Author Spotlight: Koko Heart

Nov 12

love stories straight to the heart

Being an editor has given me the opportunity to work with authors in a variety of stages in their careers. Some come to me after having written multiple books, some after a very few, and still others enter my professional life at the same time they're entering their own. One of those authors is Koko Heart.

I knew Koko as a reader before she became a writer. We were in a couple of author groups together and just clicked. So when she said she was taking the plunge and writing her first novel, I was ecstatic for her. What an amazing journey she was about to embark on. It turned out that our schedules didn't mesh for first edits of her debut novel, but we made it work for second looks. And I was amazed! Not only did she jump into romance writing with both feet, she plunged in with an angsty, intense, suspenseful, steamy, opposites-attract, nanny-for-the-family, close proximity debut that took my breath away.

And when she hit publish on mine, always, I cried happy tears. Being there to see that debut dream become a reality was incredible. And reaffirming. And heartwarming.

Koko has been steadily adding to her backlist ever since. And I've been fortunate to be with her for each of her novels. When she told me she was writing a sisters series, where the female leads were the flawed ones, the grand gestures all their responsibility, I was hooked. And what has impressed me so much is how she's grown in her craft with each new novel. Watching her level up with The Forever Kind was so wonderful.

And she continues to bring in new readers with angsty stories that will make you cry one minute and have you snort-laughing the next. The feelings her characters experience and evoke are real and relevant and emotionally gripping. The banter, group texts, and spit-takes are epic. And Marcus, well, let’s just say Koko created a monster with him. In the best possible way. You know that scene-stealing, deeper-than-they-appear, anchoring-presence-in-the-main-characters’-lives character you can’t get enough of? Hello, Marcus.

And while her backlist may be small (for now), her impact in my little corner of the community has been huge. Even more than the growth of our professional relationship, I value our friendship so much. We talk on the regular, sharing stories of our spawns/sprogs, enabling each other in expanding our epic TBRs, shaking our fists at things that frustrate us, and celebrating all the wonderful things happening around us.

And even though we've known each other barely three years and live thousands of miles apart—separated by a really big pond, and five (or is it six?) time zones—I feel like we've known each other for decades. We did get a chance to chat on the St@lkerSisters podcast and it was the first time I’d heard her voice. Now I hear her in my head every time I read a message from her. Pretty cool, right?

I'll get to meet Koko for real in April 2024 at Charm City Romanticon, and to be perfectly honest, I cannot freaking wait!