#2025AuthorFeature
As an avid reader and an aspiring author, I have spent a lot of talking talking to authors in an assortment of genres – especially romance. In 2024, I started a monthly author feature to help give back to these amazing creators who give us an endless amount of entertainment and enjoyment.
I hope that by getting an *inside* look at these authors will help you find some to connect with and enjoy the wonderful books they create!
About Victoria Lum and Her Books
First up for January 2025, I’d like to introduce you to Victoria Lum. She has been a hopeless romantic since childhood and dreaming up stories and happily ever afters is her jam! Living in California with her family and Siberian Husky, Victoria adores reading everything she can get her hands on while sipping on a caramel latte.
She has one complete series – the LA Heart Series that features four books:
- Book 1 – The Sweetest Agony – Unrequited love, friends to lovers, mental health representation
- Book 2 – The Coldest Passion – Single dad x nanny, brother’s best friend, secrets and twists, dislike to like
- Book 3 – The Harshest Hope – Lovers to enemies to lovers, rags to riches, billionaire, star-crossed lovers, second chance
- Book 4 – The Brightest Spark – Forced proximity, dislike to like, bad boy x good girl, light angst, touch her and die
Her second series, The Orchid Series, is currently in progress and I’m anxiously awaiting book four that releases on February 5th, 2025!
- Book 1 – When Hearts Ignite – Billionaire, boss x employee, forbidden, burlesque club, touch her and die, twisty
- Book 2 – When Hearts Collide – Professor x student, age gap, billionaire, primal play, grumpy x sunshine, forbidden
- Book 3 – When Hearts Surrender – Arranged marriage, marriage of convenience, age gap, billionaire, gothic vibes, family curse, twisty
- Book 4 – When Hearts Awaken – Enemies to lovers, age gap, forced proximity, billionaire, gothic vibes, twisty
Read the Blurb of When Hearts Awaken – Releasing February 5th!
A ballerina stronger than her scars. A billionaire broken behind his charm. Blistering hate unravels into consuming love. But will their dark secrets heal them or destroy them?
Taylor Peyton-Anderson’s world shattered one night when she was sixteen, leaving her broken but not defeated. Six years later, ballet has become her escape and her salvation. Her only goal—survive long enough to become a principal dancer.
No love. No weaknesses. No distractions.
Charles Vaughn is everything she despises—the media’s golden prince, the older charismatic billionaire who wields his charm like a weapon. But beneath his perfect smile lies a fractured soul carrying secrets as dark as her own.
After their first meeting ends in fiery sparks, they’re thrown together on an international ballet tour to save his company’s reputation.
Soon, their blistering hatred burns into something even more dangerous. He sees through her carefully crafted armor, and she uncovers the broken man beneath his façade.
But when the monsters from Taylor’s past resurface, and the secrets Charles is hiding threaten to tear them apart, will their fragile connection survive—or will it destroy them both?
Hate brought them together. The truth could tear them apart.
Tropes in When Hearts Awaken:
- Enemies to lovers
- Billionaire
- Age gap
- Trauma healing
- Who did this to you?
- I’ll burn the world for you
- Touch her and die
- Slow burn
- Goth ballerina and complicated hero
- Brother’s best friend
- Swoony text messages
- Found family
- Mental health representation
- Dark topics but the romance isn’t dark
- Spicy and angsty
- Dual POV and HEA
An Interview with Victoria:
If you could spend a day with one of your characters, who would it be, and what would you do together?
Belle Law-McKenzie and we’ll spend the day reading in her gorgeous library and playing with Silas the husky!
Belle Law-McKenzie is featured in When Hearts Surrender, book three of The Orchid Series.
What’s the strangest or most surprising thing you’ve had to research for a book?
The ways to unalive someone so I can write it accurately. I’m legitimately worried about my search history.
Hahaha! I can imagine!
Do you have any quirky writing habits or rituals that help you get into the creative zone?
Not particularly. I do prefer to write in the morning when my mind is not cluttered with to-do lists and worries, but typically, once I get into the zone, time flies by.
If your latest book were made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?
Lana Condor or Kelsey Chow for Belle and Henry Cavill or Theo James for Maxwell
What’s the most unexpected place or situation where inspiration for a story has struck you?
It’s always the 2AM brushing my teeth before sleep inspiration that surprises me (and they tend to be good ones)!
Which book (not your own) has had the most profound impact on your life or career, and why?
The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass – this is a nutrient-heavy book but really delves into writing emotions and how to let readers feel your character’s emotions through the words on the page. I write angsty, emotional stories, and I always go back to this book for advice.
Do you hide any Easter eggs in your books that only your most devoted readers might catch?
Definitely! I do it very often too! My books often have overlapping timelines (even though they can be read as standalones) and I try to put easter eggs in my books that fans of my books can read a book and learn more about a previous character or previous story in the new book!
If you could co-author a book with any writer, living or dead, who would it be and what genre would you write?
There are too many! I’d love to write something with Saffron Kent or Jennifer Hartmann…angsty dark academia or dark romance. I am a huge fan of their work!
What’s one piece of writing advice you received that changed how you approach your craft?
This is a marathon, not a sprint! It is easy to get caught up on trying to go viral (which is completely out of your control), but the best thing you can do is to keep writing, keep showing up to work, and keep spreading your enthusiasm about your books on social media!
If you weren’t an author, what other creative pursuit do you think you’d explore?
Screenwriting! I actually took some screenwriting classes in college. When I write, my stories play like a movie in my mind, completed with a soundtrack. So, creating movies is something I’ve always been interested in.
Thank you so much, Victoria! It has been a pleasure learning more insight to your books, writing, and your process. If you’d like to learn more or check out some of Victoria’s books, connect with her in all these places:
- Victoria’s Website
- Facebook Group
- Tiktok
- Join Victoria’s Mailing List
- Bonus Content
