Review: The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan

Title: The Intimacy Experiment (The Roommate, #2)

Author: Rosie Danan

Publisher: Berkley Books
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Paperback, 336 Pages
Published April 2021

Summary: Naomi Grant has built her life around going against the grain. After the sex-positive start-up she cofounded becomes an international sensation, she wants to extend her educational platform to live lecturing. Unfortunately, despite her long list of qualifications, higher ed won't hire her. Ethan Cohen has recently received two honors: LA Mag named him one of the city's hottest bachelors and he became rabbi of his own synagogue. Taking a gamble in an effort to attract more millennials to the faith, the executive board hired Ethan because of his nontraditional background. Unfortunately, his shul is low on both funds and congregants. The board gives him three months to turn things around or else they'll close the doors of his synagogue for good. Naomi and Ethan join forces to host a buzzy seminar series on Modern Intimacy, the perfect solution to their problems--until they discover a new one--their growing attraction to each other. They've built the syllabus for love's latest experiment, but neither of them expected they'd be the ones putting it to the test.

I've been a huge fan of Rosie Danan's writing ever since some of our friends encouraged me to read THE ROOMMATE last year, and I was instantly hooked. Not only was the premise of the book intriguing -- a girl who ends up living with one of the world's most famous porn stars -- but Rosie Danan is also an excellent writer who really knows how to craft a steamy, hilarious, swoon-worthy romance. So when I found out that there was going to be a spinoff novel about world-famous porn star Naomi Grant turned aspiring teacher, I couldn't wait to preorder my copy. I even made sure I cleared my schedule so I would be free to dive into it on the very day it arrived. So without further ado, here's my review:

As the summary explains, Naomi Grant isn't just a world-famous porn star, but after launching her sex-positive startup with her best friend, Clara, she's looking into possibly teaching seminars on modern intimacy. But she constantly runs into dead ends at higher education institutions, since they're all weary to higher someone with her "trivial" background -- until she runs into Ethan Cohen, a rabbi at a synagogue that is currently bleeding both money and members. So when they agree to pair up to run a seminar on modern intimacy as a way for Naomi to get some teaching credits while Ethan helps attract younger members to his congregation. Naturally, there are a lot of people who aren't happy about this, but they decide to go forward with it anyway...and then, in addition to attracting attention from curious seminar-attendees, they also develop a new attraction...for each other. 

I absolutely adored this book just as much as I loved THE ROOMMATE! Rosie Danan is truly a master of writing romances. I flew through this book, reading almost 100 pages each sitting just because I was so addicted to the story and really wanted to know what Naomi and Ethan were going to do next. Watching them battle their attraction for each other while each of them trying to keep their goals in mind was hilarious, and when sparks finally flew...whew. All I'm going to say about that is that this definitely isn't the kind of book that you want to read in public, if you're a serial swooner/blusher the way I am. Not only were the steamy parts definitely steamy, but the sweet, heartwarming parts also gave me the warm, fuzzy, happy tingles. There were parts of this book where I even happily sighed, swooned, and squealed out loud, frantically texting our group chat. If you want a book that makes you feel all the feels, then THE INTIMACY EXPERIMENT definitely needs to be on your TBR.

Something else that was a really important facet of this book was the way that Naomi explores her faith and the past experiences she's had that caused her to shy away from it for so much time. Not only is this book about Naomi and Ethan learning to foster a strong relationship between the two of them while each balancing their individual demanding commitments, but being around Ethan also encourages Naomi to explore her past and the struggles she faced while growing up Jewish and the tension she felt in high school. But not only that -- being with Ethan and seeing how passionate he is about his faith encourages her to dig deeper and confront exactly what it was that caused her to turn her back on religion. And it even encourages her to start exploring it further. So in addition to this being a story of true love and learning to give up the demons that haunt your past, it's also a story about finding yourself and your faith while falling in love.

My favorite character in this book was definitely Naomi, although I did love seeing mentions of Josh and Clara again! I very much resonated with the way she views the world, as living truly and authentically as herself no matter what anyone has to say about it, while still battling that insecurity and vulnerability that is just part of the human condition. It was tough to see her self-sabotage good situations sometimes, but watching her learn from those mistakes and learn how to let Ethan in and accept love as something permanent rather than something fleeting was really sweet and heartwarming, and I really enjoyed it.

(Spoilers in this paragraph, so skip to the next one to avoid them!) The *one* thing that I wish I had been able to see was Ethan's proposal. Naomi mentions the fact that they're already engaged, and I wasn't surprised that they ended up together, but I really would've loved for that to be the epilogue scene instead of them just briefly mentioning it! But that's just my own opinion, and I still think that the book was excellent regardless. :-) 

Overall, I absolutely adored THE INTIMACY EXPERIMENT, and I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone who read and loved THE ROOMMATE. Even if you didn't read the first book, you could definitely still read this one since it focuses on different characters, but if you really want the backstory about Naomi's company and her friendship with Clara, then I'd absolutely suggest picking that book up first. Plus, it's another wonderful Rosie Danan read that you just don't want to miss! 

And don't forget, you can check out my review of THE ROOMMATE here!

Waiting on Wednesday: A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking The Spine where we highlight some of the upcoming books we can't wait to read! 

Title: A Lot Like Adios
Author: Alexis Daria  
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Paperback, 320 Pages
Publication Date: September 14th, 2021

Summary: Hi Mich. It’s Gabe. After burning out in her corporate marketing career, Michelle Amato has built a thriving freelance business as a graphic designer. So what if her love life is nonexistent? She’s perfectly fine being the black sheep of her marriage-obsessed Puerto Rican-Italian family. Besides, the only guy who ever made her want happily-ever-after disappeared thirteen years ago. It’s been a long time. Gabriel Aguilar left the Bronx at eighteen to escape his parents’ demanding expectations, but it also meant saying goodbye to Michelle, his best friend and longtime crush. Now, he’s the successful co-owner of LA’s hottest celebrity gym, with an investor who insists on opening a New York City location. It’s the last place in the world Gabe wants to go, but when Michelle is unexpectedly brought on board to spearhead the new branding campaign, everything Gabe’s been running from catches up with him. I’ve missed you. Michelle is torn between holding Gabe at arm’s length or picking up right where they left off—in her bed. As old feelings resurface while they work to make the new gym location a reality, their reunion takes a sexy turn. Facing mounting pressure from their families—who think they’re dating—and growing uncertainty about their futures, can they resolve their past mistakes, or is it only a matter of time before Gabe says adios again? 

I absolutely loved Alexis's previous book, YOU HAD ME AT HOLA, which gave me such Jane the Virgin telenovela romance vibes that my hopeless romantic heart was nearly bursting with swoons the entire time that I read it. So when I found out that Alexis Daria had another book coming out, the summary immediately caught me, and now I'm counting down the days until it's September and I can finally have this book on my shelf. There's just something about Alexis Daria's writing that is so addicting, so I can't wait to dive into it again!

And you can read my review of YOU HAD ME AT HOLA here!

What are you waiting on this week? Leave your links so I can stop by!

Top Ten Tuesday: Animals from Books

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl in which we create bookish lists about everything from our favorite characters to love triangles and everything in between! 

This Week's Theme: Animals from Books

This was actually a really hard post! We were supposed to mention some of our favorite animals from books, either fictional or real, and everyone knows I have a memory of a goldfish, so this prompt was really hard. But I still managed to pull together a few books, so without further ado, here are my selections:

1. The squirrel from A LITTLE SOMETHING DIFFERENT by Sandy Hall. So cute! I loved the fact that part of the story is from their POV.

2. Marva's cat from THE VOTING BOOTH by Brandy Colbert. Especially the mission to save them!

3. Basically all of the characters from the AGGRETSUKO comics. Soooo cute and funny, and my boyfriend and I are also big fans of the show!

4. All of the tea dragons in THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY by Katie O'Neill. Seriously so cute and the aesthetic of the book is so sweet and beautiful and pleasant! I actually got a bunch of pins of the tea dragons at BookExpo one year, and it was so great.

5. Valeska from 99 PERCENT MINE by Sally Thorne. May be an imaginary wolf, but still, that book...*swoon*

6. All of the wild animals that Keena Roberts got to see in WILD LIFE. Seriously, it's hard to believe that someone actually got to live a life that cool, and I'm so jealous! 

7. The turkeys from RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE by Casey McQuiston. Enough said.

8. The aquicorns from AQUICORN COVE by Katie O'Neill. Just like with THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY, the illustrations were so sweet and aesthetically pleasing, and I loved them!

9. The bear from MY BOYFRIEND IS A BEAR by Pamela Ribon and Cat Farris. He's pretty dang funny!

10. The little beagle from SAVE THE DATE by Morgan Matson. I have a little beagle myself, named Lola, so I'm a bit biased, but I think that they're soooo cute!

So those were some animals from books! What were yours? And did you have as hard of a time with this prompt as I did? Comment down below and let me know!

One Year Catch-Up with Paper Lanterns!

Hi everyone! Today on the blog, we have something exciting for you. One year ago, we interviewed Paper Lanterns, a brand-new YA literary journal. Now, Paper Lanterns is back to chat with us again and share how their first year has been! 

The Book Bratz: First of all, welcome back! What's happened with Paper Lanterns since our interview last year?

Paper Lanterns: Thank you for having us back! We are delighted to have survived our first year - since we spoke to you last, we’ve launched issues 2, 3 and 4 with three online launches. We’ve published more reviews, features, writing and art. We have also decided to change our submission process slightly, with submissions for features, non-fiction essays and art now open all year around. We select our cover art from our art submissions and we’re hopeful that having submissions open all year means people can submit whenever inspiration strikes! Our creative writing submissions are open 4 times a year. 

The Book Bratz: What has been the most exciting part of the past year for the Paper Lanterns team? 

Paper Lanterns: Reading the work of our contributors, especially our teenage contributors, is always exciting, and so is the first time we get to hold the printed journal in our hand and see how beautiful the end product is! We are also incredibly excited to have received Arts Council funding, which we are very grateful for. The funding means we can increase our pages substantially, allowing us to publish more work. We’ve also been able to increase our fee for contributors.

The Book Bratz: Last year, you mentioned that a dream feature for the journal would be attending the Young Adult Literature Convention in London to cover it for the journal. Obviously, COVID threw a wrench in those plans, but is that still Paper Lanterns's dream feature? Or is there something else that you're hoping for?

Paper Lanterns: The London conference would make an amazing feature, but so would covering YALSA, ALAN and other YA events in America. Hopefully any or all of these will happen! Another dream feature involves highlighting teen book ambassadors involved with amazing projects. We are delighted Issue 5 will have a feature with Sarah Fitzgerald, one of Ireland’s best known teen book lovers (sarahsbookproject.com). Features give us a chance to amplify teen reading and teen voices through channels other than creative writing and art, showing the diverse ways teens are engaging with YA books.

The Book Bratz: What do you hope for Paper Lanterns to achieve in its next year?

Paper Lanterns: We really hope our new book club format takes off. We’ve created a Discord channel for teenagers where we can have both live and asynchronous chats about our selected books. We’ve also launched our internship program with great success so far. We hope that continues to grow.

The Book Bratz: What advice do you have for writers who are thinking of submitting to Paper Lanterns?

Paper Lanterns: Please read our submission guidelines. Every journal has different guidelines for various reasons, so it’s very important that you submit correctly. It shows that you’ve done a bit of research too. We’ve received cover letters that started with “Dear sirs”, when we’re an all female team. These things, although a little time consuming, matter. Also, remember that this is a YA journal. We want to promote the teen voice, so if your character is in their forties going through a divorce, it won’t be a fit for our journal. Once you’ve read the guidelines, and think your work would be a good fit, please submit to us! We’re committed to publishing a diverse range of stories and voices, and would be delighted to receive your writing and art.

All of our submissions info can be found on our website here: https://paperlanternslit.com/submissions/ 

 Keep up with Paper Lanterns: Website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook 

We'd like to thank the amazing team over at Paper Lanterns for stopping by for a one-year follow-up interview! It's been great to see how much they've grown and how they've been doing throughout all of this time, and we're looking forward to another great year of their success! :-) You can also check their Issue 4 launch video here.

2021 Debut Author Interview: Erica George!

In 2019, we made it our goal is to work with as many debut authors as possible and to spread the word about their debut novels. It was such a success last year that we decided to continue the fun for years to come! Follow us this year as we pick the minds of the 2021 debuts and chat with them about their writing process and what it's like to be a new author. Also stay tuned for news of giveaways, Twitter chats, and more!

At the end of 2020, we Tweeted about wanting to discover more debut authors and their books. We ended up finding Erica George and her novel WORDS COMPOSED OF SEA AND SKY, and we have been interested in it ever since! We are so excited to have Erica on the blog today to answer some of our questions! 

Erica George is a writer of young adult fiction. She is a graduate of The College of New Jersey with degrees in both English and education, and is currently an MFA student at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She resides in scenic northern New Jersey, but spends her summers soaking up the salty sea air on Cape Cod. Many themes in Erica’s writing rotate around environmental activism and helping young people find their voice. When she’s not writing, you can find her exploring river towns, whale watching, or engrossed in quality British drama with her dog at her side.

Keep up with Erica: Website / Twitter / Instagram / Goodreads

The Book Bratz: First of all, congratulations! How does it feel to be a debut author?

Erica: Thank you so much! And it feels surreal! I’ve been imagining what it would be like to hold my book in my hands since I was a little girl, so this is absolutely a dream come true. 

The Book Bratz: In your opinion, what's the best part of the writing process? What's the hardest?

Erica: For me, the best part of the writing process is revisions. I love the feeling of taking what I’ve written and reworking it, molding it, into something that really works. While I love drafting, I always dread that what I’m writing down (usually rather quickly!) won’t make sense, and revision is the time that I can guarantee that it does. The most difficult part of the writing process is definitely brainstorming and outlining for me. Usually my ideas come to me in a kind of haphazard nature, and trying to organize my thoughts into something coherent can be a challenge.

The Book Bratz: Where did you get the idea for WORDS COMPOSED OF SEA AND SKY?

Erica: Believe it or not, parts of Words Composed of Sea and Sky came to me when I was in eighth grade. That’s when I originally came up with the character of Benjamin Churchill, the whaler and possible poet, and most certainly the love interest for Leta in 1862, so I’ve carried him with me for a while! But the story really came together for me back in 2018. I knew I wanted to set the novel on Cape Cod and combine the elements of the setting that make it so unique—the sea, the history, the wildlife, and so much poetry. I gravitated towards the idea of having a dual narrative, one set in present day and one in the 19th century, but giving he protagonists the same problem dealt with in different ways.

The Book Bratz: Who was your favorite character to write? Who was the most difficult?

Erica: While I love all of my characters, my absolute favorite character to write was Mellie, Michaela’s little sister. She’s so full of spunk and humor, and I loved getting to know her better! The most difficult character to write was Benjamin Churchill, for sure. He has a lot of baggage. He isn’t always the greatest person, and it took a lot to balance his demons and make him likable at the same time, to make it obvious why Leta fell in love with him.

The Book Bratz: What surprised you the most about the publishing process?

Erica: I think the most surprising thing about the publishing process is how many times I had to read my own book! And each time you read it, you catch something you need to change. By the time WORDS went to print, I needed a break!

The Book Bratz: What do you hope that readers will take away from WORDS COMPOSED OF SEA AND SKY? 

Erica: So much of WORDS is about being brave enough to claim your voice. Both Michaela and Leta experience people who wish to steal their words in one way or another, or they feel they’re not worthy of speaking up or being heard, and this is untrue. It’s a difficult thing to cope with when we’re young, but worth the effort.

The Book Bratz: Do you plan on returning to the world of WORDS COMPOSED OF SEA AND SKY in the future, or do you have any other projects in mind? Can you tell us anything about them?

Erica: WORDS is a standalone novel, so I think this is probably where it ends for these characters. But I’m currently working on revisions for my sophomore young adult novel, THE EDGE OF SUMMER, out with Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in summer of 2022. It follows Coriander Cabot, an aspiring marine biologist, as she copes with the unexpected loss of her best friend and first love, all while spending her summer on Cape Cod disentangling humpback whales. I can’t wait to share it with the world!

Title: Words Composed of Sea and Sky

Author: Erica George

Publisher: Running Press Kids

Publication Date: May 25th, 2021

Summary: Michaela Dunn, living on present day Cape Cod, dreams of getting into an art school, something her family just doesn't understand. When her stepfather refuses to fund a trip for a poetry workshop, Michaela finds the answer in a local contest searching for a poet to write the dedication plaque for a statue honoring Captain Benjamin Churchill, a whaler who died at sea 100 years ago. She struggles to understand why her town venerates Churchill, an almost mythical figure whose name adorns the school team and various tourist traps. When she discovers the 1862 diary of Leta Townsend, however, she gets a glimpse of Churchill that she didn't quite anticipate. In 1862, Leta Townsend writes poetry under the name Benjamin Churchill, a boy who left for sea to hunt whales. Leta is astonished when Captain Churchill returns after his rumored death. She quickly falls for him. But is she falling for the actual captain or the boy she constructed in her imagination?

Thank you so much to Erica for stopping by and answering our questions! We are super excited about WORDS COMPOSED OF SEA AND SKY and can't wait for it to be out in the world on May 25th! 

Review: Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

Title: Yolk

Author: Mary H.K. Choi

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Hardcover, 400 Pages
Publication Date: March 2nd, 2021

Summary: Jayne Baek is barely getting by. She shuffles through fashion school, saddled with a deadbeat boyfriend, clout-chasing friends, and a wretched eating disorder that she’s not fully ready to confront. But that’s New York City, right? At least she isn’t in Texas anymore, and is finally living in a city that feels right for her. On the other hand, her sister June is dazzlingly rich with a high-flying finance job and a massive apartment. Unlike Jayne, June has never struggled a day in her life. Until she’s diagnosed with uterine cancer. Suddenly, these estranged sisters who have nothing in common are living together. Because sisterly obligations are kind of important when one of you is dying.

When I first heard about YOLK, I was immediately intrigued and added it to my TBR. Not only did I love the cover (and yes, I'm a sucker for judging a book by its cover), but the premise itself seemed really interesting. So for my 23rd birthday, my boyfriend drove me to Barnes and Noble and I picked up a copy and dove right in. So without further ado, here's my review:

As the summary explains, Jayne and June are two sisters living in NYC but living entirely different lives. Where Jayne is struggling in a cramped, dingy apartment, June is living it up in a Manhattan high rise two floors away from the penthouse. They've been estranged for a really long time, never having really liked one another, but after June seeks out Jayne to tell her that she has cancer, everything changes. Two sisters that once would do anything to be apart suddenly don't want to be alone anymore, and the consequence of their closeness is that some difficult secrets will have to come to light.

I really enjoyed reading this book! It was actually very easy to find myself getting hooked on it and sucked deep into the story. I read this book in basically two sittings, tearing through 200 pages each time. Something I also want to stress is that a character in this book is battling an eating disorder, so please read with care if that is a tough topic for you. Mary H.K. Choi is a great writer who really knows how to weave together a story, so the book felt perfectly paced and brought me along for the journey, which I really enjoyed. And seeing the differences between Jayne and June, and the lives they've lived, and the secrets they've kept, was really startling. I know that we all inherently know that everyone isn't who they seem, but seeing all of Jayne and June's complications, secrets, worries, and fears come to light really felt like a shock of cold water.

It was really interesting to see Jayne and June's dynamic unfold, even if it was a little confusing at times. For starters, this book definitely didn't feel like a YA novel to me at all, or even that much of an NA story, either. I kept picturing Jayne and June as being way older -- I think because June is supposed to be living in this fancy near-penthouse apartment and she's only 23, which is my current age right now. I don't even know anyone who could afford to live in a place like that and have a life like that straight out of college -- and I also went to a big business school in NYC! But maybe that's just my own experience talking. Regardless, as much as I enjoyed watching the story of these two sisters unfold, I still had to keep reminding myself that they were both way younger than I was picturing, even if the story felt so quintessentially adult. I still really enjoyed reading it, though!

This book also had much more of a literary lean to it, which isn't bad at all, but just isn't really my taste. So I had to go back a few times to reread passages to really understand what was going on, but once I cleared those parts up, the rest of the story progressed really nicely and I really liked it.

(Spoilers in this paragraph, skip to the next one to avoid them!) I also really liked the small detail of Jayne meeting up with Ingrid at the end of the book. It was a sweet, interesting way to show a bit of a peek behind the curtain about someone who Jayne saw and passed judgement on almost every day. And realizing that they both noticed each other -- that neither of them were as invisible to the world as they might think -- actually warmed my heart a lot. Especially since that's something that Jayne struggles with so much throughout the book -- wishing that someone would actually notice her. So seeing that Ingrid has all this time was a really sweet, down-to-earth, enlightening moment. And I also just have a random question that bothered me for literally the entire book -- if June is only 23 (my current age), how the heck does she have such a fancy high-rise apartment? Especially if she doesn't have a job??? I don't know a single NYC 23 year old that even has a job that prestigious that can make that much money when you're so young without climbing the latter. That's part of the reason that I said this book doesn't even feel like a YA story at all, since I pictured them both as being so much older.

Overall, I really enjoyed YOLK and would recommend it to anyone looking for a deep, emotional roller coaster of a story. Mary H.K. Choi is a beautiful writer who certainly has a way with words, and I tore through this book at such a quick pace because I just kept wanting to know what was going to happen next. If this book isn't on your TBR already, I definitely recommend checking it out!

Waiting on Wednesday: Your Life Has Been Delayed by Michelle I. Mason

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking The Spine where we highlight some of the upcoming books we can't wait to read! 

Title: Your Life Has Been Delayed
Author: Michelle I. Mason
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Hardcover, 304 Pages
Publication Date: August 24th, 2021

Summary: Jenny Waters boards her flight in 1995, but when she lands, she and the other passengers are told they disappeared . . . 25 years ago. Everyone thought they were dead. Now contending with her family and friends fast-forwarding decades, Jenny must quickly adjust to smartphones and social media while being the biggest story to hit the internet. She feels betrayed by her once-best friend and fights her attraction to a cute boy with an uncomfortable connection to her past. Meanwhile, there’s a growing group of conspiracy theorists determined to prove the whole situation is a hoax. Will Jenny figure out how to move forward, or will she always be stuck in the past?

The first time that I read the summary for this book, I was so intrigued that I immediately wanted to know more and added it to my TBR. Needless to say, I can't wait for August to get here, because I really want to read this one! I'm intrigued and can't wait to see how it all pans out. I've never heard of a premise like this one before, and that's what I love about it!

What are you waiting on this week? Leave your links so I can stop by!

Top Ten Tuesday: Colorful Book Covers

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl in which we create bookish lists about everything from our favorite characters to love triangles and everything in between! 

This Week's Theme: Colorful Book Covers

Today's post involves rounding up some color book covers, so I pulled together some that I love. Without further ado, here are my choices! I'm a big fan of the bright, illustrated, pastel, and very rom-com themed colors:

         

So those are ten colorful book covers that I love! What are some of yours? Comment down below and let me know!

2021 Debut Author Interview: Miel Moreland!

In 2019, we made it our goal is to work with as many debut authors as possible and to spread the word about their debut novels. It was such a success last year that we decided to continue the fun for years to come! Follow us this year as we pick the minds of the 2021 debuts and chat with them about their writing process and what it's like to be a new author. Also stay tuned for news of giveaways, Twitter chats, and more!

At the end of 2020, we Tweeted about wanting to discover more debut authors and their books. We ended up finding Miel Moreland and her novel IT GOES LIKE THIS, and we have been interested in it ever since! We are so excited to have Miel on the blog today to answer some of our questions! 

Miel Moreland writes character-driven contemporary Young Adult novels. Born and raised in Minneapolis, she has a Midwestern heart but wandering feet. When not making pop music references and celebrating fandom, she is likely to be found drinking hot chocolate and making spreadsheets. She currently resides in Boston

Keep up with Miel: Website / Twitter / Instagram / Goodreads

The Book Bratz: First of all, congratulations! How does it feel to be a debut author?

Miel: Absolutely surreal. I’ve wanted to be an author since I was five or six years old, once I realized this was a job people had, and now my book is coming out! Part of me still feels like it’s early 2018 and IT GOES LIKE THIS is just something fun between me and my critique partners. It’s difficult (but exciting!) to try to grasp the fact that people I don’t know are reading it, and my story is becoming part of someone else’s story. 

The Book Bratz:  In your opinion, what's the best part of the writing process? What's the hardest?

Miel: Is it a cop-out to say the best part of the writing process is any part that’s going smoothly? Although I do enjoy revisions in general, once I have a plan for them, starting revisions is often difficult for me because I always have to add tension—and that’s not at all natural for me! I hate giving my characters more problems. 

The Book Bratz: Where did you get the idea for IT GOES LIKE THIS?

Miel: IT GOES LIKE THIS came out of a number of interests or threads in my life that all finally converged together into this one book. I’ve been a pop music fan for most of my life, and for a couple of years before I started drafting IGLT, I researched the music industry and played around with a few music-centric short stories. I started writing the novel about a year after I graduated from college, when I was thinking a lot about changing friendships. And I’d been reading some books where the band (or the team, group, and so on, depending on the book) breaks up at the end of the book. I wanted to write a book that started where the others ended. What happens after? I felt I was presented with this question: does growing up always mean growing apart? I don’t think the answer is always yes. 

The Book Bratz: Who was your favorite character to write? Who was the most difficult?

Miel: This is such a difficult question, and during different drafts, I had a different favorite band member. Eva might have been my favorite to write overall, simply because I spent the most time in her head and so feel closest to her. Gina was the most difficult, because it took me a long time to be able to identify and articulate her arc, and then longer to properly build it into the book. But I adore her, and she is worth every re-written chapter. 

The Book Bratz: Are there any other books or authors who give you inspiration for your own writing?

Miel: So many! I’ll shout-out just two authors right now: Tess Sharpe and Zan Romanoff. 

The Book Bratz: What do you hope that readers will take away from IT GOES LIKE THIS? 

Miel: It’s okay to change your mind, more than once, about what you want, what you need, and in what places and relationships you are able to be your truest, fullest, most seen and respected and beloved self at any particular moment in your life. 

The Book Bratz: Do you plan on returning to the world of IT GOES LIKE THIS in the future, or do you have any other projects in mind? Can you tell us anything about them?

Miel: I don’t have any immediate or formal plans to return to the world of IT GOES LIKE THIS, but I would love to at some point! At minimum, I am hoping to share some bonus short stories (including at least one AU, because this is a fandom novel at heart) within the next year. I’ve been working on a few other novels over the past year, but I’m always wary of talking too much about specific projects until deals are announced!

Title: It Goes Like This

Author: Miel Moreland

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publication Date: May 18th, 2021

Summary: Eva, Celeste, Gina, and Steph used to think their friendship was unbreakable. After all, they've been though a lot together, including the astronomical rise of Moonlight Overthrow, the world-famous queer pop band they formed in middle school, never expecting to headline anything bigger than the county fair. But after a sudden falling out leads to the dissolution of the teens' band, their friendship, and Eva and Celeste's starry-eyed romance, nothing is the same. Gina and Celeste step further into the spotlight, Steph disappears completely, and Eva, heartbroken, takes refuge as a songwriter and secret online fangirl...of her own band. That is, until a storm devastates their hometown, bringing the four ex-best-friends back together. As they prepare for one last show, they'll discover whether growing up always means growing apart. 

Thank you so much to Miel for stopping by and answering our questions! We are super excited about IT GOES LIKE THISand can't wait for it to be out in the world on May 18th!