There is nothing more nostalgic and cozy than a ‘90s movie marathon featuring our favorite romantic comedies. Except maybe binge reading rom-coms that bring those Richard Gere/Julia Roberts feels to the page in all their emotional, laugh-out-loud glory. We’re sitting down with contemporary rom-com author Lynn Painter to discuss her newest addition, Maid for Each Other.
About Lynn Painter
Lynn Painter is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of Better Than the Movies and Mr. Wrong Number, as well as the co-creator of five obnoxious children who populate the great state of Nebraska. When she isn’t reading or writing, she can be found binge-watching rom-coms and obsessing over Spotify playlists.
Be sure to follow Lynn on her socials: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter (X). Check out her website to keep up with what’s new!
Thanks for talking to us, Lynn. Let’s get started.
For readers unfamiliar with your new release, can you give an elevator pitch for Maid for Each Other?
When Abi Mariano decides to crash (just for one night) at the luxurious penthouse she gets paid to clean, she doesn’t expect to wake up and meet a set of parents who think she’s their millionaire son’s girlfriend. This leads to a not-so-friendly meet-cute with the son and ultimately, a fake dating scheme that can only end with genuine feelings.
When you decided to pursue your writing career, what was the biggest challenge you faced in getting published? How did you overcome it?
Haha — talk about a loaded question! When I realized I wanted to be a writer, the biggest challenge was ALL OF THEM. Figuring out what I should be writing, how to be better at writing that, and how to find the time to get better at writing that while working my day job and raising a family, it was tough. I tried and failed for almost fifteen years, writing and submitting and (sigh) getting rejected over and over again, but I wouldn’t change a thing. It suuuuuucked for a long time, but now I get to live this dream of having my silly daydreams made into actual books; no one pinch me!!
Maid for Each Other is described as Pretty Woman meets Maid in Manhattan. If you could cast anyone from those two films or any other rom-com movies to play characters from your new release, who would you pick and why?
This feels like a trick question, because Pretty Woman is one of my all-time favorite rom-coms, and MFEO is basically my homage to the late, great Garry Marshall’s romantic comedy brilliance. Since both Julia Roberts and Richard Gere were PERFECTION in their roles, having the two of them (circa 1990s, of course) play Abi and Dex would be sublime. I cannot imagine a better fan-casting.
In your interview with The Michigan Daily, you mentioned that a one-liner from a TV show sparked inspiration for one of your books. Do movies and TV shows often influence your writing? What inspired your latest release beyond the aforementioned films?
I feel like TV and movies don’t necessarily inspire my books directly, but they shoot sparks at my imagination, right? Maid for Each Other is absolutely the product of a thousand sparks that originated in the early two-thousands, during that golden era of romantic comedy where I was helpless to do anything but consume all of it.
A lot of readers agree that reading your books feels like stepping into rom-com films. What would you say are the key ingredients to creating novels that give that same comforting rom-com feeling?
My favorite thing about those movies is, believe it or not, the “formula.” There is never a question as to who will end up together, and as a viewer, you always know there will be a happy ending. The fun is in the journey, the embarrassingly-cringey-yet-somehow-charming scenes where the two main characters do their best to mess everything up while getting to know each other.
Given that Declan is a wealthy businessman and Abi is a working student, what was it like exploring that power dynamic and creating a way for them to realistically live their happily ever after?
Okay, we all have biases, and I realized once I started plotting this book that for me, the accumulation of wealth is kind of a red flag. Obviously, being successful isn’t a bad thing, but I personally find the idea of a person purchasing insanely expensive things just because they can to be…less than appealing. My brain can’t wrap itself around a person willingly spending six figures on a watch, right? Like, it’s just a watch. AND I KNOW IT’S A ME THING. But I was like, how can I make a billionaire redeemable?
This kind of set me off on my b-plot, which was important because Abi is Declan’s opposite and would also struggle to accept a big spender. She’s drowning in student loan debt and working multiple side hustles to make her ends meet, so it was super compelling to show her POV of his lifestyle and find a way to make it all mesh.
In previous interviews, you’ve mentioned creating playlists for your YA romances but not for your adult ones. If you had to pick a song (can be from Taylor Swift) for Abi and Declan in Maid for Each Other, which one would be the perfect fit and why?
I feel like Mastermind by Taylor would be a perfect fit, because while Declan and Abi are both embroiled in masterminding this curated public relationship, the universe is blanketing them in real emotion that blurs all the lines, asking the question of who really is the mastermind.
If you’re at liberty to discuss it, what’s next for you on your creative to-do list? Do you have another story in the works?
My next adult rom-com will be a sports romance! The working title is First and Forever, and it’s a fake dating story where a very “regular” girl finds herself engaged in a very public relationship with an NFL team’s star wide receiver. Comes out in 2026!!
Thanks, Lynn, for such a terrific interview! Be sure to pick up Maid for Each Other from your favorite retailer or any of the links above!
Want more romance author interviews? Check out Love, Power, and Scandal: Ava Rani’s Multicultural Billionaire Romances.
Find Lynn Painter’s book and more on our Rom-Com bookshelf on Bookshop!
