Jill Shalvis is the author of the new novel The Sweetheart List. Her many other books include The Friendship Pact. She lives in the Sierras.
Q: What inspired you to write The Sweetheart List, and how did you create your characters Harper and Bodie?
A: Harper came first. I just kept thinking of a woman who walks away from her life and takes an adventure and moves to the last place that made her happy — summer at Lake Tahoe when she was 12, the year before her mom passed away.
Bodie came next, a gruff, rough around the edges guy who
thinks he's broken inside where his cold dead heart resides. Matching these two
and watching them fall was a whole bunch of fun.
Q: This is the fourth in your Sunrise Cove series--how do you see the novels relating to one another?
A: They’re only connected by the setting, which is my own backyard…Lake Tahoe. So they can be read in any order, I promise! You can start right here, right now with The Sweetheart List, one of my personal faves (mostly because Bodie is YUM).
Q: What do you think The Sweetheart List says about families?
A: Harper doesn’t have a lot of experience with family, but Bodie does. His two brothers are everything to him.
So what does the book say about family? It says that it's
like being a litter of kittens. They can’t stand to be together and they can’t
stand to be apart. :) But seriously, family, love ‘em or hate ‘em, they stand
at your back, no matter what.
Q: The Publishers Weekly review of the novel says that “Shalvis hits the perfect blend of sweet and spicy.” What do you think of that description?
A: Well, the “perfect blend” felt like a huge compliment. And it is both sweet and spicy, so there’s that. :)
Harper and Bodie are strangers when the book opens, but
there’s instant chemistry. Problem is, they’re both broken in their own ways,
so that chemistry has them both extremely wary. So it takes a bit to get to the
sweet, and the spicy. :)
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m putting the finishing touches on the book that comes
after The Sweetheart List. This one is called The Bright Spot, and I sure
wouldn’t mind another wonderful quote from Publishers Weekly because this one
is also sweet, but also quite spicy!
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: That I love to hear from readers, and they can find me:
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Jill Shalvis.
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