A Nora Ephron Film Come to Life: Authors Fiona Davis and Greg Wands' Bookstore Meet-Cute (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Greg Wands (left) and Fiona Davis.Photo:Courtesy of Fiona Davis

Courtesy of Fiona Davis

Davis is the author of historical fiction favorites likeThe Lions of Fifth Avenue,The Spectacularand the forthcomingThe Stolen Queen(Jan. 7) and Wands, the thriller writer behindThe Woman Insideunder the name E.G. Scott as half of a writing duo with Elizabeth McCullough Keenan, both of whom are also behind the forthcomingTrust Issues(Jan. 28). The pair met in their natural habitat: a bookstore.

“It really is like aMeg RyanandTom Hanksmovie,” Wands joked. He hung around the store — “finding a way to look busy,” he added — until Davis was finished signing copies, got her number and the rest, as they say, is history.

Greg Wands (left) and Fiona Davis.Courtesy of Fiona Davis

While conventional wisdom often advises against dating people in the same field — especially creative ones — Davis and Wands find they feed off each other well. It helps that they write in slightly different genres: Davis in historical fiction and Wands in thrillers. They bounce ideas off one another as they work on their respective manuscripts, and even co-wrote a novella,The Gimlet Slip, that came out this past summer.

“There’s really no ego there,” Davis says, of their creative and romantic partnership. “We’re at different phases of our careers, and they’re cyclical. Book publishing is like that. We really support each other because we know what it’s like to be in this business.”

Wands, who is used to writing with a partner, explained that working together meant they could both bring their separate strengths to the table. Davis, thanks to her historical background, is a meticulous researcher, while Wands pumps up the fast-paced drama. They also put little Easter eggs for each other to find in their books, and help each other talk through sticky plot points, stuttering dialogue and other issues that crop up as they work.

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Both authors are looking ahead to a busy January, with Davis’ new book coming out Jan. 7 and Wands’ on Jan. 28.

“We didn’t plan it that way,” Davis laughs, when asked whether the confluence is coincidental. “But it works out well. It’s going to be a busy month.”

Dutton

Davis promises that readers can expect the same immersive setting, realer-than-life characters and high society drama, with a gritty mystery at its center.

Wands’ and McCullough Keenan’s latest,Trust Issues, follows a pair of siblings who find themselves on the suspect list after their mother dies under mysterious circumstances. To clear their names and recover the family fortune, they set off to find the con man who’s made off with it, and find themselves more tangled in the family’s web of deception than ever before.

It’s a family story as dysfunctional as they come, with plenty of suspense to keep the pages turning.

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The Stolen QueenandTrust Issuesare both now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.

source: people.com