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‘Into the Blue’ Exclusive Excerpt: Emma Brodie’s Epic Love Story Is Out of This World

The impact of AJ Graves and Noah Drew’s love story feels like a stellar collision in Emma Brodie’s Into the Blue, out April 7. Once they cross paths in the summer of 2000, AJ and Noah create a cosmic bond that can’t be broken, even when Noah disappears without saying goodbye.

Years later, AJ finds herself cast in the same intergalactic TV show as Noah, who has become Hollywood’s newest heartthrob. AJ finally learns the truth about why Noah left her, and a devastating secret tears them apart once again. But the universe has a knack for bringing AJ and Noah back together again and again and again.

In Swooon’s exclusive excerpt of Into the Blue, AJ is now fulfilling her lifelong dream of working at Saturday Night Live. Noah is the host for this week’s episode, and he pulls an unexpected surprise on AJ in his opening monologue — one that involves kissing.

Into the Blue Exclusive Excerpt

Noah was such a natural. A lot of screen actors didn’t know the first thing about performing in front of a live audience, more intimidated by the three hundred people in this theater than the millions watching from home. AJ could relate. But Noah came from a long line of stage actors, and he spoke seamlessly into the camera while engaging the room.

And he looked incredible doing it. As he gestured, AJ could see the sculpting of his muscles beneath his black long-sleeved shirt. Heat flashed through her as she remembered collapsing onto his shoulder, the way his arms had wrapped around her after they’d both—

Just then, Noah glanced at her. AJ hadn’t been prepared, and he caught her staring at him in unselfconscious adoration.

Shit.

He did a double take, his eyes locking onto hers, and now time was slowing down. The studio lights had begun to dim, the ambient noise lowering half a decibel.

SHIT.

Quickly, decisively, Noah turned away from the cue cards. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Ana?” said Noah.

AJ felt the eyes of her colleagues like searchlights. Her heartbeat was on blast in her own ears.

Improvisation was forbidden on SNL—Noah was going to get himself banned.

AJ looked around for Dani—she must still be backstage. What was AJ supposed to do? She would stay put. Noah would see she wasn’t coming and fold this back into the monologue, and—

“Ana Tar?”

God, their training was something else. His voice was like a hypnotic trigger; every muscle in AJ’s body clenched, willing her to join him onstage. More than that, she could feel him urging her—for the first time in years, he’d initiated a scene and the channel between them was opening. AJ should fight this. She needed to fight this.

Think. The producers would be furious. But this could be ratings gold. They were the duo from “No,” which pretty much guaranteed this would go viral. Plus, Arho was a monster ship and Ana and Rho hadn’t been together publicly since Into the Blue.

Wait. Dani would be incensed—but Noah was the one going rogue.

AJ was just responding.

Shit. The last thing AJ needed was more online attention. Or any attention. Especially when she was wearing a green T-shirt and glasses, with her hair in a messy bun.

“Ana, is that you?”

Your scene partner is your life, Ezell had written in Laughter & Death. If this is to work, you must follow them wherever they go. You must follow them to the end, into death if necessary.

AJ couldn’t leave her scene partner hanging.

As she made her way to the platform, Noah’s eyes never left her face. She stepped into the light, distantly aware of sporadic applause. Warily, she surveyed him.

“Rho, you made it through the wormhole,” she said.

But Rho was barely there, a passing shade, a suggestion. It was Noah who stepped toward AJ now, grasping her shoulders, all traces of politeness gone. AJ swayed under his touch, but he held her firm, eyes burning as he said, more quietly than he should have, “I was so scared I lost you.” The words wrecked AJ. For a split second, she thought she heard a howl pierce that vast darkness inside him. Noah’s gaze was blackening with need. AJ felt the last of her resistance give way.

“You didn’t,” she said. “I’m here.”

Noah inhaled sharply. “You have no idea how much I missed you,” he said, his voice breaking.

And then he kissed her. AJ’s eyes slammed shut as she felt their tongues collide. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands engulfed her back. Yes. The audience’s ruckus shook the lighting rig, but AJ didn’t care. She was kissing Noah, and he was kissing her, nothing else in her life was real compared to this, and fuck, it felt so good, they had to stop, they really had to stop—

He pulled back at the last possible second. “I almost didn’t recognize you,” he said, catching his breath as he gestured to her hair and her glasses.

“I know,” said AJ, peeling them off. “I’ve had to adapt.” This got a laugh. “Life in the year 3500 is a little different.”

Noah offered her his hand. “Yeah, now that you mention it, this crale seems . . . off.”

As the flight path glimmered to life before them, AJ placed her hand in his.

“Oh, this isn’t a space whale,” she said. “It’s a radioactive Super Rat. Welcome to New York!”

There was nothing in existence like playing with Noah. He seemed incapable of dropping her hand, so they walked together around the set, building out a world in which humans were forced to live inside giant rats after the Fire Siege at Ikea, Red Hook, rendered the city uninhabitable.

“It’s not so bad,” AJ said, gesturing to the iconic SNL clock. “She swallowed that last year, so now we know what time it is.”

They were not standing amid the best comedians in the business for nothing. Within a minute, Dave was walking on. “Guys, you made it!” he said, giving them both massive kisses on the lips and joining hands with AJ.

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Now, like an amoeba, the three of them walked across the set until they were joined by Katie Jaffe, one of their star cast members, who had somehow gotten her hands on a Star Trek costume in the last ninety seconds. “Captain’s log,” she said, joining the amoeba. “I’m no longer alone.”

As they made their way back center stage, the crane camera operator motioned to wrap it up. Noah looked at AJ. “Ana, are you getting a telepathic message—”

“Yes,” she said. “It’s the Super Rat. She says we’ve got a great show for you this evening, with musical guest Léa de Lonval and—”

“Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

Excerpted from Into the Blue  by Emma Brodie. Copyright © 2026 by Emma Brodie. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.