Interview with Catherine Bybee
For anyone wondering the plot of your newest release, you
give a great sneak peek with the title—When it Falls Apart. What is
“falling apart” in this novel?
All the threads that hold my heroine, Brooke, together are
crumbling down around her. When it Falls Apart begins with Brooke’s
romantic relationship crashing and burning. At the same time, in a different
state, her father is circling the drain in the ICU. And for the cherry on the
top of her “falling apart life”, Brooke has found herself demoted at work. In
short, everything in Brooke’s life is dissolving around her.
Like all of your books, When it Falls Apart has a
beautiful romance, however, there is a rawness about Brooke’s story. How was
writing this novel different from your others?
If you read my notes both in the front and the back of this
novel, you’ll soon realize that the story was very personal to me. Rawness
comes from experience. The relationship Brooke has with her father is
hauntingly familiar to me and my dad. The emotions that the heroine experienced
when taking care of him were easy for me to grasp onto and write about. Sadly,
the love story with Luca was completely made up and I didn’t have the support
of a strong Italian family to help deal with the struggles, but I
digress.
Relationships with a parent who wasn’t there for you growing
up are messy. When that parent ages and needs their child, sometimes that help
comes with a bucketload of resentment, even if the child wishes they could stop
those ugly feelings from creeping up on them. And THAT is the rawness you speak
of.
Books, TV shows, and movies oftentimes glamorize what it
means to care for a loved one. However, in When it Falls Apart you don’t
sugar-coat anything about caregiving and the toll it takes on a person. How do
you think readers who have been in similar situations will be affected by this
story?
Justified. Validated. Accepted.
It’s a hard job taking care of an elderly family member. And
if there aren’t other siblings to help, or won’t help, it’s made even more
difficult. It’s difficult, gritty, dirty work that only has a bad
ending…eventually. What I do hope my readers take away is that they’re not
alone. That the struggle is very real and that if they don’t find balance (which
is almost impossible at times) they will burn out completely and not be fit to
help at all. I hope my readers are empowered to set boundaries and balance, so
they come out on the other side of caring for an elderly loved one whole
themselves.
Brooke gets virtually no support from her significant
other, which has her reevaluating their relationship. She realizes she has
settled and has to make some hard decisions. Do you think this happens too many
times to women in real life?
100% Yes! There is a song by Taylor Swift with a line that
says, and I’m paraphrasing here, I can be what you want for the weekend. But
often that weekend ends up being a relationship that women hold on to or are
convinced they can’t live without. Often it takes a huge shake-up to remove
yourself from that situation. But once you’re away from the day to day
dysfunctional relationship, the easier it is to see the dysfunction.
After her breakup and move, Brooke is not looking for a
relationship. In fact, she tells her best friend: “I haven’t wiped off my
smeared mascara from Marshall yet, the last thing I want is to jump into
anything else.” Her crying over a man lasts all about two minutes when she
meets Luca. Tell us about him.
Hmmm, Luca… he is the kind of man who doesn’t want a place
on Brooke’s dance card…he wants to rip it up.
Luca is wired to help the people in his life. Brooke becomes
a part of his inner circle simply by moving into the family building where he
sees her every day.
Now, if Luca had flat out asked Brooke on a date, she would
have run the other way…so no, he doesn’t go about it that way. He simply shows
up and does not leave. Not when things get tough, or messy…or when his own past
peeks its head in. Luca is a man who is right there at Brooke’s side without
question or censor on why she does the things she does. His support and
validation of her feelings is the part she was missing. Add in the hunky
Italian single father and “Mamma Mia!”
At first, Luca is not thrilled that Brooke is renting a
room in his family’s building. What changes his mind about her?
Her strength and vulnerability. I know that sounds
contradicting, but some of the strongest women I know have a big vulnerable
spot in their life that if you know them well enough, you see. The biggest
smiles often hide the deepest pain. Luca sees her struggle and dedication to
helping her elderly father and since family is first on Luca’s list, she passes
his unconscious test.
Luca’s family, the D’Angelo’s, are incredibly close and
share everything from ownership of the family restaurant to helping care for
Luca’s daughter Franny. How is this different from Brooke’s relationship with
her family?
Brooke doesn’t have that family. She has a father who
abandoned her as a little girl that she carved out a relationship as an adult,
and now she’s charged with caring for. Even her previous romantic relationship
didn’t support her unconditionally the way the D’Angelo’s do for each other.
She’s rather dumbfounded when they start treating her like family. It’s a
wonderful thing to watch happen.
San Diego’s Little Italy plays a huge part in the story.
The community, language, and food are in full display. Tell us about your own
experiences in your adopted city.
I love Little Italy, the food, the pace... the people. There
are many places in San Diego that are overrun with the college scene, San Diego
is a college town. But Little Italy is more family friendly. Very touristy, but
there isn’t a day you don’t see locals hanging out. I go to the farmer’s market
often. Pick up authentic Italian ingredients for my own home cooking. I try new
restaurants and take all my friends there when they are visiting from out of
town. Not to mention it was the closest thing to the “real Italy” that I could
go during the travel restrictions. So why not write about it and tell the world
of this small island within San Diego that shouldn’t be missed?
There are two more siblings in the D’Angelo family. Where
will you be taking readers next with the series?
Chloe is a yogi. Think Bali!
And Giovanni loves wine… think Tuscany, Italy.
I cannot wait to show you what I have in store for these
two!
***
About the Title
Title: When It Falls Apart
Author: Catherine Bybee
Release Date: June 21, 2022
Publisher: Montlake
Summary
Brooke Turner has always had a complicated relationship with
her father. But when his health takes a turn for the worse, she drops
everything to care for him. He’s her dad, after all, and he needs her. What
Brooke doesn’t anticipate is the unraveling of her long-term relationship and a
cross-country move to San Diego’s Little Italy.
Luca D’Angelo is the oldest of three children and a single
father to a young daughter. When his mother rents the top floor of their house
to Brooke, he’s angry. Who is this beautiful stranger with no ties to the
neighborhood? Can she be trusted in such close proximity to his family?
As Luca learns of Brooke’s difficult journey with her ailing
father, his heart softens. And Brooke, who witnesses Luca’s struggle as a
single parent, develops feelings for him, too. But when it all falls apart,
will love heal their wounded hearts?
Excerpt
“Oh my God, Carmen. He was standing at his car first thing this morning. Like ‘hop in, bella, let’s get stuff done today.’ Who does that?”
Brooke had picked up the phone as soon as Luca was off in search of a dump guy
“We’re talking about the single, hot, Italian dad, right?”
Brooke rolled her eyes. “Yes. Luca.”
“Oy, oy, oy.”
“Stop it. I need advice. And I need it before he gets back.”
Carmen stopped teasing. “You don’t need advice. You need to relax. He sounds like one of the good ones. Let it happen.”
“Let it happen,” she mocked. “I don’t ‘let’ things happen. It happens to me and it’s never good.”
“You didn’t used to be such a pessimist.”
“Once upon a time the glass was half full. Not these days.”
“Okay, Debbie Downer. You want my advice . . . here it is. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing.”
“I’m not doing anything. Zero effort.”
“Really?” Carmen didn’t sound convinced. “Makeup . . . a nice dress?”
Brooke hesitated. “Maybe . . . a little last night, but that was it.”
Carmen chuckled.
“Carmen!”
“Sorry. Okay . . . any red flags?”
Brooke thought about that. “He loved his ex-wife.”
“That’s a red flag?”
“I guess not."
“Is he good to his mom?”
Brooke looked back on the dinner the night before. “To the whole family. He takes being the oldest brother quite seriously.”
“And his daughter?”
All Brooke could do was smile. “Great dad. We should all be so lucky.”
“He’s Italian, does he smoke?”
“No.”
“A lot of Italians smoke,” Carmen pointed out.
“In Italy. The San Diego variety are less in that wheelhouse.”
“That’s good.” Carmen sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you, Brooke. How does he kiss?”
“He hasn’t kissed me,” Brooke nearly yelled.
“Now then . . . we have a problem.”
“There hasn’t been . . . I don’t even know if—”
“Stop right there. He did not drive your sorry ass all the way to Upland to do grunt work all day if he wasn’t interested in kissing you, bellllaaa. More than that, you want him to.”
Brooke closed her eyes, and even in her own head she couldn’t convince herself that Carmen was wrong.
“Let it happen. You deserve some happiness, Brooke.”
The van with the air conditioning repair guy pulled into the driveway.
“I gotta go.”
“I want a kissing update the next time we talk,” Carmen teased.
“Love you,” Brooke said with a laugh.
“Back at ya, boo.”
She hung up.
Her best friend was such a dork.
***
About the Author
New York Times,
Wall Street Journal, and
USA
Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee has written twenty-eight books
that have collectively sold more than five million copies and have been
translated into more than eighteen languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee
moved to Southern California in the hope of becoming a movie star. After
growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a
registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now
writes full-time and has penned the Not Quite Series, the Weekday Brides
Series, the Most Likely To Series, and the First Wives Series.
Social Media Links
Website: http://www.catherinebybee.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCatherineBybee
Twitter: https://twitter.com/catherinebybee
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@catherinebybee1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2905789.Catherine_Bybee
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