Q&A with Emma R. Alban

 

 

Emma R. Alban is the author of the new novel Like in Love with You. Her other books include Don't Want You Like a Best Friend. She lives in Los Angeles. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Like in Love with You, and how did you create your characters Catherine and Rosalie?

 

A: As I was brainstorming my next book, my Dad and I were having a lot of fun trading comp ideas, in the “It’s THIS meets THIS” format. Some were ridiculous, some were hilarious, and a few…will hit shelves in this decade.

 

One of the combos I tossed up was Mean Girls meets Northanger Abbey, because Mean Girls The Musical The Movie had just dropped.

 

As I watched it, I was struck by how many of the high school clique dynamics map onto the Marriage Market, but that you’d get two levels in the Ton, with the debutantes, and their mothers, with infinitely higher adult stakes for everyone.

 

As soon as I started swirling that around in my head, Catherine and Rosalie just walked right up. Catherine as a fish-out-of-water in her first Season in Bath, UK. Rosalie as the resident mean girl, but with a dwindling group of friends, with most everyone she knows having been married off. And their mothers, with a past and vendettas of their own. 

 

How Catherine and Rosalie would react to being pitted against one another provided infinite story ideas, as did knowing they’d slowly become more and more attracted to each other across the season. The whole concept was deeply inspiring, and it made for very easy outlining, because everything was just sort of there from the get-go in the idea.  

 

Q: Can you say more about the “Mean Girls meets Northanger Abbey” idea?

 

A: So, Like in Love with You is about two debutantes who are forced to fight over the same (lackluster) man by their feuding mothers, and slowly come to realize they’d rather be fighting for each other, instead. 

 

Catherine is new to Bath (an homage to Catherine from Northanger Abbey), trying to make her way in the social season, when her mother realizes her arch-nemesis is still there, and her daughter, Lady Rosalie, is the jewel of the town, and soon-to-be-engaged to the most eligible bachelor of the season.  So, naturally, Catherine’s mother decides they need to sabotage Lady Rosalie’s relationship. 

 

Catherine’s initially on board, until she gets taken in by Lady Rosalie’s magnetic charm, wit, and scary mean girl wiles. Lady Rosalie’s determined to win her suitor, Mr. Dean, but finds that no matter how aloof she wants to be, Catherine’s going to tear down her defenses one smile at a time.

 

With every competition over Mr. Dean, they fall harder for each other than for him. If only their mothers would give up the fight…

 

Q: So what role do you see Mr. Dean playing in the novel?

 

A: Oh, Mr. Dean. He just wants to talk about his world tour and play cards.

 

As soon as I came up with the conceit of two debutantes being forced to fight over a man, I became deeply in love with the idea of that man just being so very, very blah. I wanted him to be a prize in title only.

 

He’s a nothing-burger of a person, with a very handsome face, which might have been “enough” for Catherine or Rosalie if they had never met each other, but as soon as they do, he serves as a catalyst for them to realize what they don’t want, and start looking to find a way to keep what they do. 

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: When I sent the first draft to my editor, I had tentatively titled it “Not Your Mother’s Marriage Market.” But we decided as a team that it wasn’t the right fit.

 

I knew l wanted a title that was a playful nod to Regina George. Renee Rapp had just dropped “It’s Not My Fault,” which uses the line from Mean Girls, “you’re like in love with me.”

 

And I thought Like in Love with You would be a playful nod to that song, as well as a statement about what you’re about to read: historical romance, with a modern flare, a Mean Girls vibe, and some delightful catty behavior. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m just finishing up edits on a soon-to-be-announced project, and am about to dive into edits for my next historical romance with Avon, coming Winter 2027 (another rivals-to-lovers story, but with a…swapping twist). Very excited to dive back in!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Like in Love with You is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook (narrated by the fantastic Mary Jane Wells and Morag Sims). If you’re in LA, NYC, or DC, I’ll be doing book events over the next two weeks, and would love to see you!

 

January 16, The Ripped Bodice LA

January 21, The Ripped Bodice Brooklyn

January 22, East City Bookshop, DC

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Emma R. Alban.