Here’s what I’ve been listening to while writing my next book.

Cross-posted to Substack.

Hello and happy Friday afternoon, fellow readers. I know it’s late for a coffee break. We have officially hit that point in the summer when I am only vaguely aware of what day it is, and I wisely decided to take yesterday off for a bike ride and swim with my kids. Buy the time I realized it was Thursday, I was in that state of delicious summer exhaustion that simply cannot be interrupted by a little thing like writing a newsletter. And, here we are.

But I’m going to make it up to you with the sunshine vibey romance playlist of your dreams. Cool? Cool.

As we stated, it’s a little late in the day for a coffee break… unless you’re me and you drink coffee at all hours. I’m about halfway through my mocha cold brew. But I discovered something this week! I’ve been trying to take in more collagen*, so I have been mixing it with a morning hot coffee because it doesn’t blend well in cold coffee, no matter what the packaging says. So I did some googling, and it said try a blender. I was like… duh. I put some cold brew concentrate, soy milk, water, collagen powder, and flavoring and blended it up. It got so foamy and delicious! It was like a collagen coffee milkshake in my mouth. Or maybe more like those cold foam coffees you get at Starbucks. Either way, it was amazing! 10/10 would recommend.

*Please don’t come at me with your pros and cons about collagen. I’ve worked with a registered dietitian who has recommended it for me. I’m not recommending it for anyone, but I did include it here in case that’s what made the coffee all foamy and delicious. I honesty don’t know. Do not take food advice from me; I’m just an author.

PLAYLIST TIME!

One of the most-asked questions I got about Common Grounds was whether or not I listen to music while I write and, if so, what music. (I do! I always share the playlists with you here!) Sometimes, they’re more curated than others, but they always match the vibe of what I’m trying to get on the page.

So, I thought I’d do this the opposite way from how I usually do it this time and share the vibey playlist now to give you an idea of what to expect from my fifth full-length book. Let’s just say, it takes place in summer in Los Angeles, it’s a childhood friends to lovers, they’re both pretty sunshiney characters… there are a lot of beachy, warm, sunshiney vibes here. Did I say sunshine? I think I might have mentioned that.

Basically, I want to curl up inside this book and live there.

Anyway, here you go! This is what I’m listening to while I write. There aren’t any real Easter eggs in here yet, and it’s meant to be shuffled. But if you hear a song you really love, let me know which one it is in the comments!

The Christmas by Design cover reveal is coming at you on July 25! It’ll happen first over on Instagram (though I did drop a little sneaky-peek on my Facebook group today), but I’ll be sure to include it in an upcoming newsletter, too. Pre-orders will open that day, as well

Other than that, I’ve been hard at work on this new sunshine summer romance book, which I anticipate will be released Spring 2025. I’m excited to tell you more about it!

HOLY klsdiur’sd;;eiwrls;d;ewirj y’all this book is so freaking good. I read True Love Experiment last year and absolutely adored it, so this one has been on my TBR since then and it hit a lot of the right notes for me. I adored it. 10/10 would recommend.

That’s it! I can’t wait to hear what you think about this playlist. And if you want to hit me up with your unhinged guesses about the book in my DMs (or comments here, or email), go for it. I love hearing from you!

Happy reading (and listening)!