Happy Release Day!
Congratulations Kristy
on the release today of
Leave It Up to Love!
Leave It Up To Love by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Romance, Short Story, 58 pages
Published March 1, 2026 by Amazon Original Stories
From New York Times bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey comes a funny, feel-good tale—a seaside romp about chasing dreams, losing illusions, and writing your own story.
Ready for her big break after publishing her first novel, Lila Everwood has two fresh book ideas and dreams of quitting her barista job. She’s hopeful about her future—until her writing catches her literary idol’s attention in all the wrong ways.
Elizabeth Lancaster, the queen of regency romance, hasn’t written a word in three years. Her publisher’s solution? A ghostwriter. Specifically, her favorite coffee server. It’s either brilliance or madness—and her literary agent son Grady thinks it’s definitely the latter.
As the ideas begin to fly, so do the sparks—between Lila and Grady. And, as Lila’s and Elizabeth’s worlds collide, the two writers must lean on each other, learning something vital in the In life, love, and publishing, sometimes you have to write your own happy ending.
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)
First lines—"My favorite part about being an author was days like today, when I was walking down a Sea Oat Shores, North Carolina, street to meet with my editor."
I love everything that Kristy Woodson Harvey writes and Leave it Up to Love did not disappoint.
This short story was just what I needed to take a break for my typical reading material. It was light and fun, everything a rom-com should be. The idea of a ghostwriter for an established author is probably more common than I am aware of but this was an interesting look at what that might entail. The characters were real and entertaining.
I read the e-book as well as listened to the audio-book. The narrators did an amazing job and had the characters come to life for me. Highly recommend this fun short story from one of my favorite, must-read authors!
I received an audio ARC of Leave It Up To Love and this is my honest opinion.
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About the author
Kristy Woodson Harvey is the New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of eleven novels including A Happier Life, The Summer of Songbirds, and The Peachtree Bluff Series. Many of her books have been optioned or are in development for television and film and have received numerous accolades, including Good Morning America’s Buzz Pick, Southern Living’s Most Anticipated Reads, Katie Couric’s Featured Books, and Joanna Garcia Swisher’s The Happy Place Read. Kristy is the winner of the Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award for Excellence in Creative Writing and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize.
A Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s school of journalism, her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Southern Living, Parade, Traditional Home, USA TODAY, and many more. She also holds a master’s in English, with a concentration in multicultural and transnational literature.
Kristy is the cocreator and cohost of the weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction with fellow New York Times Bestselling authors Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, and Patti Callahan Henry. She is also the co-founder of the interiors site Design Chic, with her mom, Beth Woodson.
She lives on the North Carolina coast with her husband, son, and dog, Salt, where she is (always!) working on her next novel.
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