Love ad Lib was the winner in the AUDIOBOOK (Romance, New Adult) category of the 2024 IndieReader Discovery Awards, where undiscovered talent meets people with the power to make a difference.
Following find an interview with author Evie Alexander.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
The book is Love ad Lib and was published in 2023
What’s the book’s first line?
Lord Henry Arthur Fitzwilliam Foxbrooke, Viscount Nobbury and heir to his father’s title and estate, stood in the entrance hall of his family home and seethed.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Shy and reserved Lord Henry Foxbrooke needs a fake girlfriend to get his eccentric and outrageous family off his back. Free-spirited ray of sunshine Libby Fletcher is down on her luck and desperately needs a job. When Henry offers her the acting gig of a lifetime, she leaps. But when they arrive in Somerset for Henry’s birthday celebrations, neither are prepared for what his family have planned…
Love ad Lib is a laugh-out-loud, grumpy/sunshine, fake relationship romantic comedy, with Jane Austen and Bridgerton vibes, and is guaranteed to steal your heart!
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I’d always wanted to write a fake relationship story and was inspired to write Love ad Lib by a place and certain people. I grew up in Corsham in Wiltshire, and Foxbrooke Manor is based on Corsham Court and the village of Foxbrooke on Corsham. Henry’s wild parents are based on a rich and flamboyant couple who were naturists and used to shop in Corsham wearing hardly anything at all. As a small child they were the most bonkers and shocking people I had ever met! And I based Libby on a woman who ran an improv class that I attended by accident…
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Lord Henry Foxbrooke is trying to be the opposite of his crazy parents and tries to be such a proper gentleman, that his actions border on the ridiculous. He’s Mr Darcy crossed with Mr Bingley.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Because it will make you laugh, swoon, and fall in love with Henry, Libby and the Foxbrookes!
If they made your book into a movie, who would you like to see play the main character(s)?
Regé-Jean Page and Emma Stone
When did you first decide to become an author?
When I was eight!
Is this the first you’ve written?
Love ad Lib is my fifth full length novel
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
When I’m drafting, I spend about eight hours a day writing
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
Doing publishing and marketing as well as writing
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
Only if the deal was right.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
Making a difference to people’s lives through my books
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Lisa Kleypas.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
Any historical by Lisa Kleypas!