In the months since her split from Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes has thrown herself into single motherhood, dedicating every minute to keeping her daughter Suri feeling happy and secure. But her intense dedication to Suri has left the 33-year-old with little time for herself – especially to find new love. But now it appears the perfect man has popped into her life when she least expected it. And friends say he’s just the guy she’s been waiting for.

Woman’s Day can exclusively reveal that Katie has fallen for another fellow actor. But unlike her A-lister ex, this time it’s a scarcely known but respected writer and actor, handsome Harvard graduate Alex Schemmer. Alex, 31, has a string of film and TV appearances to his name, including stints on Cougar Town and Modern Family, but Katie has come to know him as the writer of her new film Responsible Adults.

“Katie has a massive crush on Alex. It’s pretty adorable how much she likes him,” a source who speaks to Katie regularly tells us. “I would never have guessed this would happen so soon, but it came completely out of the blue – they started off having a quick phone chat about the film and they just really hit it off.”

In a development that both shocked and delighted those close to Katie, who was left emotionally exhausted after her highly public split, the mum-of-one developed a schoolgirlish infatuation with Alex. “She thought he was funny, smart and charming, and spent two days obsessing about him,” our insider confides. “Then she pretended she had more questions so she’d have an excuse to call him – it’s like she’s back in high school.”

Read more about Katie's new man in this week's Woman’s Day on sale Monday October 29, 2012.