I am delighted to share an author interview today ~ thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for organizing.
Follow my fellow bloggers on the tour ⤵
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publication Date: May 6, 2025
Estimated Page Count: 350
Standalone Novel
1. You Can’t Hurry Love is set in Costa Rica. That sounds very exotic. What was the most fun part of it to write and why? It is very exotic, and tropical. Partly, what was most fun was reliving my time in Costa Rica, but I think doing the sloth research, finding out more about these fabulous animals (one of my absolute favourites) and particularly naming the sloths was the best part. I had a little chuckle to myself as I named them – hopefully readers will guess why.
2. Your books often feature food and make us readers hungry. Will we have the same issue with You Can’t Hurry Love and should we get the popcorn and Haribo ready? – Ha! Yes, I do confess to liking good food and writing about it too. Eh, yes, you will be hungry and yes, Costa Rican cuisine features heavily in the book. If I could cook, I’d have included recipes, but that is not one of my talents. I am a great taster though!
3. Scuba diving features in You Can’t Hurry Love, with Ed being a dive instructor and Kat taking lessons. Have you ever dived and if so, where? Did you enjoy it? Yes, I have, although I didn’t try for my certification or anything. I learned to dive in the Cayman Islands when I was visiting a friend there and even went on a shipwreck! Diving there was like being in Finding Nemo! I later dived in St-Jean-de-Monts in the Vendée, France, near where I used to live, but the visibility wasn’t quite as good and the water nowhere near as warm! And I had to wear a wetsuit, whereas, like Kat in You Can’t Hurry Love, I learned to dive wearing just a swimming costume, flippers and a tank of air!
4. Costa Rica is a beautiful country. Where exactly in Costa Rica is the book set and why did you choose that particular area? It is an absolutely stunning country, and the people are lovely too, and have such a rich culture. The book is mainly set in a fictional sloth sanctuary near Manuel Antonio National Park and the areas and beaches closest to there. I chose there as it’s incredibly beautiful, with such diversity of plant life and wildlife, and it’s a natural sloth habitat. It was also feasible enough to include some other amazing parts of Costa Rica in the book from that location. I want people to armchair travel. My aim is for people to read my travel-themed books and want to book a plane ticket there!
5. What can you tell us about the two main characters and the chemistry between them? Kat is just out of a terrible relationship and isn’t looking for another, but she and Dexter are drawn together like magnets. Dexter’s Irish, Kat’s Scottish. He has worked in other wildlife sanctuaries in the past, whilst Kat worked in pet food supplies back home in Scotland. She loves talking to him and the banter, or the craic as it would be in Ireland, flows easily between them. Also, he is hot! But not in an ‘I love myself’ way, which Kat finds very attractive.
6. Who is your favourite secondary character in You Can’t Hurry Love? Oh, this is like asking me to choose between my children! But my first instinct was Sophia, the matriarch and co-owner of the sanctuary. She’s a sweetheart and does most of the cooking. But she has to take joint first with Victor, who is a weathered forty-five-year-old who is passionate about all things Costa Rica, particularly its food.
7. From your back catalogue, I can tell travel is a passion of yours. Where is your favourite place in the world and should we expect a book set there soon? And where haven’t you been that you’d like to go? Wow, this is also like asking me to choose between my children! I could probably narrow it down to a continent! I do love Italy, however. I’ve been many times, and I speak fluent Italian, having studied it at uni then used it for work, plus I have Italian friends who live in various parts of Italy. There will be a Venice-set book, probably in 2026. I’ve already started outlining it, but yes, you can expect further books set in Italy, as I absolutely adore the place, the people, the food, the language, the culture, the architecture, the history. I think you get the picture!
8. What are you working on now and what’s coming up for the next year? I am currently working on book 4 of The Christmas Spirit series, which will be out on 23 September, and which is already up for pre-order. It’s called A Taste of Christmas Spirit. I then have a book set in Toulouse, France, coming out at some point in January 2026 and I’m also working on a book set in Venice and one set in Paris, but I’d like to sneak in one set in Brazil probably in 2026, as well as another Christmas book! I better get my skates on!
Book blurb:
A delicious friends to lovers, forced proximity, workplace romance for 2025.
A 30th birthday celebration. A sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica. A split-second decision.
When Kat MacDonald takes the trip of a lifetime to Costa Rica, she doesn’t count on ditching her dead-end job, sending her uber-controlling boyfriend packing and volunteering at a sloth sanctuary.
But when she finally meets the swoon-worthy assistant manager Dexter, the chemistry between them is unmistakeable and sparks fly. Despite a rival for his affections, and her ex’s inability to know when to give up, she and Dexter are drawn to each other like magnets.
Just as she’s settling into life at the sanctuary and making friends, a letter arrives from back home in Scotland. A letter which could both upset her new plans and give her everything she has ever wanted. Everything except Dexter.
Kat is torn: should she stay in the tropical rainforest paradise with her beloved sloths, new friends and the delectable Dexter or pursue her lifelong dream? Or can she find a way to have it all?
A fun, escapist read full of romance, beautiful scenery and humour, perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Beth O’Leary Leonie Mack and Portia MacIntosh.
Purchase Link – https://books2read.com/u/mKG0p5
Author Bio – Susan Buchanan writes contemporary romance and women’s fiction, usually featuring travel, food, family, friendship and community.
She is the author of The Leap Year Proposal, The Christmas Spirit, Return of the Christmas Spirit, A Little Christmas Spirit, Just One Day – Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, The Dating Game and Sign of the Times.
As a freelance developmental editor, copyeditor and proofreader, if she’s not reading, editing or writing, she’s thinking about it.
She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors.
She lives near Glasgow with her husband, two children and a crazy Labrador.
When she’s not editing, writing, reading or caring for her two delightful cherubs, she likes going to the theatre, playing board games, watching quiz shows and eating out, and she has recently discovered a love of writing retreats.
Social Media Links –
Website – www.susanbuchananauthor.com
Instagram – authorSusanBuchanan
Facebook – www.facebook.com/susancbuchanauthor
Twitter – susan_buchanan
Threads – AuthorSusanBuchanan
Bluesky @susanbuchanan.bsky.social
Giveaway to Win a paperback of You Can’t Hurry Love (Open to UK Only)
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494612/
