Who Says You Can't Go Home?
by Andria Henry
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
BLURB:
When Toronto party girl Kylie is fired from her perfect job, she's forced to do the one thing she never wanted to do: go home. Returning to her sleepy hometown is her definition of failure. She drags herself back to the lakeside town of Camden with her tail between her legs, and she'll do whatever it takes to get back to the big city.
When Derek runs a routine traffic stop on a speeder, the one person he never expects to see in Camden again is Kylie. In fact, he barely recognizes her. She doesn't look like the quiet, sweet girl he had a crush on in high school.
Kylie's brother offers her a job back in the city if she can prove she’s changed her ways. She finds the perfect opportunity, but it means working with Derek to save the town’s waterfront. Can she look past their feud and get the job done?
Can she avoid falling in love with him and complicating her plans to return to the big city?
Excerpt:
Derek took a long sip of his coffee. The one improvement he made to the station when he took over was to buy a high-end coffee maker with a grinder and a collection of fresh beans. He used his own money of course, but it came in handy when talking things out with members of the town. Conversations always went better when they started with “Mmmm, this is good coffee”.
He had finally opened his ticket pad to put Kylie’s speeding fine into the computer system and he sat, staring at it. The address listed on her license was in downtown Toronto, and as curiosity got the better of him, he brought up the street view online.
It was a high rise, lacking in character, all steel and concrete on the outside. He pictured her coming out the front doors on her way to work in the morning. What could her job in the city be? In his mind, she wore a fashionable trench coat and high heels. Her long hair was in a tight ponytail, and she had the slight scowl on her face he figured all people in the city had. It didn’t feel right. She didn’t fit in there. Where was her easy smile from when they were young?
He imagined her stopping at a cart for coffee and a croissant, but then a handsome man in a suit approached her and kissed her on the cheek. Of course, she had a boyfriend in Toronto. How could she not, as gorgeous as she was? What kind of man would this new Kylie be with?
Interview with Andria Henry
How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?
I was taking a romance writing course one summer and the culminating assignment was to write the first chapter of a romance novel. I was visiting my parents back home at the time and had taken my laptop to the library to work. Well, the library in my hometown has big windows overlooking both the lake and the football field, and I decided then that I wanted to write stories based in my hometown (or a version of my hometown). I started playing with the idea of someone having to get used to living in the small town again after living in Toronto and our city party girl Kylie was born!
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
Who Says You Can’t Go Home was written to be a warm hug of a read, with charming characters, a realistic and fun representation of small-town life, and a heart-warming ending. Readers have described it as “Stars Hollow vibes” (for any Gilmore Girls fans out there), “Canadian Hallmark”, and “Like a giant scoop of ice cream.” Which I’m pretty sure means I hit the mark well.
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
Finding the time to work on it! I wrote the first half of this book when my youngest was still at home most of the time, so I wrote during National Novel Writing Month and then it got shelved for a while. When my youngest finally started kindergarten, the pandemic hit. At the beginning when everyone was trying to find ways to spend time at home, I opened my document again and got back to this story. I still had to entertain the littles every day, so it was slow going, but about 7 months later I finally had a full draft of the book. Nowadays, I’m so thankful that my kids are back in school so I can work on my writing and getting my books out there.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
The most enjoyable part of writing this book was picturing Kylie and Derek and their friends living, working, and interacting in my hometown. I only get back there a few times a year now to visit, so it’s fun to spend time describing the town, the beach, the football field, and all the things I recognize (and some I made up because it’s a crime that my town DOESN’T have a bookstore-café! Each writing session is like a mini visit back home.
Were there alternate endings you considered?
Who Says You Can’t Go Home originally had a much different ending. It was still a happy ending, but with a different feel. My editor kindly pointed out to me that Kylie would never just drop her responsibilities and run away, and Derek wouldn’t just shirk his responsibilities to chase her. It would’ve been out of character for both of them at that point. So now their story has an ending that makes much more sense and I think is much cuter as well (it takes place at a fair after all!).
Can you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?
The funny thing about writing a book based on my hometown is that some of the characters in the book are inspired by a few real-life personalities in my town. In a good way, I promise! And luckily, I had an entire childhood of memories to draw from when creating Camden, so I didn’t have to do much research outside of technical things about how waste water works and what it’s like to be a member of the Ontario Provincial Police.
What genre of books do you enjoy reading?
I love sweet romance and romantic comedy. I love books by Annie Darling and Emily Henry. But I also love various subgenres of fantasy and sci fi, usually YA or middle grade. I pretty much love anything by Beth Revis, EK Johnston, Amie Kaufman, and Rick Riordan.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Andria Henry is the author of adult sweet romance and romantic comedy, as well as young adult and middle grade science fiction and fantasy. She firmly believes that coffee is a food group, the holiday season starts on November 1st, and that stories are our most important resource. She lives with her husband, kids, and furkids in Hamilton, Ontario.
Connect with Andria Henry
Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Goodreads
4 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Thanks for having me on the blog today!
The book sounds like a great read.
Excellent interview!! I really enjoyed reading it!! Also, I have added this book to my TBR List and look forward to checking it out :)
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