1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE GEOGRAPHER’S MAP TO ROMANCE
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Geography professors in a failed marriage of convenience inconveniently reconnect for an emergency mission that involves such perils as exploding rocks, wild weather, only one bed ... and most daunting of all, their own relationship.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I was looking for a place in Britain’s countryside to the set the action when I noticed that certain cities and towns were lined up exactly, and this not only gave me my story location but also a major element to the magic system in the book: the fey lines of magic that run beneath the land.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I would love to spend time with Elodie, I adore and admire her as a person—although having said that, it would have to be only an hour or two, because she has far more energy than I do! She’d also probably encourage some bold or free-spirited venture, and would no doubt consider my suggestion of “trying a new cafe” less daring than I think it to be. I’d love spending time with Gabriel too, as he and I are quite similar in nature. We’d probably sit together in the same room not talking, just drinking tea and reading our separate books.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Elodie is vibrant, fun, and whimsical. Gabriel is serious, sensible, and autistic.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Actually, I got quite the education in geographical science, and some maths also! I certainly learned more information about bogs than I could ever hope to apply to my daily existence.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit as I draft. I tend to repeatedly go over my early chapters in particular, but my end chapters get less of that, perhaps because I’m in the vibe of the story so much better by then.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
A New Zealand speciality: the chocolate lamington square with fresh whipped cream.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
It includes bookcases, a large corkboard covered in images for inspiration, and a desk that is terribly cluttered (but alas, not in an aesthetic way) and that holds a basket for whichever of my cats wants to cuddle up in it at any time.
10--Who is an author you admire?
So many, it’s hard to answer! At random, let me name Melina Marchetta and Megan Whalen Turner, two authors whose wonderful, clever books make my brain light up.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Anne of Green Gables. I read it as an adult and for the first time in my life realised there were other people in the world like me.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels went to auction, so I knew it was going to be published, but when I got the email confirming that we’d accepted Berkley’s offer, it was the wee small hours in New Zealand. Everyone I knew was asleep, so I had a wonderful couple of hours hugging the news to myself in the quiet moonlight, just feeling happiness and processing the huge change to my life. It was also Halloween/Beltane at the time, which made it all the more magical.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Fantasy romance.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
It’s a three-way tie between Ever After, The Princess Bride, and Ladyhawke. I simply couldn’t choose one alone from those three.
15--What is your favorite season?
Early spring.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I spend it with family.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I really enjoy The Rest is History, an entertaining and educational podcast on world history.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Sushi.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I read, and I think about writing.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Coming in 2026 is The Antiquarian’s Object of Desire, a dark academia romcom featuring two history professors, lifelong best friends, who are caught up in a fake hating scheme to protect their reputations.
Geography professors in a failed marriage of convenience inconveniently reconnect for an emergency mission in this swoony historical-fantasy rom-com.
Professor Elodie Tarrant is an expert in magic disasters. Nothing fazes her—except her own personal disaster, that is: Professor Gabriel Tarrant, the grumpy, unfriendly man she married for convenience a year ago, whom she secretly loves.
Gabriel is also an expert in magic disasters. And nothing fazes him either—except the walking, talking tornado that is his wife. They’ve been estranged since shortly after their wedding day, but that hasn’t stopped him from stoically pining for her.
When magic erupts in a small Welsh village, threatening catastrophe for the rest of Britain, Elodie and Gabriel are accidentally both assigned to the case. With the fate of the country in their hands, they must come together as a team in the face of perilous conditions like explosions, domesticated goats, and only one bed. But this is easier said than done. After all, there's no navigational guide for the geography of the heart.
Romance Historical | Romance Fantasy | Romance Comedy [Berkley, On Sale: April 8, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9780593641477 / eISBN: 9780593641484]
The Welsh countryside is brimful of magical energy
India Holton is the author of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, a fantastical romcom set in an alternate Victorian era. She lives in coastal New Zealand, where she grew up running barefoot around islands, following ghosts through forests, and messing around in boats. She spent several years teaching and now writes about plucky girls, unconventional women, and the men who love them. India's writing is fuelled by tea, buttered scones, and thunderstorms.
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