Author Laura Hankin Talks "One Star Romance" & The Importance of Friendship In Rom-Coms
A strong protagonist needs more than romantic love.
If I’ve learned anything about Laura Hankin from reading her books, it’s that the author is a millennial through and through. Case in point: Her 2023 title, The Daydreams, was a tribute to 2000s pop culture, and her upcoming release, One-Star Romance, is the contemporary version of an early aughts rom-com we’ve been missing from our shelves (and, to be honest, our televisions).
It’s truly *chef’s kiss* and after a prolonged reading slump, I devoured it in days.
One-Star Romance follows Natalie, a struggling writer whose debut novel is inspired by her best friend Gabby’s fiance, whom Natalie can only take in small doses. Very small doses. Tiny. Microscopic.
But Natalie’s story is a work of fiction. Surely no one can tell her antagonist is Angus, right? Well…
Minutes before Natalie and Angus’s hot-and-nerdy best friend, Rob carry out their duties as maid of honor and best man at Gabby and Angus’s nuptials, Natalie finds out Rob gave her book a one-star review on a very public forum. Naturally, Natalie is reeling with insult, and Rob is put off by Natalie’s interpretation of his best friend. Post-wedding, the pair hope to never see one another again.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper enemies-to-lovers trope if their wish came true…
When I received a press release from Penguin that Hankin was releasing One-Star Romance, I couldn’t get my hands on a copy fast enough. It was as if the author knew I desperately needed a light-hearted read and something that would make me laugh. Unsurprisingly, the story lifted my spirits from the first page, and I know it will do the same for you.
But, if you need more proof, I chatted with Hankin about her latest release, and you won’t believe where the inspiration for this hilarious and spicy rom-com stems from. Read our conversation below.
On One-Star Romance:
1. Tell me about the backstory behind One-Star Romance. Where did the inspiration begin, and how did the rest of the story unfold?
I was inspired to write this book by… the time I had to walk down the aisle at my friend’s wedding with a guy who’d given my book one-star on Goodreads. We did not go on to fall in love — we were perfectly pleasant and then never saw each other again — but it gave me a great setup for a novel!
2. Right off the bat, we’re introduced to Natalie and Gabby, and Natalie describes their friendship as a love story. That Gabby is the love of her life. I consider a close-knit friendship (or ships - we get the occasional threesome) as a key part of a successful rom-com. Sometimes the friendships are true besties, others are frenemies (think 13 Going on 30, Something Borrowed). What inspired Natalie and Gabby and why was their friendship important to the story?
As soon as I knew that the book would involve a maid of honor and best man, I started thinking about their relationships with the bride and groom, and Natalie and Gabby’s relationship sprang from there. I love exploring female friendships in my books — I think those relationships can sometimes be as full (and fraught!) as romantic ones.
I was particularly interested in writing about how those friendships can change when one person starts moving through life events at a different pace than the other. I had many friends who got married and had children before I did, and we had to do some work to stay close to each other because we weren’t experiencing the same things at the same time anymore like we had back when we first befriended each other. In my mind, Natalie and Gabby’s love story is just as integral to the book as the main romantic plot.
3. Robert is a different love interest than any you’ve written in the past, and unlike any I’ve seen in a rom-com as of late. He’s not just extremely quirky but also extremely smart and an expert in a subject not many are privy to. How did you develop Robert’s character? What was the inspiration for his sexy nerd swagger, and what sort of research did you have to do to nail his academic persona?
I definitely put a little bit of Mr. Darcy in there! It was also a matter of thinking about Rob in opposition to my main female character. If Natalie was a creative, struggling artist who was not shy about expressing her feelings, it felt so fun to pair her with a more rigid, on-a-path guy who was in some denial about what he really wanted. When it came to research, I talked with a linguistics professor (shoutout to Toni Cook!) who walked me through a lot of what Rob’s day-to-day might look like and helped me develop the perfectly pretentious title for his dissertation.
4. Upon learning who wrote the one-star review of her debut novel, Natalie is furious (and stays furious). Yet, she makes a compelling and mature point that, objectively, everyone is entitled to like or dislike a book. Have you ever a) disliked a friend’s work and, if so, how do you communicate that as a fellow author? or b) came face to face with someone whose work you rated poorly? If so, how did that go?
Haha, I’ve learned not to rate anyone’s work poorly publicly anymore — readers are certainly entitled to review a book however they’d like, but, as an author myself, I’d prefer not to burn any bridges! (And I also know how much it hurts to get a mean review! Plus, just because I don’t vibe with a book doesn’t mean another reader won’t.) But, I have been in various writing groups and classes where we critique each other’s work, and sometimes something isn’t working. In those cases, I try to offer solutions as well as critiques! (And I try to listen with an open mind when I get critiques right back.)
5. Knowing Natalie wrote a character inspired by her fiance, Angus, painting him in a poor light, Gabby decides not to read Apartment 2F. Have you ever had someone close to you opt out of reading your work or have you opted out of reading a friend’s work because of its contents? How did you/that person take it?
Luckily, I haven’t found myself in that situation, or at least not in a way that has bothered me — I’ve published enough novels now that many of my friends and family members probably haven’t read every single one, and that’s okay! As Natalie says in the novel, you never know who’s going to devour your book and who will choose not to read it. You can’t control it, and I thiiiiink I’ve made peace with that by this point.
6. One of my favorite parts of your writing in One-Star Romance is the realistic dialogue and arguments between Natalie and Gabby. Their argument over being in two different places in life, and not being able to relate to one another’s current situation was, in my opinion, especially relatable as adolescent friends become adults and their lives start to take shape and move in various directions. Why was this important for you to demonstrate in this book? Have you felt this way in your own relationships?
Yes, I’ve definitely felt that way! I think many of us have. It’s a super-natural part of your twenties and thirties that so many of us go through, even if it can feel isolating at times. And since I wanted this book to be a grounded portrayal of that period in life, I knew I had to include that element.
7. When we last spoke about your 2000s-inspired novel, The Daydreams, I asked who you’d cast in a film or movie adaptation of your work. I have to ask the same now, as One-Star Romance is the rom-com we need to be adapted ASAP. Who would you cast in the roles of Natalie, Robert, Gabby, and Angus?
I think it could go a lot of ways (and always love hearing who other people would cast!), but a few possibilities: I always love Zoey Deutch as a romantic lead, so maybe her for Natalie, and Gina Rodriguez as Gabby. Rob could go in a Jonathan Bailey direction or more like Dev Patel. And I don’t even know who I’d choose to capture the special soul that is Angus!
On The Writing Process:
1. Every time we sit down to work on a new project it is a new experience. Tell me about your time writing One-Star Romance. How was it different from writing The Daydreams vs A Special Place for Women vs Happy & You Know It?
One-Star Romance poured out of me the most naturally, I think, probably because I was less focused on plot twists and mysteries like with the other books, and more focused on emotional experiences that I had gone through variations of myself — falling in love, worrying about losing your best friend, wondering if your career will ever work out the way you want it to, etc. I also outlined One-Star more thoroughly than the others, which really helped, it turns out! Although getting pregnant towards the end of my first draft definitely threw a wrench into writing — it is hard to write a love scene when you’re super-nauseous and tired!
2. What does an average writing day look like for Laura Hankin, now that you are not only a career woman, but a mom (asking for the general public and as a mama-to-be)?
First of all, CONGRATS!!
Secondly, I’ll say that daycare has really been a game-changer. The first few months with a baby were super unpredictable (and also very precious and wonderful!). But now, an average weekday generally looks like dropping my daughter off, taking a long walk to think about my writing projects, and then coming home (or to a coffee shop) and getting to work. I can’t sit and write all day long, so I also have some time in the day to prepare for upcoming book releases, do necessary errands, etc. And then on the weekends, I get to really focus on time with my family and forget about writing (unlike before I had my daughter, when I’d sometimes work on the weekends too).
3. I mentioned earlier that I especially loved the dialogue in this book. It felt real and added depth to the characters. What tips can you offer other writers on how to approach writing dialogue so that the conversations feel like they’re plucked from real life?
Thank you!
It might seem silly, but sometimes, reading my dialogue aloud can really help me lock into the different rhythms with which characters speak. A piece of advice I heard that stuck with me is that you should be able to take a random line of dialogue and be able to tell which character is saying it even without the attribution, which can be easier said than done! But people use different kinds of words and references, have different senses of humor, etc… and trying to figure some of that out before diving into writing the dialogue is really helpful. In this book, for example, Natalie’s dialogue is generally much more free-flowing and goofier than a more reserved Rob’s, even as he can give as good as he gets.
4. What are three things that, in your opinion, make for a successful rom-com?
1) Sharp banter!
2) Characters who grow
3) GOOD KISSING
5. What are you working on now?
A few different projects that I can’t really talk about yet!
6. What is one book you can’t wait to pick up this summer and why?
SUMMER ROMANCE by Annabel Monaghan. I think she writes such utterly winning, smart, grounded-but-swoony love stories!
7. Lastly, what is one book you wish you could read again for the first time?
SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE by Tia Williams, one of my favorite romances of the last few years.