Holiday Romance with Camilla Isley

episode of Lit Happens with Sid. Now we're kicking into gear the fall and Christmas festival time and now I would like to welcome to the show author Camilla Isley. Camilla, how are you? Hi, I'm great. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much for taking the time to come on and chit chat. And so before we kind of take a dive into a couple of your books, tell us a little bit about who you are and what really sparked your interest into becoming a storyteller. So that wasn't the plan originally. I have always been a reader, but, you know, I went to college and took my degree in mechanical engineering and then I started working and then I fell in love and then I followed my husband abroad and so I quit my job at the time and so I turned my passion for reading into a passion for writing. Wow. And it's like, now look at you. But at least you have that degree as a backup, just in case. Yeah, just in case. And I love to write about women in STEM, so that turned out useful. Yeah. Yeah, which you don't see too much of, even though there are plenty of women that are out there that's in that field. Now, aside from writing, when you're taking time for yourself and just reading, what would you say is like your favorite go-to genre? It's romance, of course. Yeah. I think it's always good to like with a little bit of fantasy in there because with romance and fantasy, there are so many sub genres that kind of fall under those categories. And I think it also gives you like so many different ideas, you know, when it comes to different storylines. And so speaking of stories, you have one of your books that is out is called Fall for Me, which of course is perfect because Here in Michigan, the leaves are falling, everything's changing colors before we get into the winter. So tell me this a little bit about what's involved in this storyline. Uh, so this, uh... It starts with a bit of an explosive meet-cute because you have a runaway bride who's stumbling in the middle of the street and she almost gets run over by a billionaire on his motorcycle. He's running late for an event and she ends up at his hotel and basically blackmails him into giving her the honeymoon suite. And then it's a small town and they see him walking in with his bride and putting her into the honeymoon suite and everybody starts saying they're married and his father believes he's married and he has a big reputation problem that. he has to solve and it's the first time his father is happy about him about something like you finally step up you got married you're a family man now and she has a problem with the guy she left the house that was threatening her so she needs protection he needs a he needs a wife and so the only logical thing is that they start a fake marriage yeah It's always those good stories where it's like they meet by chance and then everything kind of like falls after, like you have the drama, but then at the end you always get like a happy ending. So that's always the good part. Yeah, of course. And you get all the fall vibes in this book, like they have the kisses in the corn maze and they do the carving of the pumpkins and the decoration. So it was really... And then as we shift into Christmas, which surprisingly is already almost here, tell us a little bit about your book, This Is Not a Holiday Romance, about what's kind of involved in that storyline. So that one is my first brother's best friend book. And I always gravitate towards enemies to lovers as a trope. So. This book was really fun to write because these two really hate each other, like they cannot stand each other. And he gets stuck at their house for the holidays, and they just are throwing pranks on each other. But they get really unhinged in their, like, needling each other. And of course, you know, the line between love and hate is always thin. And we always love, like, the friends to lovers stories. And then, like, anytime it's the brother best friend, it's like, oh, how is this going to go? You never really know what the turnout is going to be. Yeah, and I also love all the sneaking around because, of course, they cannot be open about it. So they have a lot of kisses in the closet and almost get caught. It was a really fun book to write. Yeah, it's like that suspense that just keeps you on the edge. Like, oh, what's going to happen next? And so, Camilla, before I let you go, do you have anything else that you would like to say to fellow book lovers out there, and especially as we enter into this holiday romance season? I would say to read what makes you happy, and if you have kids, I think it's especially important that you turn them, also try to turn them, into tiny book lovers. I try to transfer my passion for reading to my son, and we read a lot of books together, and so reading is just the best. Well, Camilla, thank you so much for, you know, keeping us readers entertained and for taking the time to come and chat with me and fellow book lovers out there. We greatly appreciate it. Thank you for having me.