Sunday, February 4 at 2:00 pm EST
Join us as we chat about all things love and romance with popular authors Beth Reekles, Romi Moondi and Jo Watson. From fake dating, to second chance romance, to love found in a coworker, these ladies have all your favourite tropes covered. We’ll get into all the nitty gritty about their books, their writing process, and what it’s like to love in modern times. Kayleigh Platz will host the discussion. Don’t worry, we’ll leave time at the end for questions from the audience.
Beth Reekles is the author of The Kissing Booth series, which inspired the incredibly successful Netflix films. She first published The Kissing Booth on Wattpad in 2010, when she was just fifteen years old, and it accumulated almost twenty million reads before being published in 2012. Lockdown on London Lane is her tenth published book. Beth now works in IT while maintaining her career as an author. She also runs a blog where she talks about life as a twenty-something and offers writing advice. She’s a fan of movies, fan fiction, and musicals.
About Faking It:
Lifelong singleton Sophie is facing a year of events celebrating her friends and family settling down. And despite a string of failed dates, she hopes to find love just like everyone else. Even if her anonymous column about relationships is currently more successful than her actual love life.
When she needs a plus-one to her sister’s wedding and lies that she has a guy on the scene, she enlists the sexy and charming Harry as her fake boyfriend. He helps her save face in front of her family, and she helps him deal with his friends after the implosion of his marriage.
But as the pair grow closer, Sophie realizes that they’re both just using their fake relationship as a shield. After all, when you’re pretending to be in love, how is it possible to find the real thing?
Romi Moondi is a Canadian writer who primarily writes romantic comedies with the aim to make you laugh and activate your heartstrings. Her diverse romantic comedy 24 Hours in Paris received a Publishers Weekly starred review, was the 2022 Publishers Weekly #1 Summer Romance Read, and was selected as an official book club pick by Canadian daytime talk-show The Social. When she’s not writing novels or traveling, Romi can be found in Toronto dreaming up screenplays, copywriting for clients, trying out new recipes, and loving Seinfeld forever.
About 24 Hours in Italy:
A new destination, a familiar spark . . .
Two years have passed since Mira and Jake missed their flight and spent a magical 24 hours together in Paris. Sparks flew. Romance bloomed. But life got in the way. When they’re reunited for another whirlwind adventure, will they connect in the same way?
Mira’s living her best life, having started a new chapter by taking a leave from her high pressure corporate position to spend time in Italy. Surrounded by amazing scenery, fantastic food and wine, and endearing locals, her life is nearly perfect—except for the thoughts of what might’ve been with Jake.
While Jake’s career has never been better, the move to California has been less than perfect. Still, he’s got high hopes that seeing Mira at their friends’ destination wedding can right past wrongs. Except travel has never been his strong suit, and his reunion with Mira is punctuated by another, more recent heartbreak.
When the pair collide again on the gorgeous Amalfi coast, the spark they felt in Paris is reignited, but their quest for a happy ending will surely be as rocky as the Italian coastline.
Jo Watson is the bestselling author of adult romantic women’s fiction, rom-coms, and contemporary YA. Jo has sold over 600,000 copies of her books worldwide and travels internationally to promote them. She is also a story writer on Wattpad, where she has over 80 million reads and 120,000 followers and has been awarded the Watty Award for outstanding stories twice. She lives in South Africa with her son and husband.
About What Happens on Vacation:
Journalist Margaret loves her job, writing for a respected newspaper in Johannesburg. There’s only one problem: her co-worker, Jagger Villain. Is that even his real name?she often wonders. Jagger spends his days writing fluff pieces on everything from the worst-rated barber in Johannesburg to speed dating to male sex toys. To make matters worse, they share a cubicle and a desk, and every day he finds new ways to drive her to distraction. She needs a vacation!
Luckily, the annual company quiz night is coming up, and first prize is an all-expenses paid trip to a resort in Zanzibar. Margaret has never met a quiz night she can’t win, and she’s determined to win this one for herself and her mother. But she’s never competed against Jagger. When they end up tied, Margaret is faced with the fact that she will have to spend her vacation on the same island as Jagger, and whoever he decides to bring. However, his plus one isn’t what she expected. It’s not some girl of the moment, it’s his father. That’s when the entire situation goes from farce to horror show: their parents fall in love and decide to get married.
Suddenly Margaret and Jagger go from co-workers who dislike each other (but also ‘accidentally’ had sex one night) to future step siblings who dislike each other (but also ‘accidentally’ had sex one night!). But maybe they don’t dislike each other as much as they thought they did?
