Jasmine Guillory Uncorks the Love Language of Wine in “Drunk on Love” | Audible.com
Jasmine Guillory Uncorks the Love Language of Wine in “Drunk on Love”
The bestselling author’s first book in a new series soaks listeners in the rich ambience of Napa Valley as we follow the romance between winery owner Margot Noble and her new employee Luke Williams.
Note: Text has been edited and does not match audio exactly
Margaret Hargrove: Hi, Listeners. I'm Audible Editor Margaret Hargrove, and I'm excited to be speaking with Jasmine Guillory today about her new romance novel, Drunk on Love. Jasmine first captured our hearts with her 2018 debut, The Wedding Date, and has gone on to release several New York Times bestsellers, including The Proposal and While We Were Dating. Welcome, Jasmine.
Jasmine Guillory: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
MH: Jasmine, I just have to start out by saying that I admire you so much. You have such a beautiful voice and I love listening to your love stories, and I really enjoyed Drunk on Love.
JG: Oh, thank you so much. I had a great time writing it, so I'm really excited for it to be out in the world.
MH: So, a little bit about Drunk on Love: Set in Napa Valley's wine country, Drunk on Love follows Margot Noble, who owns a small winery along with her brother Elliot. One night after she gets home from a business trip, Margot introduces herself to Luke Williams, the cute guy sitting next to her at her best friend's bar. They talk for hours, they go back to his place, and they have a lovely one-night stand, or so Margot thinks. She's shocked when she gets to work the next morning and meets the newest employee of their winery, Luke, who her brother hired when she was out of town. You'll have to listen to find out what happens next, but I will say that I really enjoyed Luke and Margot's love story, and, pun intended, it has a satisfyingly rich finish.
JG: [Laughs.]
MH: So, Jasmine, Drunk on Love is your eighth novel, but before writing romance, you were a corporate lawyer for many years. What inspired you to become a romance writer?
JG: You know, there were a few things. I'd started writing years before, but when I started writing it wasn't with romance. Initially, I was writing young adult fiction and was sort of just learning how to be a writer, more or less. And then I started reading a ton of romance. I was going through a really hard time in my life, and I discovered that romance is a great genre to read when you're going through anything difficult because you know going in there's going to be the happy ending. And sometimes that's exactly what we need. Because that's not to say that romance novels don't deal with difficult things, or people don't go through hard things, but I really needed to experience those hard things but know that there would be goodness at the end.
"I was going through a really hard time in my life, and I discovered that romance is a great genre to read when you're going through anything difficult because you know going in there's going to be the happy ending."
At first when I was reading them, I was reading a ton of historical romance, which I love, but I was reading it and thinking, “You know, these are so much fun to read, but I don't know if I could write one.” I just felt like my voice wouldn't translate to historical. I wasn't sure how to do all the research, things like that. And then I started reading contemporary romance, and I was like, "Oh, yeah. I want to write one of these." And then I had the idea for The Wedding Date and I started writing it, and I had so much fun writing that book that I just haven't stopped.
MH: Well, we're glad you haven't stopped. Your Wedding Date Series was hugely popular and ended after six books. What can fans of that series expect from Drunk on Love?
JG: I hope people fall in love with Margot and Luke. They are a very fun couple. I really enjoyed putting together their story. Margot owns a winery with her brother. She is struggling, sort of, with her own vision of herself at the winery. She's never quite been sure of her place there. She loves her job, but she feels like she has to prove herself. Luke is also dealing with his own issues. He recently quit his job and he's not sure if he made a mistake. If people have read and liked my books before, they will enjoy Margot and Luke. I think they have a fun cast of characters around them. They both have friends and family who you'll meet in the story who I really enjoyed putting in their lives. So, yeah, I really hope people love it.
MH: So that leads me to my next question. Is Drunk on Love the start of a new series? And I ask that because you have created such rich stories for the side characters. Like, I want to know if Avery's going to find someone new, because possibly, I mean, I don't want to give you ideas, but Avery and Elliot, maybe, possibly? And then Sydney also is such a great friend. So, you know, there’s possibilities [laughs].
JG: The idea, yes, is for Drunk on Love to be the beginning of a new series. I'm not quite sure what's next yet. I can't quite give any clues, but that is the goal. So we will see.
MH: Okay.
JG: Stay tuned.
MH: You heard it here first. I'm excited. So, how do you think you've grown as a writer since you wrote The Wedding Date?
JG: You know, I think about that a lot. I really try to think through characters. I used to spend a much shorter time on my first draft and then spend a ton of time on revision. And now it's kind of the opposite. My first drafts take longer, because in my first draft I'm kind of working my way through the characters, figuring out their story, going back and forth a lot with who these people really are. But by the end of a first draft, I've really figured out a lot of that. And so now my revision process is a lot faster because I understand them, even though in the writing process it always feels like, "Oh, no, I will never get there."
I feel like my most important question in writing any romance is always, “Why would these two people fall in love?” What is it about Margot that made Luke fall for her? What is it about Luke that made Margot fall for him? And I am really thinking about that throughout their story and figuring that out, because for me that's the key to a romance, knowing why they fall in love, and then for the reader to be able to see it. I really want to show that. So, I think those are the things that I really try to concentrate on.
MH: Have you had a chance to hear the audio for Drunk on Love?
JG: I haven't heard it yet. I'm really excited to hear it, though.
MH: So, all of your previous novels have featured a single narrator—Janina Edwards narrated the entire Wedding Date Series. But Drunk on Love has duet narration from Heidi Franklin and Ryan Vincent Anderson. These narrators are new to you and to me and seem to be new to romance in general. How did you pick them? And is there a reason why you went with duet narration versus a single narrator?
JG: Yeah. I think I probably drove the audio producer at my publisher a little nuts while we were picking the narrator, because I wanted it to be someone new. I loved the narration of Janina Edwards, but I felt like since this is a beginning of a new series, I wanted a change. We went through auditions of, I think, maybe eight or nine people, because I really wanted it to be just the right person for Margot. And then it was her idea to have a dual narration. And I sort of went back and forth on it, and then I was like, because we're doing something new, it would be kind of fun to switch it up and see what listeners like about it. I listened to a few voices for men, and I really liked his voice. It just felt right to hear the two of them. But I'm really excited to hear the narration.
MH: Well, I listened, twice actually, and I really enjoyed it. So I think you are definitely in for a treat.
JG: Oh, I'm so excited.
MH: So, let's talk about the setting of Drunk on Love a little bit. It's so fun. I mean, who doesn't love Napa Valley, wine, and vineyards? Did you do the difficult job of going on a lot of winery tours, wine tastings, just to get the details right?
JG: It was so difficult. It was really hard. Sometimes this job as a writer, it's a lot of struggle [laughs]. Although, I will say, I live not too far away from Napa Valley. For the past 10 or so years, I go up there relatively often, and so I feel like I have been doing the research for this book for a long time.
"If people have read and liked my books before, they will enjoy Margot and Luke."
When I decided to set a book there, I definitely had a different kind of research that I did. There was a lot of stuff that I knew from being on the visitor side of it, from the customer side, right? What it's like to go for the tours and to taste the wine and to be new. Because Luke is all new to the process, some of that worked for the Luke side. But for the Margot side, I had to ask a lot more questions than I had before. And so I asked questions when I was on tours, when I tasted wine, to the people, like how long they've worked there or more details about what it was like to work there. And then I also talked to some owners of vineyards, some people who did that high-up work in smaller wineries, to really find out what it's like to be on the other side, what the business side is like. And people were very gracious with me, with their time, and of course I tasted a lot of wine in the process [laughs].
MH: Well, I mean, I can imagine as you were writing this book, it was research, right? You had to drink wine while you were writing. What would you say would be a perfect wine pairing for Drunk on Love?
JG: You know, I thought about this. I feel like this is a red wine kind of book. Especially in the summertime, I drink a lot of white wine, but I feel like this book is one for a nice kind of fruity red, maybe a good pinot noir. Maybe a rosé for some parts of the book, but then some parts of it, you want a nice full-body, juicy red.
MH: I agree. It's so good. So, since we're talking about wine and drinks, that makes me think of food.
JG: Yes.
MH: Margot's best friend, Sydney, whips up this really amazing-sounding pasta carbonara recipe for Margot, so I need that recipe. And I also need Luke's mom's recipe for short ribs.
JG: [Laughs.]
MH: I was very hungry while I was reading this book. There's also bread and cheese and lots of charcuterie mentioned in Drunk on Love, and I realize that your books have a lot of descriptions of delicious food, and your characters are often eating or cooking together. What are some of the ways that food functions as a love language in your books?
JG: I just think it's very romantic to feed other people what you know that they need at the time, right? Whether it's sharing something with someone else, like when Margot and Luke first meet, they share appetizers at the bar. Or whether you know your friend is having a hard day, you know you need to bring them pasta. Sometimes that's exactly what you need. And so I do think of food as a love language in that way. It's kind of sharing something that you love with someone else or giving to someone else what you know they would love. And so that is one of the things I really like about the way that food functions in all our lives, but also in my books.
MH: And I can't forget about the coffee cake either. I mean, it just goes on and on. I was just so hungry listening to this book. So, work is another big theme in Drunk on Love. Their careers are very important to both Margot and Luke. Like you mentioned, Margot really wants to leave her mark on the vineyard and find her way. Luke is at a crossroads between his former Silicon Valley job and what he really wants to do. Your characters and their jobs all seem so realistic, so how do you pick your characters’ careers?
JG: So, with Margot, the first thing that I knew in this book was the setting. I had finished While We Were Dating, which was the last book in the Wedding Date universe. I knew that By the Book was coming next, but then after that I wasn't sure what I was going to write next. I remember having a conversation with my agent, like, "I have no idea what I'm going to write next," which is always how I feel at the end of any book. And then it was either later that night or the next day that I thought, "Oh, Napa Valley. I want to write a book set in wine country." And so the setting came to me first, and then as soon as I had that setting, I knew it would be set at a small family winery. I knew that one of the main characters would be one of the owners. So, I kind of figured out that would be Margot. Her job and some of her relation to her job came to me first.
And so then with Luke, there were certain bits of information I knew about him because I knew what the beginning was going to be like. I knew that they would meet and then he would end up being her employee, but I was thinking, “Well, where has he come from? Why is he just starting at this winery?” And thinking through that gave me Luke's background. I knew he was moving back to Napa. Why, you know? So, there's always certain bits of a character that come to me first and then I start just asking myself a lot of questions about them and seeing what feels right. Through all of that, it made me really understand Margot and Luke a lot better and also know what their jobs were and what their relationships were to those jobs.
MH: That's one thing I really love about your books. It's that your characters exist in a very real world of jobs, family, money concerns. And you never entirely put your life on hold just because you fall in love. There are still other things going on in your life. And I think having such a richness of character, having such fully developed characters, you can really see how they end up together, what's their connection, and why they're perfect for each other. So, kudos to you.
JG: Thank you so much.
MH: So, your books were the first romance books that I read. I mean, after I read The Wedding Date, I was hooked. And you made me fall in love with romance novels. And I feel like your books are a great gateway to romance, especially for people who may not consider themselves to be romance fans. Is that something you've heard before from fans, where they've either read or listened to your books and now they can't get enough romance?
JG: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And I love it. I feel like every fan of romance has had their gateway book, and so I'm always thrilled when one of my books is a gateway to someone else. Because I feel like there are so many great books out there in romance, and I'm delighted for people to be able to discover all of them.
MH: You're such a big player in the contemporary romance space, and it's amazing to see how your career has skyrocketed the last few years. Your stories are refreshingly diverse, relatable characters who are well drawn out and have such vibrant personalities that I think romance fans want and are connecting to. How do you think you found yourself in this space? I know you spoke a little bit in the beginning that historical romance wasn't necessarily for you, but what is it about contemporary romance and having such a diverse richness of your characters and stories that appeals to you?
JG: You know, I kind of love being able to write in an imaginary world that also feels so real to me. My characters feel like they really exist to me, and I'm always thrilled when other people tell me that they feel like they exist to other people too. Because I want them to feel very grounded in the world that we live in, as well as having a little bit of that escape. I want people to have that in my books, where it's still feeling like there's reality there. That's what I find so fun about writing contemporary romance, because I can write places that I know or places that exist along with places that I've imagined for myself. I love when people don't know the difference, when people are looking for a restaurant that I put in a book, and I'm like, "Oh, no, I just invented that because I needed something right there." But sometimes there's a real restaurant next door to it, you know? And so that's what I find so fun, is being able to put reality along with my own fantasy, right there on the page.
"My characters feel like they really exist to me, and I'm always thrilled when other people tell me that they feel like they exist to other people too."
MH: Thinking about writing and reading romance as an escape, why Napa Valley? I read that you wrote Drunk on Love during the pandemic. Was this sort of a way you could travel there in your mind without having to actually go there?
JG: I feel like some of it was to have that kind of escape of travel, but then also I think that writers kind of had two ways of dealing with it while we wrote books during the pandemic. It was either you were writing some of what we were dealing with—the isolation, the loneliness, the distance—or you were throwing yourselves into all of the things that you missed. And I was doing the latter. I wanted to experience through my writing hanging out with friends, being at restaurants, hanging out at wineries, all of that stuff that I missed doing. And so Drunk on Love was kind of a way for me to be able to experience some of that.
But, also, I actually did spend time in Napa Valley during the pandemic, because there was so much open space up there that a lot of wineries could still do tastings outside once things opened up somewhat. And so I would go up with friends or my mom and we'd taste wine outside and kind of be able to relax into some of that. I have friends who have a house up there, and so we could go and all sit around the pool and be able to distance but still hang out. So, it was being able to write in some of those moments where I got to experience community during the pandemic while also writing in fun for myself.
MH: So, you've written fake dating, enemies to lovers. Is there any favorite romance trope that you enjoy writing the most?
JG: Oh, I mean, I do love fake dating. I think it is so fun. One of the things that I love about it is because often these are people who don't really know each other very well, so they're getting to know each other while still trying to pretend to the outside world that they know each other very well. So, they're having to find out all these details, doing the pretense to other people but being real to each other, but then what is the point when it stops being fake? I think some of that is just so much fun to me. I have had a lot of fun with that.
MH: So, is your next romance going to be a fake dating, maybe?
JG: [Laughs] You’re trying to find out. You and my editor both are trying to find this out. You know, I have already done two fake datings, so I feel like I need to stop for a little while.
MH: Well, thank you so much, Jasmine. It's truly been a pleasure to talk to you today. Listeners, pour yourself a glass of wine and please enjoy this sparkling listen, it's a good one. Drunk on Love is available now on Audible.
