Spotlight & Giveaway: The Last Word by Katy Birchall

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Katy Birchall to HJ!

Hi Katy and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Last Word!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

A celebrity editor at a glossy magazine, Harper Jenkins is a smart, ambitious journalist who loves her job and puts work above all else. When Ryan Jansson is hired as the new Features Editor, she is horrified – ten years ago, Harper and Ryan were interns together and after a whirlwind romance he betrayed her, and she’s never been able to forgive him.
Forced to work alongside each other, Harper and Ryan clash from the start, creating havoc in the newsroom with their constant bickering and petty feuds – they couldn’t be more different.
Yet, as she spends more time with Ryan, it gets harder to deny the spark between them, and Harper finds herself falling for him all over again – but with their disastrous past, not to mention the added complication of work rivalry, Harper finds herself having to choose between her heart and her head…
 

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

My favourite passage is when Ryan gets muddled whilst he and Harper help Isabella, a famous actress who has gone into labour – I had a LOT of fun with this scene, chuckling away to myself as I was writing, and hopefully readers can tell:

I explain the situation to the emergency call handler, as
Isabella instinctively moves into a squatting position, shouting,
“Do any of you have a towel? We’re going to need a towel! This
baby is coming! It’s not supposed to be coming yet! This is too
soon! This pushing part is supposed to take ages! Tell them,
Ryan!”
“I . . . uh . . . if you can hear me in there, little baby, you’re
not s-supposed to come yet,” Ryan stammers dutifully.
“I DIDN’T MEAN TELL THE BABY! I MEANT, TELL
THE DOCTORS!” Isabella bellows.
“Right, of course,” he whispers fearfully.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• As a journalist, I was able to draw a lot of inspiration from my own experience of bustling newsrooms and interviews, although none of the characters are based on anyone I know
• If I have a particularly tricky scene to write, I usually get through a pack of smarties…proper brain food
• My dog is always lying at my feet when I write. He helps me brainstorm plots – he’s an excellent listener
• I was pregnant whilst writing The Last Word and was working on edits right up until the day before the baby was born

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

Ryan is very organized, particular and a neat freak – I think he’s first attracted to the whirlwind of chaos that is Harper! For Harper, the attraction comes on a little slower, but ultimately it’s how thoughtful and clever Ryan is that piques her interest. They may have glaring differences, but they realise that in each other they’ve met their match.

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

I really loved writing the scene where Isabella goes into labour because there were so many comedy opportunities and my favourite passages to write are comic scenes – I was laughing while writing that one…potentially with nervous laughter as I was due to give birth soon myself, too!

But another I really loved writing was the tense scene when Harper and Ryan finally discuss what happened ten years ago and they acknowledge that, after all this time, there’s still a spark there…
“I blocked you,” I whisper.
“I knew that.” He looks dejected. “I knew how much I’d
fucked up. I’d lost the only person I’d ever really . . .”
I wait for him to finish his sentence, but he doesn’t, his eyes
moving back to the framed article on the wall. He looks lost for
a moment.
“You’d ever really what?” I prompt gently.
He sighs, but doesn’t say anything.
I can’t help myself. I reach out and brush my fingers against
his so that he’ll look at me again, and when he does, his forehead
creases and his eyes search mine.
Ever so slightly, I tilt my head up toward his.
It’s the permission he needs.

Readers should read this book….

If you enjoy romcoms and are a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope. My main hope in writing these books is to provide fun, romantic escapism, make readers laugh and bring some cheer. So if you need a laugh and a read that will brighten your day a little, I just hope The Last Word satisfies!

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

The next book I’ll start work on is my new romcom that is due for release in 2024. I’ve worked out the characters, plot and structure (I always do a very detailed plan) so I just need to start writing, which feels exciting. I’ll also soon be working on my next teen and YA novels, so plenty to keep me busy!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: SMP will provide a US only 5 book giveaway – The Last Word by Katy Birchall! 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Harper and Ryan are so different, but they can’t ignore the spark between them – they end up respecting, and learning from, their differences. Can you relate to this? Have you ever found yourself with a crush on someone who is the polar opposite? Do you really think opposites attract? And do you think they last the test of time?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from The Last Word:

The question is posed toward the end of the night, as a large box of chocolates is passed around the table and Mimi, the host, fills up wine glasses so her fridge isn’t left with bottles that are two-thirds drunk. It’s been a long, tiring week, so Mimi invited a few of us from the office for a much-needed Friday night boozy dinner party.
“Here’s a fun conundrum for you all to consider,” announces Dominic. “One that will give us an interesting insight into each other’s characters, I reckon.”
Mimi smiles, sitting back down at the head of the table. “Sounds intriguing.”
“My thirty-one-year-old cousin works at a fashion magazine and she loves her job, but her boyfriend has been offered his dream job in New York. So my question to you is: Does she stay here in London, in the job she’s worked hard to achieve, but potentially risk losing the man of her dreams to long distance, or does she hand in her notice and risk unemployment across the pond, but take the leap for love?” Dominic asks with a raised eyebrow, swilling the wine round his glass. “What do you think— should she stick or twist?”
“Hmm.” Rakhee folds her arms. “Does she believe that this guy is The One?”
“She’s sure of it.” Dominic nods.
“Well then, it’s an easy answer,” Mimi says with a shrug. “She moves to New York.”
“I could have guessed you’d say that.” Dominic grins at her. “You’ve always had a romantic streak.”
“I agree with Mimi,” chips in Amy. “Take the leap for love.
Plus, she gets to move to New York! It’s a no-brainer.”
“I’m not so sure; jury’s out on this one,” Rakhee declares, holding up her hands. “I need more time to think about it. There are advantages and disadvantages both ways you look at it.”
Dominic laughs. “All right, we’ll let you think on it.” His eyes flash at me. “Harper?”
I take a sip of wine, as though I need more time to consider. But the truth is, before Dominic had even finished asking the question, I knew my answer.
“I’d stick,” I confirm. “She’s worked hard for her career. Why risk giving all of that up for . . .”
I trail off with a shrug. “Love?” Mimi finishes for me. “Right.” I nod.
“Another answer I think we could all safely guess,” Dominic sighs, giving me a knowing smile before putting on a melodramatic voice. “You’re too good at your job for something as frivolous as love to come first.”
I hold up my glass to him. “Exactly.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” Mimi says. “I think if the right person came along, you might reconsider. Should she fall head over heels in love, Harper might prove to have been a secret romantic all along. If you ask me, he’s out there somewhere. She just needs to give him a chance.”
I laugh, shaking my head at her.
I know for a fact she’s wrong, but I don’t say anything. Because then I’d have to explain why.
I’d have to tell her about how, a long time ago, I did give someone a chance. Someone who swept me off my feet with the kind of whirlwind, dizzying romance you read about in
books and watch in movies and listen to in song lyrics. Someone who really knew me, who understood me, who made me feel as though I was all he needed to be happy.
It was everything I’d been told to hope for: I got lost in his eyes when he looked at me; I couldn’t stop thinking about him when I was supposed to be concentrating on something else. As soon as I gave in to him, I was utterly intoxicated. I got caught up in fanciful daydreams of what we might end up being to one another, of a future together.
When I was with him, the rest of the world simply faded away.
Mimi doesn’t know it, but I already met that person, the one who opened my eyes to what it was like to fall head over heels.
But I learned my lesson.
So I may not be able to say it out loud, but Mimi is wrong that someday my priorities will shift. Since him, work has always come first and will continue to do so. No one will change my mind, of that I’m quite sure.
Love won’t get the better of me again.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

The Hating Game meets Beach Read in Katy Birchall’s enemies-to-lovers romcom The Last Word, about a young journalist who puts her career (and her heart) on the line when her former work nemesis is hired in her newsroom.

Harper Jenkins is at the top of her game. A brilliant, determined journalist with a well-known knack for getting tight-lipped Hollywood stars to open up to her, Harper loves her job as Celebrity Editor at a newspaper’s glossy weekend magazine and has the best contacts in the business.

But when her awful boss hires talented reporter Ryan to be the new Features Editor, Harper is furious. Because the two have met before: a decade ago, they were interns at the same publication, where they fell into a whirlwind romance…until Ryan betrayed Harper, and they never spoke again.

Thrown together in a busy newsroom, their dynamic is a disaster from the start. They can’t agree on anything and bicker constantly―Ryan can’t bear how chaotic and messy Harper is; Harper finds Ryan’s condescending nature infuriating. They clash over who’s writing what article, and fight over who’s going to which event.

Yet as they’re forced to spend more and more time together, Harper realizes she may have misjudged Ryan and can’t help but feel a spark growing between them. Long buried feelings start to resurface and, when they’re thrown together on a romantic press trip abroad, their chemistry comes to a head.

But all is fair in love and magazines, and with the news that layoffs across the department are imminent, Harper is left to wonder: who will get the last word?
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Meet the Author:

Katy Birchall is the author of The Wedding Season and The Secret Bridesmaid, as well as numerous books for young readers. A former editor for Country Life magazine, she studied English literature and linguistics at the University of Manchester and currently lives in London.
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