This Week in Book-to-Screen: Fourth Wing’s Leads, a Guarding Stars Trailer and Walnut Grove’s New Faces

Hello lovely reader,

Some weeks the book world hands us one big story. This week it handed us three, and each one has its own kind of magic: dragons, a fake-dating holiday romance and a beloved prairie town. Settle in with something warm and let’s go through them.

🐉 Fourth Wing Finds Its Violet and Xaden

The wait is over. Esther McGregor will play Violet Sorrengail and Emilio Sakraya will play Xaden Riorson in Prime Video’s Fourth Wing series, as reported by Deadline and Variety this week.

Many viewers know Esther from We Were Liars. Emilio is a German actor and singer whose credits include Warrior Nun, Tribes of Europa and Those About to Die.

Violet and Xaden are the heart of this story. The enemies-to-lovers tension is why so many of us stayed up past midnight, and readers have carried their own versions of these two for years. Whatever mix of excitement and nerves you’re feeling, it’s welcome here.

Prime Video ordered the series in May 2026. Meredith Averill, whose work includes The Haunting of Hill House and Wednesday, is attached as showrunner, and Lisa Joy is set to direct the premiere. A premiere date hasn’t been announced: [premiere date — confirm from source]. The rest of the cast is still to come too.

If the news has sent you back to Basgiath, you’re not alone. Our Fantasy Reader Dragons Collection  is waiting for you, made for riders who like their favourite series close at hand.

🎄 Guarding Stars Has Its Trailer

Netflix released the official trailer for Guarding Stars on October 14, and the film premieres on November 18. It’s based on Katherine Center’s novel The Bodyguard, retitled for the screen.

Leighton Meester plays Hannah Brooks, a no-nonsense bodyguard. Jared Padalecki plays Jack Stapleton, a Hollywood action star. When Jack heads to his family’s ranch in Montana for the holidays, he asks Hannah to pose as his girlfriend so his unwell mother won’t worry. The cast also includes Andie MacDowell, Noah LaLonde, Walker Hayes and Ava Max, and Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum directs.

What we love most is the flipped setup. The capable protector is the heroine, and the one who needs looking after is the movie star. It keeps the swoon and the banter, and it puts the competence where we like to see it.

Book first or film first? Either works. With a little over a month to go, there’s time to read the novel, then plan a film night for the cool evenings ahead. A soft sweatshirt helps, and our Cosy Sweatshirts & Hoodies are made for exactly that kind of evening.

🌾 Walnut Grove Welcomes Ten New Faces

Filming on Season 2 of Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie has wrapped, a few weeks ahead of schedule. The new season adapts On the Banks of Plum Creek, where the Ingalls family settles near Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

Netflix had already shared Willa Dunn as Nellie Oleson, Charlotte Sullivan as Margaret Oleson and Rachelle Lefevre as schoolteacher Eva Beadle. Now ten more actors join them:

• Ryan Northcott as William Oleson
• Paul Greene as banker Luther Perry
• Elyse Levesque as Emma Perry
• David Wronko as Thomas Perry
• Erik Athavale as Reverend Alden
• Lyla Porter-Follows as Lena Nelson
• Jacinta Forest Lewitski as Hannah Walker
• Graham Harvey as Johnny Johnson
• Martin Roach as Simon Hughes
• Scott Porter as Peter Ingalls

Most of the Season 1 cast returns, including Alice Halsey as Laura and Luke Bracey as Charles. A release date hasn’t been announced.

If you haven’t opened On the Banks of Plum Creek in a while, now is a lovely moment. It pairs with a hot drink, and our Mugs Collection has a home for yours.

💌 Until Next Week

Three stories, three very different worlds, and one thing in common: they all began on a page. Tell us which adaptation you’re most curious about, and we’ll keep watching for the next update with you.

With love,
The Bean Workshop 🫘