Can I tell you about the author I just interviewed who has been my DREAM guest since I have read all of her books and I long to re-read them again?
Her name is Ava Rani, and she is, in her own words, “many things.” She’s a mom. She works in medicine. She publishes books both independently and traditionally — sometimes at the same time. And she has a very clear long-term goal: to become the main character of a Nancy Meyers movie by age 60. We’re talking Cape Cod beach house, cashmere shawls, hydrangeas everywhere, and possibly a bakery phase she hasn’t gotten to yet.
Honestly? Goals.
But here’s the thing — when Ava sits down to write, she doesn’t just write romance. She writes romance with mystery woven through it (my favorite kind), twists that her own editors didn’t clock until she pointed them out, and heroines who are a little chaotic, deeply ambitious, and refreshingly real. And every single book comes equipped with what she calls “the twist.”
I talked to her about all of it — her writing process, her whole backlist, and her upcoming books — and I genuinely could not stop taking notes. So let me share everything.
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First, A Little About How Ava Rani Actually Gets It All Done
Because I know you’re going to ask.
Ava is hyper type A (her words), which means she runs on color-coded schedules and self-imposed deadlines that are slightly shorter than they need to be — on purpose, so she doesn’t fall into what she calls “the scroll trap.” (She bought the Brick that physically locks her social media until she walks to her fridge to unlock it. Her office is two floors away. She says this has been life-changing. I believe her. But I am not ready to go cold turkey for hours)
Her writing happens in two windows: early morning before anyone needs her, and late at night after the mom stuff, the work stuff, and the general act of being a person in the world is done. She told me she actually gets more done when she’s busy — that having too much open time is its own kind of paralysis. And honestly, I felt so called out by that I had to pause the recording for a second.
The bigger point she made, though, is one I keep thinking about: the days where you have everything figured out and nothing to do are often the least productive ones. Busy isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it’s the structure your creative brain actually needs.
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The Biotech Billionaires Series (Start Here)
Okay, onto the books. And we have to start at the beginning.
The Biotech Billionaires series is a three-book found-family romance following two sets of Manhattan siblings — the Amaris and the Suttons — who are wealthy, messy, and deeply entangled with each other. Ava pitches each book as its own Gossip Girl mashup: The Heir is Gossip Girl meets Succession (a f*ckboy heir, a PR director hired to clean up his mess, and a slow burn loaded with backstabbing and twists), The Spare is Gossip Girl meets Scandal (very Darcy-coded, very much a man who falls in love and then simply runs away rather than deal with his feelings), and The Charmer is Gossip Girl meets Crazy Rich Asians — a book that was never supposed to exist until readers fell so hard for Xander Sutton that Ava had to write him a love story.
Every book has a twist. That’s a promise, not a warning. And the series is best read in order — you’ll be rewarded for it.
Out of Her League — The Standalone You Need This Weekend
If you’re only going to pick up one Ava Rani book right now, make it this one.
Out of Her League is a fake-dating romance following Issa — a surgeon in her final year of residency living in the shadow of her legendary parents — and Austin Cade, a Premier League soccer star from Queens who clawed his way to the top and is now back in New York, injured, grieving a friend, and genuinely unsure what comes next. Issa needs a date to her best friend’s Paris wedding to avoid her newly-engaged ex. Austin needs connections. There is one bed. There is a pillow wall. Nothing is fine.
But the heart of this book is actually Issa grappling with whether to be child-free — and Ava wrote that storyline with so much care. Not as a lesson or a resolution, but as a real decision women make while the world waits for them to choose a side. Austin, who climbed to the top of his own ladder and just wants off, quietly shows her: you’re allowed to want something different. The sunk cost fallacy of ambition hits different when someone who’s lived it reflects it back at you. I’m not crying. You’re crying.
Poisoned Ivy — Campus Romance With a Mystery Twist
Now here’s where things get fun.
Poisoned Ivy is the first book in the Legacy series, and Ava describes it as Never Have I Ever meets Rory Gilmore’s Yale years.
The heroine is Malena — a campus reporter lying to basically everyone in her life (two phones, a burner bank account, parents who think she never leaves the house) — who infiltrates a secret society by impersonating her roommate. She makes it three minutes before Conrad Hastings, legacy kid and paper contributor-in-name-only, clocks her as an imposter. They strike a deal: she writes the story, he gets the byline. Then they end up in the catacombs under campus and stumble onto an art forgery ring.
So now they’re unraveling a mystery, falling for each other, and Malena is still lying to everyone — including Conrad, who has no idea she was never Sabrina. The twist is genuinely surprising (Ava’s first editor caught it in chapter 10 and she had to rework the whole thing). It’s a great audiobook too — check your library apps before you buy. Ava’s words on Conrad: “I fixed him. If anyone’s concerned.”
And Coming Next: Gilded Lilly
Gilded Lilly is Sabrina’s book — Malena’s roommate, the incoming First Daughter, and the girl whose invitation started everything. Before her semester abroad at Cambridge, Sabrina was assigned a Secret Service agent: Agent Jace Emerson. Grumpy. Brooding. Absolutely not supposed to catch feelings. At Cambridge, Sabrina starts dating a Duke who seems perfect, and Jace has to watch — first out of professional suspicion, then out of something that starts to feel a lot like jealousy.
Ava described it as very Dmitri watching Anastasia: the person you can’t have, right there, with someone else, and the slow agony of that. There’s a twist. There’s forbidden tension. There’s an entire semester of nothing happening that somehow makes everything hotter. I pre-ordered it the moment she finished describing it to me.
My Ava Rani Reading Recommendations (In Order)
Not sure where to start? Here’s how I’d approach it:
If you love billionaires, found family, and Gossip Girl energy: Start with The Heir and read the Biotech Billionaires series in order. You’ll get the most out of Out of Her League once you know that world.
If you want a standalone that works on its own: Go straight to Out of Her League. Fake dating, a Paris wedding, sports romance, and a heroine you’ll want to be best friends with.
If you’re in the mood for New Adult with mystery vibes: Poisoned Ivy is a great duet audiobook (check your library apps!) and reads like a binge-able TV show. Perfect for a long weekend.
What Ava Rani Is Reading (And Recommending)
Because of course I asked before our interview but we ran out of time to go over her recommendations.
Ava reads a lot of mysteries and thrillers — she told me they help her understand how to build emotional and physical tension, which honestly explains so much about why her romances feel so propulsive. Her preferred format is audio, she’s not a re-reader, and the last book she finished was You’ll Be the Death of Me. Very on brand.
When it comes to recommendations, she picked books that feel close to the energy of Poisoned Ivy — college settings, strong heroines, banter, heat, and a little something extra keeping you hooked. Here’s what she loved:
📚 Collide by Bal Khabra — A college romance between a hockey player and a psych major. Ava loves that the FMC is strong and assertive (very Molina energy), and that Bal also writes South Asian characters front and center.
📚 Ride With Me by Simone Soltani — For the F1 lovers. Ava is a fan of Simone’s world-building through food and travel, and this marriage-of-convenience romance delivers both — plus a few very satisfying “my wife” moments.
📚 A Killer Kind of Romance by Letizia Lorini — A small-town romance with a mystery subplot: a true crime lover and a maybe-serial-killer she’s tracking. Ava says it’s full of banter, heat, and a mystery that’ll keep you glued. (Same, honestly.)
Laura’s Note: I have read all of these recommendations and I agree with Ava’s take and recommendations
Where to Find Ava Rani
You can find Ava at @authoravarani on TikTok, Instagram, and Threads.
Follow her now so you’re ready when Gilded Lilly drops. You’re going to want to pre-order.
Before You Go — A Note on Reading on a Budget
Most of Ava’s books are available through Kindle Unlimited and the library apps, so check Libby and Hoopla before you buy. Poisoned Ivy in particular is a great audiobook if you’re more of a listener than a reader.
And if you want a curated list of what’s I have read and loved on Kindle Unlimited — including new romances, cozy mysteries, and everything in between — my Kindle Unlimited Book Database is your new best friend. It’s updated regularly and organized by genre, trope, and heat level so you’re never scrolling blind.
Thanks for being here, friend. If this episode made you want to add six books to your TBR, that was entirely the plan.
Happy reading. 📚
Laura
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