Author Interview: Hit Me with Your Best Charm by Lillie Vale

If you’ve ever wished To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before had more hexes, haunted forests, and magical girl crushes, Hit Me With Your Best Charm is the spell you’ve been waiting for. Lillie Vale whisks readers away to Prior’s End, a town where fall festivals are sacred, secrets run deep, and accidentally cursing your secret crush is just another Tuesday. We chatted with Lillie about the joys of writing romantic rivals, the power of messy feelings, and why charm (magical or otherwise) might be the most dangerous force of all!

Hit Me with Your Best Charm

by Lillie Vale
on July 15, 2025
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The occasionally magic, always superstitious town of Prior’s End is famous for three

Whimsical charm at the annual Fall Festival.
The legend of the wishing well hidden in a forest bristling with secrets.
And Nova Marwood’s missing hiker father.

Every year without him, it gets easier to pretend Nova doesn’t believe in myth and magic. Easier to pretend she’s doing okay. Easier to pretend she doesn’t have a secret crush on the girl she fake-hates.

Kiara Mistry is the luckiest girl in town and the thief of every crush Nova had her heart set on first. In theory, Nova should resent Kiara. But it’s getting harder to deny her feelings.

When Nova lays an unintended hex on Kiara at the Fall Festival, and one misfortune after another swiftly follows, soon Kiara’s very survival at stake. To reverse the bad luck, Kiara’s exes turned BFFs commence a quest for the miraculous wishing well. There’s only one person who can get them there . . . Nova.

But to save Kiara—and maybe find her dad, too—she’ll have to believe in something much stronger than magic. Nova will need to believe in herself.

Interview with Lillie Vale

If Prior’s End had a Google review page, what would the top three reviews say, and would they mention hexes, heartbreaks, or suspiciously powerful wishing wells?

If travelers are leaving reviews about the town of Prior’s End, there’s no way they’re not mentioning the legendary hidden wishing well!

Nova and Kiara’s relationship walks the line between enemies, exes, and epic love story. What’s your personal favorite kind of romantic chaos to write, and why do you think readers are so drawn to the messiest hearts?

I especially enjoy when one or both of the main characters is keeping a colossal secret from the other. Especially if that secret is about them. In Nova’s case, she’s hiding her role in hexing Kiara, however inadvertently, because she doesn’t want the backlash from Kiara’s exes, The Fellowship of the Fling. And also . . . she doesn’t want her secret crush (and romantic rival) to know she’s responsible for this terrible thing . . . and maybe she can reverse it before anyone has to know? Then we have Kiara, who’s been pining for Nova for a few years, but hung back because Nova always acts so prickly that she thought, there’s no way Nova properly likes me back . . .

Teens (people!) are messy. Especially when it comes to love and honesty and guilt. And Nova’s battling all three of those things, which is kind of a recipe for disaster. Life rarely unfolds in a neat and tidy narrative. Reading about characters who have messy hearts but try to redeem themselves and do better in the future reminds and inspires us that we can do the same. And that there might be a happy ending for us, too.

Let’s say the Fall Festival needs a new event: the ‘Charm-Off’, where residents have to use magic, mischief, or sheer personality to win over the crowd. Who would win in a head-to-head showdown: Nova or Kiara? And what would their signature move be?

If Nova could use magic to wow the crowd, she’d be super tempted . . . but I think she’s seen enough magic (and the mischief it can cause) to opt for personality. She has plenty of forest tales to keep people hooked! Kiara could probably win based on her charming personality, but she’d use magic because prior to the bad luck hex, everything went her way, so she’s optimistic and excited about a little extra razzle dazzle to tip things in her favor. The crowd will go wild for her love predictions!