I’m so excited to be a part of the book tour for Not Here to Stay Friends that is hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours. I was really excited to also be able to interview the author for this book!
INTERVIEW
How would you describe Not Here to Stay Friends in one sentence?
Childhood best friends catch more-than-friendly feelings during the whirlwind of filming a reality dating show!
Can you introduce us to the main character(s) of Not Here to Stay Friends?
Sloane and Liam have been best friends forever, but have lived across the country from one another for the last five years, until they’re reunited this summer in Liam’s LA home. Sloane is a funny, creative girl with big dreams of being a TV screenwriter. She’s also the overlooked middle child of her family, and feels like she never gets the spotlight for herself. This feeling and her dreams guide a lot of her choices in the story, including the initial big one that lands her a spot as a contestant on a reality dating show. Liam is a quiet, emotional boy whose passion is woodworking. His dream is to open his own woodworking business, even as his dad pushes him toward college and a career in the entertainment industry. Liam’s parents have recently divorced, and his desire to please his distant, disapproving dad is what lands him a summer job as a PA on the reality dating show project his dad is producing.
Do you know from the beginning how your books will end or do you let your characters decide their journey?
As a romance writer, I always know there will be some form of happily ever after (HEA)! I also usually have an idea of what I want it to look like from early on, though it can change as I feel out who the characters are and write the rest of their story. In my first book, Love from Scratch, the last chapter was one of the first I wrote, and didn’t change much from first draft to final book! ☺️
Do you have a favorite scene, moment, or quote from the book?
One of my favorite lines, the opening to the chapter when the reality show’s filming starts, is “The air is thick with hairspray and anticipation.” I also love the chapter in which Liam and Sloane sneak away from the show’s set for the day–if you know, you know hehe.
What is something readers will find in Not Here to Stay Friends that they may not realize based on the
synopsis?
Some fun girl power among Sloane and her fellow contestants on the show! I was pretty intentional from the start in not wanting the main drama of the story to be girl-vs-girl–the cattiness and cruelty that are so often heightened when women are in a reality dating show setting, vying for the same man’s attention. It was important to me that Sloane develop some real bonds there, and that even the girls she wasn’t so friendly with wouldn’t be totally one-dimensional Mean Girls.
What’s something you hope readers will take away from Not Here to Stay Friends?
Don’t go on a reality dating show? 😂 Kidding. I hope that anyone who relates to Sloane or Liam, maybe doesn’t feel seen in one sense or another, comes away feeling like there’s more than one way to make a mark on the world. Also, just because you’re not the loudest one in the room or always the center of attention doesn’t mean no one sees you! And probably, plenty of people love you just as you are.
What are three books you would recommend if someone enjoyed Not Here to Stay Friends?
For some of the fun, romance-on-a-film-set vibes, My Unscripted Life by Lauren Morrill, for childhood friends to lovers adorableness, Seoulmates by Susan Lee, and for adult readers who want a grown-up, queer romance spin on the reality dating show world, The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun!
ABOUT THE BOOK
TITLE: Not Here to Stay Friends
AUTHOR: Kaitlyn Hill
GENRE: Young Adult Contemporary
RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2023
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Synopsis:
This friends-to-lovers spin on The Bachelor follows two childhood besties reuniting to spend the summer in L.A. after five years apart—but when they both get involved with a teen reality dating show, their lives take an unexpected turn for the unreal.
Sloane McKinney feels like a background character in her own life. But this summer will be different, because she’s spending it with her childhood best friend, Liam Daniels, in her dream city, Los Angeles. Sure, she’s surprised to find that Liam just happens to have had a Hot Guy glow-up since she last saw him, but so what? A little attraction won’t ruin her plans for their fun—and completely platonic—reunion.
What might, however, is that Liam has been roped into working for his producer dad’s new teen reality dating show, Aspen Woods’s Future Leading Lady. Liam figures Sloane can still hang out with him on set while he fetches coffee for the film crew, or whatever it is that production assistants do. Except it turns out the show is one contestant short . . . and Sloane is the perfect last-minute addition.
Once cameras are rolling, the whirlwind of dating teen heartthrob Aspen Woods feels way more real than Sloane expected, and Liam doesn’t exactly enjoy watching it all unfold. But it’s behind the scenes where the drama really picks up. . . .
Because wanting to kiss your best friend? That’s a plot twist neither Sloane nor Liam ever saw coming.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kaitlyn Hill is a writer, reader, and sweet tea enthusiast who believes that all the world is not, in fact, a stage, but a romance novel waiting to happen. She is the author of Love from Scratch and Not Here to Stay Friends.
Kaitlyn has a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and German Studies, which means that she can tell you way too much about the Communist Manifesto in Karl Marx’s mother tongue. Before landing on writing, she worked in roles from city government intern in a small German town to Haunted Mansion Maid at Walt Disney World, and most recently, at her hometown public library.
Aside from books, Kaitlyn’s favorite things are giraffes, ABBA, and excessively long naps. She lives with her real life romance hero in Lexington, Kentucky.
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