Katie Holt Loves New York... and Irish Men
What Else?: A conversation with the author of THE LAST PAGE
Bookstores have always held a special place in my heart.
Growing up, my mom used to take me and my friends for lunch then to the local Borders1 for a look around. I never wanted to leave without a new read or two. Most of the time, I didn’t. When Barnes & Nobles finally came to our town, I went to the opening party. My favorite way to spend a rainy afternoon quickly became wandering around the teen section, a Strawberry Crème Starbucks Frappuccino in one hand and the new Sarah Dessen novel in the other.
Indie bookstores didn’t hit my radar until college. I bought almost all my course materials secondhand at The Strand. I bought other things there, too: hats for the winter weather, notebooks where I could write the next great novel, tote bags to carry everything home. I spent weekends wandering Greenwich Village, looking at the latest new titles at McNally Jackson and Three Lives & Company, or the best deals on used books at Sweet Pickle. I was late for many a philosophy class because I got distracted wandering the sale cart outside of Mercer Street Books & Records. Soon enough, at least one third of my 500 square-foot studio apartment was books. And I constantly wanted more.
When I started working in book publishing, I realized just how important indie bookstores are to their communities. My roles in sales and marketing had me speaking directly to booksellers daily. I spent hours at conferences, discussing with them what sold well in their stores and how I as a publishing representative could help make their work easier. In the pandemic, I interviewed shops across the country to see how they were holding up. It was what I miss most about my work in publishing. Booksellers are some of the loveliest people I’ve met in the industry, hands down.
Any time I travel to a new place (or a beloved one), I always visit its bookstores. You get a huge taste for the city through what the people read. Bookstores also serve as a little community in their own right. Tiny, literary ecosystems, requiring active readers in order to thrive. Supporting them matters a lot to me.
A very special independent bookstore exists in Katie Holt’s latest contemporary romance, The Last Page. It’s even inspired by her own experience as a New York City bookseller.
Ella has spent her entire life at The Last Page, training to one day take the store over from its owner, Leo. However, when Leo unexpectedly passes away, Ella discovers the bookshop has been left to his grandson, Henry. Naturally, this leads to a lot of tension. Especially when Ella realizes Henry knows next to nothing about bookselling. Henry has his own troubles back home in Tennessee, so he doesn’t plan to stay at The Last Page long. But when they realize the store is in financial trouble, Ella and Henry must work together to save the bookshop before it’s too late. All those long hours soon have these rivals becoming friends, and maybe something more. It’s a perfect, beachside read as we head into summer.
This week, I catch up with Katie about the new release. We also discussed how she balances editing full-time, her boisterous Bookstagram account, and writing romance novels. She somehow makes time for a few things that aren’t book-related, too. Keep reading for all of that, as well as a sneak peak at her next novel.
What do you do outside of reading and writing?
Honestly, not much. I go to the movies. I hang out with my friends and my sister. We do city happy hours or walks in the park.
I’m also kind of a gym rat. Looking at me, you wouldn’t know that, but I love it. I think the idea of someone having a profession like mine where you work with books and lowkey being jacked is the funniest thing.
Other than that, my life is kind of just books.
I saw you moved recently and had a lot of books to transport.
It was insane. I rarely go through my stack of books to read. I just add to the top of the pile. When I initially counted them, I thought everything would fit into ten boxes. There were twenty-four! When the movers put them in my new apartment, I was gagged. There are a lot. I bought a couple new bookshelves but mostly all my books are scattered around my new apartment.
So, you’re a “gym rat.” What exactly does that mean?
My sister is a personal trainer. We got into fitness at the same time, but she knows the science of it so I do whatever she says. I lift a lot of weights. I also started running when the weather was perfect. Now it’s too hot.
Honestly, it’s an important part of my mental health routine. It’s meditative. I’m not a morning person so I get up at 5:30 and need to work off my morning anger Of course, I want to be jacked AF, too. My real goal is to be able to arm wrestle a man where he thinks he’s going to beat me then I whip out my crazy biceps.
That scene could totally show up in one of your books.
I need to have it happen to me first so I can feel that euphoric joy of beating someone who didn’t think it could happen because I look like a nerd.
The gym setting can seem intimidating to non-athletic folks. Do you have advice for anyone feeling this way?
I totally get that. My sister only works with women because it is so intimating. So many women don’t know where to start so they go to the treadmill, which is all well and good. But it’s okay to want more.
There are always men at the gym who lack spacial awareness. They stand right in front of the dumbbell rack. It’s impossible to get past them. Like, hello? What are you doing? Their ego lifts mean nothing to me. I can take up space, too.
Something that also helped me become more comfortable was understanding everyone at the gym is usually minding their own business. Once I realized that—I’m not looking at anyone, no one’s looking at me—I could figure it out.
You mentioned going to the movies. What do you like to see?
To me, it’s the perfect random thing to do on a Sunday morning. I’m an AMC A-Lister. I bring bagels in with a coffee. I see pretty much everything except horror. Unless it’s tame. Just a jump scare.
I just saw The Devil Wears Prada 2, which I really enjoyed. I’ve seen Project Hail Mary twice. It was so good. I’m not a women in STEM. A lot of things they said I didn’t understand. But afterwards, I did wonder if I should’ve become an astronaut. It’s such hopecore. And Ryan Gosling is so hot in those little glasses and t-shirts doing science.
Let’s talk a little bit about your day job. You’re an editor acquiring in the same genre your write in. Does this help or hinder your own writing?
It’s really weird. They definitely work together in a way I hadn’t expected.
With my job, I learn a lot about the current market: what it will be like and what works in a romance novel. With my own words, it’s hard. I’m too harsh on myself sometimes and too easy at others. Whereas when I’m editing, the vision comes really clearly to me. I can identify when a scene isn’t working. That helps me later when I’m writing, too, to see those moments in my own projects. It’s a lot of work, but it’s cool to be entrenched in the genre.
I always found knowing too much about the book market paralyzing as a writer. How do you work through having this insider knowledge without letting it oversteer your work?
It’s definitely difficult. Sometimes I think, “Well, dark romance is really kicking up, should I write one?” But it will never happen. I think you can tell when someone is writing to market instead of their passion. Especially reading submissions, I know when people are throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.
Contemporary romance is really hard right now. Everyone in publishing knows it’s difficult to sell. But there have been contemporary projects I’ve offered on because the writing was so good. That always shines through more than anything. You can’t edit somebody’s voice, but you can edit everything else.
You also have a big Bookstagram presence. How did you get started with that? Has it influenced your work as a writer?
I started during the pandemic. I was a senior in high school and had discovered adult romances. It was amazing. I wondered why no one was talking about it, then I went online and realized everyone was talking about it. I was just behind.
No one in my family is a romance reader. I would try to tell my sister about something that happened in a book and she didn’t understand why we were discussing made up people. I did it to meet other readers and have a space to talk about books that were occupying my brain. It developed from there.
I don’t post as much as I used to with regular recommendations. It’s kind of different now because I’m an author. I feel weird writing reviews, even though I only ever post positive ones. Is it wrong that I’m fangirling over someone who is my peer? I think some people follow me just for my author content and not necessarily my bookish content. It’s a thin line I’m trying to find the right way to walk. But I love it. I love talking about books.
Let’s talk about your novels. They both revolve around bookish themes. What is it about this sub-genre of romance that you love?
I love reading about books. Every time I read a book and they mention an author I love or a book I adore, I feel so connected to the character. There is nothing else that I could write about as authentically.
Both of your novels also incorporate a lot of personal elements. Why is it important to you to make parts of yourself part of the stories, too?
When I was younger, I always thought it was weird to be Peruvian and Tennesseean. I wrote my college essay about it. You wouldn’t think these cultures mix, but they do in unexpected ways. I felt isolated at times, like I was the only girl from Tennessee and Peru. Especially with Peruvian representation. I never saw it in media. It upset me. So it was really important that I write about it. I know there are other girls from Tennessee who are also Peruvian, so I wanted to bring that representation to the page.
I’m pretty sure the only thing I know about Peru is it’s the home country of Paddington Bear.
He’s great!
That, and the food. Peruvian dishes are delicious.
They’re starting to take off. Peruvian food is becoming trendy. I see all these restaurants popping up and it’s great. I think it’s the best food in the entire world.
Do you have any recs?
In New York, I love Don Ceviche in the East Village. It’s very authentic, homemade Peruvian food. Everything on the menu is so good. They have picarones, which is a dessert that’s kind of hard to find because it’s difficult to make. That place is great.
Another trope you seem to be a big fan of is rivals to lovers. Both of your books feature it pretty heavily. Are there any other tropes you really love?
I enjoy all tropes! I love accidental pregnancy. I do love a secret baby. I also love marriage of convenience. I would one day like to try to write one. And a caretaking scene. It’s a hot take, I know. But I think if anything is done well I’m going to enjoy it.
You explore a lot of different definitions of family in The Last Page. Why did you want to include these in the novel?
I was thinking a lot about Peruvian culture and how the definition of family isn’t black and white. I have neighbors that are “family” just because they’re Peruvian. The man who delivered me is the gynecologist for all the Peruvians in Tennessee, and he feels like my grandfather. There are so many different definitions of family in Peru. It’s so important to our culture to be close with each other.
It’s this idea that family can be anybody. Family is who you make it to be. It’s who loves you.
You’re a former bookseller. Did your experience working at The Strand influence the novel?
I totally put things from my time there in the book.
I loved working at The Strand. I may be the only person in the world who will say that. I know the staff can be grumpy… But the booksellers are so fun. They’re all so different from each other. I’m still really great friends with a lot of them.
I was there for two-ish years. It was a time. Every single day there was something. You never knew when some weirdo or some famous person would walk in.
I feel like working at a big store with a profile—Powell’s in Portland, City Lights in San Francisco—means you’re not just a bookseller. You’re also dealing with tourists interested in the store as an iconic spot. It’s very different from a smaller, community shop.
That’s kind of where the idea came from for The Last Page. I noticed a lot of people just come in, walk around, do their thing, and leave. I get it. I love browsing. But I thought a lot about how a business could survive if everyone was doing that. It would be troublesome if no one ever buys books.
It’s definitely odd. A lot of times tourists would come into The Strand and ask me if we loved working there. So many folks said “no,” but I was always like, “yes! I feel like Belle from Beauty and the Beast!”
New York hasn’t hardened you yet.
No. I don’t think it ever could. Have I seen someone take a shit on the street? Yes. Have I had my life threatened on the subway? Yes. But I’ve done it all in New York. It’s hard to complain when you’re in the greatest city in the world.
Do you have other favorite indie stores that were inspirational to the book?
There’s a used bookstore in Knoxville that’s sadly closed called McKay’s. The booksellers were so eclectic. My dad didn’t like me going alone because there were so many weirdos, but I loved it.
Another bookstore I love in my hometown is Good Girl Books. They’re a romance-only bookstore. They’ve been so supportive of my work. I think it’s so cool to see so many romance stores cropping up around the country.
I love indie bookstores, and I would love if my book inspires readers to go visit their local. There is something special about walking into a store that is so unique. Every Barnes & Noble kind of feels the same. The same books, the same layout. But every indie is different. The booksellers are so passionate. They really do love books.
Can you tell me anything about what you’re working on next?
It’s probably my spiciest book to date. Another bookish romance. It’s about a romance novelist who realizes she’s never been in love, so she decides to go on twenty-four dates in a year to figure out what’s missing in her life.
She takes them all to the same bar. Eventually, she meets the mysterious, handsome Irish bartender there. He tells her that she’s got really bad taste in men. So, they strike up a deal where if a date goes badly, they’ll hook-up. Ultimately, he shows her that because she’s never had good sex, she’s also never been in love, which is something she has to reckon with as she writes her next novel.
Ooo! Is it set in New York again?
Of course. It’s set in the Upper West Side, which I’m really excited about. I started writing it before I moved to the neighborhood, so it feels really serendipitous.
I ask because the bar around the corner from my apartment has a few attractive Irish bartenders.
Drop the address, please!2 I need to be there. Irish men are so hot. The only reason the bartender is Irish is because I think the accent is so hot. I am sat. Any Irish man—even if he’s ugly—is hot.
Katie Holt is a New York City resident but a Tennessee native. She studied English with a concentration in creative writing at NYU and fought with every professor to prove that romance novels were worthy of their time. She’s a Nora Ephron fanatic, Swiftie, and warm chocolate chip enthusiast. Katie's debut novel, Not in My Book, was published in 2025 to critical acclaim. The Last Page is her latest book.
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