What if the happy ending is where the real story begins?

This week, we sit down with debut author Lavanya Lakshmi to talk about Leave and Come Back, the rom-com that had us wanting to book a flight to an Indian wedding. Lavanya joins Jenna and Cait to talk about the book's central hook: instead of a will-they-won't-they, this is a how-do-they, opening on a couple who's already together and has to figure out the harder part.

We get into her genuinely wild backstory (an Eloise-style childhood living in hotels, over a decade inside Penguin Random House, and a fanfiction origin that connected her to close friend and fellow author Jessica Joyce), why she built the whole book around her favorite Bollywood movie, and how she layered in Easter eggs that reward superfans without leaving newcomers behind. We also talk green flag men, writing every side character like the lead of their own novel, and why the specificity of a story is what makes it feel authentic.

For romance readers, this is a look behind one of the summer's most refreshing debuts, full of color, sass, and a groom you'll want at your own wedding. For writers, it's an honest conversation about elasticity in the genre, trusting a niche obsession for two and a half years, and the discipline it takes to finally finish the book.

In This Episode

• Why the book starts where most romances end, and the "how do they" trope we coined live
• Lavanya's Eloise-style childhood living in luxury hotels in Beijing
• 13 years inside Penguin Random House and working on the Dolly Parton Imagination Library
• Her Twilight fanfiction origin story, and why fanfiction was the real training ground
• Building an entire novel around a beloved Bollywood movie without over-explaining it
• The cover art Easter eggs, and the iconic DDLJ scene hidden in plain sight
• Why writing green flag men felt a little revolutionary
• Treating every side character like the main character of their own book
• Why specificity is what actually makes a story feel authentic
• What's next: a book centered on female friendship

Featured Guest: Lavanya Lakshmi

Lavanya Lakshmi spent 13 years on the business side of book publishing at Penguin Random House, working in sales and business development and on special projects like the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, before making the leap to author herself. Born in India and raised largely in luxury hotels across Beijing thanks to her dad's job in hospitality, she got her master's in publishing from NYU and cut her teeth writing Twilight fanfiction long before her debut. [Book Title] is her first novel: a warm, joyful, DDLJ-loving rom-com about family, an Indian wedding, and two people who start where most romances end.