Author Interview: Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair by Laura Piper Lee

Author Interview: Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair by Laura Piper Lee

Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair is a laugh out loud, swoony adult romance by debut author Laura Piper Lee, and we asked her a few questions you can check out below! Put this summery romance on your beach, vacation reading TBR. Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair is available now.

Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair

by Laura Piper Lee
Published by: Union Square and Co
on February 13, 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA+
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Hannah Tate can hardly believe her sleep-deprived eyes when she finds an engagement ring hidden in the closet. Killian, her super responsible, incredibly attractive boyfriend—and the father of her new baby, Bowie—is finally going to propose. But a romantic night out goes horribly wrong when Killian reveals he’s dumping Hannah, not proposing.

Furious and heartbroken, Hannah takes Bowie and moves in with her mama and stepdaddy in the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia. Hannah realizes that her parents’ cabin has vacation property gold written all over it—and could save her mama from going broke. Again.

Only problem? The cabin’s décor is . . . mildly terrifying and it’s in desperate need of renovation. Hannah hires the hot carpenter living in the treehouse next door to fix up the place. Not only does River respect Hannah’s business acumen, he looks at her like she’s a woman, not a hot mess. And Hannah can’t deny that River awakens something new inside her.

Can Hannah embrace a future that looks different from the picture-perfect family she once dreamed of . . . and maybe start living life on her own terms?

Author Interview: Laura Piper Lee

1. You put Hannah through a lot up front! How dare! No, seriously, how did Hannah’s struggles play out for you while you were writing? How did you take care of yourself while writing her?

Hahaha, oops! 🙂 When the story begins, Hannah is three months into new parenthood with her infant son Bowie and her then-boyfriend Killian. I think many parents can relate to the absolute bedlam those first months are–you’re pretty much running on coffee, adrenaline, and unbridled oxytocin-fueled adoration. Those crazy first months can wreak havoc on any relationship, so Hannah doesn’t realize just how bad things have gotten with Killian until she thinks he’s going to propose, but is surprised with a break-up instead. Hannah’s own childhood was rocky, but she’s vowed to give Bowie the stable family home life she never had. This means that Hannah’s all too willing to put up with a lot of crap from the people in her life, primarily Killian and her awful boss Bob, at the beginning. That’s part of her big lesson, though–that she can and should expect more from the people in her life, and if they can’t treat her right, they don’t get access to her. I found writing the beginning to be very tender, remembering and exploring those feelings of early motherhood when it seems like everything’s crashing in on your shoulders. I knew, though, that Hannah would get some very satisfying emotional growth as well as justice from the jerks in her life, so in the back of my mind, a little voice was cackling every time her boss said something terrible to her. I knew he was going to get his soon enough. 🙂

2. The story includes renovation on a vacation property. What inspiration did you use to craft the setting?

The setting is actually very, very closely drawn from my real life! Like Hannah, I helped my wacky, country parents renovate a fixer-upper cabin to rent out as an Airbnb in the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia, when my own son was just an infant. It was such a fun experience, I absolutely love DIY projects and design, and I gave a lot of my enthusiasm for those things to Hannah. Just like the grandparents in the story, my folks needed some kind of income to help support their meager retirement income, so they live in the upstairs, and the Airbnb is on the bottom floor of the cabin. The cabin’s real name is Honey Bear Hollow–if you’re ever visiting Blue Ridge, you should check it out sometime! Hannah has a bit more money than we did to renovate, so our cabin’s not quite as fancy as The Honey Jar, but I keep telling my folks that if the book breaks it big out there, I’ll try to make some of Hannah’s ideas a reality for the real place, too! 🙂

3. Who do you hope finds Hannah’s story?

I wrote Hannah’s story for moms like me. I love to laugh (especially about motherhood), I love a great family dynamics story, I love wacky hijinks, and I love to swoon over clever, funny, kind men. I wanted to write a romance that centers a new mom who’s tender, loving, scared, and facing all those motherhood-coming-of-age woes that so many parents can relate to. I wanted Hannah to feel beautiful and desired, not in spite of being a mom, but in part because she is a mom. River, the handsome, hippie carpenter next door, has his own family issues, and seeing Hannah with her son helps heal something within him, too. When a single parent enters a new relationship, it’s not just between the two of you–at some point, it becomes a relationship with your entire family. I wanted this book to reflect that experience, so that’s what Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair is really about–a love story about a family coming together and making something beautiful.

Thank you so much for featuring Hannah!!