Robinne Lee’s ‘Crash Into Me’ is chic, globetrotting erotic suspense with a sense of humor.

On this episode of Fully Booked, internationally bestselling author Robinne Lee joins us to discuss Crash Into Me (St. Martin’s, July 7). In this thrilling sophomore novel, Jamaican-Chinese fine art photographer Cecilia Chen relocates to Los Angeles for her husband’s job. Soon after, sparks fly when she collides with a famous French model who she knew many years ago.

Lee is a celebrated actor and producer with numerous credits in television and film. Her debut novel, The Idea of You(2017), has been translated into two dozen languages and adapted into a feature film for Amazon Studios. A graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School, she has lived in New York and Los Angeles. She now lives in Paris with her husband and two children.

Kirkus calls Crash Into Me “thoughtful social commentary meets sensual queer awakening among the Beautiful People.” Here’s a bit more from our review:

“It starts with a bang—literally, as Cecilia Chen is rear-ended and smashes into the parked car of another woman who was just about to step through the vehicle’s open door. Thankfully, the woman is uninjured; she turns out to be Anouk Ferrand, a superstar French model and actress. Cecilia worked with Anouk decades earlier…[and] we are quickly made aware that something problematic occurred on that trip.….After Cecilia delivers an apology gift to Anouk’s home, the actress gradually remembers....In the meantime, the two have embarked on an intense and intimate new phase of their relationship. As in her debut, The Idea of You (2017), Lee’s sex scenes artfully blend the explicit with the romantic. The drama escalates as both a beloved old boyfriend of Cecilia’s and a starlet mistress of her husband’s arrive on the scene.”

In a stimulating conversation, we discuss Cecilia—a woman navigating celebrity, wealth, race, and place, at home and abroad—and the ways in which Lee chose to draw from her own experiences to inform the character. We discuss identity, betrayal, and the hallmarks of erotic suspense. Lee reflects on the film version of The Idea of You, whether she’d option Crash Into Me, and much more.

At the end of our interview, Lee recommends a novel she loves. Follow @kirkus_reviews on Instagram, DM us the title of that novel, along with your email and location, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to receive a $100 Visa gift card, courtesy of Kirkus. The giveaway is open to legal residents of the U.S. who have reached 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

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Fully Booked is produced by Jessica Lockhart and Megan Labrise.