Baltimore native B.K. Borison self-published her cozy debut romance, Lovelight Farms, in 2021. Three more books in that beloved series followed. But when her Sleepless in Seattle-inspired novel First-Time Caller hit shelves last year—and the New York Times bestseller list—everything changed. “I don’t know what’s happening. You know what I mean?” she tells me over Zoom. “I started writing these books for fun. I think everybody was surprised by the response to First-Time Caller. It’s been a wild ride since.”
Borison’s paranormal holiday romance, Good Spirits, debuted at number one on the list last October. But the prolific author says her seventh book in six years, And Now, Back to You (out today), proved challenging for her creatively. You’d never know it—the novel is a rom-com masterpiece in every conceivable way. “I had rough strokes of competing meteorologists trapped together in the mountains intentionally. But I didn’t know what their story was. It was tough, untangling that knot,” she says. “And it’s funny, because I struggled so much writing this book, but I think of all my books, it’s probably the gentlest story, the softest.”
Lightly inspired by When Harry Met Sally, the novel follows Maryland meteorologists Jackson Clark and Delilah Stewart as they cover a historic snowstorm together. They’re opposites in every way. Rivals, even. Until they aren’t. This charming love story, like all of Borison’s, will leave readers with nothing but warm and fuzzy feelings. I hugged my copy when I finished it; it just felt like the right thing to do.
I sat down with the author ahead of the release of And Now, Back to You to discuss all things self-care, beauty, and wellness as she drafts the third and final installment of the fan-favorite, bestselling Heartstrings series.
What role does beauty play in the stories that you write? 
I like to find one detail or thing to fixate on with a character. What is the characteristic about this person that is so tiny and inconsequential that no one would notice, except for somebody who was really into them? When I first wrote Lovelight Farms, Luca had freckles, and Stella would always talk about them. It’s something you wouldn’t notice in someone you didn’t care deeply about. With Jackson and Delilah, Delilah is a whirlwind of chaos and color. Enthusiasm. Her greatest fear in the book is to be dismissed as a manic pixie dream girl. But I really love that Jackson picks up on all these little subtle things about her. I enjoy finding the secret things that you love most about the person you’re crushing on.
What’s your ideal writing setup?
My office is on the second floor of our house, and my son and his nanny are on the first floor during the day. Whenever he sees Mom, it’s like, “Okay, Mom’s done working.” So I have my massive jug of water, so I don’t need to disturb them. When I’m drafting, it’s like a collection of mugs, water, and cups. I’m a gremlin of drinking things.
You write women who love sweet things, and there’s never any negative body-image commentary attached to that, which I really appreciate. It’s pleasure without guilt. Do you have a sweet tooth?
I was pregnant when I wrote Good Spirits. And Harriet is always eating blueberry danishes, because all I wanted when I was pregnant was blueberry danishes. And I was pregnant when I wrote In the Weeds, which was massively descriptive with baked goods. A reader once said it was me trying to be “a cool girl,” where the female character eats all this food but never gains any weight. But I’m like, you can just consume food. Food is a deep comfort for me, and a piece of connection. When you share something with someone, like a Danish or a bit of good food or a meal, it’s a moment. It’s like, I care about you. I’m giving you some of my food to enjoy because I’m enjoying it.
I think Jackson and Delilah have a lot of that, especially since Delilah loves food and has no guilt associated with it. She’s a curvy girl who enjoys her meals, and I am a curvy girl who enjoys her meals. Every time a character is plus-sized, has curves, or has a different body shape, I don’t think we need to have them deconstruct what that means to them. Some people are just comfortable in their bodies and enjoy it. And so I loved writing Delilah as someone who enjoys food and eating.
On page 273—literally, it’s like I’m in English class—Delilah says, “Why can something only be valued and held in high regard if it’s dark and damaging? Why can’t we keep the bright things, the lovely things? Why can’t those things be special too?” To me, that feels like the thesis of this novel and a very relevant conversation around romance novels right now. Variety recently called Emily Henry’s novels “disposable.”
There’s something, too, about Emily Henry. We hear this all the time as romance authors: “She’s writing more than just romance.” So is every romance author.
Totally. It’s not just like, “And then they kissed.”
I’ve never read a romance that was purely romance. There are always themes of family, of connection, of empathy, of grief. Delilah’s whole fear in this book is being dismissed as a puff piece, as someone who does the frilly and light stuff, but why? Why are romance and love stories so easily dismissed? It just doesn’t make any sense to me. Because love is the most important thing. We have to connect with each other to fulfill our own lives, to fulfill ourselves. It’s just such a shame that it’s dismissed as meaningless or less than.
I think we’ve seen with Heated Rivalry, too, that it’s dismissed because of the sexual content. When we see sex in Game of Thrones, it is violence against women. Like, why is that sex more valuable and important if it’s causing harm than sex between two people in a relationship who are experiencing a love story? I just wish we, as a society, could embrace love stories as meaningful.
I feel the same way. There’s a sort of similar sentiment in beauty and self-care, too. It’s so often dismissed as “things women do, things women like.” Which totally discredits this nearly trillion-dollar industry.
My husband is a physician, and when we go to his work events together, people ask what I do. And I say, I write romance novels. And I say that without any shame, without apology, because it’s not anything to be embarrassed about. And I can see people’s faces change. I’m doing just fine. I’ve made a career for myself that allows me to stay home with my children. I get that question from readers often, too. People who want to enter the industry as a romance author are like, “How do you share that with people? How do you tell people what you do?” I just say what I do. There’s nothing wrong. There’s no shame or embarrassment in love stories.
What are some of your favorite beauty, self-care, and wellness products to help combat writing and tour fatigue?
I’ve recently become very passionate about skincare, and I’m on the Susan Lee skincare regimen. It should be trademarked. I have two small kids, which makes any sort of makeup routine impossible, and so I’ve started doing skincare as self-care.
I reached out to Susan because she has encyclopedic knowledge of Korean beauty products. And when she released her last book, she sent out a package of skincare items. I was looking at it like, “I need someone to tell me what to use and in what order.” And Susan did exactly that. She sent me this whole chart of products, and every night I follow her little chart. It’s nice to have something that feels like it’s just mine, like I’m just doing it for myself. And I don’t particularly enjoy wearing makeup, because I feel like I can feel it on my face, you know?
This is my favorite toner: the Skinfood Carrot Carotene Calming Water Pad. And I’m obsessed with these because they’re thick, juicy, and luscious. And then Susan felt very validated that Hudson [Williams] also uses the Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Ampoule. I love a juicy serum. I love that my skin now looks like it does when I’m not wearing makeup, still healthy and glowing. After I had children, they’re like succubi; they drained all the vitamins out of my body.
I use the Dr. Althea 345 Relief Cream and CeraVe sunscreen. And then, in terms of makeup, I’ve been using the same makeup since I was like 20, which is the Dr. Jart Premium BB Tinted Moisturizer. They changed the formula once in the past 10 years, which was horrific. But it does not matter your skin tone. When I’m drafting, I don’t see the sunlight, and so I turn ghostly pale. And it doesn’t matter if I see sun or not, the Dr. Jart BB cream still works. I use the Rare Beauty primer. And then I recently became a blush girly. Gucci just came out with a new blush that is so good. I actually color-matched it to my son’s cheeks because he’s naturally very flushed, and he looks so cute.
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Gucci Luminous Matte Beauty BlushSocial media can be a scary place for authors. Do you have any boundaries or rules that you set for yourself as you navigate Threads and Instagram?
I try not to search my name. This was the year I learned the lesson of not involving myself in conversations where I’m not actively tagged. I don’t search them out. But of course, things pop up, and it can be frustrating, because you see people having conversations about you and your work that go outside of your intentions. When I write a book, I hope people interpret it a certain way, but then when you see readers having conversations and it’s been interpreted a different way, it’s very hard not to be like, “This is what I meant.” And I think that’s the challenging part about being an author, is that when you put a book into the world, it’s not yours anymore, it’s everyone else’s, and everyone brings their own history and insecurities, and, you know, whatever, into consuming the book. That’s been a challenge not to be bothered by that. It’s hard to stay off social media around releases because I want to know what people are thinking.
Do you read reviews?
I have a healthy relationship with reviews, where I treat them as market research. Before I was a writer full-time, I was a creative director. The type of feedback that you get from reviews is so valuable, like corporations would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for unfiltered thoughts from users about the product, right? So I try to approach it that way. And for the most part, I’m very unemotional about it. I just look for trends.
Let’s pretend it’s a snow day. What are you watching? What are you eating? Are there any beauty treatments you’re doing at home?
Probably watching Heated Rivalry for the 80th time, always and forever. What am I eating? I love a chip. I love a nacho. And if it’s a snow day, I’m eating a tray of nachos. Ooh, chili. I love a good soup. I did chicken and dumplings the other night, and that was really good. And then I love a face mask, and I love an under-eye mask when I’m at home.
Related StoryDo you wear fragrance or light any candles?
When I go on tour, so many people give me candles. I have a whole drawer of candles inspired by characters. This one’s my Aiden candle. Right now, I have Nolan under the candle warmer that I use. So this Nolan, he smells like sea and stone and cloves. So usually, whatever I’m drafting, I try to have a scent that pairs with it. I should switch out to Heartstrings, because I’m working on Heartstrings.
In terms of fragrance, I’m pretty sensitive to scents on me. But one of my friends, who’s also a writer, we did an event together. His name is Chip Pons. He smelled gorgeous. I was like, “What are you wearing?” He wears Replica, and so I got one of the testers. I really like Under the Lemon Tree and By the Fireplace.
Smile + Lights Candle Co. Heartstrings with Aiden Valentine Candle
Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace
Maison Margiela Replica Under the Lemon TreesWhat are you reading these days, and if you can share, what are you working on?
I’m making my way right now through Cat Sebastian’s backlist. I think she is phenomenal. The way she writes intimacy is just so stunningly gorgeous. I read Star Shipped, which comes out in March. It’s her first contemporary. She usually writes historical romance. So now that I read it, I fell in love. Usually, when I’m drafting, like heavy drafting, I don’t read too much, or if I do, I read out of genre.
I’m working on Heartstrings three, which is the third and final book follow-up to Heartstrings two, And Now, Back to You. This one is seasoned by You’ve Got Mail. Of the three Heartstrings books, it’s probably the most heavily inspired or seasoned by. It’s taken me a really long time to start this book, because I’ve been so intimidated by it. When you tell people you’re writing a book inspired by You’ve Got Mail, there’s such a visceral reaction to that. So I’ve been like, “Hmm, maybe I should pause.” I’ve hit the phase of drafting where it’s less, like, “Who are these people? What are they doing? I don’t know anything about them.” And it’s more, “I’m having a lot of fun.” This is probably the most fun I’ve had drafting a book since First-Time Caller, and they’ve all been fun and challenging in different ways, but this one just feels like a full rom-com indulgence.
What is the last fitness class you streamed or attended? Are you a fitness person?
I do Peloton pretty religiously. I really want to do reformer Pilates, so I’m looking for a studio in Baltimore, and there are a couple, but I’m trying to work that into the schedule with the babes. My goal for 2026, though, is to take better care of myself. I hope to find the enthusiasm to leave my house.
Can you confirm if any of your books are in talks for movie or TV adaptations?
I’m not allowed to confirm.
Do you think it’s a possibility in the future?
I would love to see any of my stuff adapted, especially lately, with such a resurgence of interest in romance adaptations. I’m gonna mention Heated Rivalry for the 85th time. It was just so thrilling as a romance author to see an adaptation handled so carefully, so earnestly, so lovingly. It gave me a lot of hope to see adaptations like that, not trying to change what it is at its core, which is a love story, which is a romance. I think sometimes, when we see romance adaptations, they try to appeal to the largest possible audience, rather than just to romance readers, romance lovers, and consumers. Heated Rivalry, in particular, has given me a lot of hope for what adaptations can be.
