We are thrilled to chat with author Chloe Liese about her latest novel, Two Wrongs Make a Right. Even though Jamie and Bea are total opposites, their friends trick them into going on a date with each other. Once Jamie and Bea realise that they’ve been duped, they hatch a plan to get revenge on their meddling friends: they’ll fake date, pretend to fall in love, and then have a horrible break-up. While pretending to be madly in love, Jamie and Bea start to wonder if their friends’ matchmaking wasn’t so off-base after all.
Hi Chloe, thank you so much for joining us! Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Thanks for having me! I’m Chloe Liese, and I write slow-burn, feel-good romances affirming my belief that everyone deserves a love story. As a neurodivergent person living with chronic conditions, this message is close to my heart and the heartbeat of my storytelling. I’ve previously independently published the Bergman Brothers series, which are interconnected standalones featuring a different sibling and their love interest in each book, and my traditional publishing debut with Berkley Romance, Two Wrongs Make a Right, a modern reimagining of Much Ado About Nothing, is out November 22, 2022.
What sets Two Wrongs Make a Right apart from other romance novels?
Like any romance novel, Two Wrongs Make a Right shares some fundamental similarities with many in its genre—tropes, beats, the overall story arc toward happily ever after. However, a few things that make it very much its own story and (I hope) a fresh, engaging reading experience, are that it’s a Shakespeare retelling and it features neurodivergent protagonists, as well as an inclusive, diverse cast of characters.
What inspired you to write a retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing?
I’m a Shakespeare lover who grew up enjoying reading his plays, seeing them performed, and watching adaptations for film and TV. While I’ve read some fabulous Austen retellings from the romance genre, I haven’t bumped into a ton of Shakespeare retellings, so I’d been thinking about writing one. During the early months of pandemic, I was comfort rewatching Much Ado About Nothing adapted for film, starring Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh, and I had this epiphany while watching it: in the play, Benedick and Beatrice don’t find out until the end of the story that they were tricked into realizing their feelings for each other under false pretenses, and they’re too happily in love to be mad about it, but, what if they’d found out sooner in the story? They would have been livid! I started thinking about how the concept of a group scheme to matchmake Benedick and Beatrice might need to be adjusted to translate into a modern setting, how I could update it to feel relatable and make sure it translated well, and I realized it would be perfect if I gave Benedick and Beatrice the chance to push back against being manipulated. If they realized that they’d been tricked into dating earlier on, when they were both still so determined to see the worst in each other, they’d have this delicious friction still but also a common goal of getting back at the people who duped them. I loved the idea of two people who had decided they were incompatible and had written each other off, being united by a revenge plot, determined to prove their friends wrong about their romantic compatibility, only to realize maybe their friends weren’t so wrong after all.
Do you have any tattoos like Bea? Or if you were to get a tattoo, what would you get?
I don’t, but I have a little notebook of ideas, and I think I’m finally ready to commit to my first one. I plan to get an image that speaks to my sense of self and my outlook for my life—perseverance, hard work, resilience, joy, and hope.
Can you tell us a bit about any inspiration behind Bea’s art?
As an open-door romance writer (meaning the metaphorical door to the bedroom of my protagonists is open to the reader—I include the physical intimacy between them on page), I’ve brushed shoulders with other creators who are seeking to destigmatize shame and guilt about pleasure, sexuality, and sensuality through their art. I’ve come across really talented erotic artists who are celebrating realistic, beautifully imperfect bodies experiencing pleasure with themselves and others, and I thought it was such a perfect career for my autistic, free-spirited, heroine, Bea. She’s shamelessly herself and a very sensual person. It’s also a very lovely metaphor as well as a meeting ground for her and uptight, starchy Jamie, who’s a physician—though they come from very different perspectives, they both have a reverence and admiration for the human body. Even though, at surface level, it seems like an erotic artist and pediatrician couldn’t have less in common, when they dig deeper, they see how they have both shaped and directed their careers toward honoring and celebrating the wonder of the human body.
What’s the main message that you want readers to take away from Two Wrongs Make a Right?
As with every book I write, my message is that every one of us deserves a love story if we want one, that each of us deserves to be fully seen and loved for all of who we are. In Two Wrongs Make a Right, Jamie and Bea certainly get off to the wrong foot, and they’re determined not to fall in love, but it’s within the safety of pretending as they fake date that they feel brave enough to authentically share themselves with one another and take profound care to make each other feel safe, known, and ultimately loved. I hope their journey as characters in this book is a comforting, joyful reading experience that affirms for my readers that they too are worthy of a love story like this—one that builds from the work of mutual trust, care for each other’s vulnerabilities, and the genuine desire to know and love not just the easy but also the hard-to-entrust aspects of their lives.
Did you encounter any challenges while writing Two Wrongs Make a Right and, if so, how did you overcome them?
Writing a book is always a challenge—self doubt comes in as you’re conceptualizing it, revising it can feel so overwhelming as you’re discerning what needs to be cut and what needs to be developed to best develop the stories arc, themes, and message—but truly, even while navigating those typical challenges, this book was a pleasure to write, start to finish. I wrote it during a tough time in the world and my own life, and I’m very grateful for the joy it gave me, the hope it reminded me to hold on to.
Are you able to tease if there’s any sequels or companion novel for Two Wrongs Make a Right (perhaps featuring Bea’s sisters)?
I’m delighted to say that there will be two more books in this world, both Shakespeare retellings, and yes, they’re for the two remaining sisters, Juliet and Kate!
What’s next for you?
Next is the sixth book in my indie published Bergman Brothers series, which will be out in the first half of 2023, and then the second book in the Wilmot Sister series with Berkley, which will be out in the second half of 2023.
Lastly, what have been some of your favourite 2022 reads? Any 2023 releases our readers should look out for?
I’ve enjoyed so many incredible books this year, so this is by no means a comprehensive list, but some fabulous reads that come to mind are: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton, You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky, Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle, Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings, Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun, and Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne.
