Stephenie Meyer announces the ‘Twilight’ companion ‘Midnight Sun.' Finally.

Meyer started the book years ago but never finished because early chapters were leaked online. Frustrated, she put the project away. That was a shame because when Meyer finally posted those early chapters on her own website, they were fun to read. I wanted more.

Instead, fans got Meyer’s “Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined.” That 2015 book, released to celebrate the anniversary of “Twilight,” flipped the genders of the main characters as some sort of statement. It was disappointing.

Worth mentioning: That same year, we also got the film adaptation of “Fifty Shades of Grey," a series that started as “Twilight" fan fiction. E.L. James turned Meyer’s vampire character into a kinky billionaire.

Again, not what “Twilight” fans were longing for! At least not this one.

I wanted "Midnight Sun.”

Monday morning, I was thrilled by the news, although I should know better. I’m older and wiser now, and I have found better romance novels. I fully understand the debate about “Twilight” and its feminism or lack thereof. Edward Cullen is very controlling with his love, Bella Swan. There’s also the matter of him being a centenarian who falls for a high schooler.

Maybe my desire for more of this series is about nostalgia and a need for comfort.

More than a decade ago, when “Twilight" became a pop culture phenomenon, it had two buckets of fans. There were the young adults, for whom the book was actually written. Then there were older people — people like me (I was in my late 20s/early 30s when the novels were released) — who became obsessed with the books and movies, and its star, Robert Pattinson.

The stories were a comfort to me, as a grownup, because my mom was very sick; she’d moved to Boston to get cancer treatment at Mass General. The books gave us something else to talk about. They provided escape.

We imagined Edward Cullen showing up to give us eternal life, not to mention financial security. If you’ve been alive for more than 100 years, you have time to invest well.

Edward Cullen tells his backstory in the books — he was born in 1901, and was about to be a casualty of the 1918 flu pandemic when a kind vampire swooped in to save him.

Romance novels give us happy endings. I wouldn’t mind reading a new one, especially if it’s an interview with this particular vampire.

Worth mentioning: “Hot & Bothered,” a locally produced podcast about romance novels, is doing a series called “Twilight in Quarantine.” The hosts are analyzing the novel chapter by chapter. If you want to hear me ramble on about Chapter 9, I appear on the episode called “Theory.”

In a statement from her publisher, Meyer had this to say about the timing of “Midnight Sun:” “It feels strange to be making this announcement when the world is suffering through a pandemic, and no one really knows what’s next. I thought seriously about delaying this announcement until things were back to normal; however, that felt wrong, considering how long those who are eager for this book have already waited. ... I hope this book gives my readers a little pleasure to anticipate and, after it arrives, a chance to live in an imaginary world for a while.”

Now for another countdown ... to August.

Meredith Goldstein can be reached at Meredith.Goldstein@Globe.com.