If asked to picture a romance writer, you might recall that ’80s movie classic Romancing the Stone, which opens with author Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) weeping over her typewriter as she finishes the last scene of an epic love story. This week, romance author Andie Christopher releases the last book in her One Night in South Beach series. All Hours is a gay romance about a chef and a caterer who fall in love. She admits that after six books, it was difficult to write the final scene, “It was emotionally draining. I am not a huge crier when I write. But on this one, I went full Joan Wilder.” 

In All Hours, fan favorite—and author favorite—Felix Pascual decides to leave Miami for a fresh start in New York when fate intervenes in the form of his meddlesome, matchmaking grandmother Lola. Christopher loved writing Lola: “I had fun playing with a dirty old lady. I love that archetype of a character.” Like any good matchmaker, Lola has her own agenda, as Christopher explains, “Her goal is to right past wrongs by making all the grandchildren get married.”

Matchmaking tropes are common in romance, especially as a way of herding unlikely, recalcitrant lovers down the path of a relationship. Christopher says, “There is some adhesion there. People get thrown together until they latch on.” In this case, Felix is recovering from the emotional injuries from his previous relationship, while Joaquin is recovering from a physical injury sustained in his restaurant’s kitchen. Lola insists that Felix help out in Joaquin’s restaurant until he recovers. 

The problem is they each have a very different management style with the rest of the kitchen staff. She describes Felix and Joaquin as, “Dueling chefs share a kitchen. It’s a great plot!” Even though Christopher grew up watching her mother navigate the restaurant business, and she used her knowledge of that world to develop both heroes, she also did her research. She explains, “I was watching Chef’s Table on Netflix and listening to The David Chang Show podcast about his life as a chef.” 

Learning more about the “kill or be killed” culture of professional kitchens helped her build Joaquin’s character arc. Christopher says, “Joaquin is not emotional, so taking him on a journey of being more emotional and creative was fun to play with.” Felix would only entrust his bruised heart to a softer, more careful man. As their love affair develops, Christopher deftly uses their behavior at the restaurant to show individual growth, with Felix defending Joaquin’s right to his kitchen and Joaquin mellowing and allowing his staff more freedom to experiment. 

One of the hallmarks of Christopher’s novels is her characters’ rich internal lives, which makes sense in a genre that is all about feelings. Christopher explains, “One thing I’ve become more conscious of it that love doesn't heal everything. In my first few books, it’s like ‘love conquers all’, including trauma.” Romance requires a happy ending, but readers are more likely to believe the relationship has staying power if the love interests are also in an emotionally healthy relationship. Christopher laughingly admits, “I go from the assumption that my characters have had therapy. They know their own minds. And it’s just assumed, it doesn’t have to be on the page. Some people like competence porn. I like mental health porn.”

Christopher has spent years with these characters, and although All Hours was originally supposed to be a little longer, Christopher says, “I wanted a sweeter story with less angst. As a cis, hetero woman writing gay men, I wanted to write a happy story for these characters who I have come to love.” After a pause, Christopher adds with a romance novelist’s flair, “I mean, as sweet as possible in the context of being steamy!”

Jennifer Prokop is the Kirkus romance correspondent and co-hosts the romance podcast Fated Mates. You can find her on Twitter @JenReadsRomance.