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.

The Strangers by Katherena Vermette

A special thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. 

Cedar has nearly forgotten what her family looks like. Phoenix has nearly forgotten what freedom feels like. And Elsie has nearly given up hope. Nearly.

After time spent in foster homes, Cedar goes to live with her estranged father. Although she grapples with the pain of being separated from her mother, Elsie, and sister, Phoenix, she's hoping for a new chapter in her life, only to find herself once again in a strange house surrounded by strangers. From a youth detention centre, Phoenix gives birth to a baby she'll never get to raise and tries to forgive herself for all the harm she's caused (while wondering if she even should). Elsie, struggling with addiction and determined to turn her life around, is buoyed by the idea of being reunited with her daughters and strives to be someone they can depend on, unlike her own distant mother. These are the Strangers, each haunted in her own way. Between flickering moments of warmth and support, the women diverge and reconnect, fighting to survive in a fractured system that pretends to offer success but expects them to fail. Facing the distinct blade of racism from those they trusted most, they urge one another to move through the darkness, all the while wondering if they'll ever emerge safely on the other side.

The Strangers is a story about a family who are deeply connected despite being fractured. Taking place a few months after The Break, Vermette continues with Phoenix's story. Failed by her addict mother, her school, and the system, she is now in custody. Phoenix's life is filled with violence, pain, and anger. 

Told from each of the women's perspective, Vermette deftly explores themes of disconnection, racism, trauma, and pain which often takes the form of rage. Margaret, the grandmother, is fuelled by her rage that stems from being an Indigenous woman in a world where the norm is being white. Her reaction to trauma is to fight. This response is to preserve herself, only she doesn't know where to stop. Margaret and her daughter Elsie are estranged because of their arguments. And by extension, Elsie's children, Phoenix and Cedar, are estranged because of her addiction, which is the conduit of her pain. Cedar Sage is the very heart of the story. No matter what Phoenix does, Cedar remembers that Phoenix was a good sister who always took care of her—she is Cedar's home.

The relationships between the women are complex and fragile. Although they are connected by blood, it is their sorrow that they pass down to one another. Some of this sadness is a result of a system that has been imposed upon these women, one that is designed to separate them as well as traumatize them. Phoenix's child is taken from her and is a mirror of her own experience of being taken from her mother and put into foster care with her younger sisters. This is also symbolic of the history of separating Indigenous children from their families, culture, and religion in order to assimilate them into the dominant "Canadian" culture. 

Searing, poignant, and raw. The Strangers is an exploration of race, class, and trauma as told by four unforgettable women who are bound by their unbreakable matrilineal bonds. Highly recommend!

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KATHERENA VERMETTE is a Red River Métis (Michif) writer from Treaty 1 territory, the heart of the Métis Nation. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia and has worked in poetry, novels, children’s literature, and film.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, her father’s roots run deep in St. Boniface, St. Norbert and beyond. Her mother’s side is Mennonite from the Altona and Rosenfeld area (Treaty 1).

Vermette received the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry for her first book, North End Love Songs. Her first novel, The Break, won several awards including the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, and was a bestseller in Canada. Her second novel, The Strangers, won the Atwood Gibson Writers Trust Fiction Prize and was named Chapters Indigo’s Book of the Year 2021. It was also longlisted for the Giller Prize.

Katherena lives with her family in a cranky old house within skipping distance of the temperamental Red River. 

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Q & A with Katherena Vermette*

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

KV: In a true writing time, I am writing about 3-4 hours a day. But what I call true writing time doesn’t happen constantly, or very often some seasons. For novels, my process is pretty research/thinking/planning heavy for a few weeks, if not years or decades. I like to use things like maps and genealogies and post it notes as tools and places to put my thoughts. After I do this for a while, there is a moment I finally decide it is time! (to stop procrastinating!) and then the writing happens. I write pretty intensely when I get down to it, and I write as much as I can until I have to pause (if I made a mess and have to plan some more) and eventually until I finish. 

 

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

KV: Definitely the characters. I live and breathe characters and for me, they make everything else. They are what decides the plot, theme, idea and embodiment of the story. 

 

GWR: How do you choose the names for your characters?

KV: In different ways. I usually have themes for families or groups. For my first novel, several characters are actually named after streets they live on, others are named after historical figures. Other names seem to come from more ethereal places, like Echo who is the time traveling young person who very much is the echo of her ancestors.

 

GWR: What character did you sympathize with the most and did that change while writing The Strangers? Do you have a favourite character?

KV: My favourite character, hands down and without shame, is Cedar Sage Stranger. She is the best person in every way and poured all my mama love into her. She was actually pretty difficult to write. She came out pretty slowly, and then I went back and changed her story completely. And then, I switched her to first person and she really, finally started to sing. 

 

GWR: What was the hardest scene to write?

KV: The Strangers was so much easier on me compared to my last book, in terms of bad horrible sad scenes anyway. The first chapter was pretty difficult emotionally, as it is about a traumatic birth. That one was hard. It was also the first chapter I wrote for this book, so made for a shaky beginning. 

GWR: Was it easier or more challenging to explore the matrilineal parallel storyline? Why did you decide to write The Strangers from multiple and generational points of view?

 

KV: I love multiple POV books. I knew the story of family would have to be from different points of view. I have only written multi-POV novels so don’t know if it’s more challenging. I can say the second novel was way easier to organize than the first. That one was a mess for years. This one, I went in knowing what I wanted and kept the mess pretty contained. 

GWR: Can you speak to the pressures and hardships placed on Indigenous women both from within their families and from society and why this is so integral to the story and to your writing as a whole. 

KV: I don’t know how to answer this. My questions going into this book, into the storylines my characters set for me, were about how we affect and reject each other, how the insidious nature of mother to daughter abuse is so hard to define and therefore equally hard to catch and cure. I wanted to explore rage! Rage is such a valid feeling in this sh*tstorm of a world, and that feeling can be so understandable but violence never is. How family is literally made by pregnant persons and their ability, hopefully, to choose. I wanted to talk about how the state has devastated Indigenous families in various ways, and is still very much doing this. I especially I wanted to think about how even when we are separated, even when we cannot be together for whatever reason, we are still so very much a part of each other. 

 

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

KV: Ah, these days I’m thinking a lot about Lee Maracle and how she literally kicked open doors and stormed the stage for people like me. She was a great mentor. I was lucky to be one of so very many she mentored and set on this path. 

 

GWR: What books are you reading and recommending?

KV: I read so many weird and old things. This past year I absolutely loved Ghost Lake by Nathan Niigaan Noodin Alder and Probably Ruby by Lisa Bird-Wilson.

 

GWR: Can you share what you are working on now?

KV: I’m working on the next book in this series. It starts right about where The Strangers ends and includes many of the character from the two previous books. I can say that much, sure. 

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

The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

A special thank you to Edelweiss and G.P. Putnam's Sons for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

All they want for Christmas is a different life.

When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell--both of which are critical to her success as one of the show's judges. Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family's bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won't get the memo that they're over.

With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven't done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician's assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins' identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?

The Holiday Swap is the first offering from Maggie Knox which is the powerhouse duo of Karma Brown and Marissa Stapley. Perfectly paced for a holiday read, it strikes the right balance between banter and charm. With a dusting of decadent baking and themes of sisterhood and empowerment, this book is a gift (and perfect for gift-giving). 

Complimented by two festive romances and a delightful small-town setting that's like living in a snow globe, The Holiday Swap is the quintessential seasonal rom-com to give you all the Christmas feels. 

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KARMA BROWN is an award-winning journalist and author of the bestsellers Come Away With Me, The Choices We Make, In This Moment, The Life Lucy Knew, and Recipe for a Perfect Wife. Her first non-fiction book, The 4% Fix, published in 2020. Karma's writing has appeared in publications such as Redbook, SELF, and Chatelaine. 

Brown lives just outside Toronto, Canada with her husband, daughter, and their adorably handsome labradoodle, Fred.

MARISSA STAPLEY is a journalist and the bestselling author of Mating for Life, Things to Do When It's Raining, The Last Resort and Lucky which has been optioned for television. 

Stapley lives in Toronto with her family. 

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Q & A with Maggie Knox*

GWR: How did the partnership come about?

MK: Back in November 2019 we were both at different stages in our publishing schedules—Karma was hard at work on the publicity for Recipe for a Perfect Wife and Marissa was deep into  edits for Lucky. On the phone or by text we would share when we hit a pitfall in our respective processes. Until one of us quipped: “Wouldn’t it be great if we could just swap places whenever we felt like it?” 


This conversation quickly morphed from a bit of a joke to something more serious—but still very fun! What would it be like to work as a team? And, what would it be like to write a twin swap, one of the tropes we consider the most fun (Parent Trap, anyone?). It went from there!

GWR: Is there any significance to the name Maggie Knox?

MK: We wanted to use the initials MK (or KM, it didn’t really matter!) to represent both our names. Maggie is Marissa’s paternal grandmother’s name—her Grannie Maggie was a writer and she thought if using a pen name it would be a nice nod to her heritage to use that name. And the K in Knox is for Karma, of course—but we took a bit of a circuitous route to settling on that name that had a little to do with the needs of our publisher, as well as how we wanted the name to sound and look. 

GWR: What sparked the idea for The Holiday Swap?

MK: As we mentioned above, the idea came about when we were joking around about writing something fun together. We had a great time going back and forth about the most charming, feel-good, festive, Hallmark movie-esque novel we could think of writing, something that would make us feel so happy to write. And the next thing we knew, we were writing it! We are similarly ambitious and driven when it comes to our writing careers, so once we got going, there was really no stopping us. We got our agents on board right away, and just went for it. 

GWR: Writing a rom-com is a bit of a departure for both of you. Were you inspired by any other rom-com or holiday romance books/authors?  

MK: Absolutely. We both love losing ourselves in a light, romantic and joyful holiday romance story during the holiday season, whether its relaxing with a novel after a long day of shopping, or watching holiday rom coms on television while wrapping presents. We were definitely inspired by our enjoyment of novels by Josie Silver, Mary Kay Andrews, Karen Swan, Karen Schaler and by moves like The Holiday, Let It Snow, and basically anything on the Hallmark Channel! 

GWR: Tell us about the writing process—with two main characters, did you each tackle one? 

MK: We decided we each needed to have an equal investment in the twins’ storylines—and also that one of the benefits of working with a partner was being able to trade off when the going got tough. That meant we did not each take on one twin but instead wrote a very detailed outline and then divided up the chapters and spent an equal amount of time with each twin, in each setting. This really worked for The Holiday Swap, and meant the writing was seamless. It also means when our friends and loved ones read the novel, they have a hard time figuring out who wrote which chapter. Sometimes we can’t even remember! 

GWR: Let’s talk about the food! Are any of Charlie and Cass’ recipes inspired by your own holiday baking? Do either of you have a family recipe that could rival Starlight Bread? 

MK: Marissa got really into baking sourdough bread during the pandemic, while Karma watched, mystified (how often are you supposed to feed a starter?) from the sidelines, so that’s why there is so much sourdough in the book. It was partly Marissa trying to explain to Karma exactly how it all worked. And both our grandmothers had a Christmas cake they always made that inspired the flavours of the Starlight Bread. 

GWR: What did you have the most fun with, character development or plot? 

MK: We both like different aspects of the writing process best: Marissa loves writing early drafts and having fun getting to know the characters, while Karma enjoys the editing and fine-tuning stage of things. While we both enjoyed the plot and character of this book, Marissa probably enjoyed the outlining and drafting and figuring out all the fun twists and turns, while Karma enjoyed digging in and layering in our edits and little details that made the twins feel like real people. 

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

MK: An Aperol Spritz! Light, fizzy, bright, and festive! 

GWR: What’s next for Maggie Knox?

MK: We’ve got our second holiday rom com, All I Want for Christmas, coming out next fall. Right now we’re in the editing phase (meaning Karma is happy and Marissa is missing the writing stage!). This novel is like The Hating Game meets the show Nashville and we love it! It’s a festive and sexy enemies to lovers story about singer/songwriters Sadie Hunter and Max Brody, who are paired up to sing a duet while competing in a Nashville-set reality singing competition show. Sparks fly when they perform together, so much so that everyone thinks they must be in love—and the world falls for the idea of them as a couple. (They even get a hashtag: #Saxie). But in truth, they can hardly stand each other. In the interests of launching their careers and winning the competition they agree to pose as a couple for one year, but as Christmas—and the deadline for the dissolution of their fake relationship—approaches and they come together to write an original holiday love song, they start to realize that their intense feelings might be very real…

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