CHAPTER ONE BINDU The way a woman wears the color red tells you everything you need to know about how she sees herself. The first time I saw Bhanu, she was wearing a red bikini. From the journal of Oscar Seth   It wasn’t every day that someone left you a million dollars, without so much as a warning and no way to give it back, no matter how badly you wanted to. For years Bindu Desai had believed that life was a series of accidents waiting to happen, fragile beads strung together on threads of varying strengths. The only way to keep them from shattering was to stand utterly still and hold them as carefully as she possibly could. Then, twenty-six years ago, her husband had died, two days after Bindu’s thirty-ninth birthday, and she swore to take them off and Move! Dance! She didn’t care if the beads shattered. She was going to live. But everyone in her neighborhood in Mumbai knew her. Mrs. Bindu Desai, wife of Dr. Rajendra Desai, mother of Ashish Desai, who was studying engineering somewhere in America. Sure, her choice to keep wearing bright colors as a new widow was met with tolerant…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE EMMA PROJECT 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? She believes love is a lie. He believes love is the only truth there is. They both believe they can save the world (or a little piece of it), but only if they can find a way to work together despite the fierce sexual chemistry that can ruin everything. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The book is set in a family that’s descended from Indian royalty where the oldest son is running for California governor. I wanted to explore privilege in the immigrant South Asian American community and the San Francisco Bay Area gave me a lot of layers to explore. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Absolutely. Naina is a badass who suffers no fools and sees the world with incisive clarity. Exactly my favorite kind of person. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Generous. Funny. Superhot. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That childhood trauma strikes deep roots and that every character however dark is redeemable with love and has light inside. 7–Do you…

The corridor that led to the cellar came alive with memories as she crossed it. The door was propped open. Emmitt must’ve forgotten to shut it when he left. Careful to leave it open, she stepped into the chill of the limestone floored room. The scent of cork and wine hung in the air. Stocked wooden racks and steel and glass coolers lined the walls. At the center of the room, under an abalone chandelier, stood a tasting table. Her eyes landed on the lacquered mahogany surface, knots and nicks marking the single piece of wood. The height had been just right for— “Ayesha?” She stumbled back, hand pushing against the door as she caught her balance. The click of the lock filled the silence that followed the sound of her name in his voice. No, no, no! She spun around and rattled the handle. It didn’t budge. He came up behind her, their hands meeting on the cool metal, the impact making her so lightheaded she pressed her head into the door. His hand trembled over hers, his body looming beside her, his presence wrapping around her. They were locked inside. She pulled away. From the door, from him,…

At the KissCon Weekend Affaire last month, there was an entire panel devoted to romantic comedies, or rom-coms, delightfully called “To All the Books I’ve Loved Before,” a nod to the very successful Netflix movie based on the YA novel To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Tessa Bailey, Alyssa Cole, Tracey Livesay, Mia Sosa, and Sally Thorne all sat and chatted about their favorite romantic comedies – both books and movies – and what made them so special. From When Harry Met Sally to Boomerang to Bridget Jones’ Diary, these contemporary romance authors told us what makes rom-coms so enjoyable, as well as what they are looking for in new rom-coms. Rom-coms have the perfect balance of comedy, drama, and of course, a loveable love story. If the lead characters start out hating each other or know from the time they’re in preschool it’s meant to be, rom-coms have a way of making us all smile. Some of my all-time favorite books are romantic comedies, and this spring and summer we are lucky to have a bounty of rom-coms hitting bookshelves, all that I think feel like the blueprints for movies or TV adaptations! Rebekah Weatherspoon – Rafe (October…

Thanks so much for chatting with us today! Can you tell us a bit about your new novel, Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors?      Thanks so much for having me! Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors is a gender swapped reimagining of the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice, where she’s the Mr. Darcy and he’s the Lizzie Bennet. It launches a new series about the Rajes, an Indian American family descended from royalty (think the Indian Kennedys) who have built their lives in San Francisco. It’s the story of two strangers from completely different worlds that explores cultural assimilation, identity, and the meaning of the word home. Dr. Trisha Raje is an accomplished brain surgeon, working on the forefront of cutting edge medicine in her field, and yet, her family’s perception of her is still her biggest weakness. How did Trisha’s need for her family’s acceptance change throughout the novel? I believe that for all of us, our need to be accepted by those who make up our world follows our journey of self acceptance. How much you care about what those around you think of you is directly proportional to how much you accept yourself for who you are….

Characters always come to me before plots. Plots in fact are something I have to wrestle down, often earning me a few hundred gray hairs before a book is done. But the characters, they are what make sacrificing my jet black locks worth every lost strand. When I started writing A CHANGE OF HEART, I meant to write a story about Nikhil, a doctor with Doctors-Without-Borders, finding healing after his wife’s death when he meets the woman who got his wife’s heart in a transplant. The woman was Kimi, a wealthy politician’s daughter who has been sick her entire life, and then her father acquires the heart that saves her but it’s by nefarious means. Despite all her physical challenges, Kimi was such a bright and optimistic character that she really was more a healer than someone in need of healing, so she just didn’t work as someone who fit with Nikhil, who really needed to resurrect the dead healer inside him. Jess — initially a secondary character whom the villain employs to entrap Nikhil — was that force for him. Nikhil and Jess just worked, leaving me with Kimi whom I loved, and I had to discover her story….