On this episode, the full F&F family — Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry — gathers with Managing Director Meg Walker for a special “just us” episode. Consider this a throwback to the earlier days of Friends & Fiction when we wouldn’t always welcome an author guest every week and our hosts would occasionally just gather to have an off-the-cuff chat about what they’re reading and loving, what trends they’re seeing in the industry, and what’s happening in their busy author lives. On a week when the show would have been “dark” for a monthly break in the action, the Fab Four decided to record one of these fun chats instead of airing an old guest interview from our vault. We hope you’ll tune in and enjoy the old-school camaraderie that’s really the heart and soul of Friends & Fiction!

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On this episode, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Kristin Harmel welcome preeminent journalist and royal biographer Omid Scobie and his National Book Award-winning co-author Robin Benway to discuss their much-anticipated novel, Royal Spin, in which they draw from their real world expertise to create an irresistibly entertaining story about a young American woman who takes a job at Buckingham Palace—where she finds herself tangled in a royal mess she might not be able to spin her way out of. Omid Scobie is a British journalist and NYT-bestselling author of Finding Freedom and Endgame, which have been published in more than 20 countries. He spent 12 years covering the royal beat for major outlets including ABC News, Good Morning America, and Harper's Bazaar. Scobie is co-creator, writer, and executive producer on the forthcoming TV adaptation of Royal Spin. Robin Benway is a National Book Award-winning and NYT-bestselling author of nine YA novels (Far from the Tree, Emmy & Oliver), which have been published in more than 25 countries. Her nonfiction work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Bustle, Elle, and more. Omid & Robin join us from their home base in LA to discuss their first co-written novel, Royal Spin, which Jasmine Guillory calls, “hugely entertaining and engaging” and “a fun, page-turner of a book!”

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On this episode, the full F&F family gathers to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Authors, the bestselling Janie Chang to discuss her haunting Gothic novel set in 1911 China, The Fourth Princess, and the NYT-bestselling Kate Quinn to discuss her gorgeously written fantastical adventure, The Astral Library. These are our TWO February 2026 Picks of the Month in one fabulous double whammy episode! Janie Chang is a Globe and Mail bestselling author of historical fiction that often draws from her family history and ancestral stories. She is the author of Three Souls, Dragon Springs Road, The Library of Legends, and The Porcelain Moon; and co-author of the USA Today bestseller The Phoenix Crown, with Kate Quinn. We are excited to hear about The Fourth Princess in which two young women living in a crumbling, once-grand Shanghai mansion face danger as secrets of their pasts come to light.
Kate Quinn is a New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. A lifelong history buff, she wrote four novels in her Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and The Briar Club. We are looking forward to discussing Kate’s first foray into magic realism, The Astral Library, which poses the question: have you ever wished you could live inside a book?

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On this episode, the full F&F family gathers to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, the NYT-bestselling Paula McLain, to discuss our January 2026 Pick of the Month, her new mesmerizing tale of Paris above and below, Skylark, in which a woman’s quest for artistic freedom in 1664 intertwines with a doctor’s dangerous mission during the German occupation in the 1940s, revealing a story of courage and resistance that transcends time. Paula McLain is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun, and Love and Ruin, as well as two collections of poetry and a memoir. Her work has been published in over thirty-five countries, and featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Town & Country, Real Simple, and elsewhere. She joins us to discuss her new dual timeline historical novel, Skylark, which was recently named as this month’s GMA Book Club Pick, and which has been praised by People magazine as a “vivid, inspirational story of brave resilience,” and by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes, as “the gift of a brilliant storyteller.”

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On this episode, Ron Block & Mary Kay Andrews welcome USA Today bestselling author Jesse Q. Sutanto to discuss her new claustrophobic psychological suspense novel Read Between the Lies in which the line between victim and villain blurs with every chapter. Because in the end, everyone has their own version of the truth--but only one will make it onto the page.
Jesse is the Edgar Award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties, The Obsession, Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, and Well, That Was Unexpected. The film rights to Dial A for Aunties were acquired by Netflix in a competitive bidding war, while the TV rights to Vera Wong were bought by Warner Bros. with Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling attached to produce. Sutanto holds a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Oxford and lives in Indonesia with her husband, two daughters, and a ridiculously large extended family. She joins us to discuss her new novel Read Between the Lies which Mindy Kaling describes as “a dark, delicious takedown of cancel culture and the publishing industry.”

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On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz to discuss her enthralling new romantic suspense novel, The Shop on Hidden Lane which is filled with deeply entrenched grudges, psychic dangers, and a conspiracy that threatens not only two families but also the entire paranormal community. Jayne is the author of more than 50 NYT bestsellers. She uses three different pen names for each of her “worlds.” As Jayne Ann Krentz (her married name) she writes contemporary romantic-suspense. She uses Amanda Quick for her novels of historical romantic-suspense. Jayne Castle (her birth name) is reserved these days for her stories of futuristic/paranormal romantic-suspense. In addition to her fiction writing, she is the editor of and a contributor to the essay collection, Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance. In a starred review, Booklist said The Shop on Hidden Lane “delivers everything her readers crave including a super-cool librarian heroine with an intriguing side hustle, plenty of snappy dialogue, simmering sexual chemistry, and a clever canine who almost steals the show." We can’t wait to talk to her all about it!

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On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Ron Block welcome #1 bestselling author Brad Meltzer on our first show of the new year to discuss The Viper, the brand-new installment in his thrilling Zig and Nola series which unravels a shocking cold case with a personal—and deadly—twist. Brad Meltzer is the Emmy-nominated, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Rod and twelve other bestselling thrillers. He also writes nonfiction books like The JFK Conspiracy, and the Ordinary People Change the World kids’ book series. One of the co-creators of the TV show, “Jack & Bobby,” Brad is also the host of “Brad Meltzer’s Decoded” on the History Channel and is responsible for helping find the missing 9/11 flag with his show, “Brad Meltzer’s Lost History.” He joins us from his home in Florida to discuss The Viper (William Morrow, January 6th), which S.A. Cosby calls “a pulse pounding adventure that takes you on a journey into the darkest recesses of the human heart.”

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For New Year's week, we are re-airing one of our favorite episodes from the vault! Join us as the Fab Four — Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry — talk to reigning queen of the modern romance novel, Emily Henry, about her 2024 No.1 NYT-bestselling FUNNY STORY. Emily Henry is the author of four YA novels and, since 2020, she has published six NYT-bestselling rom-coms for adults (including BEACH READ, BOOK LOVERS, and HAPPY PLACE), with five of them being adapted for the big and small screens. In April 2024 Emily joined us to discuss FUNNY STORY, a shimmering, joyful novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common that went on to become a New York Times Notable Book. Now is the perfect time to revisit this chat as Emily comes off a truly incredible year. Emily’s 2025 novel GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE was a #1 NYT bestseller and was named a Reese’s Book Club pick, and the movie adaptation of her 2021 THE PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION will premiere on Netflix just after the holidays on January 9, 2026. So, as you wait for the ball to drop this New Year’s Eve, tune in for this interview, now with a brand-new intro recorded by Kristy Woodson Harvey.

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