On this episode, Ron Block & Patti Callahan Henry welcome author Victoria Benton Frank to discuss THE VIOLET HOUR, her heartwarming and empowering new novel about thriving after tragedy. Victoria was born in New York City and raised in Montclair, New Jersey, but considers herself to have dual residency in the Lowcountry. A graduate of the College of Charleston and the French Culinary Institute, Victoria worked in restaurants in New York before returning to Charleston, South Carolina, which s...
Aug 15, 2025•40 min•Ep. 428
On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome TWO debut novelists! We love the discovery of new voices on F&F, so this week we are thrilled to bring you two first-time authors—Laura Dickerman whose Hot Desk will hit stores on September 2nd, and Morgan Pager whose The Art of Vanishing came out on July 1st. With an MA in English from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School, Laura Dickerman has taught high school English at the Hopkins School, the Collegiate School, a...
Aug 08, 2025•52 min•Ep. 427
On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Mary Kay Andrews welcome #1 NYT-bestselling author Susan Wiggs to discuss her wrenching but life-affirming new novel, Wayward Girls, based on a true story of survival, friendship, and redemption set in the turbulent Vietnam era in Buffalo, New York. Susan Wiggs is the author of more than fifty novels, including the beloved Lakeshore Chronicles series and the recent New York Times bestsellers The Lost and Found Bookshop, The Oysterville Sewing Circle, a...
Aug 01, 2025•44 min•Ep. 426
On this episode, the full F&F family gathers to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, #1 bestselling novelist Lisa Scottoline to discuss our July 2025 Pick of the Month, her new gothic thriller with dashes of romance and excellent twists, The Unraveling of Julia, in which a young widow inherits a Tuscan estate from a mysterious benefactor and finds herself thrust into the crosshairs of a dangerous conspiracy. Lisa is a #1 bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of 37 novels. She a...
Jul 25, 2025•49 min•Ep. 425
On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Ron Block welcome beloved NYT-bestselling author Adriana Trigiani to discuss The View from Lake Como, her new novel about one woman’s quest to build her own life before it’s too late. In addition to writing 21 books published in 38 languages around the world, Adriana is also an award-winning playwright, television writer/producer, and filmmaker. She wrote and directed the major motion picture of her debut novel, Big Stone Gap, adapted her novel, Very Valen...
Jul 18, 2025•52 min•Ep. 424
On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Patti Callahan Henry welcome NYT-bestselling author Meg Waite Clayton to discuss her new dual-timeline historical novel, Typewriter Beach, the unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock's new star. Meg is the NYT-bestselling author of eight previous novels, including the Good Morning America Buzz Pick and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, The Postmistress ...
Jul 11, 2025•41 min•Ep. 423
In honor of Independence Day we are re-airing a favorite episode of The Friends & Fiction Show from the vault. Join all four F&F hosts—Patti Callahan Henry, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel & Kristy Woodson Harvey—as they interview No.1 NYT-bestselling author Kristin Hannah about her smash success novel, THE WOMEN! Kristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale, the instant No.1 NYT bestseller...
Jul 04, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 422
On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Ron Block welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author Jess Walter to discuss his propulsive new novel So Far Gone, a hilarious, empathetic, and brilliantly provocative adventure through life in modern America, about a reclusive journalist forced back into the world to rescue his kidnapped grandchildren. Jess Walter is the author of eleven books published in 34 languages. His other novels include the #1 New York Times bestseller Beautiful Ruins and the...
Jun 27, 2025•47 min•Ep. 421
On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome New York Times bestselling author Julie Clark to discuss her dazzling new thriller, The Ghostwriter. Julie is the NYT-bestselling author of The Ones We Choose, The Last Flight, and The Lies I Tell. Her debut, The Ones We Choose, was published in 2018 and has been optioned for television by Lionsgate. The Last Flight was a #1 international bestseller and an Amazon Best Book of the Year that has been translated into more than tw...
Jun 20, 2025•30 min•Ep. 420
On this episode, the full F&F family gathers to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, New York Times bestselling novelist and F&F'smvery own Kristin Harmel to discuss her electrifying new novel, our June 2025 Pick of the Month, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, about two jewel thieves, a priceless bracelet that disappears in 1940s Paris, and a quest for answers in a decades-old murder. Kristin is the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 internationally bestselling author of more t...
Jun 13, 2025•54 min•Ep. 419
On this episode, Meg Walker and Mary Kay Andrews (Summers at the Saint, new in paperback 6/3) welcome 6 author guests, all with new summer reads hitting this season. We invited Annabel Monaghan (It’s a Love Story, 5/27), Martha Hall Kelly (The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club, 5/27), Meg Mitchell Moore (Mansion Beach, 5/27), Amy Mason Doan (The California Dreamers, 4/8), Wendy Francis (Betting on Good, 5/1), and Brooke Lea Foster (Our Last Vineyard Summer, 7/1) to join us for a festive kick...
Jun 06, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 418
On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Patti Callahan Henry welcome New York Times bestselling author Kristina McMorris to discuss her latest work of historical fiction, THE GIRLS OF GOOD FORTUNE, which shines a light on shocking events surrounding Portland's dark history. Kristina is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of two novellas and seven historical novels, including the million-copy bestseller SOLD ON A MONDAY. The recipient of more than twenty national...
May 30, 2025•41 min•Ep. 417
On this episode, the Fab Four gather to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, New York Times bestselling, award-winning author Kristy Woodson Harvey, to discuss her delightfully moving new novel, our May 2025 Pick of the Month, Beach House Rules, about a mother-daughter duo learning to lean on their community of women—and each other—after their world is turned upside down. Kristy is the NYT-bestselling author of a dozen novels, including The Wedding Veil, Under the Southern Sky, and The ...
May 23, 2025•58 min•Ep. 416
On this episode, Ron Block & Kristin Harmel welcome New York Times bestselling author and award-winning food editor and restaurant critic Ruth Reichl to discuss her book THE PARIS NOVEL, which was an instant bestseller that met with rave reviews in hardcover last year and was recently released in trade paperback. Ruth is the NYT-bestselling author of five memoirs (including SAVE ME THE PLUMS), the novel DELICIOUS!, and the cookbook MY KITCHEN YEAR. A former restaurant critic for both The Los...
May 16, 2025•42 min•Ep. 415
On this episode, the full Fab Four—Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry — welcome New York Times bestselling author (and one of the original five founders of Friends & Fiction!), Mary Alice Monroe, to discuss her highly anticipated new book, WHERE THE RIVERS MERGE, the first of two epic and triumphant novels celebrating one intrepid woman's life across multiple generations in the American South. Mary Alice is the NYT-bestselling author of 27 book...
May 09, 2025•46 min•Ep. 414
On this episode, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author Carley Fortune to discuss ONE GOLDEN SUMMER, a radiant, new escape to the lake which has already been named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by TODAY, E! News, Buzzfeed, Us Weekly, and The New York Post. Carley is the #1 NYT and Globe and Mail bestselling author of four novels including THIS SUMMER WILL BE DIFFERENT and MEET ME AT THE LAKE. Her books have sold more than 2 million copies ...
May 02, 2025•38 min•Ep. 413
On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Kristin Harmel welcome New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory to discuss Flirting Lessons, her “sexy-sweet, opposites-attract, friends-to-lovers romance, enriched with found-family vibes…an absolute delight” (Booklist). Jasmine is the NYT-bestselling author of nine novels including Drunk on Love, The Wedding Date, and the Reese's Book Club selection The Proposal. She’s been a Today Show favorite, with 18 appearances (and counting!) to recommend...
Apr 25, 2025•42 min•Ep. 412
On this episode, the Fab Four—Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey—gather to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, the multi-million copy New York Times bestselling phenomenon, Jeneva Rose, to discuss our April 2025 Pick of the Month, The Perfect Divorce, the propulsively page-turning and highly-anticipated follow-up to her smash success BookTok sensation, The Perfect Marriage. Jeneva is the NYT and USA Today bestselling author of several novels, including Home Is Wher...
Apr 18, 2025•54 min•Ep. 411
On this episode, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Ron Block welcome New York Times bestselling author Dolen Perkins-Valdez to discuss her enthralling new novel, HAPPY LAND, in which a woman learns the incredible story of a real-life American Kingdom—and her family’s ties to it. Dolen is the NYT-bestselling author of TAKE MY HAND (2022), which was awarded an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, a Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association, and a Fiction award from the Black Caucu...
Apr 11, 2025•42 min•Ep. 410
On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Mary Kay Andrews welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author, Nita Prose, to discuss her latest intriguing and heartwarming installment in her wildly popular Molly the Maid series, THE MAID'S SECRET. Nita is the author of THE MAID, which has sold more than two-million copies worldwide, THE MYSTERY GUEST, and THEN MISTLETOE MYSTERY. A Good Morning America Book Club pick, THE MAID won the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction, the Fingerprint Award ...
Apr 04, 2025•39 min•Ep. 409
On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome New York Times bestselling author Emilia Hart to discuss her latest spellbinding novel, The Sirens, about sisters separated by centuries, but bound together by the sea. An Australia native now living in England, Emilia has worked as a lawyer in Sydney and London. She is the author of the runaway NYT-bestselling debut novel, Weyward. She joins us to discuss her highly anticipated second novel, The Sirens. It’s a breathtakin...
Mar 28, 2025•41 min•Ep. 408
On this episode, Ron Block and Kristin Harmel welcome internationally bestselling author of contemporary and historical fiction, Emma Donoghue, to discuss her latest book, The Paris Express, a sweeping historical novel about an infamous 1895 railway disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station. Emma Donoghue is the author of sixteen novels, including the award-winning national bestseller Room, the basis for the Academy Award-winning film of the same name starring Brie Larson. Emma’s fiction ...
Mar 21, 2025•40 min•Ep. 407
On this episode, the full F&F family—Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, plus Ron & Meg—gather with Patti Callahan Henry for a celebration of her new historical novel, The Story She Left Behind. These live launch episodes are always a great time, so you don’t want to miss it. We hear there may even be a reprise of Friends & Fiction Theater! Patti is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels, including The Secret Book of Flora Lea, Surviving Savanna...
Mar 14, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 406
On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Mary Kay Andrews welcome bestselling author Colleen Oakley to discuss her new novel, Jane and Dan at the End of the World, a hilariously insightful take on midlife and marriage in which date night goes off the rails when one unhappy couple find themselves at the heart of a crime in progress. Colleen Oakley is the USA Today bestselling author of six novels including The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise and The Invisible Husband of Frick Island. Her bo...
Mar 07, 2025•41 min•Ep. 405
On this episode, Ron Block and Mary Kay Andrews welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author C. J. Box to discuss the riveting 25th installment in his fan-favorite Joe Pickett series, BATTLE MOUNTAIN, in which outlaw falconer Nate Romanowski is off the grid and out for revenge. C. J. Box is the author of 25 Joe Pickett novels, 8 stand-alone novels, and a story collection. He has won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, and two Barry awards, as well as the French Prix Calibre .38, the Western H...
Feb 28, 2025•30 min•Ep. 404
On this episode, the Fab Four (Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodsdon Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry) gather to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, Pam Jenoff, to discuss our February 2025 Pick of the Month, her brand-new instant New York Times bestseller, Last Twilight in Paris, a riveting novel of love and survival about a Parisian department store, a mysterious necklace, and a woman's quest to unlock a decade-old mystery. Pam Jenoff is the author of several books of hi...
Feb 21, 2025•59 min•Ep. 403
On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews and Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome author Christina Clancy to discuss The Snowbirds, her latest page-turning story of a couple who flee winter in the Midwest for Palm Springs, where they find their relationship at a crossroads. Christina Clancy is the author of two previous novels, The Second Home and Shoulder Season, which have been featured on Good Morning America, CNN, and Travel & Leisure. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times, The Washingto...
Feb 14, 2025•36 min•Ep. 402
On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Ron Block welcome New York Times bestselling author Victoria Christopher Murray to discuss her gripping new historical novel, Harlem Rhapsody, about Jessie Redmon Fauset, the powerhouse civil rights activist and literary sensation who ignited the Harlem Renaissance. Victoria Christopher Murray is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including The Personal Librarian (a Good Morning America book club pick), and ...
Feb 07, 2025•45 min•Ep. 401
On this episode, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Mary Kay Andrews welcome neuroscientist turned New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova to discuss her breathless, riveting new novel, More or Less Maddy, about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy. Acclaimed as the Oliver Sacks of fiction and the Michael Crichton of brain science, Lisa Genova is the New York Times bestselling au...
Jan 31, 2025•35 min•Ep. 400
On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Ron Block welcome #1 New York Times bestselling master of the legal thriller, Scott Turow, to discuss his riveting new courtroom drama, Presumed Guilty, which sees the return of Rusty Sabich from Presumed Innocent, the phenomenon that redefined the genre. A writer and former practicing lawyer, Scott Turow is the author of 13 bestselling works of fiction, including Presumed Innocent and Suspect. Scott has also published two nonfiction books, including the p...
Jan 24, 2025•54 min•Ep. 399
