Interview: Robyn Carr, author of 'One Wish'

Robyn Carr, whose newest Thunder Point novel, One Wish, is out today, joins HEA to chat about her new release and what's next for her — and shares secrets about good friend Kristan Higgins.

Joyce: Welcome back to HEA, Robyn! What can you tell us about One Wish, your latest in the Thunder Point series?

Robyn: One Wish finds best friends becoming lovers, one of my favorite tropes! Grace and Troy like each other; they have fun together. And of course kissing among friends is allowed, but I think it surprised these two how naturally some fantastic making out could evolve into an intense and serious relationship. They are also unprepared for how hard they would have to fight to save their love. I think the thing I love best about One Wish is that I was rooting for them from the first page.

Joyce: Heroine Grace in One Wish is a former figure skater. Are you a figure skating fan?

Robyn: I love to watch figure skating on TV and it's one of my favorite Olympic sports, but I found I had a lot to learn to write about the challenges and pressures for a top-level competitor. Fortunately, there's a lot written about the sport and I have a couple of friends whose kids were involved. The good news is — I wasn't at all surprised by the complexity of the training and the enormous strain of the schedule these young people keep to train and study and compete.

Joyce: Hero Troy appoints himself Grace's "fun coach." If you had a "fun coach," what would he recommend that you do to keep things, well, fun?

Robyn: My idea of fun has changed a lot! As a younger woman I loved to go out dancing and loved to throw parties — big, fun parties! Now I'd prefer a good book at the beach. I'm very content with some sunshine and warm breezes. And of course, throw in a good restaurant in the evening, stimulating conversation and the sound of the ocean when I settle in bed with a good book and I'm in ecstasy.

Joyce: Rumor has it that you and Kristan Higgins are good buds. Can you tell us something about Kristan that we might not already know?

Robyn: Well, they might have to add on to their house to store Kristan's shoes. And this might not be a secret, but Kristan is one of the most sensitive women I know. It shows in her work all the time, but did you know you can count on her to sob at every wedding, when people she knows win a RITA, when she hears a touching story, when someone trots an American flag by? Yes, she's a crier. Well, this is probably no surprise — she makes me cry when I read her books all the time.

Incidentally, she also has one of the biggest laughs of any of my friends and we spend a ridiculous amount of time on the sport of laughing ourselves stupid.

Joyce: Do you have any guilty pleasures of the TV variety?

Robyn: I have my shows, yes — Blue Bloods (Hello, Tom!), Madam Secretary, The Good Wife and I desperately miss The Closer. Can you tell I'm drawn to strong, smart, dignified women with integrity?

Joyce: Read any great romances lately?

Robyn: Well, because Kristan Higgins is a good friend, she let me have a sneak peek at her next book, a women's fiction with a great romantic subplot. If You Only Knew will be out this summer and it's wonderful. That's all I'm going to say, except the Higgins trademark is all there — laugh out loud, sob, laugh, sob. Sigh.

Joyce: What can readers expect to see next from Robyn Carr?

Robyn: It's going to be a very exciting year, no doubt about that. Next comes Never Too Late (March 31), a women's fiction published in trade format. Never Too Late was first published almost 10 years ago — it was the last single title romance I wrote before starting the Virgin River Series and it remains one of my favorite stories. We've updated and added some content and book club questions so it feels brand new to me.

Then A New Hope, a Thunder Point novel (June 30), is a tender story about a man and woman who have both shared painful losses and find strength in each other and with that comes a deep passion. Ginger and Matt, characters my readers have barely met, come center stage to deliver a sensitive, thought-provoking story of courage, compassion and hope.

Joyce: Thanks, Robyn! We always look forward to your romances!

Find out more about Robyn and her books at www.robyncarr.com.

HEA curator and contributor Joyce Lamb is a Paste BN best-selling author of romantic suspense and three-time RITA finalist and has been a professional journalist for 25 years. You can reach her at jlamb@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter (@JoyceLamb). You can also follow HEA on Twitter (@HEAusatoday).