This month, we’re talking with Annabel Monaghan, beloved bestselling author of romantic comedy and women’s fiction, including NORA GOES OFF SCRIPT and SAME TIME NEXT SUMMER. Her latest novel, SUMMER ROMANCE, was released in June became an instant national bestseller. She’s still in the middle of a huge book tour, so I’m thrilled that she made time to talk to us today!
Marie Bostwick: Thanks for making time to chat with us about your new book, SUMMER ROMANCE. Can you give readers a quick synopsis of the story?
Annabel Monaghan: Ali Morris is a professional organizer whose life is a total mess. She’s a mother of three, recently separated and grieving her mom. She’s basically stuck – sweatpants all day and her unread mail is stacked in the sink – until one day she meets this adorable guy who is just in town for a little while. She gets it in her head that what she needs to do to get unstuck is have a summer romance. (spoiler: it works!)
Marie: In my opinion, SUMMER ROMANCE should be the pick for women’s fiction lovers in search of a perfect beach read. While delivering on the implicit promise of the title, the story also explores grief, motherhood, daughterhood, marriage, divorce, overwhelm, and so many other issues that real women can relate to. How did the idea of this book come to you?
Annabel: I started with a totally different idea for this book, I wanted to write a book about how women are expected to work hard and take care of everyone and somehow look great doing it. And if, God forbid, we get a little worn out, Instagram will be there to sell us nonsense masked as self-care. Once I started writing I realized this book was about joy and all ways we embrace it even though life might sometimes still break out hearts.
Marie: Humor is a hallmark of your books, but there is also so much heart, even tenderness in your writing. Early in the story, a tearful Ali speaks of, “the big chunk of my life I’d spent married to a man who would not cross the width of a kitchen to comfort me,” and my heart just broke for her. But I had the feeling that your heart was breaking for her too, and all the women like her. What do you hope readers will take away from this story?
Annabel: That sentence did break my heart. There are so many small ways that a person can be negated in a relationship, and with Pete (he’s literally the worst), I really liked digging in to that. I hope that readers will have compassion for themselves and want more and use their voices and move toward the relationships and life experiences that affirm them. Little bits of joy go a long way. I also poured a lot of my grief experience into this book, and I’m not trying to tell anyone how to grieve – trust me! – but I hope people do read this and consider the possibility that the love people give us while they’re alive stays with us.
Marie: Ali is a professional organizer, but her own home – and her personal life – is kind of a mess. Can you tell us more about why you picked that career for her? And how that element plays out in the story?
Annabel: I wanted to play with the idea of how different our external lives can be from our internal lives. I loved the idea of someone who could put everyone else’s life in order and totally ignore her own. And as the book goes on, she cleans up her house (this was the most satisfying piece of writing I’ve ever done) and cleans up her own emotional stuff too. I don’t know, but I wonder if that’s true contentment, being the same on the inside as you are on the outside.
Marie: Though Ali is just looking for a summer romance, a temporary fling to help her get unstuck, from the second Ethan walks onto the page, it’s obvious that he’s a cut above your standard rom-com love interest. How do you go about crafting male characters who are just as interesting and relatable as your female characters?
Annabel: Ethan actually took me forever to figure out. At first, he was too wacky, like a fun clown of a guy, and it was too much and, frankly, not sexy. I really had to explore his past and where he’d been hurt in his life. I like digging into men’s vulnerabilities. They have plenty, and it makes them better partners.
Marie: You’ve undertaken a big book tour for SUMMER ROMANCE, and it’s not over yet! Where will the rest of this tour take you? And where can readers get more information about your events?
Annabel: Yes! I’m headed to California this week, and in August I’ll be on Long Island for a few events and then in Rhode Island. Please go to [email protected]/events for info!
Secret romance and mistaken identity are some of our favorite romance tropes, and they come to life in this perfect addition to any beach bag. (This sits nicely next to books from Carley Fortune and Elin Hilderbrand.)
The romantic and hilarious story of a professional organizer whose life is a mess, and the summer she gets unstuck with the help of someone unexpected from her past, by the bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script.
Benefits of a summer romance: It’s always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken.
Ali Morris is a professional organizer whose own life is a mess. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember.
No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her...by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. He looks at her like she’s a younger, braver version of herself. The last thing newly single mom Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little summer romance. Is there?
Romance Comedy [G.P. Putnam's Sons, On Sale: June 4, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593714089 / eISBN: 9780593714096]
Annabel Monaghan writes for TheWeek.com, The Huffington Post and The Rye Record. Her first book for adults, Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big? is a collection of humorous essays for moms (Fischer Press 2016). She is the author of two novels for young adults, A Girl Named Digit and Double Digit (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2010 and 2012), and she is the co-author of Click! The Girls Guide to Knowing What You Want and Making it Happen (Simon and Schuster 2007). Annabel teaches novel writing at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Rye, New York with her husband and three sons.
When not curled up with a good book, Marie Bostwick can usually be found in her office, trying to write one.
A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of eighteen uplifting works of historical and contemporary fiction, Marie’s books are beloved by readers across the globe.
Drawing on her lifelong love of quilting and her unshakable belief in the power of sisterhood, Marie’s popular Cobbled Court Quilt series has been embraced by quilters and non-sewers alike. Her standalone books have also found a passionate following among lovers of women’s fiction. Marie’s novel, The Second Sister” was adapted into the 2018 Hallmark Hall of Fame feature film “Christmas Everlasting”, starring Patti LaBelle. Marie’s most recent novel, Hope on the Inside, was published in March 2019 and was chosen as a Reader’s Digest “Select Editions” book.
Marie’s latest endeavor is Fiercely Marie, a lifestyle blog that encourages women to live every minute and love every moment. She is currently working on her next novel, “The Restoration of Celia Fairchild”, which will be published by William Morrow in the spring of 2021.
Marie lives in Washington state with her husband and a beautiful but moderately spoiled Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
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