrity culture.

Highly recommend.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.
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