This week on Rebecca and Rebecca, we welcomed debut author Andra Loy to the show. She joined us to talk about her new release, THE ROMAN HOLIDAY RULE. The conversation covered her writing process, her real-life inspiration, and the magical realism woven through her story. If you love cozy rom-coms with heart, this episode is for you.
Meet Andra Loy
Andra spent over twenty years living in Europe. She moved to the Czech Republic during college to teach English and fell in love with the country. There, she also met her husband, who was teaching English alongside her. The pair got engaged overseas, married in the United States, and then returned to Europe. All of their children were born overseas. Last year, the family moved back to the United States, where Andra now teaches part-time and writes in her remaining hours.
Before writing romance, Andra focused on speculative fiction and sci-fi. She always included a hint of romance in those stories, though. Eventually, she gave herself permission to flip the formula. Now her books lead with romance, and a touch of speculative magic follows close behind.
What THE ROMAN HOLIDAY RULE Is About
The novel follows Lexi Walker, an event planner grieving the loss of her mother. Lexi’s father passed away when she was young, so she barely remembers him. Her mother, a well-known artist, raised her alone and grew especially close to her over the years. Long before her mother’s death, the two had planned a trip to Italy together. That trip never happened.
Before she passed, Lexi’s mother left behind four sealed letters. Each one can only be opened at a specific location in Italy, tied to a memory of Lexi’s father. Her mother also left a painting that had stayed hidden in the family’s private collection. She asked Lexi to dedicate it publicly, in Italy, as part of the trip.
Lexi finally takes that journey herself. Being an event planner, naturally, she plans the entire trip down to five-minute increments. On the flight over, however, she meets an Italian-American architect who lives in Rome. He warns her that Italy rarely goes according to plan. She doesn’t want to hear it, so the two strike a bet: whoever can find “the heart of Italy” within a week wins.
As the pair keep crossing paths throughout Rome, something strange begins happening. Every time Lexi opens one of her mother’s letters, the artwork decorating the envelope starts appearing in real life. Grief, memory, and a slow-building romance all tangle together as Lexi works to uncover what her mother wanted her to find.
A Story Rooted in Real Life
The novel takes clear inspiration from the classic film Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn. Interestingly, Andra didn’t set out to write a retelling. Instead, small references crept into the story as she wrote. One early chapter, for example, mentions Mark casually referencing the movie. As Andra revised, those small nods grew into something bigger. Eventually, she realized the film’s central theme, that two people from different places may not get a happy ending, was actually her book’s core question too.
That question isn’t purely fictional for Andra. She and her husband come from different parts of the United States and met while living abroad. Their own relationship forced them to wrestle with a similar dilemma: how do two people build a life together when geography stands in the way? That lived experience shaped the emotional backbone of the novel.
Writing in Dual POV
THE ROMAN HOLIDAY RULE is told in first person from both Lexi’s and Mark’s perspectives. Andra explained that first person comes most naturally to her, especially for comedy. Writing close inside a character’s head makes the humor land more easily, she said.
Getting Mark’s voice right took extra care, though. Andra reads each chapter aloud to her husband as she writes. If a line doesn’t sound authentic to a man’s perspective, he tells her right away. That process, she said, helps her catch and cut anything that doesn’t ring true.
A Pantser Through and Through
Despite being organized in nearly every other area of her life, Andra doesn’t outline her novels. She’s tried plotting before, but she loses interest in the story once every beat is mapped out. Instead, she prefers to discover the story as she writes it. Cleanup and revision come later. As she put it, writing without a full outline keeps the process fun and keeps her invested as both the writer and the story’s first reader.
What’s Next for Andra Loy
Andra signed a two-book deal with Haven Fiction. Her next novel, THE TROUBLE WITH PARIS, releases in summer 2027. Like her debut, it blends romance, comedy, and a touch of magical realism. Readers who fall in love with her voice in THE ROMAN HOLIDAY RULE won’t have to wait too long for more.
Listen to the Full Episode
Want to hear the full conversation, including Andra’s favorite scene to write and the story behind her book’s title? Tune in to this episode of Rebecca and Rebecca, available now wherever you listen to podcasts. Or click the links below.
