Meg Easton is a US based writer of contemporary romance, and I was privileged enough to receive an ARC of her fantastic novel, Spies Don’t Fall for Their Rival, which was released in August as the second in the Romancing the Spy series. The first book, Spies Don’t Fall for Their Asset, is definitely a top read too!
Welcome to Meg! You’ve written several different series of romances, so tell me what inspired you for this Romancing the Spy series?
A little bit of a lot of things, actually! Growing up on James Bond movies, then Mission: Impossible movies, having a dad who worked on top-secret projects my entire childhood, watching spy television shows, all of it. I love spy movies/TV/books! But the biggest inspiration might have come from reading the Gallagher Girls books to my kids a dozen years ago. I started thinking of and letting ideas percolate about writing a spy family in a series of romcoms back then, and it took over a decade of dreaming about it before I finally decided I was ready to take it on.
What are your top spy movies?
Figuring out top spy movies is HARD. Let’s talk TV shows! Because one of my favorite spy shows is Chuck. I love how hilarious it is and how it mixes regular guy stuff with spy stuff. And the show doesn’t take itself too seriously, which for a girl who’s been dreaming of writing spy romcom for ages, I super appreciate. I also really enjoyed the TV show Covert Affairs. That one is part of the reason why I wanted to have Zoe be a CIA agent.
What did you enjoy most about writing Ledger and Zoe’s story?
The characters, definitely. Ledger was fun to write because he’s a big guy who doesn’t really get how much he stands out. And he doesn’t stop to question whether or not he has the ability to do something— he just rushes right into it. He’s an action first, think later kind of guy. I loved writing Zoe because she had a difficult childhood and doesn’t truly believe that she’s worthy of love. So she shoots for being worthy of admiration, and she works her tail off to be the best! Her character arc of learning her value beyond her spy skills and finding out her capacity to love is one of my favorites I’ve ever written.
What’s your favourite swoon moment in the book?
Oh, goodness. That one is hard– Ledger brings a lot of swoon-worthy moments! I’m going to be vague on most of these so I don’t get too spoilery. There are the little things, like bringing her cheese on the plane, carrying her to get help when she fell, taking care of her while recovering, and giving her the necklace. My favorite is a tie, and sorry, I’m not going to break the tie.
The first is after she falls, she goes into surgery, and they have a conversation afterward as she’s coming out of anesthesia. She says some things to Ledger, spilling how she feels about him—things that she normally wouldn’t have shared. Because she’s shared so much, she’s convinced she’s been captured and has been given a kind of truth serum. I had so much fun with that scene! And it kind of gave their relationship a good nudge forward.
The other is right at the end of the book. During a big operation, they’re in an ancient fortress, taking down bad guys, and Ledger gets captured and put in a cell that no one has the key to. Zoe races there to save him, and they have some super sweet (and okay, rather humorous) moments together, being separated by cell bars. Until they aren’t. Those were a couple of chapters that I loved every second of writing. It was a fun setting, it really got to the heart of the characters, had some funny moments, and it was just so sweet and so very them.
What are you working on next?
Another Romancing the Spy Book! This time, it’s the only Lancaster sister, Charlie, and it’s titled Spies Don’t Fall for Their Neighbor. She’s a super fun character, and she is only ever a behind-the-scenes spy. She very much prefers to not be seen. (She’s comically bad at the in-person spy stuff.) She lives in a townhome and her love interest lives in the one next to hers. They share a wall… until a water line breaks in her kitchen and repairs take out the wall they share, making it impossible for her not to be seen. I can’t wait to be finished and share it with you!
She thinks he’s a thief breaking into her house at Christmastime. It turns out, he might just steal her heart.
My plan, along with my fellow Outside the Bubble club members, was to surprise someone by putting up her Christmas lights.
When Annette comes home unexpectedly and catches me climbing a ladder to her roof, she assumes I’m the Grinch, coming to steal Christmas. Her dog gets in on the action, too, and before I know it, the three of us are on the ground in a tangle of twinkle lights.
She’s an organized, driven executive with two grown kids. She recently divorced a husband who hid things from her, so I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that she can tell I’m keeping things about myself hidden.
I was an intelligence operative in the field, and I still work for the same top-secret government agency. So you could say that I’m full of secrets.
Even though I’ve spent a lifetime staying away from relationships, sparks fly, and love sneaks up on me like a spy on a midnight mission. But I’ve spent my life in disguise—currently as Abraham in the office and Hammy everywhere else— and I’m not sure if I can show the real me.
This leaves me wondering if our budding romance will get tangled up in more than just holiday lights.
Holiday Lights and Cocoa Cookie Nights is a dual-point-of-view, festive rom-com novella with seasoned characters set in the world of Romancing the Spy. It’s packed with heart, humor, a little adventure, and plenty of cocoa-flavored Christmas cheer.
This is really fun Christmas novella, a super quick read and I loved seeing Hammy’s story unfold (if you’ve read Romancing the Spy series, he’s a great side character). The later in life element made it even sweeter. Curl up with this one!
You can follow Meg on Instagram @megeaston_author.
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Sophie Toovey 