On this episode, the full F&F family gathers to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, #1 bestselling novelist Lisa Scottoline to discuss our July 2025 Pick of the Month, her new gothic thriller with dashes of romance and excellent twists, The Unraveling of Julia, in which a young widow inherits a Tuscan estate from a mysterious benefactor and finds herself thrust into the crosshairs of a dangerous conspiracy. Lisa is a #1 bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of 37 novels. She also wrote a series of humorous memoirs, co-authored with her daughter, novelist Francesca Serritella. Lisa is President of Mystery Writers of America and she reviews fiction for the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. A former trial lawyer, she graduated magna cum laude in three years from the University of Pennsylvania and cum laude from its law school, where she taught Justice & Fiction. There are 30 million copies of her books in print, and she is published in 35 countries. She joins us from her Pennsylvania farm with her array of disobedient pets to discuss her twisty, transportive, and haunting, new novel, The Unraveling of Julia. Called "pulse-pounding, propulsive, and utterly unputdownable,” by our own Kristy Woodson Harvey, this is suspense with a passport and we are excited to talk to Lisa all about it!

On this episode, Mary Kay Andrews & Ron Block welcome beloved NYT-bestselling author Adriana Trigiani to discuss The View from Lake Como, her new novel about one woman’s quest to build her own life before it’s too late. In addition to writing 21 books published in 38 languages around the world, Adriana is also an award-winning playwright, television writer/producer, and filmmaker. She wrote and directed the major motion picture of her debut novel, Big Stone Gap, adapted her novel, Very Valentine, for TV, and directed the documentary, Queens of the Big Time. For her significant contributions to literature, culture, and community, Adriana has been awarded Italy’s Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia, the Library of Virginia’s Patron of Letters degree, and Ellis Island’s Medal of Honor. Trigiani grew up in Appalachia where she co-founded The Origin Project, and she’s also a proud member of the New York State Council on the Arts. She joins us from her home in Greenwich Village to discuss The View from Lake Como, which has been named to most-anticipated lists by People, Elle, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly and which Booklist calls “an immersive, big-hearted ode to family, history, and the importance of independence.”

On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Patti Callahan Henry welcome NYT-bestselling author Meg Waite Clayton to discuss her new dual-timeline historical novel, Typewriter Beach, the unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock's new star. Meg is the NYT-bestselling author of eight previous novels, including the Good Morning America Buzz Pick and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, The Postmistress of Paris, The Last Train to London, and The Wednesday Sisters. Her books have been published in twenty-four languages, and have been finalists for the PEN Bellwether Prize, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Langum Prize. She also writes for major newspapers and magazines, mentors in the OpEd Project, and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the California bar. She joins us to discuss Typewriter Beach which has gotten starred reviews from Publishers Weekly (“intrigue to spare”) and Library Journal (“top-tier…thought-provoking and timely”). Set in Hollywood’s golden age in the shadow of the McCarthy era, it’s the story of two women separated by generations—and a tale of ideas and ideals, passion and persistence, creativity, politics, and family.