Geekerella

Geekerella is the first book in the Once Upon A Con Series. It was released on April 4, 2017.

Synopsis
Part romance, part love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom. Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball, and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck (and her dad’s old costume), Elle’s determined to win…unless her stepsisters get there first.

Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons—before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.

Plot
The novel is broken up into three distinct parts that are in turn divided into chapters that alternate between the two narrators: Elle and Darien. In Part One: Look to the Stars, we learn that Elle lives with her evil stepmother and her two stepsisters. She works at a food truck called the Magic Pumpkin with a girl named Sage. Her favorite show in the whole world is Starfield because it was her father’s favorite show. He created a convention called ExcelsiCon for the show and he took her before he died when she was eight. She is excited because a new blockbuster reboot is being made of the old television series. When she sees that Darien Freeman, a teenage heartthrob who acts on a soap, is being cast as the lead, she is furious and assumes that he is a fraud, so she writes an angry blog post about it that gets thousands of views. In the next chapter, we meet Darien, a former fanboy who has landed the role of his dreams playing Prince Carmindor, his idol as a child. He goes onto a talk show to announce his role, and the host tells the audience that he will be at the ExcelsiCon convention later that summer. Darien is furious because, after his best friend betrayed him, he has sworn off conventions. When he contacts ExcelsiCon, he accidentally starts texting Elle. Because he is bored and has no other friends now that fame has taken everything away from him, he continues to text her. They talk about Starfield and become friends. He asks her, anonymously, if she thinks Darien Freeman will make a good Prince Carmindor, and she says that he will have to prove that he actually cares first. Darien decides to go to the convention as a sign of goodwill to his fans. Meanwhile, Elle learns that her stepmother is going to sell her father’s house. Elle goes upstairs to clean out the attic and finds a box of her father’s things, which surprises her because when he died her stepmother threw all of his things away. Inside the box are his and his mother’s Starfield cosplay costumes. Elle decides to dress up and go to the convention in order to honor his memory.

In Part Two: Aim, Elle begins to alter her father’s costume because she has always wanted to be Prince Carmindor. She does not know how to sew, but her coworker Sage offers to help her. They start watching Starfield together and become close friends. Elle buys two tickets to the convention and invites Sage to go with her. Darien begins shooting scenes for Starfield. He is worried that he will not live up to the fan’s expectations, but he tries his best. Meanwhile, they continue to text one another and both discover that they feel a strange attraction despite the anonymity of their relationship. But, both of them are confused about their feelings and concerned that meeting each other would ruin the magic of their texting relationship. The night before the convention, Elle’s stepsister Chloe ruins her costume, steals her money and tickets, and leaves her crying in her room.

In Part Three: Ignite, Sage comes to Elle’s house and forces her out of her room and into the Magic Pumpkin. She promises to make her a new costume and says that they will figure out how to get into the convention once they get there. When they arrive, Elle finds her father’s old friend Miss May and gets a special pass for her and Sage. They go inside and are overwhelmed with the number of fans that have shown up. Darien goes to the convention, but is nervous because he thinks someone might be stalking him. His stalker ends up being his old friend Brian, who steals his phone and texts Elle, telling her he cannot talk to her anymore. Darien decides it is for the best and goes to judge the costume contest. He votes for a girl who tells him that she is the blogger who wrote such scathing reviews of him. They fight and both seem to hate one another. Later, at the masquerade ball, they talk and dance. Chloe comes up and yells at the blogger and calls her Elle. Darien realizes who she is, and tries to tell her, but she runs home to meet her midnight curfew, leaving her shoe behind. He runs into Brian, who tells him that his father hired him to stir up controversy. Darien fires his father and goes to track down Elle, whose stepmother has forced her to quit her job and work at the country club. Darien shows up and brings her the shoe, then kisses her. Eight months later, Elle goes to the premiere of Starfield and reunites with Darien on the red carpet. They decide to start a serious relationship since she will be attending UCLA as a screenwriter, though she is nervous about what his celebrity will mean for her. The book ends with a blog post from Elle about the quality of the new Starfield movie.

Main Characters

 * Elle Wittimer
 * Darien Freeman

Side Characters

 * Sage
 * Calliope
 * Chloe
 * Catherine
 * Gail
 * Mark Freeman

Other Characters

 * Jessica Stone
 * Franco
 * Amon Wilkins
 * Giorgio Ramirez
 * Miss May
 * Brian

Fun Facts
The ExcelsiCon that happened in this book is the one where Imogen Lovelace‘s ex-boyfriend stood her up and then broke up with her afterward.

References/Citations
"https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30724132-geekerella"

http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-geekerella/#gsc.tab=