The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner

A special thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When her twenty-two-year-old stepdaughter announces her engagement to her pandemic boyfriend, Sarah Danhauser is shocked. But the wheels are in motion. Headstrong Ruby has already set a date (just three months away!) and spoken to her beloved safta, Sarah’s mother Veronica, about having the wedding at the family’s beach house in Cape Cod. Sarah might be worried, but Veronica is thrilled to be bringing the family together one last time before putting the big house on the market.

But the road to a wedding day usually comes with a few bumps. Ruby has always known exactly what she wants, but as the wedding date approaches, she finds herself grappling with the wounds left by the mother who walked out when she was a baby. Veronica ends up facing unexpected news, thanks to her meddling sister, and must revisit the choices she made long ago, when she was a bestselling novelist with a different life. Sarah’s twin brother, Sam, is recovering from a terrible loss, and confronting big questions about who he is—questions he hopes to resolve during his stay on the Cape. Sarah’s husband, Eli, who’s been inexplicably distant during the pandemic, confronts the consequences of a long ago lapse from his typical good-guy behavior. And Sarah, frustrated by her husband, concerned about her stepdaughter, and worn out by challenges of life during quarantine, faces the alluring reappearance of someone from her past and a life that could have been.

When the wedding day arrives, lovers are revealed as their true selves, misunderstandings take on a life of their own, and secrets come to light. There are confrontations and revelations that will touch each member of the extended family, ensuring that nothing will ever be the same.

With a house as the central character, Weiner's latest offering returns readers to the Cape for another binge-worthy summer read.

Through multiple points of view, The Summer Place explodes with its soapy secrets and exceptional characterizations. The multi-generational family is dynamic and complicated—Weiner is a master at creating authentic, witty, self-depreciating characters. And Shakespeare fans will love the nod to A Midsummer Night Dream. 

Riveting and unputdownable, The Summer Place is a testament to family, forgiveness, and sacrifice. 

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JENNIFER WEINER is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of sixteen books, including Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, and her memoir, Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing.

She is a graduate of Princeton University and a contributor to the New York Times Opinion section.

Weiner lives with her family in Philadelphia.

Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tell them you’re looking for Jane.

2017

When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession in a stack of forgotten mail, she is determined to find the intended recipient. Her search takes her back to the 1970s when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane...

1971

As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was sent to a home for “fallen” women where she was forced to give up her baby for adoption—a trauma she has never recovered from. Despite harrowing police raids and the constant threat of arrest, she joins the Jane Network as an abortion provider, determined to give other women the choice she never had.

1980

After discovering a shocking secret about her family history, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she feels like she has no one to turn to for help. Grappling with her decision, she locates “Jane” and finds a place of her own alongside Dr. Taylor within the network’s ranks, but she can never escape the lies that haunt her.

Weaving together the lives of three women, Looking for Jane is an unforgettable novel about the devastating consequences that come from a lack of choice—and the enduring power of a mother’s love.

Looking for Jane is a stunning debut that takes a deep dive into motherhood (the wanting and not wanting to be a mother), social expectations placed on women (that are still alive and well today, and women’s reproductive rights (and lack there of). 

Through the intertwined stories of Angela, Evelyn, and Nancy, Marshall shines a light on the heartbreaking reality faced by women of all generations and walks of life. It is so much more than a book about abortion and choice, it is a reflection on one of the blemishes in Canadian history and it speaks to the strength of women in their continued fight for their rights.  

This thought-provoking, searing, and still timely novel will stay with its reader long after the last page is turned. 

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HEATHER MARSHALL completed master’s degrees in Canadian history and political science, and has worked in politics and communications before turning her attention to her true passion: storytelling. Looking for Jane is her debut novel. 

Marshall lives near Toronto with her family. 

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Q & A with Heather Marshall*

GWR: What does your writing process look like? 

HM: I have such admiration and respect for writers who can plot out their entire project and—even more impressively—stick to that plot structure. But that's not me! I start with an idea, or sometimes two separate ideas that weave together into one story, and then just let my imagination run with it. For some reason I can't fully explain, I often know the ending of a story before I've written the rest of it, and I'll write the final scene or chapter first. I think it allows me to see the end of the story and then work backwards and fill in the rest. 

One of my favourite parts of my writing process, and what makes me such a terrible plotter, is when characters decide to run amok and take my story in a direction I hadn't planned. It can make for a lot of extra work, but I almost always end up loving the final result even more than my original plan. 

GWR: How did you come up with the idea for this novel? What was your inspiration or jumping off point? 

HM: Back in university I wrote a paper on the process leading up to the legalization of abortion in Canada in the 1980s, and I remember thinking it would make a great novel. Years later, I stumbled across a news article about the post-war era maternity homes and all the women who were forced to give their babies up for adoption, and I thought that would also make a great story. I was working on both of these ideas when one day it finally clicked that they were two threads of the same story: women's fight for control over their bodies and their lives. 

GWR: Tell me about the research you did for Looking for Jane? 

HM: The research process for this book was quite extensive, eye-opening, and completely heartbreaking. After I read that initial article about the homes for unwed mothers, I went down a rabbit hole and discovered several more that led me to other sources, including some academic research papers, books, and a documentary. 

For the reproductive rights storyline, I drew on a lot of my own research from that paper I wrote back in university, and I also had the pleasure of interviewing long-time feminist activist Judy Rebick, who told me all about her experience with the abortion rights movement and working alongside Dr. Henry Morgentaler in the years leading up to legalization. 

I also interviewed lots of women about all kinds of experiences related to motherhood, including conception/fertility struggles, unplanned pregnancy, abortion, childbirth, and adoption. 

GWR: What made you decide to write the book from multiple points of view? Was it easier or more challenging to explore the parallel storylines? 

HM: As a reader, I've always been drawn to novels that are structured with multiple points of view. Personally I find it makes for a more interesting and engaging read. As a writer, I know that there are always at least two sides to any story, and the multiple points of view allows me to tell these characters' stories from more angles that I would be able to if it were just one perspective. Right from the outset I knew I wanted Looking For Jane to be as sweeping as I could possibly make it, across timelines and experiences, so I created those three characters whose stories span the 1960s through present day in the hopes of really giving a full sense of how far we have come with regard to women's rights, and how far we still have to go. 

It was definitely a challenge to write a novel with three points of view spanning that amount of time with a mystery and a twist thrown in! Every time my agent or editor wanted to make a tweak I had to go over the entire novel and make sure that that one change didn't have a domino effect on the whole thing. I don't think I had any idea how ambitious this novel was when I first started writing it, but it was such a labour of love, and I'm so proud of the final result and the impact it might have. 

GWR: How did you balance crafting a good story against historical accuracy in terms of character development and plot? 

HM: I think this is such a big challenge for historical fiction writers. We of course want to tell the best story we can to entertain our readers, but most of us who read and write historical fiction do so because we love learning real facts about the past in an accessible and entertaining way, so there is always that drive to be as accurate as possible. Personally, I try not to veer too far off course or take too many liberties with historical fact or timelines, because I find it makes for a more authentic read. I talk about this a bit more in the Author's Note at the end of the book, but in shedding light on the maternity homes tragedy, I felt an incredible responsibility to tell these women's stories as accurately as I could. I made a very deliberate decision to not exaggerate—or minimize—the trauma they endured, so that storyline is heavily based on first-hand accounts of their experiences, which were appalling. 

Committing to historical accuracy also lets me really sink my teeth into the era I'm writing about, and put myself in my characters' shoes more deeply. For instance, I get to research fun things like slang and language of a particular place and time, fashion trends, hair and makeup styles, logos and advertising, architectural trends, popular household brands and products, etc, and then use those to colour my characters' lives and the setting. One of the best compliments I keep hearing about this book is that it's quite evocative of the era, that readers really feel transported, and that makes me feel so thrilled, because I think it's the addition of all those little historical details that really brings the era and characters to life. 

When it comes to timeline, I will definitely take some liberty if an event I'm mentioning or focusing on happened a year or two 'off' from my story, but in Looking for Jane, I wanted to explore the history of abortion access in a very real way, so I was pretty precise about dates in this book. 

GWR: Looking for Jane takes a deep dive into motherhood (the wanting and not wanting to be a mother), social expectations placed on women (that are still alive and well today, and women’s reproductive rights (and lack there of). Why was it important to include all of these elements int the story? 

HM: As I mentioned above, from the outset I wanted this book to feel quite expansive, and to try to capture the breadth and depth of motherhood and how that's evolved for Canadians over the past several decades; how things have changed, stayed the same, gotten better or worse or just more complicated. I like to have one or two central themes threading through each of my novels, and I wanted to dedicate an entire book to this exploration of motherhood and choices. I know I could have explored some of these elements in future novels, but it just felt right to me to include them in this particular story.

GWR: What was the hardest scene to write? 

HM: Oh, there were a few that were very difficult for me emotionally. I think when Evelyn says goodbye to her baby was a particularly tough one, even though it just poured out of me when I was writing it. It wasn't a challenge at all to get it down, but it was heartbreaking to read every time I came back to it during the editing process, and that was before I even had a baby of my own! Interestingly, I'm glad I wrote this novel before I had my first child. I think it's almost too much of a punch in the gut for me to have written it now. I'm not sure I could have handled it, emotionally. 

GWR: Is there a topic you wish more authors would write about? 

HM: I like to tell a funny little anecdote when I get questions like this. Back in my grade eight history class, we were learning about all the men involved in Confederation, and I quite innocently put up my hand and asked my teacher "What were the women doing?". I was twelve, not yet identifying as a feminist, but I was wondering what all these men's wives were up to while they were off doing these Very Important Things at work. In response, I got sent to the principal's office for my seeming insubordination. I was reprimanded for daring to ask what the women were doing. Needless to say, I didn't get in trouble with my parents and I'm sure I made them quite proud that day, actually. But I think that experience planted the seed for what I do. I write about what the women were doing, and a lot of other authors do now, too. So to answer your question, I think authors are doing just great! In the past decade or so, there's been this explosion of writing about women, by women, unearthing their contributions to humanity. I just want to see as much of that as possible, and I'm honoured to be among those writing this type of fiction. 

GWR: Was there a particular author/work that inspired you to become a writer or the way that you write? 

HM: I read fairly widely, but I'm a big fan of both Kate Morton and Jodi Picoult—they're two of my literary idols, even though they write quite differently from one another. But I do remember very clearly, when I finished Anthony Doerr's complete masterpiece All the Light We Cannot See back when it was first released, I thought "if I can be even one tenth of that calibre, I'll have accomplished something as a writer." I'm not sure I've achieved that yet, ha! But it's good to have goals!

GWR: What are you working on now? 

HM: I can't share too much just yet, but it's another historical fiction that takes place in Germany in the 1940s, and the North of England in the present day. It explores a few key themes including survivor's guilt, and the polished versions of ourselves that we sometimes present to others when we're unhappy with our true, messy selves. One of the characters is inspired by a woman named Mona Parsons, a little-known Canadian heroine who was the only Canadian civilian woman to be sentenced to death and imprisoned by the Nazis during WWII. I'm really excited to draw some much-deserved attention to her!

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

Tahira in Bloom by Farah Heron

A special thank you to the author, Farah Heron, for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

When seventeen-year-old Tahira Janmohammad’s coveted fashion internship falls through, her over-involved parents have a backup plan. They have arranged for her to help at her aunt's boutique—it's only for the summer and she'll gain the experience she needs for her college application.

The only problem is that it is not in trendy Toronto, it's in the small town of Bakewell, the flower capital of Ontario. Even though Tahira is allergic to flowers, she decides it won't that bad. That is until she meets the boy next door. Although he's super handsome, Rowan Johnston is rude, obsessed with gardening, and has terrible fashion sense. 

Tahira discovers that the floral sculpture competition at the annual flower festival may be the in she needs with a famous New York City streetwear designer. In order to win, she has to find a way to work with Rowan.  

Turns out floral design is actually pretty great and so is Rowan. But Tahira is about to find out what she's made of and made for—she plants her dreams and begins to bloom. 

Tahira in Bloom is a coming-of-age romcom that addresses some of the larger issues that teenagers face, like the pressures of social media and the struggle to find your identity. But Heron does this through the lens of a modern Muslim teenager who also faces microagression, racism, and lack of representation.  

The characters are vibrant and layered. Heron writes her leads on equal footing and bases their attraction on mutual respect—Tahira and Rowan both admire each other’s talents. Her drive stems from her strict and hyper-focused parents, and the goals that she sets for herself are as lofty as her parents' expectations. Although they come off as strong, her mother and father are incredibly supportive. The secondary cast of characters are well-developed and diverse—they are just as memorable and completely worthy of their page time. 

Tahira in Bloom is a fresh YA romance that's filled with fashion, flowers, and witty banter. It's an absolute delight!

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FARAH HERON is a critically acclaimed author of romantic comedies for adults and young adults filled with huge South Asian families, delectable food, and most importantly, brown people falling stupidly in love. Her debut, The Chai Factor, was named one of the summer’s best books by The Globe and Mail. Her next book, Accidentally Engaged, was listed as a best book of 2021 in Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, NPR, CBC Books, Kobo, and more.  

Heron lives in Toronto with her husband, two children, and a rabbit named Strawberry and two newly adopted cats.

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Q & A with Farah Heron*

GWR: What does your writing process look like? How many hours a day do you write?

FH: I don’t have a set routine, but I tend to do more actual writing at night. During the day I get all my promo and business stuff taken care of. Right now, with everyone at home, it can be hard for me to turn off my brain enough to focus until everyone else has gone to bed. 

GWR: Is there a particular author/work that inspired you to become a romance writer? Who are some other authors that are especially good with writing relationships and/or friendships?

FH: I was inspired to write by several writers. Back in the 90s (I know, I’m dating myself here) I loved rom-coms in the chick-lit craze. One of my favourites was Marian Keyes for her ability to blend very serious topics with romance and humour. Then a little later in life I discovered historical and contemporary romance. As I read more of them, I had trouble turning off my own stories in my head, so I started writing. Around then I discovered the work of Sonali Dev. Before her, I didn’t know that there was a market for romances with Indian characters and Indian culture with specificity. Since then, I have written stories set in my own culture. 

GWR: If you could tell your younger self something about writing and becoming an author, what would it be?

FH: I would have told myself to start writing instead of just telling myself that I should try writing one day. I didn’t start writing fiction until 2016, when I was nearly forty. Things moved quickly for me in my writing career, but I wish I had taken the plunge before then. But at the same time, publishing in the past wasn’t what it is now, and I’m not sure I would have been able to get published with my Indian-Canadian rom-coms before now.

GWR: Tahira in Bloom is your first foray into YA. Did you approach it the same way as your other works? 

FH: Not at all! My adult rom-coms are about millennials for the most part. And even though I am a bit older than that (aging myself again!), I am pretty much writing my adult characters from my own worldview. But my teen characters are gen Z. They are basically my own teenage kid’s worldview. I used to be a youth counsellor, so I also drew on my experiences there to get the "teen brain" right. Another difference is my adult books are about the children of immigrants (for the most part). The characters have that culture clash between their immigrant parents, and their North American upbringing. But my YA books are about the grandchildren of immigrants, again, like my own kids. They don’t have cultural confusion or cultural struggles. They have Canadian-born liberal parents. But that doesn’t make them less Indian. This was something that was hard for me to find in YA—most books I came across with South Asian teenagers were about immigrant families, and they were about cultural struggles. I wanted to write a story with kids more like my own.  

GWR:What was the inspiration behind Tahira in Bloom?

FH: My inspiration was the teen romances I used to read and re-read as a child. These were primarily low-angst, coming of age stories about first love, and they often had small town settings. I set out to write something like that, but with more diversity. I was also inspired by Schitt's Creek for the fish out of water setting. 

GWR: I love that the attraction between Tahira and Rowan is based on mutual respect in that they both admire each other’s talents. Did you set out to have your leads on equal footing or was this something that evolved as you were writing?

FH: I did set out for them to each have their own passion that they would admire the other for. I settled on flowers for Rowan early, as I had just binged Netflix’s Big Flower Fight, and I was entranced with the elaborate floral sculptures. My son suggested fashion for Tahira, and I thought it would work well because I wanted to make her a city girl through and through. It also was easy for me to write about fashion and fashion design, because I not only used to work in the industry, but I also was once a hobby sewist, and used to design and sew dresses for fun.  

GWR: What are you working on now?

FH: I have a few projects on the go right now! I will start edits on my next YA soon. It will be released in the fall. It’s set in the same family as Tahira in Bloom and is about Tahira’s sister Samaya. Samaya is nothing like Tahira, though. She’s a math genius, and a bit of a video game nerd. I’ve paired her with Daniel, a hockey player who wants to study pastry arts after high school. They make pies and play video games together. But it’s really a story about class differences, moving on after heartbreak, and learning to tune out high school gossip to focus on what’s important. And I recently announced my next adult book, Jana Goes Wild, which is a second chance romance set on a Tanzanian safari. I think we’re all looking to armchair travel right now so writing something set on a dream vacation has been super fun. 

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

Kamila Knows Best by Farah Heron

A special thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and the author, Farah Heron for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kamila Knows Best is a fresh and modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma. Set in Toronto, it features a vibrant cast that is enhanced by Bollywood movie nights and mouthwatering food. 

Our heroine has an incredible flair and sense of style but when it comes to her personal life, she's not as polished. Between her family obligations, volunteering, and her career in a predominantly male industry, Kamila doesn't have a lot of time for romance. And to further complicate things, her nemesis is back in town and has her sights set on her longtime family friend, Rohan. 

The relationship is both enhanced and complicated by Kamila’s familial expectations—caring for her father, as well as trying to honour his wishes, comes at the expense of going against her own aspirations. She is a strong personality and a character with incredible depth. 

Through its witty banter, off-the-charts chemistry, and delicious descriptions of food, Heron's latest contemporary offering is an absolute delight!  

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FARAH HERON is a critically acclaimed author of romantic comedies for adults and young adults filled with huge South Asian families, delectable food, and most importantly, brown people falling stupidly in love. Her debut, The Chai Factor, was named one of the summer’s best books by The Globe and Mail. Her next book, Accidentally Engaged, was listed as a best book of 2021 in Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, NPR, CBC Books, Kobo, and more.  

Heron lives in Toronto with her husband, two children, and a rabbit named Strawberry and two newly adopted cats.

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Q & A with Farah Heron*

GWR: What does your writing process look like? How many hours a day do you write?

FH: I don’t have a set routine, but I tend to do more actual writing at night. During the day I get all my promo and business stuff taken care of. Right now, with everyone at home, it can be hard for me to turn off my brain enough to focus until everyone else has gone to bed. 

GWR: Is there a particular author/work that inspired you to become a romance writer? Who are some other authors that are especially good with writing relationships and/or friendships?

FH: I was inspired to write by several writers. Back in the 90s (I know, I’m dating myself here) I loved rom-coms in the chick-lit craze. One of my favourites was Marian Keyes for her ability to blend very serious topics with romance and humour. Then a little later in life I discovered historical and contemporary romance. As I read more of them, I had trouble turning off my own stories in my head, so I started writing. Around then I discovered the work of Sonali Dev. Before her, I didn’t know that there was a market for romances with Indian characters and Indian culture with specificity. Since then, I have written stories set in my own culture. 

GWR: If you could tell your younger self something about writing and becoming an author, what would it be?

FH: I would have told myself to start writing instead of just telling myself that I should try writing one day. I didn’t start writing fiction until 2016, when I was nearly forty. Things moved quickly for me in my writing career, but I wish I had taken the plunge before then. But at the same time, publishing in the past wasn’t what it is now, and I’m not sure I would have been able to get published with my Indian-Canadian rom-coms before now.

GWR: How did you come up with the concept of Kamila Knows Best? Is a modern retelling something that you have always endeavoured to write?

FH: I have been a Jane Austen super-fan for years, and I’ve loved retellings, so I always knew I wanted to try my own one day. I picked Emma, not because it was my favourite Austen (that would be Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion) but because I thought Emma would be such a great challenge to try to adapt. Emma is a very hard character for many to love, and it's such a balance to make readers root for a character who is at the same time very image conscious and meddling, but also generous and playful. And yes, I did find it incredibly hard—mostly because modern stories need to have goals and motivations that were often absent in older books. But I loved the way it turned out, and I hope readers fall in love with Kamila as much as I did.  

GWR: Your novels are both enhanced and complicated by cultural and familial expectations—for example, in Kamila’s case, she is conflicted with her desire to both fulfill and defy her father’s wishes and in Accidentally Engaged, Reena is trying to balance personal fulfillment against the pressure of her culture as well as family duty—why is it important for you to include these topics in a romantic comedy?

FH: I think whether I want to or not, I will always write about families and family expectations in my stories. Family is such a big part of the lives of immigrant communities, and it’s almost impossible to write a south Asian story without family being a part of it. I personally find the push and pull between our culture’s collectivist thinking, and North America’s individualist way of life, brings so many story possibilities. 

GWR: Can we just take a moment to appreciate the food in your books? You seem to know your way around a kitchen—are you a cook/baker? What are some of your favourite things to make or favourite pairings? 

FH: I love to cook! I call myself the queen of hobbies because I pick up a new one and become completely obsessed with it every few years. A while back I was obsessed with bread and sourdough. I grew out of that hobby right before I started writing Accidentally Engaged, so all the bread baking there was based on my own experiences. I still bake, but not as much as I used to. I also really love making the Indian food I grew up with, and thankfully my family loves it too. It’s a great way to connect to my culture, and the food is so comforting! But I am also a huge fan of Chinese and Thai food, and it’s probably the most common food we eat at home. 

GWR: What are you working on now?

FH: I have a few projects on the go right now! I will start edits on my next YA soon. It will be released in the fall. It’s set in the same family as Tahira in Bloom and is about Tahira’s sister Samaya. Samaya is nothing like Tahira, though. She’s a math genius, and a bit of a video game nerd. I’ve paired her with Daniel, a hockey player who wants to study pastry arts after high school. They make pies and play video games together. But it’s really a story about class differences, moving on after heartbreak, and learning to tune out high school gossip to focus on what’s important. And I recently announced my next adult book, Jana Goes Wild, which is a second chance romance set on a Tanzanian safari. I think we’re all looking to armchair travel right now so writing something set on a dream vacation has been super fun. 

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

Watch Out for Her: A Novel by Samantha M. Bailey

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Wherever you go…she’ll be watching.

Sarah Goldman, mother to six-year-old Jacob, is relieved to move across the country. She has a lot she wants to leave behind, especially Holly Monroe, the pretty twenty-two-year-old babysitter she and her husband, Daniel, hired to take care of their young son last summer. It started out as a perfect arrangement—Sarah had a childminder her son adored, and Holly found the mother figure she’d always wanted. But Sarah’s never been one to trust very easily, so she kept a close eye on Holly, maybe too close at times. What she saw raised some questions, not only about who Holly really was but what she was hiding. The more Sarah watched, the more she learned—until one day, she saw something she couldn’t unsee, something so shocking that all she could do was flee.

Sarah has put it all behind her and is starting over in a different city with her husband and son. They’ve settled into a friendly suburb where the neighbors, a tight clique of good citizens, are always on the lookout for danger. But when Sarah finds hidden cameras in her new home, she has to wonder: Has her past caught up to her, and worse yet, who’s watching her now?

Samantha M. Bailey's latest is a tense, acerbic psychological thriller. 

Set in Toronto and Vancouver, Watch Our for Her is smart, suspenseful, and full of shocking twists. It is intricately plotted—Bailey reveals just enough to create frenzy and momentum. Her characters are well-developed and propel the expertly paced story. She deftly employs a dual timeline and alternating perspectives, writing from both Sarah's and Holly's viewpoints. The leading ladies are compelling and complex.

Bailey is a master at manipulating her reader. With short and punchy chapters, she cleverly delivers on so many levels. 

Watch Out for Her is a deep dive into obsession, trust, toxic relationships and the lengths one woman will go to in order to keep her family safe. A must read!  

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SAMANTHA M. BAILEY is the USA TODAY and #1 nationally bestselling author of Woman on the Edge, which has sold in eleven countries to date. She is also a journalist and freelance editor; her work has appeared in NOW Magazine, The Village Post, The Thrill Begins, and The Crime Hub, among other publications. 

Bailey lives in Toronto with her family.

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Q & A with Samantha M. Bailey*

GWR: Describe your ideal writing/reading experience (when, where, what, how).

SB: My ideal writing/reading experience includes solitude, so for the last two years, that's only been a dream. I've learned to write and read in chaos, wherever I am, but if I had the opportunity, I'd love to have a whole day, starting at around 5 am, when it's dark and quiet, at a cottage on a lake. I imagine that it's summer, and I can see the water from a cozy couch in front of a large bay window. There's no one else around, and I have a cup of hot coffee and my words keeping me company as the sun rises and sets.

GWR: What is it that draws you to darker themes? 

SB: Motherhood. I've always been fascinated by the dark side of life, how far people will go to get what they want, but it's having children that compels me to write about it. Being a woman responsible for the care and well-being of people I love more than anything in the world evokes fear, an almost anguished feeling of love, and a fierce need to protect them. I know I can't control much of what happens around them, but I want to try to understand what drives people to dark thoughts and behaviors.

GWR: Is there a particular author/work that inspired you to become a writer or the way you write? 

SB: So many authors have and do inspire me. As a teenager and in my early twenties, it was Ernest Hemingway, Milan Kundera, Margaret Atwood, and so many others. When I began seriously writing novels at the age of twenty-nine, it was Jennifer Weiner. As a thriller author, it is my entire community of talented, fearless fellow writers who unflinchingly delve deep to explore all the complexities of life, love, and desire. 

GWR: How do you decide what point to start the story at and how much detail you’re going to provide?

SB: I usually begin my story immediately after an inciting incident that changes my main character's life. That single moment that shifts their perspective, and in my books, their safety. How much detail depends on what drives the scene and moves it forward the most.

GWR: What comes first for you—the overall idea or the characters?

SB: The premise generally comes to me first, then the themes I want to explore. Once I have an idea that I feel in my bones, and I need to feel that flutter of excitement and anticipation, I turn to the characters then the structure.

GWR: The themes of this book—toxic relationships, voyeurism, trust—are popular in thrillers, yet your take on them was exciting and fresh. Where did you draw inspiration from?

SB: Ever since I can remember, I've been intrigued by what goes on behind closed doors. On walks, as I pass by the different houses, I glance—not peer—into the windows. Most of the time I'm actually looking at the decor and layout of people's spaces, and I’ve never taken photos, because I'm not a voyeur like Sarah. But I do think we all like to people watch. Were I not a writer, I probably would have been a psychologist because I'm fascinated by our minds, how complex and complicated we all are: likeable, unlikeable, moral, and messy all at once. So, I think I'd say I take inspiration from how real and flawed we all are. 

GWR: What made you decide to write Watch Out for Her from a dual point of view? Was it easier or more challenging to explore the parallel storyline?

SB: It was never a question. From the moment I started writing, I knew I had to tell both Sarah and Holly's stories, separately, yet also together in their scenes. I love the concept of perspective: how we see things is often not how other people see them. Our views tend to be based on our experiences, traumas, hopes, and dreams. No matter what structure an author chooses, I think it's always challenging. What was difficult with the structure of Watch Out for Her was making sure the past tense story propelled the present tense story forward so organizing the chapters was tricky. 

GWR: Did you build your story around a twist/reveal, or did that happen organically as you wrote it?

SB: I knew my major twists before I started, but there were a few that knocked me off my chair, as the characters led me to them organically. So, they were both built and just happened as I wrote the story piece by piece.

GWR: If your book was a beverage, what would it be? 

SB: The beverage that would be Watch Out for Her is a collaboration with me and Blair of the wonderful Instagram account: books.and.bevies. We decided the perfect drink would be a Caesar: Canadian for the setting, spicy, sharp, and blood red.

GWR: Can you share what you’re working on now?

SB: I'd love to because I'm very excited about it, but it's only at the beginning stages. That's a magical time for an author when much of the writing process is deep thoughts, notes, middle-of-the-night brainstorms. I'm currently working on a thriller about women seeking a fresh start that might end in murder.

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon

A special thank you to the author, Hannah Mary McKinnon, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

First comes love. Then comes murder.

Lucas Forester didn't hate his wife. Michelle was brilliant, sophisticated and beautiful. Sure, she had extravagant spending habits and that petty attitude, a total disregard for anyone below her status. But she also had a lot to offer. Most notably, wealth that only the one percent could comprehend.

For years, Lucas had been honing a flawless plan to inherit Michelle’s fortune. Unfortunately, it involved taking a hit out on her.

Every track was covered, no trace left behind, and now Lucas plays the grieving husband so well he deserves an award. But when a shocking photo and cryptic note show up on his doorstep, Lucas goes from hunter to prey. 

Someone is onto him. And they’re closing in.

Written from the perspective of Lucas Forester—a compelling and dynamic character that readers won't know whether to revere or abhore—Never Coming Home is deftly plotted and deliciously deceitful. Told with McKinnon's signature wit, this novel is both sinister and humorous. So much so that you may never look at your spouse the same way again. 

Never Coming Home is a slow and suspenseful burn that absolutely explodes at the end. Hannah is the queen of shocking finales and this is no exception.  

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HANNAH MARY MCKINNON was born in the UK, grew up in Switzerland, and moved to Canada in 2010. After a successful career in recruitment, she quit the corporate world in favour of writing.

McKinnon now lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her husband and three sons.

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Q & A with Hannah Mary McKinnon*

GWR: Describe Never Coming Home in 3 words.

HMM: Twisted, surprising, funny.

GWR: What would be your ideal writing/reading experience (when, where, what, how)? How does this differ from reality?

HMM: I’d love for me to think about my books and have those thoughts appear on the page fully formed—I’d save so much time. Alas, no such luck. Like any job, writing is hard at times, but I get to disappear into the worlds I create and spend time with my characters there. If that isn’t close to the definition of a magical career, I’m not sure what is.

GWR: How did inspiration strike for Never Coming Home? 

HMM: Instead of a news article or a radio segment, which is typically where the inspiration for my books comes from, for Never Coming Home the character appeared first. I wanted to write about someone who was evil, despicable, but also relatable on some levels, and definitely funny—and whose enemies were even worse. Cue Lucas and Bobby Boyle. The story evolved from there, so it was very much character driven, and writing from the antagonist’s point of view was an entirely new experience. I had so much fun, and thoroughly enjoyed crafting another novel entirely from a man’s perspective. 

While I probably shouldn’t admit to this, despite his many flaws, I enjoyed spending time with Lucas because I found him hilarious. I wrote the book during the second half of 2020, so this was very much a pandemic project. My lovely mum passed away that summer, so I needed a place to escape to when everything felt so bleak. I think that’s why this book is my funniest. I needed something to make me laugh.

GWR: What do you have more fun with, character development or plot?

HMM: Oh, both, definitely. Lucas was hilarious and it was so refreshing to be fully immersed in the mind of a killer, to see everything from his perspective and try to have him justify his actions. His character formed in an instant, and the plot came together fast, too. I wrote this novel more quickly than any of my others and it was such a joy to work on from start to finish. I kept telling my husband, “It’s going well, too well, it’s all going to collapse.” But it didn’t. Because of this I fully expect my next ten novels to repeatedly kick me in the crotch.

GWR: Do you like writing from the perspective of the opposite sex, or is it more of a challenge? 

HMM: I enjoy both although I find when I write a man’s point-of-view I’m more direct. Nevertheless, one of my first questions is, “Whose story is this?” After that, I try not to overthink whether I’m writing a man or a woman. The important thing is to give them a voice, develop their character and backstory, and make them seem as human to the reader as they are to me.

GWR: Did any minor characters develop into more major ones over the course of writing the novel? 

HMM: Yes! Bobby Boyle grew as I wrote the novel and the banter between him and Lucas made me laugh so much. Bobby may well deserve his very own story one day. I was very keen on his sidekick, Heinz, too.

GWR: Your books always have incredible plot twists and jaw-dropping endings. Are they planned in advance, or do they happen organically as you write, or a little of both?

HMM: A little of both. I love twists and turns, and the more books I write, the more I plot them. Detailed outlines make me more productive and efficient because I know where I’m headed, but it’s impossible for me to foresee every twist and it also doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll end up at the destination I mapped out though. In The Neighbors, for example, the ending changed quite dramatically as I got closer to finishing my first draft. In Her Secret Son, the final chapters were different because I wasn’t happy with whom I’d planned to kill off. Sister Dear’s and You Will Remember Me’s endings are close to how I’d imagined but more sinister. 

GWR: Spoiler-free of course, did Never Coming Home end the way you originally thought it would?

HMM: Out of all my books so far, Never Coming Home turned out the closest to my initial vision and was the smoothest to write and edit. I even knew the final word before I sat down and typed “Chapter 1,” which is something that has never happened before. The storyline was crystal clear in my mind and the bones of the story didn’t change significantly during the editing process. Having said that, and as mentioned before, more twists and turns appeared when I wrote. That’s another fun part of writing, discovering what your characters will do when you let them loose. I can’t possibly know everything from the beginning.

GWR: Can you share a bit about what you are working on now?

HMM: With pleasure. Book 7 (slated for 2023) is another psychological thriller. It’s about a woman named Frankie who has some anger issues, and writes a list of people she could work to forgive as a therapy exercise. She thinks nothing of it when she loses her list in an Uber, until one by one the individuals become victims of freak accidents. Frankie desperately tries to determine if the tragedies are indeed accidental, and if not, who’s behind them before someone else gets hurt, especially as one of the names on the list is her own… I’m so excited for this next novel and can’t wait for you to meet Frankie and the rest of my cast.

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

The Maid by Nita Prose

A special thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

The Maid is a Clue-like, heartwarming mystery that explores the art of deception, morality, and what it means to be accepted. 

Molly the Maid takes comfort in order and completing tasks to perfection. Being a maid compliments her personality and gives Molly the security of being invisible as she often misreads social cues and situations. With her innocence and eccentricities, Molly is an endearing, likeable, and standout character that readers will find themselves rooting for from start to finish. 

With elegance and flair, this character-rich whodunnit is flawlessly paced and intricately plotted—The Maid is as perfect and polished as one of Molly's hotel rooms. The writing is rich in such a way that you can smell the lemon wax and hotel soap as well as feel the crisp sheets and plush seating. 

Prose's highly original and stunningly clever debut will both delight and charm mystery lovers. Check in to this book and enjoy your stay. 

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NITA PROSE is a longtime editor, serving many bestselling authors and their books. The Maid is her debut.

Prose lives in Toronto, Canada, in a house that is only moderately clean.

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Q & A with Nita Prose*

GWR: The Maid is a fresh take on a traditional mystery. How did you come up with the concept?

NP: It happened on a business trip about two years ago. I was staying at a London hotel. One day, after a meeting outside the hotel, I returned to my room and startled the maid who was folding the jogging pants I’d left in a tangled mess on the bed (embarrassing!). The second I entered the room, the maid jumped backward into a shadowy corner. It occurred to me in that moment what an intimate and invisible job it is to be a room maid. Simply by cleaning my room every day, this maid knew so much about me. But what did I know about her? On the plane home a few days later, my protagonist Molly’s voice came to me. I grabbed a pen and a napkin, and wrote the prologue in a single burst. I didn't know it at the time, but I'd just begun my debut novel. 

GWR: Tell us about your writing process. Are you a pantser/gardener or a plotter/architect? 

NP: I am a plotter/architect. I need some scaffolding and plans set out on paper before I can really go for it with the writing.

GWR: You are also a longtime editor who has worked on many bestsellers—did this help or hinder your writing?

NP: My years of experience as an editor mean I’ve been steeped in story structure and narrative for a long time. Still, that didn’t mean there weren’t psychological hurdles I had to get over in order to write my debut. 

When I finished the first draft of The Maid, I was terrified to share my work. Why? Because all of my professional colleagues would know about it! I kept running through scenarios where I’d receive horrible rejections from agents and publishers who, always polite, would call my work “lovely” and then “regrettably decline” while eye-rolling.

Eventually, though, I put my big girl boots on and pressed send. I was thrilled when my dream agent decided to take me on. She understood my novel not only as a mystery but as “uplit”—a novel driven by a life-affirming spirit of hope. And that’s what I want readers carry away with them once the last page is turned—hope. I suppose it was hope, too, that made me get over my own fears and share my manuscript in the first place! 

GWR: Did you perform any research?

NP: Covert hotel missions, which involved sneaking around back corridors and the workers’ quarters—places guests aren’t supposed to go. 

GWR: Molly is a charming character with a unique way of viewing the world—how did you develop her?

NP: Something important to me was that readers not approach Molly with any preconceptions. Therefore, I didn’t want her to be labelled as different or as “other” in any way. This is a novel about what it means to be the same as everyone else…and yet entirely different. If I flagged the “different” part, readers might miss the most important part—how Molly is the same as all of us. I wanted readers simply to be invited to step behind her eyes, to live as her. I hoped that to live as her was to love her. 

GWR: Gran gives such sage and comforting advice. Was she based on someone in your life?

NP: Gran is an invention, but there are facets of my mother in her. My mother died a few years ago, and in some ways Molly allowed me to study my own grief and to resurrect the parts of my mother I miss the most. Gran is also my way of offering the reader a gift that I was so lucky to have in real life—a fiercely loyal matriarch who loved unconditionally and led with her heart.

GWR: Did any minor characters become major characters over the course of writing the book?

NP: Not really, no. But I did gain sympathy for and understanding of certain characters (Giselle, for instance) the more I wrote about them.  

GWR: What is the best advice you have received as an author and what is the best advice you give as an editor?

NP: The best advice I’ve received as an author is to trust your story to lead you, to search it for clues and a sense of direction. As an editor, I often advise my authors to do exactly that.

GWR: What are you working on now?

NP: I have a few different projects in the hopper, but true to form, I’m going to leave the details a bit of a mystery.

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.