Meet Jo Piazza TONIGHT
Weekly News from Friends & Fiction—August 5, 2026
Tune in at 7pm ET tonight for this week’s episode!
Join us on Wednesday, August 5th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristin Harmel & Ron Block welcome bestselling author, podcast creator, and award-winning journalist Jo Piazza to discuss her new novel, The Parisian Heist, a propulsive dual-timeline mystery drenched in art-world intrigue and brimming with family secrets, betrayal, and the intoxicating lure of power.
Jo Piazza is the internationally bestselling author of thirteen books, including Everyone Is Lying to You, The Sicilian Inheritance, and the Good Morning America Book Club pick We Are Not Like Them co-written with Christine Pride. She’s also the host of the critically acclaimed Under the Influence podcast. Her work has been featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications. She joins us to discuss her new suspense novel, The Parisian Heist, about an all-female art heist at Paris’s Musée d’Orsay, the legacy of Vincent van Gogh, and two daring women generations apart who refuse to be written out of history no matter the cost. Kristin Harmel calls the book “absolutely riveting and delicious,” Fiona Davis says it “has everything I’ve ever wanted in a novel,” and Kate Quinn says it’s “twisty, satisfying, and atmospheric.”
Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 8/5 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 8/7.
Meanwhile, order Jo’s new book — along with all of our guests’ and hosts’ books — at a discount in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!
Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show!
Latest News from the Fab Four!
KRISTIN HARMEL had an epic first week of book tour for MEET ME IN PARIS and was absolutely thrilled to see so many Friends & Fiction members on the road. She’ll be live in Orlando tonight with Writer’s Block Bookstore, then she’s taking a few days off, because her son, Noah, starts 5th grade next Tuesday! There are more stops to come on the MEET ME IN PARIS tour later this month… but for now, Kristin wants to thank all of you who bought the book, checked it out from the library, posted about it, recommended it to a friend, or came out to one of her events. It truly means so much.
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is so excited because the FALLING FOR PEACHTREE BLUFF tour is soooo soon! Have you checked out her tour dates? Seeing YOU is the very best part! She is savoring every single second of her favorite season and looking so forward to a brand new launch. If she isn’t coming to a town near you, save the date to hang out with her virtually on Talk Shop Live on August 31 at 7 pm, and, of course, right here on Friends & Fiction on September 9!
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY has spent the week diving back into her work and life after being gone for weeks. She is wrestling a new work to the mats and preparing so many fun add ons for Heart of the Wild. She loved watching Kristin’s EPIC first week on the road. Did you know that Patti and Kristy have teamed up for a new Friends & Fiction Subscription Box? Also Patti sent out a new substack this week with her favorite reads, music and watches.
MARY KAY ANDREWS accompanied granddaughter Molly on two college visits last week. She’s wondering where the time went since she held that tiny baby in her arms just seventeen short years ago! Now she’s back home wrestling with the plot for her next novel.
Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!
Upcoming Events
Kristin is touring now for Meet Me in Paris. See her full tour HERE.
See MKA’s remaining Road Trip tour dates HERE.
See Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
See Kristy’s upcoming events HERE.
Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!
In Case You Missed It
On our most recent new episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Kristin Harmel chatted with three of their Gallery Books pub house sisters all with new contemporary summer romance novels out — Natalie Messier with her debut, Every Version of You, Kyleigh Leddy with her debut, Worse Than Strangers, and USA Today bestselling author Chloe Liese with Happy Ending.
You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.
Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show
All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.
Already aired: Kathryn Stockett, The Calamity Club
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Mary Kay Andrews, Road Trip
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Annabel Monaghan, Dolly All the Time
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Ann Patchett, Whistler
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Lisa See, Daughters of the Sun and Moon
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Lisa Jewell, It Could Have Been Her
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: John Searles, Single Girls
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Ben Reeves, Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Kristin Harmel, Meet Me in Paris
WATCH | LISTEN
Jo Piazza, The Parisian Heist
Watch: August 5 | Listen: August 7
Christina Lauren, The Romance Revival
Watch: August 12 | Listen: August 14
Karin Slaughter, The Secrets We Hide
Watch LIVE: August 19 | Listen: August 21
Kristy Woodson Harvey, Falling for Peachtree Bluff
Watch LIVE: September 9 | Listen: September 11
Chloe Benjamin, Under Story
Watch: September 16 | Listen: September 18
Ariel Lawhon, The Pirate Queen
Watch: September 23 | Listen: September 25
F&F 2026 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange
The 2026 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.
This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MAY 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Kristy Woodson Harvey’s forthcoming book SUMMER STATE OF MIND!
2. JUNE 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of ROAD TRIP by Mary Kay Andrews!
3. AUGUST 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of MEET ME IN PARIS by Kristin Harmel!
Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!
F&F Merch Store
We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.
We’ve added TWO NEW COLORS for our fan favorite name list tee-shirts. We now have them in a heathery hunter green and a kelly green—both of which match perfectly with the three new Fab Four books out in May, June & July! Get yours now and dress to match the books when you come out to Kristy, MKA & Kristin’s tour events!
F&F Official Book Club & 2025 Reading Challenge
Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed nearly 40,000 of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Mary Kay Andrews about her new novel, Road Trip. Mark your calendars for August 17th for their next author guest, Kristin Harmel, when they’ll discuss her new novel, Meet Me In Paris. The Book Club is also hosting the 2026 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The April prompt is to read a book recommended by a favorite librarian and for May it’s to read a book about a female detective.
Stay in Touch!
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Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.
Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.
