Falling in Love Is My Job Description: Why Natalie Murray Loves Writing Romance

Author of new sizzling grumpy sunshine romance Natalie Murray pens a piece for us about her love for writing romance.

I’ve been a die-hard romantic ever since I first saw Die Hard and thought it was a love story about John McClane trying to win back his wife. The bullets and explosions were just subplots and background noise, surely! Then came my introductions to Elizabeth and Darcy, Antony and Cleopatra (I inhaled that Shakespeare play like it was oxygen), Buffy and Angel – from classics to pop culture, I became obsessed with heart-twisting, soul-aching love stories. And that spark has never died out.

While I started out as a journalist and non-fiction writer, it wasn’t until well into adulthood that I realised I could make love stories my actual job. And it turns out that searching cuties on Pinterest and watching rom-coms counts as research! I was pregnant back then and not feeling the best, so while I was off work, I kept my skills sharp by experimenting with short romance stories. I published a few online, expected a grand total of no one to read them, but received so much encouraging feedback from strangers that I decided to try writing a full-length novel. Naturally, it was going to be an epic love story, which became Emmie and the Tudor King – a time-slip romance that sparked an entire trilogy. I’m chuffed that it’s now in development for TV!

After writing about sixteenth-century feasts, beheadings, and royal drama, I eventually returned to the modern world with Love, Just In, my first contemporary romance. Set in my own backyard and packed with best-friends-to-lovers goodness, it gave me the chance to explore a theme I know all too well: health anxiety in the age of ‘Doctor Google’. I pitched the book to my dream publisher, Allen & Unwin, and to my surprise (and loud squeals), they loved it. Can you believe their reply – showing great interest and asking if the book was available for acquisition – ended up in my spam folder? I still have nightmares about how spam folders auto-delete after a while, and it was pure luck that I checked it that day. Chills.

The warm response from readers to Love, Just In led to a fairytale deal for two more books with Allen & Unwin. The first of these, Lights, Camera, Love (which just came out – yay!) was a fantastic opportunity to explore the classic grumpy­/sunshine dynamic. If you love opposites-attract tension, sizzling dance scenes, late-night confessions, and a good hit of sassy banter, this one’s for you. It’s about Evie, a bright and bubbly dance teacher who’s cast in a blockbuster dance movie, and Kye, her co-star’s grumpy manager, who would much rather avoid falling in love but (spoiler alert) just can’t help himself. Think Step Up meets rom-com chaos.

Writing Lights, Camera, Love reminded me why I’m so hooked on writing romance: every time I sit down to start a new story, I get to fall in love all over again. I never seem to tire of capturing the zing of a moment of held eye contact, the electricity of an accidental touch, or the exquisite tension of the slow-burn build-up. I also love crafting the delicate unfolding as two characters shift into each other’s spaces and realise they’re having a profound and life-changing impact on each other. And when they finally share an explosive kiss or confess their feelings? Total heart meltdown. I’ll never stop chasing that high. 

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Lights, Camera, Love

by Natalie Murray

A sizzling grumpy-meets-sunshine romance that explores the notions of belonging, trust, hope, and finding the kind of love that you never imagined you could have, from the author of Love, Just In.

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