Spotlight & Giveaway: Charlie Quinn Lets Go by Jamie Varon

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jamie Varon to HJ!

Hi Jamie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Charlie Quinn Lets Go!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Charlie Quinn is a workaholic who would rather abstain from life than actually live it. When she loses her job, her boyfriend breaks up with her, and she gets violent food poisoning all on her 30th birthday, her defenses are so down that when her little sister Benny tells her to come home to LA for the first time in 7 years, she actually agrees to it. Benny sees that her sister is struggling, so she makes a bet with her—can she do a Month of Yes? Which means, Charlie has to say YES to anything Benny requests, a last-ditch effort to bring Charlie back from the brink of her isolation.
It’s a story of self-discovery, and joy, and hope, and coming back alive after years of fear masquerading as ambition. It’s redemptive and heartwarming and relatable. It’s also got a second-chance romance in it, which is my own personal wish fulfillment (even though I’m a happily married woman) of the second chance with a high school crush. 🙂
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

“Hunger, desire, pleasure were funny things—you could suppress them for only so long until they came back with a vengeance.” — This quote really encapsulates the book.

“I think you deserve to be happy, Charlie,” Mom said. “You can’t wait for the other shoe to drop your whole life. You wait long enough, and before you know it, your life will be over.”

This is a longer one, but one I love!!

“I think about giving up a lot. Of course I do. But I just have this stubborn belief that life is meant to be lived. We’re not meant to be perfect or even happy all the time. The reason joy can feel so incredible is because we know the absence of it. Everything exists in contrast. If I stop being open to pain, I stop being open to all the other things I love about life. I refuse to not try. I refuse to close myself off. It’s not because I’m stronger or anything. I just make a choice over and over to endure it.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• They go to Disneyland in the book, just because it sounds fun.
• Charlie grew up in Topanga Canyon in a bungalow they call Quinn Canyon, and it’s a magical place that I wish I grew up in.
• The book is especially whimsical and it was a JOY to write it!

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

When it comes to their reconnection “meet cute” Charlie is attracted to Alex, because she’s so amazed that, just earlier in the day with her sister, she had said she’s open to a sign from the Universe—and then walks in her biggest crush from high school, Alex Perry. He’s older, more forthright, and flirty right off the bat.

What attracts Alex to Charlie is a couple things—one, he knows that she’s not quite as vibrant as she used to be and he’s curious about what’s happened to her to make her that way. The second is that he has this absolute instinct to see her again, to go wherever she is, and, because of his backstory, that’s not typical of him. He’s always the guy not committing, due to his own fear of love. So, when he sees Charlie and gets that feeling of “omg I can’t let her go again” — that’s what attracts him, because it’s so surprising given his past.

For a long time, the book title was IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL AND HEARTBREAKING HERE because the theme of the book is so closely tied to how beauty and heartbreak have to co-exist in order to live a full life. You can’t have happiness without sadness, or darkness without light. Charlie’s journey is so much about her accepting that you have to risk being hurt, in order to get to all the beautiful things in life, too.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

Blushed alwaysssss at this scene:

It took every bit of my willpower to wrest myself free of him and put a bit of space between us, but in my mind I had thrown him onto the prep table, climbed on top, and done delicious things to him until whatever he was cooking on the stove burned to a crisp. When he looked at me, it was like he’d read my mind and was, maybe, picturing the very same thing.

I cleared my throat.

The problem with unrequited teenage feelings is that when they become requited, suddenly all that small talk and awkwardness of first dates melts away. We already knew each other.

That familiar intimacy wasn’t building—it was built. And that made me sweat and shiver at exactly the same time.

(Why did I blush? I just love how blatantly Charlie wants him, wants to do things to him, needs to touch him. I always imagined the tension in this scene, where they are in this empty restaurant, in a dimly-lit kitchen, the anticipation of unfinished business lingering between them. I just loved it.)

//

Cried, ALWAYS, at this scene:

“Okay,” Alex finally said, defeated. “Even if it’s not me, I wish you’d let someone in, Charlie.”

“I don’t make mistakes like that anymore.”

“I get it.”

“I don’t think you do.”

“No, I do. I was closed off from most people. Never wanted
to risk. Worked like crazy. It wasn’t until I met you that I thought—well, this could be worth opening up for. But you
don’t feel the same and I understand. Maybe meeting you was just showing me I was ready to meet someone for real.” He
took a long inhale and let it out slowly. “Maybe it was never meant to be you.”

I stifled a whimper that was about to take me over. What could I say? I couldn’t promise a single thing, didn’t think I
was even capable of what Alex was asking of me. But even the thought of him going to Chicago, ready to meet someone else, and falling in love with them—it made me feel crushed under a claustrophobic weight. How selfish was that? To not want someone, but not want them to be with anyone else? A sick feeling of self-hatred slithered across my skin like a snake, coiling around me.

(Why did I cry? “Maybe it was never meant to be you.” Omg, every single time I read that line I would cry, swivel in my chair and just stare up at the ceiling, because my heart would BREAK for Alex. He loves our girl, Charlie!! And she is SO scared to love him back! Even when he’s hurting, he can’t hurt her. He gives her the out, like maybe you’re not the one for me, it’s okay. Maybe you just showed me I was ready to meet someone else. And then, the depth of Charlie’s fear is displayed here. She wants him, but she can’t let herself have him. When you read the book you understand why she is so fearful of love.)

Readers should read this book….

They love stories that make them think, reflect, swoon, cry, laugh, and go on a journey with the main character where she is not at all the same person as we start with. I personally love books that have lessons learned and deeper themes, where there’s an external journey happening, but also a vibrant inner journey taking place as well.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I have just finished the manuscript for a novel, working on the next, and have 2 others that are in varying states of edits and revisions. More to come!!
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A copy of Jamie Varon’s CHARLIE QUINN LETS GO!

To enter Giveaway share this post (FB or X) and Leave a comment to this Q: When have you felt like you were pulling away from the world due to fear and what brought you back from the brink?

 
This giveaway closes 3 days from the date of this post.

Excerpt from Charlie Quinn Lets Go:

The worst part about the day I hit rock bottom was how blindsided I was. One moment, my Life Plan was perfectly on track, and the next, in one horrible swoop, everything imploded like a skyscraper stuffed with dynamite. Boom.

The hellscape day started off infuriatingly ordinary, which honestly just pisses me off. At the very least, there should have been warning signs. A heads-up. An ominous feeling. Anything. Here’s how it went: I woke up at 5:00 a.m. like usual, ate my bland oatmeal, had coffee, scrolled the news, briskly walked on a treadmill at the gym while listening to an audiobook on optimizing productivity, answered emails from my phone, and added several items to my to-do list. Then I showered, blew out my shoulder-length brown hair, put on a tasteful and professional amount of makeup, got dressed, then was out the door by 6:30 a.m. As I walked to work, I remember stupidly thinking my life was pristinely going according to plan. I was smug.

Smug! Steadily climbing the professional ladder, I had just been granted a promotion at the global consulting corporation I’d been working at since I graduated from Stanford. A couple weeks ago, we’d finally returned to the office after a year and a half of lockdown, and when we did, I had a brand-new title and role: Senior Project Manager.

My boyfriend, Josh, was going to propose soon, I could feel it. It was in my—no, our—Life Plan. Then, in two years or so, we
would buy a house, split the down payment, and settle into the predictable, comfortable life I’d always dreamed of. No surprises. No risk. Security, dependability, safety.
The only thing out of the ordinary that morning was the fact that Josh was still asleep by the time I left our apartment. He never slept in, and I made a mental note to ask him about it later. Maybe he was coming down with something.
The walk to work was only ten minutes, but by the time I got to the office, I had already shed my light jacket. It was September in San Francisco, and the weather was unpredictable. When the sun peeked out from the clouds, it started to scorch. I was in black slacks, sleek tennis shoes, and a white button-up rolled to the elbows. My daily uniform.

In the elevator up to the twelfth floor, I answered more emails and when the doors opened, I was satisfied to notice I was the first person to arrive. The floor was quiet and the lights clicked on automatically as I walked. My office was tiny and lacking personality, but it was “a room of one’s own,” as they say. Before this promotion, I had an open-concept cubicle. Now I had a door, and a window that overlooked the city.
Pulling up my calendar to see my schedule, I noticed my boss’s boss had requested a one-on-one for late afternoon. Quickly, I accepted it, but I wondered what it was about, since I typically didn’t have much interaction with Francine Rosso.
A text then came in from Josh.

I didn’t want to go out for my birthday, considering I made a habit of ignoring this day altogether .When your dad leaves the day before your tenth birthday party without saying goodbye and you foolishly think he’s going to come back the next day, and he doesn’t, and, in fact, he never comes back—that might kill the birthday spirit for you once and for all.

Like usual, I wanted to stay at work until eight, eat the meal I prepped this weekend (grilled chicken, brown rice, and broccoli—balanced, easy, and devoid of choice), and fall asleep watching a comfort show like Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

While I was answering more emails, my little sister, Benny, and my mom both called me, and I ignored them. Who called someone at 10:00 a.m. on a Tuesday anyway? Only they would do that, forgetting that most people have real jobs. They lived in Los Angeles and seemed to exist on an entirely different planet. I’d been tragically born into a family of optimists who trusted the Universe had their back, and regularly consulted with tarot cards and astrologists about what to do next, leaving every single thing up to chance and luck. The delusional gene had not been passed down to me, so you can only imagine the black sheep I was, working in corporate America, having a 401k, job security, a savings account.
The rest of the morning and afternoon passed in a frenetic blur of emails, meetings, spreadsheets, and a quick salad at my desk for lunch.
By the time I looked up, my eyes were burning and it was time to meet with Francine. She was on the twentieth floor with the rest of the C-suite and their spacious offices. Even though I had just received a promotion, I coveted that level. It always struck me as fascinating that whenever I hit one mile- stone, I was already hungry for the next one. My accomplishments never felt like enough, so I figured I just needed to work harder.
After a smooth elevator ride, the doors opened to a long desk and behind it was the receptionist, Chris, a blond twenty- two-year-old guy fresh out of a good college.
“Hi, Charlie,” Chris said. “Francine is ready for you. I’ll buzz you in.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
There was a sterile, shiny white door with no knob practically camouflaged into the large wall and when the light buzz sounded, I pushed my way through. The massive space was so quiet I could hear my shoes squeaking on the linoleum as I walked. The floor was surrounded by windows, giving a nearly complete view of San Francisco. It was minimalistic and lifeless, but I enjoyed the order of it, the lack of nonsense or frivolity.

Francine waved me into her office in the far corner. She was wearing a cream blazer over a black silk shirt and her red hair was a bit wild and curly. She looked strangely out of sorts, not as put-together as the last time I’d seen her a couple weeks ago when the offices reopened.
We said our hellos and then Francine’s face dropped, along with my stomach.
“I don’t know how best to say this, Charlie, so I’ll just say it,” she began.“ We have to let you go.”
My mind instantly was loud static, heat rising across my chest. I was certain I’d misheard her.
“Wait, what?” I asked, laughing uncomfortably. There was no possible way I was being fired. They had just promoted me. For seven years straight, I’d worked tirelessly for this company, first in and last out every day, no vacations, no sick days. I had done nothing but work since I got hired here straight out of college. This job was my entire life.
“The pandemic really changed things,” Francine said, her tone apologetic. “You’re not the only person being laid off. We need to do a thirty percent cut for our shareholders.”
“But I work twelve hours a day. I work on the weekends. I’ve never had a bad performance review.”
Francine had the decency to wince. “It’s not about your performance,” she explained. “You’re a great employee. It’s your role. We’re absorbing it.”
“Can I have the role I had before my promotion, then?” I asked desperately.
“I’m sorry,” Francine said. “But, no. This is final. We’re giving you a severance package. You should take a vacation. Enjoy some time off.”
“A vacation?” I scoffed. “I don’t want to go on a vacation.
I want to work.”
“There’s nothing I can do.” She shrugged uncomfortably. “My hands are tied. We’re in a whole new world now, Charlie. Everyone is feeling it.”
“I don’t want a whole new world,” I said, laughing. “I was fine with the old one.”
“The pandemic didn’t change you?” she asked, her voice dropping.
“Not really,” I said.
“Oh.” Francine started shuffling through a neat stack of papers to her right.
“Did it change you?” I asked a little nervously. Francine and I did not talk about personal matters, ever. We hardly even talked at all.
“I don’t know,” she said. She fidgeted and tucked her hair behind her ears, not quite meeting my eye. “Don’t you ever wonder what we’re all working so hard for?”
I reeled back. No, Francine, I’ve never once wondered that.
“No,” I said. “It’s just what you’re supposed to do. You grow up, get a job, and work hard at it.”
“But . . . why? What’s the point?”
I was dumbstruck by the question, especially coming from someone at such a high level in a role I aspired to one day have, but before I could think of any kind of answer that made sense, she waved her hands in front of her face and said, “Never mind. Forget I said anything. I’m just in a mood over all this stuff. I hate laying people off.”
“Okay,” I replied, because I felt like I was floating, or drowning. What was I going to do now? All the work I’d put into this company and they drop me, just like that, as if I meant nothing at all? The promotion I’d been grinding for—gone. So much for job security!
“I’m sorry this is happening, but I really think you should take a vacation. You deserve one, Charlie. You work too hard.”

I work too hard? Isn’t that what they’d always asked of me? Wasn’t that what I was told would be the only way for me to get ahead? Now my devotion to this job was suddenly “too much”? Before lockdown, this company used to keep a list of people who left at five on the dot. They overtly celebrated “loyalty,” which was just another word for “prioritizing work above all else.” I had done everything they’d asked of me, and more.
This was the thanks I got? Take a vacation? Fuck off and goodbye? Francine stood up from her chair and motioned for the door, leading me out, and I walked robotically, not quite comprehending what was happening.

“HR will email some forms that you can sign digitally,” she told me.“ You’ll also get information on your severance package and I’ll write you a great recommendation letter.”
“Okay,” I said tonelessly.
“Try to enjoy some time off, Charlie. Have some fun.” “Okay,” I repeated.
The quiet of the C-suite floor wasn’t nearly as comforting as it had been twenty minutes earlier. I swayed on my feet and almost fell over before I righted myself, shook my head once to get my bearings, and headed back to the elevator with resolve. I’ll be fine, I told myself. I’ll be completely fucking fine.

My office now felt suffocating. Mind numb, body moving on autopilot, I gathered up my paltry number of personal items. I had very few people to say goodbye to. Before the pandemic, I had colleagues and we’d get lunch together, go to happy hour, complain about our bosses, but almost all of them had quit or been laid off at some point. Most of them hadn’t wanted to return to the
office when it reopened.

They probably had lives outside of work, wanted to stay remote. Not really a thing I could relate to.

Francine had encouraged me to take time off? Have some fun, she said, like it was so easy.
Fun?
Fun was not really on my list of values.
It was still light when I left the office. Disoriented, I ambled out of the high-rise and started walking back to my apartment.

When your job is your entire identity, what the hell happens when you lose it?

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

“An absolutely gorgeous, emotionally sweeping story about the importance of family, learning to let go of the past, and how important it is to be brave in your own life.” —Kirsty Greenwood, USA Today bestselling author of The Love of My Afterlife

An irresistible novel about second chances and the magic of relinquishing control.

Charlie Quinn has spent her life playing by the rules. But when, on her thirtieth birthday, she is laid off, her boyfriend leaves her because their life is too “predictable” and she spends the night with violent food poisoning, she hits rock bottom at a stunning velocity, and her carefully constructed world unravels.

She has no choice but to return to her childhood home in LA, where her little sister strikes up an idea: Can control freak Charlie go a whole month saying yes to anything her free-spirited sister requests? Charlie agrees, if only to prove that living by one’s whims will result in nothing but disaster and disappointment.

But when a serendipitous encounter with her high school crush leads to a month of steamy no-strings romance, Charlie starts questioning her monotonous existence. Can she learn to loosen her grip, to let go of past heartbreak, to finally say yes to a messy, bold and exciting life?
Book Links:  B&N
 
 

Meet the Author:

Jamie Varon’s writing has been seen across the internet for over a decade, from her early days of personal blogging all the way to features in publications such as Teen Vogue, HuffPost, GOOD, Complex, and many more. Over the years, both her long-form essays and short-form prose have garnered millions of reads and views.

Her debut work of nonfiction, RADICALLY CONTENT (Quarto, 2022), was an instant Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller. It is currently being adapted into a feature film.
Her debut novel, MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY, is out now with Park Row/HarperCollins.
Her next novel, CHARLIE QUINN LETS GO, comes out 9/30/25 with Park Row/HarperCollins.

She is a strong believer in the multi-passionate life and followers her curiosity. She lives in Los Angeles.
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