Let’s Get Quizzical

Ohlert (To Get to the Other Side) charms with a whip-smart second-chance romance set against the backdrop of a trivia game show. Charlotte Evans has always dreamed of competing on Brain Battle—and the call that she’s been chosen comes at the perfect time. Her grandmother is ill and struggling with medical bills; if Charlotte wins, the prize money will be put to good use. Eli Collins could similarly use the money. He’s had a hard life: his mother abandoned him when he was a teenager, and his father was arrested shortly thereafter, forcing him to fend for himself. Amid that trauma, he broke up with his first love, Charlotte, without explanation. Now, 13 years later, the two are reunited on the set of Brain Battle, where they’re paired as teammates. Their old flame convincingly rekindles as they study for the show and open up about their families. There’s been a recent slew of reality TV romances, but most feature cooking competitions or home renovation, setting Ohlert’s Jeopardy!-inspired outing apart. She makes Brain Battle feel both fun and high-stakes, using it as a vehicle to bring the well-matched central couple together—and possibly to tear them apart again. Readers will be hooked. Agent: Emmy Nordstrom Higdon, Westwood Creative Artists. (Oct.)