*~*Laguna Nights by Kaira Rouda Guest Post*~*

Madison Alcott left her Laguna Beach childhood in the past as soon as she could, never imagining she’d be forced to return. Caring for her ill mother and holding down a high-pressure position at the best resort in town, Madison’s life is as good as it could ever be in Laguna Beach. And blissfully, nobody knows her as Holly anymore, the name she used on television. Everything changes when her high school boyfriend appears in the lobby. He was the reason she’d left Laguna in the first place when he humiliated her on national television.Josh Welsh’s star has been dimming ever since he shot to fame as the high school heartthrob on the reality TV series Laguna Nights. Hoping to reignite his career, he agreed to host a travel show, with the first episode shooting in his old hometown of Laguna Beach. Of all the negative scenarios associated with filming in Laguna, Josh hadn’t calculated a run-in with Madison, or that the same deep connection he felt for her in high school would still be there.Madison and Josh’s reality TV relationship exploded years ago but when the new series forces them together, they must face Laguna Nights past and present.

The story behind Laguna Nights and the new Laguna Beach Series

By Kaira Rouda

Whether you were a fan of the MTV Reality TV Show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and its spinoff, The Hills, or not, you’ve probably heard about the shows. These lightly-scripted, trail-blazing reality shows focused on the lives of real life high school students, juniors and seniors, at Laguna Beach High School.

The series aired three seasons, beginning in 2006, but it changed life in my town forever. Many of my friends blame the show for the crushing onslaught of tourism. Other locals still won’t forgive the school system for allowing MTV access to the kids and found it exploitative. The original contract had approved filming on the high school campus, but was renegotiated to exclude high school scenes.

I’m relatively new to Laguna Beach, but my family and I love it here. My sons are now graduates of Laguna Beach High School – and the ceremony is the same as it was in the show, as are many things about the town and its high school kids. At my favorite hair salon, my friend and stylist had just gotten married. She showed me the gorgeous photos and I said, “Those should be in a magazine.”

That’s when the rest of the salon customers and staff started laughing at me and one kind soul explained by handing me US Weekly where her wedding had a four-page spread. Another handed me a People magazine, and there it was again. Well, yes, Ashley’s wedding had been in magazines, lots of them, as she’d married Jason Wahler of reality tv show fame, specifically Laguna Beach.

A big fan of the show herself, of course, Ashley encouraged me to write a series about what happens to kids after that type of instant stardom. She had a lot of insight, of course, but my stories are completely from my imagination. So Madison and Josh’s story is ten years after their fame on the television show. Josh was the bad boy, and Madison – called Holly on the air – was left heartbroken, for all the world to see, and re-watch with the series on demand. Madison has run as far away from celebrity as she could, while Josh is still trying to catch it again.

Laguna Nights does share many of the same settings that made the television show so much fun to watch. There’s the hot tub scene at a house in Three Arch Bay, a private, gated community in South Laguna.

When Josh and Madison find themselves back at Fisherman’s Cove shooting a scene, I based that scene on an incredibly beautiful beach used often in the production, and one that even was the setting of my son’s music video. It’s a gorgeous spot.

Madison’s hotel is called the Mondrian in the story, but is based on the famous Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. Their dinners in town are at a charming bistro on Forest Avenue, a place much like Alessa…

I’m so lucky to call Laguna Beach home and I’m excited to share a little bit about this special place through my new series. Fun fact: the cover photo of Laguna Nights is a photo by my son, Trace. He took it at the beach in Laguna one night. It really is that magical here.

Happy reading!