How good are you at keeping a secret?
Because Juniper Perry has been keeping a big one.
That’s the premise behind Meet Me at Midnight.
Juniper Perry has been crushing on the man of her dreams for more than a decade. They work together, so he’s off-limits… But she’s found a way to have him and her anonymity too.
The Dreamscape team was thrilled to have an exclusive Q&A with author duo, Max Monroe. Narrated by the talented C.J. Bloom and Alexander Cendese, Max Monroe brings their wit and humor to this small-town contemporary romance, perfect for fans of Lucy Score, Meghan Quinn, and Christina Lauren.
In this blog Q&A, Max and Monroe answers a few of our burning questions about writing, romance, and storytelling collaboration. Read on to explore how they handle being an author duo writing team, favorite tropes, and their thoughts on the audiobooks’ narration, and more!
Q: What it’s been like to be an author team on over 30 contemporary romances so far and, as co-authors, how do you divide writing responsibilities?
Max: Honestly, it’s been a dream to work together. That whole saying about two brains being better than one? Turns out it’s true!
Monroe: Very much a dream. When we dived into the unknown of writing our first book together, we had no idea how it was going to turn out.
Max: [laughs] No idea. But that first book showed us that there is something magic about what happens when we put both of our brains together and write a book.
Monroe: It’s kind of surreal that we even make it work, really, being the creatives that we are—and that our process changes with every book we write.
Max: Literally, every book is a new adventure in how we tackle it. No consistent system for us!
Monroe: [laughs] We’ve done it pretty much every way you can. We’ve written books where one of us will take one POV and the other will take the other POV. We’ve passed a book back and forth every few chapters or every three to five thousand words.
Max: We’ve even written books where one of us will write the first half and the other will write the second half.
Monroe: But the one thing that stays consistent is the way we plot a book and the way we revise a book.
Max: We’re what you would call half-plotters, half-pantsters. We have a very loose plot going into it, along with a strong idea of who our characters are and how they’ll evolve throughout the story, but for the most part, we are strong believers in letting our characters guide the books, bad and good behavior and everything in between included. [laughs]
Monroe: The organization comes in when we revise, as we’re both in every word, every sentence, every chapter.
Max: By the time we’re done with a book, we honestly have no idea who wrote what.
Q: MEET ME AT MIDNIGHT contains multiple different tropes — best friend’s brother, hidden identity, and workplace romance. What’s your favorite romance trope for you to write, and why?
Monroe: I would have to say enemies to lovers. I simply love the challenge in bringing two people who absolutely hate each other together. And I live for the moment when the chemistry and tension between them has built to such a point that they simply can’t avoid it.
Max: Enemies to lovers is at the top of my list, but I also really jive with friends to lovers. There’s just something magic about seeing two people who are already so close take their relationship in a different direction than they ever expected. There are so many clues and easter egg moments you can plant, and it’s so fun to watch them find out what we the reader have seen all along—that they have chemistry!
Q: Juniper and Beau have several overlapping connections between them – work executive/intern, neighbors, best friend’s brother, and now, anonymous midnight chats. How did you balance these different relationship dynamics? And how does their relationship develop simultaneously between their online “midnight chat room” personas and their several overlapping “in-person” connections?
Max: We’d like to say we had this big, all-encompassing, diabolical plan in how these connections transpired on the page, but honestly, for Meet Me at Midnight, Beau and June were in control. Maybe it’s because they’re both overachievers with an overactive work-ethic, but they wanted to be in charge of how they came together too.
Monroe: Our plot notes were incredibly vague for these two, to be honest. [cringes and laughs] For example, it would say something like, “During this Midnight chat, their flirtation needs to take it up a notch.”
Max: [laughs] Or “This is the point of their Midnight chat where things go from work chat to incredibly spicy.”
Monroe: And when you reach that plot point you’re like, “Oh boy. Okay. I hope I can get us there.” But then somehow, Beau and June got us there themselves.
Q: As romance authors, how do you feel the “anonymity” or “secret identity” trope adds to a contemporary romance story like this one? And what inspired the premise of secret messaging/chatting for MEET ME AT MIDNIGHT?
Max: The secret identity trope adds such a fun layer of intrigue to a contemporary romance. In Meet Me at Midnight, for example, you’re wondering how on earth June is going to overcome this huge secret she’s keeping from Beau. You don’t just decide to tell your lifelong crush that you’re in love with him one day. It’s one of those things that’s usually forced.
Monroe: [laughs] As writers, we were wondering how it was going to happen organically, too.
Max: [laughs] From your lips, sister! We knew June was getting herself in quite the pickle when it came to her staying anonymous while chatting with Beau.
Monroe: Especially, when their Midnight chats became not-so-professional and very, very spicy. The premise was inspired by the title itself, Meet Me at Midnight, so we knew that would be involved somehow—plus, it’s such a romantic theme and we wanted to tie the title into a best friend’s brother story. But we like our stories to be overly layered like onions.
Max: We knew it would take something pretty extreme to get her to the point of admission—enter the Midnight app. That allowed June to go into messaging Beau on Midnight with completely pure intentions, but it didn’t take long for her true feelings for him to overcome logic.
Q: What was the most enjoyable scene or moment to write? Did the narration capture the magic you felt when you wrote it?
Max: Their Midnight chats were a dream to write. We love a good messaging moment between characters because it really allows for a speed of banter that’s so fun and natural.
Monroe: I agree! It was so much fun to feel their evolution through their words. Oh! And I really truly loved the moment when Beau and June are arguing about the secret keeping best friend’s brother aspect and Beau says to June, “And you’re my obsession”.
Max: Oh man, swoooooon! That was such a pivotal moment in the book.
Monroe: And CJ Bloom and Alexander Cendese did such an amazing job with these two. Honestly, their narration of Meet Me at Midnight brought the book to life in ways we never dreamed. They didn’t just read it. They performed.
Q: What was your initial reaction when you first heard the narration?
Max: Excitement and freakinggg out! We can’t say it enough how unbelievable of a performance both CJ Bloom and Alexander Cendese did on Meet Me at Midnight and how well they did at bringing these fun characters to life.
Monroe: I was so hooked I lost track of the fact that I was listening to one of our books. [laughs]
Max: [laughs] Right? I felt the exact same way!
Q: If you could pair Juniper and Beau with characters from your other books for a double date, who would you choose and why?
Monroe: Oh man, that’s a great question. I think I’d love to see Beau and June go on a date with Thatch and Cassie, a couple from our Billionaire Bad Boys Series.
Max: I was literally just going to say that! [laughs] Thatch and Cassie are a beloved reader favorite couple, and their wild shenanigans would be so much fun to see on a date with Beau and June. Slightly uptight meets unhinged. [laughs]
Monroe: I think they’d push Beau and June out of the comfort zone in the best kind of way.
Max: No doubt. And Beau would probably end up calling his sister Avery and best friend Henry to join in on the fun just to have a familiar lifeline of crazy.
Monroe: Oh my goodness, yes! [laughs] That would be perfection. I have no idea where they’d all end up at the end of the night, but I know it’d be a wild time.
Max: [laughs] Who knows. But I’m pretty sure it’d be worth finding out. Something to keep in mind for the future maybe?
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