Exclusive Interview
BookTok Fave Laurie Gilmore Talks Future of Dream Harbor Series, ‘Gilmore Girls’ Inspiration & More
Writer Laurie Gilmore knows what it’s like to go viral on BookTok. Her August 2023 romance novel The Pumpkin Spice Café has been all over readers’ FYPs for months, driving hunger for even more of the quirky townsfolk in her cozy Dream Harbor books.
There’s now three novels in the steamy series to date: the grumpy-sunshine mystery romance Pumpkin Spice, 2024’s summer-set opposites-attract sequel The Cinnamon Bun Book Store and her latest release, a heated Hallmark-worthy holiday romp called The Christmas Tree Farm. Her latest is currently #1 on Swooon’s Romance Book Best Sellers of November!
Gilmore, a pen name inspired by (you guessed it!) Gilmore Girls, also writes romantasy under her real name, Melissa McTernan. When she’s not writing, she’s raising her kids in upstate New York and, well, consuming other romance books and movies.
Below, McTernan/Gilmore fills us in on what’s ahead in Dream Harbor, her favorite holiday swoons, and more.
First, what was it like to see your book blow up on social media like that? You’d been writing for a few years already, and then all of the sudden one of your novels is just…everywhere!
It was insane. It’s still insane to me. It’s so surreal and it’s extra funny [because] I’m not on TikTok. So I didn’t even really know what was happening. And then it was just kind of like, “Oh my gosh, you’re going viral.” I would get sent videos to watch, but like, I wasn’t even actually on TikTok. [Laughs]
I think it’s cool that it’s reader-driven, you know? I know, of course, there’s always weird algorithm stuff, but it feels a little bit more authentic that it’s the readers driving it, and posting, and being excited, and sharing. That’s just cool. You can’t make that happen.
How long had you been writing when this happened?
I had been writing under my real name for four or five years. I had done smaller presses, I did a few self-publishings, novellas, and little things here and there. And then I signed a contract with One More Chapter, which is an imprint of HarperCollins U.K. and that was to write my werewolf series [Wolf Brothers], which is under my real name as well. And then they were like, “Oh, we’re also really wanting to do a small-town cozy romance. Would you be interested in writing that as well?” So I was like, “Yeah, that sounds awesome. That’s what I like to read. So, 100%, yeah.” [I was] not thinking that was going to be the thing that really took off.
What romances have inspired you most in your writing, onscreen or on the page?
Formative memories, it’s got to be like [1987 film] The Princess Bride. And then I loved all the teen movies, like [1999’s] 10 Things I Hate About You. When Leonardo DiCaprio sees Claire Danes through the fish tank in the 1997 version of Romeo + Juliet, my 13-year-old brain, like, solidified and was like, “This is it.”
And then books, so, I will admit, I didn’t read romance for a while. I was a little bit snobbish about it. But anything that I read, I only cared about the romantic subplot. And then I finally woke up — like, hello, there’s a whole wonderful genre out there. Now I love any romances that are really character-driven. I love Talia Hibbert, everything she writes. Her characters are awesome. Kate Clayborn, Georgie, All Along, I loved that book. Cat Sebastian, she has this duology — the first one is We Could Be So Good and the second one is You Should Be So Lucky, they’re historical novels from the 1950s [about] two men who are reporters, and it’s so cozy. She does care-taking as a love language so beautifully. I just love it.
And with your pen name, I have to ask about Gilmore Girls influence. I know you’re a Luke and Lorelai fan, but are you Team Jess, Dean, or Logan for Rory?
This question stresses me out. [Laughs] It’s Jess. I’m a Jess girl. But I do get scared answering because people feel really strongly about this.
Don’t worry, you’ve chosen correctly. We can now continue the interview.
Whew! Okay.
One thing that Stars Hollow had a lot of is snow, and you also just released your first Christmas romance with The Christmas Tree Farm. To you, what is non-negotiable in a good Christmas romance?
Someone has to hate Christmas, and someone has to love it. You have to have a grinchy character. They have to get snowed in — that just feels like a definite. Those are all definites for me. There should be cookies. Maybe they should go ice skating. In [The Christmas Tree Farm], for me, it was all about, his whole quest in life was to keep her warm. That’s like my favorite micro-trope. I did a lot of that in there. But I do like an opposites-attract, opposite feelings about Christmas.
Do you have a favorite feel-good seasonal romance that you turn to yearly?
I do love the Lovelight Farm series [by B.K. Borison], and that’s on a Christmas tree farm. I loved that a lot. And then we just watch all the Netflix movies.
Since you brought it up, is the movie series that Kira and Bennett watch in Christmas Tree Farm a particular Netflix movie series about a princess?
Yes, it’s The Princess Switch! It’s Vanessa Hudgens times three. It’s amazing.
Incredible. Your next book in the Dream Harbor series is going to be The Strawberry Patch Pancake House, coming Spring 2025, which is Iris’ story, that also digs into the single dad trope. Tell me about that book.
Yes, so we meet Iris in The Christmas Tree Farm. And [her love interest is] Archer, who we don’t meet until this book because he is in Paris being a chef. He gets called to Dream Harbor because he has a daughter that he didn’t know he had. And she is five, and she now needs a parent because her mom has died. I know. Sad. It starts on a bit of a bummer. But he comes to be a single dad, and he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and the only job he can get is at the diner cooking pancakes. And Iris becomes his nanny through various Dream Harbor meddlings. So it’s single dad, which was scary to do. There’s a kid in this one, which feels controversial sometimes for romance readers. Some people like it, some people don’t. I do promise, though, that she does not get in the way. There are babysitters, and she has a grandma that she goes to see.
She’s well taken care of.
Yes, this was important to me. It’s also a little bit forbidden because he’s her boss. And all the while, he’s trying to figure out the the beloved Dream Harbor pancake recipe, so it’s basically Archer struggling a lot.
And Iris swoops in to help?
Exactly.
She’s kind of becoming the Kirk of Dream Harbor with all the jobs she’s had, not to keep inserting Gilmore Girls here.
It’s true. [Laughs] She’s everywhere. She knows everyone. But the one thing she didn’t ever want to do was work with kids. She’s not a fan of kids. So it’s kind of both of them figuring out the kid thing, and falling in love, and deciding to be parents. It’s a lot, there’s a lot going on in this one.
After that, your next next book is The Gingerbread Bakery, which is the long-awaited romance for Annie and Mac. First, how does it feel to be finally writing their story? And on top of that, the backdrop is the wedding for two very important Dreamers. Why was that the perfect setting for these two?
Annie and Mac have always been in the background doing their thing. So, I’m excited to finally write them, but also, it’s scary. It’s a lot of pressure. But I wanted them forced to be together as much as possible. So what better way than their friends’ wedding? And so, the book is going to be a lot of, like, they’re both in the wedding party, so they have to be together a lot. And then I thought a wedding would be fun. It just all felt right. Plus, I knew we wanted [their story] at Christmastime too, so we had to wait a little bit for that.
How much have you written of Gingerbread so far?
I’m about 10,000 words, so just a little chunk. They’re still angry with each other.
Have you had any offers for TV shows or movies in this universe yet?
Not yet, but fingers crossed. I think that’d be very cool.
Have you ever dreamcast Jeannie and Logan? Or any of your characters?
I’m so bad at that. Even like my Pinterest boards for each book, it’s just random people of the internet. It’s never even celebrities. It’s like, “Oh, this guy with a beard is Logan.” [Laughs] I think the only one that I really have in mind is Bennett from Christmas Tree Farm is Henry Cavill in my mind. It’s cannon that that’s what he looks like. So if that one gets made, we’re just gonna have to call up Henry and get him involved…
For readers who found you through Dream Harbor, where do you recommend they start with your fantasy novels?
Right now, I have A Curse of Blood and Wolves out. It’s the first book in what will be a trilogy. It’s a Little Red Riding Hood retelling, but with werewolves, and I feel like it’s more paranormal than fantasy because it’s [set] in our world. You don’t have to learn a whole new world, or learn a map, or anything like that. That’s going to have a second book coming in the Spring, and a third sometime after that, but that’s where I would start.
