I adore all of Jessica Pennington’s YA contemporary romances, so I am so excited to have her today on the blog in celebration of her latest novel, Meet Me at Midnight! If you’re a fan of romcoms and enemies-to-lovers romances, you are going to want to add this fun book to your summer tbrs. Now let’s dive into the interview!
Interview with Jessica Pennington
What was the inspiration for Meet Me at Midnight?
My own summer vacations! From the time I was 10, my family has rented a lake house, and the layout in Meet Me At Midnight is almost identical: two small rental houses on a hill, with a large house behind them, where the owners live. Unlike in Meet Me at Midnight, I didn’t have a cute, snarky boy living next door, I just had my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Not nearly as much fun! And we did get kicked out (still a sore spot for my mother) but it wasn’t nearly as fun or dramatic as in the book. But it was definitely an inspiration for that catalyst in Meet Me At Midnight!
How would the main characters Sidney and Asher describe each other?
Asher would say Sidney is organized, neurotic, and doesn’t do anything halfway. He’d probably also compare her to a criminal mastermind, or something equally flattering! Sidney would say Asher is a born people-pleaser, and thinks he’s way prettier than he is.
What song would you choose as the theme song for Meet Me at Midnight?
When I was drafting Meet Me At Midnight, I basically listened to “Enemies” by Lauv on repeat. It’s obviously about a breakup, but the lyrics just really work for Sidney and Asher and their jumbled up relationship as they struggle to go from enemies to allies to more. If Asher had a song he passive aggressively played for Sidney, this would totally be it!
Sidney and Asher pull pranks throughout the novel. Have you ever pulled one of their pranks in real life?
I wish! I 100% do not have the guts to pull off their pranks, but I wish I did! Some of them I came up with on my own, and some ideas I got from friends. The cherry Kool-Aid prank, which is one of my favorites, came from fellow YA author Rebecca Sky.
How would your main characters from your novels respond if they were social distancing due to COVID-19?
Great question! Vee and Cam from Love Songs & Other Lies would probably sneak off to the beach late at night for (socially distanced) jam sessions. Olivia and Aiden from When Summer Ends would be taking masked canoe rides together, and Sidney and Asher from Meet Me At Midnight would be stuck in the house together, so they’d either get to work through some issues REALLY quickly, or pranks would be out of control!
What are some of your favorite enemies-to-lovers romances?
I wouldn’t call the book a romance, but I love Cardan and Jude from The Cruel Prince and their enemies-to-lovers romance within the book—they have a really interesting dynamic I loved. I also love the enemies-to-lovers plotline in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. On the contemporary side, I love The Hating Game by Sally Thorne which is an adult romance but was definitely an inspiration for writing Meet Me At Midnight.
What’s up next? What are you currently working on?
There are definitely more contemporary romance books in my future, but I’m currently drafting a romantic fantasy, and I’m having a lot of fun with it!
About Meet Me at Midnight
Release Date: April 7, 2020
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble
They have a love-hate relationship with summer.
Sidney and Asher should have clicked. Two star swimmers forced to spend their summers on a lake together sounds like the perfect match. But it’s the same every year–in between cookouts and boat rides and family-imposed bonfires, Sidney and Asher spend the dog days of summer finding the ultimate ways to prank each other. And now, after their senior year, they’re determined to make it the most epic summer yet.
But their plans are thrown in sudden jeopardy when their feud causes their families to be kicked out of their beloved lake houses. Once in their new accommodations, Sidney expects the prank war to continue as usual. But then she gets a note—Meet me at midnight. And Asher has a proposition for her: join forces for one last summer of epic pranks, against a shared enemy—the woman who kicked them out.
Their truce should make things simpler, but six years of tormenting one another isn’t so easy to ignore. Kind of like the undeniable attraction growing between them.
About Jessica Pennington
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Jessica Pennington is no stranger to the combination of love and drama. She’s a wedding planner, after all. A writer since the age of ten—when she sought publication for her poem about a tree—Jessica likes the challenge of finding the humor in a sad situation or highlighting the awkwardness in a romantic one. A serial entrepreneur with a B.A. in public relations, Jessica has a passion for grassroots marketing. She lives in a Michigan beach town, where she owns more YA novels than many teens and spends most of her time on a laptop, rather than on a beach.
Great interview! I’m excited to hear about a romantic fantasy!
This is such a fun interview. I will definitely be making room on my TBR this summer for Meet Me At Midnight!
This sounds like a fun read, my favorite spot is actually just out in my own front yard.