Disastrous Dates and Podcasting Intersect in Linda Holmes' New Rom-ComBack After This(Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Linda Holmes and the cover of ‘Back After This’.Photo:Cassidy DuHon;  Ballantine Books

Cassidy DuHon;  Ballantine Books

Ballantine Books

It’s another romantic comedy sure to satisfy readers of Holmes, who became a bestseller with her 2019 debutEvvie Drake Starts Over. Holmes, who didn’t publish her first book until she was in her late 40s, says that despite not being “an especially confident person,” she always wanted to venture into writing.“I’ve just always been a sucker for stories that are about relationships between people,” Holmes says. “The most popular and the most familiar genre that is reliably about feelings is romance.”

Linda Holmes.Cassidy DuHon

Cassidy DuHon

While writing her latest book, Holmes was also conscious of the complexities of the ever-changing media landscape. It’s reflected in Eliza’s role as an influencer and Cecily’s experience as an employee at a podcast company. As Cecily juggles a series of disastrous first dates, as well as a couple of good ones, she’s also navigating the future of her industry — something the author notes was crucial for the character.“It was really important to me that she not be somebody who needed to be taught [that] your job’s not important, it’s your love life that’s important,” Holmes says of her protagonist. “It’s not that. It’s that your individual job does not necessarily define you, even if [the] work that you do is a really big part of your identity.”

“The other most important thing about [Cecily] is that she is somebody who tries very hard to be present for other people,” Holmes adds. “Again, that’s not a bad thing. It’s just that you have to figure out when to focus on that and when to really prioritize yourself. In a lot of ways, she’s struggling with two of the things that I see a lot of women, but a lot of people in general, struggling with.”Self-discovery is a common thread throughout Holmes’ novels, including 2022’sFlying Solo, and she’s noticing a shift toward similar messaging in the romance genre.

“Contemporary romance is hotter than it was for a long time,” Holmes says. “I do think contemporary romance has developed a lot in the last few decades, in terms of the ability to represent a lot of different kinds of women’s lives.”

Amazon

Back After Thisalso presented new challenges for Holmes, like the experience of narrating her own audiobook, which the author notes is different from podcasting.“You have to try to figure out what the characters sound like in a way that you don’t necessarily when you’re putting it on the page,” Holmes says. “What I really loved about it is that it’s just a new thing, and I think getting to do a new thing, especially after you have been working for several decades, is really cool.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.The same goes for writing, which Holmes says continues to keep her on her toes.“I really have come to value the reliability with which romance finds new ways to have happy and satisfying endings that still feel somehow fresh to me,” she says. “It’s the genre that I feel the best suited for, which is not to say it’s the one that I consider better than all the others. But up to this point, love stories have been what I have felt most comfortable writing.”Back After Thisis now available, wherever books are sold.

source: people.com