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Rating
4.6from
This podcast has
484 episodes
Language
EnglishPublisher
Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Patti Callahan Henry, Ron Block, BleavExplicit
No
Date created
2020/09/10
Latest episode
2026/10/09
Average duration
45 min.
Release period
8 days
Description
We're four bestselling novelists and friends whose common love of reading, writing, and independent bookstores bound us together. Now we want to share and celebrate stories—of the books we’ve written, the ones we’re reading now, and the art of writing—with each other and the guest authors we invite to join us. If you love books and are curious about the writing world, you’re in the right place.
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Check latest episodes from Friends & Fiction podcast
Friends and Fiction with Annie Hartnett
2026/10/09
On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Kristin Harmel welcome bestselling, award-winning author Annie Hartnett to discuss her darkly comic and warm-hearted national bestseller, The Road to Tender Hearts, about an old man on a cross-country mission to reunite with his high school crush—bringing together his adult daughter, two orphaned kids, and a cat who can predict death. Annie is the award-winning author of two previous novels Rabbit Cake and Unlikely Animals. Released in its trade paperback edition in April, The Road to Tender Hearts, won the 2025 New England Book Award for fiction, was longlisted for the Massachusetts Book Award, was named a best book of 2025 by NPR, LitHub, and Southern Living, and has been translated into nineteen languages. We are so excited to have Annie join us from her home in Massachusetts to talk about this word-of-mouth sensation that is beloved by book clubs and which John Irving calls, “a miraculous novel—an actual and spiritual road trip you won’t forget.”
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Friends & Fiction with Lucy Foley
2026/10/02
On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Ron Block welcome #1 bestselling author Lucy Foley to discuss her brand-new novel, Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, the first fully authorized Miss Marple mystery in fifty years featuring Agatha Christie’s iconic detective. Lucy is a #1 Sunday Times, Irish Times, and New York Times bestselling author with more than 10-million copies of her books in print worldwide and several currently being adapted for the screen. She is a Waterstones Thriller of the Month author, a three-time nominee at the British Book Awards, and The Guest List was a Reese’s Book Club selection and winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery & Thriller. As a life-long Agatha Christie fan, Lucy has drawn immeasurable inspiration from the Queen of Crime. In Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, she was inspired to transport Miss Marple – her favorite Christie creation – to the glamorous post-war setting of the Swiss Alps, in a mystery that feels gloriously escapist yet utterly relevant to our times.
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Friends & Fiction with Ariel Lawhon
2026/09/25
On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Kristin Harmel welcome New York Times bestselling author Ariel Lawhon to discuss her brand-new instant NYT-bestselling novel, The Pirate Queen, a sweeping historical adventure inspired by the life of Grace O’Malley, the legendary Irish folk heroine who risked everything to defend her people. Ariel is an award-winning, critically acclaimed, bestselling author of seven works of historical fiction including Code Name Hélène, The Wife the Maid and the Mistress, and I Was Anastasia. Her 2023 novel, The Frozen River was a Good Morning America Book Club pick and an NPR Book of the Year that has sold more than a million copies and spent more than 40 total cumulative weeks on the NYT bestseller list, with film rights optioned by Trudie Styler’s Maven Screen Media. Ariel’s books have been translated into more than 40 languages. We can’t wait to venture onto the high seas with Ariel to chat about this keenly observed, action-packed novel that channels the untamed beauty and harsh realities of sixteenth-century Ireland as seen through the eyes of an unforgettable heroine.
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Friends & Fiction with Chloe Benjamin
2026/09/18
On this episode, Ron Block & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome award-winning, NYT-bestselling author Chloe Benjamin to discuss her new novel and this month’s Good Morning America Book Club pick, Under Story, an intimate yet epic love story that’s also a sweeping odyssey of scientific discovery. Chloe is the author of The Anatomy of Dreams and The Immortalists which was a New York Times bestseller, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, a LibraryReads favorite, a #1 Indie Next pick, and a best book of 2018 according to NPR and The Washington Post among others. Chloe joins us from her home in the San Francisco Bay Area to discuss her eagerly anticipated new novel that invites us to consider the promise of this life, what might lie beyond it, and how far we would go for more time with the people we love. Already met with wall-to-wall incredible reviews, this novel cements Chloe’s place among our best and most lasting storytellers and we cannot wait to chat with her.
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Friends & Fiction celebrates the launch of Falling for Peachtree Bluff by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2026/09/11
On this episode, the full F&F family gathers to celebrate this month’s F&F Featured Author, our very own Kristy Woodson Harvey, to discuss our August 2026 Pick of the Month, Falling for Peachtree Bluff, the fifth installment in Kristy’s fan-favorite series that reunites the Murphy crew just in time for pumpkin spice season. Kristy is the New York Times, USA TODAY, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of fourteen novels, including Summer State of Mind, Beach House Rules, A Happier Life, and The Wedding Veil. Many of her novels are in various stages of option or development for film and television. Around here she is most adored for her role as one of F&F’s co-founders and co-hosts. Readers have flocked to Kristy’s beloved Peachtree Bluff series for a reason: it’s a cozy coastal town where family secrets refuse to be washed away by the tide and close-knit community is everything. We agree with Susan Mallery who says, "Peachtree Bluff is my happy place!” Go there with us on this LIVE show as we welcome Fall the best way we know how—with a brand-new book perfect for the season and all the fun, laughs, and warm-hearted insights you’ve come to expect from our live launch episodes!
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Ask Us Anything with Friends & Fiction
2026/09/04
On this episode, we are airing an “Ask Us Anything” episode where F&F’s Managing Director Meg Walker leads our hosts & founders — Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry in answering questions that were submitted by our community. The Fab Four wanted to know what those of you out there might be wondering about. So we solicited your questions and we were amazed by the response! We received more than 50 questions! So, we recorded a casual, informal chat where we got to as many of them as possible. One thing is clear—we will definitely need to do this again to get to more of them! But for now, join us as we discuss all manner of things from writing process, reading habits, and recent favorite reads, to book touring, guest booking, and the relationships between our four hosts.
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Friends & Fiction Best-Of Re-Airing with Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham
2026/08/28
This episode is a re-airing of one of our favorite episodes from the vault! Join us as Kristy, Kristin & Mary Kay talk to #1 NYT-bestselling novelist Elin Hilderbrand along with her daughter Shelby Cunningham, to discuss their 2025 bestselling co-written novel, The Academy, the deliciously scandalous story of one drama-filled year at a New England boarding school. Now is the perfect time to re-air this episode as Elin & Shelby’s eagerly anticipated follow-up, The Thoroughbreds, is set to release on September 15th. Class will soon be back in session for senior year at Tiffin Academy promising loads of high-stakes drama, tension, and intrigue—and the big reveal of what was in Cinnamon’s email. Tune in for this fun chat with this dynamic mother-daughter author duo—now with a brand-new intro from Kristy Woodson Harvey—as we discuss Elin & Shelby’s fresh, buzzy take on boarding school life which took one of America's most satisfying and popular storytellers in a thrilling new direction.
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Friends & Fiction with Karin Slaughter
2026/08/21
On this episode, the full F&F family gathers to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, the #1 New York Times bestseller Karin Slaughter to discuss The Secrets We Hide, the next thrilling mystery in her new North Falls series featuring Sheriff Emmy Clifton, which is our August 2026 Pick of the Month! Karin is the #1 NYT-bestselling author of more than 25 novels, including the Edgar-nominated Cop Town and standalone novels Pretty Girls and False Witness. An international bestseller, Slaughter is published in 120 countries with more than 40-million copies sold across the globe. Pieces of Her, based on her novel, debuted at #1 worldwide on Netflix as an original series in 2022. Her bestselling Will Trent series is now a television and streaming sensation in its 4th season. Karin joins us to give an update on all her projects currently in development for film/TV, her work with Save the Libraries, and, of course, her pulse-pounding new thriller, The Secrets We Hide, about which Booklist said this in a starred review: “themes of motherhood, betrayal, and redemption are tied up in the final twist in Slaughter's gripping portrait of a painfully human small town.”
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Friends & Fiction with Christina Lauren
2026/08/14
On this episode, 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.”
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Friends & Fiction with Jo Piazza
2026/08/07
On this episode, 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 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.”
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Friends & Fiction with Natalie Messier, Kyleigh Leddy & Chloe Liese
2026/07/31
On this episode, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Kristin Harmel chat with three three of their Gallery Books pub house sisters all with new contemporary summer romance novels out. Released on July 7th, Natalie Messier’s debut novel Every Version of You is for fans of The Love of My Afterlife and The Seven Year Slip. This heartfelt contemporary romance follows a woman who gets a second chance at a formative time in her adult life—this time to win the “one that got away.” Natalie is a Reese’s Book Club LitUp Fellow and Los Angeles-based screenwriter. Released on June 23rd, Kyleigh Leddy’s debut novel, Worse Than Strangers, is for fans of Jane Austen, Elin Hilderbrand, and Gilmore Girls. This beachy retelling of Austen’s Persuasion set in a modern-day Nantucket cottage is about finding romance, second chances, and a new path in life. Kyleigh penned the memoir, The Perfect Other, based on her NYT Modern Love essay, “Years Ago, My Sister Vanished. I See Her Whenever I Want.” Released on April 14th, USA Today bestselling author Chloe Liese’s Happy Ending is a clever and heartwarming rom-com perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Annabel Monaghan about two best friends who must fake a relationship for their exes. Chloe believes that everyone deserves a love story and is the author of two romantic family sagas, the Bergman Brothers and Wilmot Sisters.
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Friends & Fiction celebrates the launch of Meet Me in Paris by Kristin Harmel
2026/07/24
On this episode, the full F&F family gathers to celebrate the launch of our very own NYT-bestselling author Kristin Harmel’s captivating new novel, Meet Me In Paris about several intertwined stories of love, loss, courage, and redemption set over the course of one magical week in Paris, which is, of course, our July Pick of the Month! One of F&F’s co-founders and co-hosts, Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels, including The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, The Paris Daughter, The Forest of Vanishing Stars, and The Book of Lost Names. She is published in more than thirty languages. She joins us before heading out on book tour to chat about her new contemporary novel, Meet Me In Paris, which is described as Love Actually meets The Notebook. We can’t wait to celebrate this tale of love, loss, and finding your way home set during one life-changing week in Paris in grand F&F style complete with musical performances and a signature cocktail!
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Friends & Fiction with Ben Reeves
2026/07/17
On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Kristin Harmel welcome debut novelist Ben Reeves to discuss his super buzzy new book, Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt, an astonishing, deeply moving story about finding beauty in the brevity of life, as narrated by the one who knows it best: Death. When Ben Reeves is not writing, he paints, makes music, and works as a web designer for a book printing company in Peterborough, UK. An early draft of Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt won the international 2024 Bath Novel Award. Perfect for fans of Fredrik Backman and Virginia Evans, the book has been named a Most Anticipated Book of the Summer by People, BuzzFeed, and Goodreads. We are excited to talk to Ben about the book that NYT-bestselling author Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project) calls “one of the most original, riveting, and moving books I’ve read in a long while.
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Friends & Fiction with John Searles
2026/07/10
On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Patti Callahan Henry welcome NYT-bestselling author John Searles to discuss his infectious and utterly charming new novel, Single Girls, which is a fictionalization of the iconic Helen Gurley Brown’s early years at the helm of Cosmopolitan, and the intrepid group of women she took under her wing to create one of the most talked about magazines of all time. John is a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of four atmospheric thrillers including Strange But True which was adapted as a major motion picture starring Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Brian Cox, Blythe Danner, and Margaret Qualley. He appears regularly on the Today show to discuss his favorite book selections and has written for The New York Times, Oprah Daily, and The Washington Post. He spent more than two decades as a top editor at Cosmopolitan. He joins us to chat about Single Girls which has been named a Best Book of Summer by Oprah Daily, Harper’s Bazaar, and The Boston Globe, and been praised as “an irresistibly fun, sparkling novel that you'll want to binge in one night” by Kevin Kwan, and “a poignant and rollicking good time” by Wally Lamb.
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Friends & Fiction with Lisa Jewell
2026/06/26
On this episode, Ron Block & Mary Kay Andrews welcome #1 NYT-bestselling author Lisa Jewell to discuss her "deliciously dark, devilishly addictive" (Alice Feeney) new novel It Could Have Been Her, in which two women's lives converge in a house containing devastating secrets that refuse to stay buried. Lisa is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 24 novels, including Don’t Let Him In, None of This Is True, The Family Upstairs, and Then She Was Gone. Her novels have sold more than 15-million copies internationally, and her work has been translated into more than 30 languages. She joins us from her home in London before embarking on her US tour to chat about her new psychological thriller, It Could Have Been Her, which Riley Sager calls “twisty, twisted and oh so dark,” and Publishers Weekly calls a “pitch-black spine-tingler."
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Podcast reviews
Read Friends & Fiction podcast reviews
DinaRose27 2026/02/28
I love this show!
Haha, I call it a show and not a podcast because hearing authors—beloved favorites and new wonders I get to explore—is so engaging! My precious novel ...
El Gato SA 2025/03/02
Way too many spoilers!
Listening to Michael Connelly episode while reading his new book” the waiting”. I’m halfway through the book and the podcast already gave away THREE b...
Alex Sanfilippo | PodMatch.com 2024/11/19
Enjoyable listening experience
This is a great podcast, the energy that the hosts bring is exactly what you’d want for a show that highlights fiction books and their authors. Extrem...
Be KInd & Listen 2024/08/31
I agree with “Is it just me?”
I was initially thrilled to find these podcasts with such well-known, popular authors. Very disappointed I was! Authors are too verbose, interrupt, ...
Jothechick 2022/09/27
Perfect way to find books to read
I began watching the show at its onset but have switched to listening on a podcast when I drive.
I have been introduced to so many more authors an...
Books are my thing 2022/05/20
So much fun!
I love this podcast! It’s great to catch up with Friends and Fiction episodes while I’m out for a walk or off in the car. These women—whose books I’ve...
Blessed79 2022/02/24
Excellent and Fun Podcast
I enjoy this podcast so much! The guests are so interesting and I have learned so much! Thank you for this podcast! One bad thing though…..my TBR i...
Gota1962 2021/10/27
Love the Fab Five
As a reader, I love this this podcast! I love how the Fab Five discuss books, bookstores and their guests Karen Slaughter was a hoot! As an aspiring ...
1-Angel lover 2021/10/23
Love this podcast! A great addition to Friends and Fiction.
I’ve been watching Friends and fiction since April or Early May 2020.
At a time when we couldn’t get together with family and friends, there you all w...
friend named Pat 2021/10/08
Friends and Fiction
Love this group and podcasts! Great insight into the literary world and life!
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