small town romances and grumpy MMCs — a conversation with @authorhannahnicole

Every time I open Instagram, my TBR gets longer — this is a fact that I have come to accept. There’s always a beautifully designed review post or a recommendation reel that I can’t help but save for later. Before I know it, the book that was once on my screen is now in my hands or on my Kindle, and the same applies when I see authors pop up on my feed. The descriptions of their upcoming novels and breakdowns of the included tropes grab my attention and push my patience to the limit as I wait for release day. This is exactly what happened when I stumbled upon Hannah Nicole (@authorhannahnicole) promoting her debut novel Finding Home, and I had the joy of speaking to her about it earlier this week.

An avid reader since she was little, Hannah Nicole is no stranger to books (even if nowadays she prefers romantasy to Nancy Drew). When she was younger, she constantly had little stories in her head, as many of us do as children, but for Hannah, her imagination followed her to adulthood. One of these stories, in particular, was one that she wanted to be able to read herself, but after searching for a book with that plot online and not having any luck, she decided to take matters into her own hands and write it down. Don’t be mistaken; this idea didn’t go on to become Finding Home — instead, it lives in a saved folder on her computer with a slight chance of seeing the light of day at some point — however, the process of finally putting pen to paper made her believe that writing a book was something she could do. And as they say, the rest is history. 

In early Spring, the concept of a second chance romance set in a small town highly inspired by where she lives crossed Hannah’s mind. And this time, she made the decision to go for it. She told me, “I was going to write the story, publish it, and get it out into the world with the hope that maybe somewhere, someone would enjoy it.” 

Finding Home follows Charlotte, a woman in her late twenties, as she rediscovers herself in the hometown she moved away from ten years ago — a place she could have never imagined herself returning to, seeing someone she never imagined she’d see again. However, after she finds her fiancé cheating on her, Charlotte decides to leave her city life in Boston and seek the comfort of a small town, only to realise that keeping her past and future separate is more challenging than she thought. 

This book truly has something for everyone. It’s set in a small town where family and community is everything, it has a grumpy MMC who would do anything for the FMC, it has open-door spice, heartwarming character nicknames and even an ornery goat if that’s what you’re into! Told through dual POV in the first person, Finding Home is a guaranteed emotion-packed, swoon-filled, often funny, suspenseful romance read that will check every box. 

Many of us have ideas for books that we can never quite persuade ourselves to write. I asked Hannah Nicole what advice she would give to aspiring authors and she said that “It is never too late to start; remember to write for you. Some of the greatest stories start with ‘once upon a time.’” 

Take this as your sign to write that book you’ve been thinking about! 

Finding Home will be available on December 10th 2024 on Amazon and also Kindle Unlimited. I can’t wait to see the Bookstagram community support Hannah Nicole and fall in love with her characters as they are falling in love with each other. There will always be room for a second chance, small-town romance on my shelf.

To keep up to date with Hannah Nicole, you can follow her on Instagram here — https://www.instagram.com/authorhannahnicole

This article was written by Jess. You can follow her here on Instagram for more bookish content — https://www.instagram.com/thatromancebook