A playlist is a must-have for me before I start drafting any book. I basically can’t write if I don’t have music in my ears, and that was never more true than with THE FRIENDSHIP STUDY. Without these 5 songs, I don’t think THE FRIENDSHIP STUDY would be the book it is today:   Daylight, Taylor Swift: to main character, Lulu, her best friend slash fellow friendship study participant slash secret friend with benefits, Jesse’s love (his platonic and romantic love) feels like a sunbeam. Warm and safe, a hopeful haven, a place to thrive and grow, after being in a place of darkness for so long. The lyrics of the song “Daylight” embody this feeling perfectly, especially when I was drafting their intimate scenes, when I’d play this song on repeat. As silly as it might sound, I’d imagine Lulu lit up, glowing, bathed in the light of his love because that’s exactly how he makes her feel.   Home, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: despite still living in the house he grew up in, Jesse doesn’t feel at home. Not in that house, not in his own skin. But his friendship with Lulu? That’s a foundation. His…

 What is the title of your latest release? THE ROMANCE RECIPE   What’s the elevator pitch for your new book? A restaurant owner hires a former TV reality star to save her struggling restaurant only to discover that the talented but sad woman seems determined to undermine her authority at every turn. When fire spreads from the kitchen to the bedroom they’re forced to confront their growing attraction before they lose everything.   How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Romance Recipe takes place in the same universe as my debut, Hot Copy, so I was able to inherit the setting: a new restaurant in the city of Boston. I loved being able to return to that world.   Would you hang out with your heroines in real life? Definitely! Amy is tough but secretly soft and Sophie is an excellent cook (dinner dates!) and Canadian (just like me!)   What are three words to describe The Romance Recipe? Steamy. Foodies. Love.   What’s something you learned while writing this book? The Romance Recipe was my second book, and I was so scared that the first book was a fluke, but it wasn’t! It…

Danielle: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Ruby! Congrats on your debut release, HOT COPY. What made you decided to tackle a workplace romance?  Ruby: Thank you! Very excited to be here! Well, mostly I wanted to write a desk sex scene… But more seriously, I wanted to take a swing at existing power dynamics and I also think that workplaces are a common setting for a lot of real-life romance. Combine all of that together and Hot Copy was the final product! Corrine has a reputation for being ruthless and “icy,” but she feels like she is doing what needs to get done to make it to the top. Of course, this all comes with its own consequences as a result. What do you think readers will relate to in Corrine? How does Corrine have to grapple with the decisions she’s made to further her career?  Corrine is an egg. She’s hard on the outside (she has to be) but soft on the inside (like a lot of us are) and I think that a lot of people are familiar with having to put forward a hard outer shell in order to protect our more vulnerable selves, whether that be in a…