Meet Christina Lauren TONIGHT
Weekly News from Friends & Fiction—August 12, 2026
Tune in at 7pm ET tonight for this week’s episode!
Join us on Wednesday, August 12th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristy Woodson Harvey & Kristin Harmel welcome New York Times bestselling author duo Christina Lauren to discuss their brand-new instant NYT-bestseller The Romance Revival, in which a fateful accident erases a troubled marriage from memory and a scientific breakthrough gives love one extraordinary do-over.
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 internationally bestselling authors of the Beautiful and Wild Seasons series plus more than 20 other novels including The Unhoneymooners and The Paradise Problem. They join us to discuss The Romance Revival, their delightful new twist on second-chance romance which Ali Hazelwood calls, “unexpected, ridiculously charming, and romantic enough to short-circuit my last brain cell.”
Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 8/12 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 8/14.
Meanwhile, order Christina Lauren’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 is still reeling from (and so grateful for) landing at #6 on the New York Times Bestseller List last week with MEET ME IN PARIS. Huge thanks to the F&F community (and especially to Meg, Ron, Patti, Kristy, and Mary Kay) for all the incredible support. After returning from a whirlwind book tour, she took the weekend off with her husband and son for—you guessed it—a brief Disney stay (two days and one night at Disney’s Polynesian Resort), where they relaxed by the pool and enjoyed the Magic Kingdom fireworks. She was also thrilled to see MEET ME IN PARIS on the Today Show on Saturday, courtesy of Friends & Fiction fave John Searles, whose new book, SINGLE GIRLS, was Kristin’s poolside read over the weekend. It’s so good!
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is gearing up for maybe her biggest honor ever: She is giving the Convocation speech to 5,900 incoming students at her alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill, this weekend! In the Dean Smith Center AKA the Dean Dome where all the basketball magic takes place. She is so excited! Speaking of excitement… The FALLING FOR PEACHTREE BLUFF tour is only a month away! Have you made plans to come see Kristy on tour? Check out her full dates here! And… she loved pulling out the 6 from Will and a friend’s 6/7 costume from a few years ago to celebrate Kristin’s #6! Woo hoo!
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY has enjoyed being home and settled back into her work! She LOVED celebrating with Kristin when Meet Me in Paris hit number six. She’s preparing some amazing things for all of you for Heart of the Wild out in April, interviewing for her next secret project, and recovering from the long haul travel across the ocean to her daughter and family.
MARY KAY ANDREWS ran away from home to the North Georgia mountains for an impromptu five-day writing retreat. She enjoyed listening to the rushing river just outside the porch of the amazing lodge. She spotted red shouldered hawks soaring in the breeze and nearly tame deer grazing along the tree-line. But mostly she was encouraged at realizing she actually does remember how to write a novel. And she is still celebrating Kristin’s instant #6 NYT bestseller, Meet Me in Paris!
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
See Kristin’s remaining Meet Me in Paris tour dates HERE.
See Kristy’s upcoming events HERE.
See Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
See MKA’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, Kristin Harmel & Ron Block welcomed 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.
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
Already aired: Jo Piazza, The Parisian Heist
WATCH | LISTEN
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!
Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
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.
