Katia Rose Amplifies The Magic of Queer Romance with 'Just Might Work!'

Katia Rose appreciates the finer things in life, such as succulents, tea, and pole dancing. However, it's her passion for romance novels that has us buzzing. Just Might Work, the latest queer romance from the author, follows the story of Dane and Evangeline. They can only agree on two things: they don't get along, and they both enjoy living in Dane's eccentric aunt Noelle's house. It isn't until they face the possibility of losing their lease to someone else that they decide to play into Noelle's cosmically-guided idea that they are soulmates in order to secure sympathy… and a lease renewal.

The story is charming, funny, and spicy. It beautifully balances the heat of budding passion with the drama of young adults navigating the world around them. Just Might Work, chock-full of beloved tropes and great characterization, just might be your new favorite romance novel.

To learn more about the story behind the story, read A Good Book To End The Day’s interview with the author below.

Tell us about Just Might Work and the story world you’ve created.

Just Might Work is a sapphic new adult romantic comedy featuring an NBLW (nonbinary-loving-women) pairing. I like to refer to it as a trope cocktail of fake dating, roommates to lovers, and opposites attract. In it, we’ve got two feuding roommates setting aside their differences to team up and fake a relationship that just might save their deal on cheap rent. A modern love story if there ever was one. Of course, their fake relationship quickly starts to reveal not-so-fake feelings between them.

I had SO much fun writing this story! Dane and Evangeline’s shift from constant banter and frustration to discovering the admiration and attraction they feel for each other was a wild ride filled with a lot of hilarious and heartwarming moments. It’s also very personally important to me to see NBLW representation, and I’m so thrilled to now have this out as my first full-length NBLW book.

Which of the characters do you relate to the most and why?

This is such a hard one to answer! There are pieces of me in both Dane and Evangeline, and there are elements of both their struggles I’ve been through too. Evangeline’s appreciation of love and romance in books even as she struggles to value or trust those things in her own life particularly reminds me of myself at that age.

You’ve said that you read a romance novel for the first time in 2016 because you had food poisoning in Cambodia. My question is, what about the genre drew you in? And was the book entertaining enough to distract you from your food poisoning?

Before reading that first romance novel, I shared the same incorrect view a lot of people hold about romance novels being ‘trashy’ and something that should only be enjoyed as a guilty pleasure. On that trip to southeast Asia, I had recently gotten a Kindle and loaded it up with a bunch of free classics. I really did not feel up to nineteenth century literature when I got stuck all alone in a windowless hotel room with a particularly bad case of food poisoning for a few days, and I think what drew me to reading a romance novel for the first time was that sense of indulging in a ‘guilty’ pleasure.

I still believe romance novels make for a great escape from challenging or overwhelming situations, but I don’t think there needs to be any guilt associated with that. Romance novels make the people who love them feel good. They entertain us, they comfort us, and they teach us lessons along the way. They give us permission to value and appreciate things we’ve often been told are too silly or stupid to matter.

I think it’s safe to say I was distracted from my food poisoning, since that first romance novel got me hooked on reading them, and it was only six months later that I started writing my first book.

How do you think LGBTQIA+ representation in media has improved in recent years?

I absolutely think there’s been a huge and very positive shift in recent years. As far as literature goes, I really saw that shift starting off in the young adult genre. There is an incredible amount of diversity in YA books today, and that’s starting to carry through into adult novels as well. The past couple years especially have produced some extremely popular queer releases from major publishing houses, which is super exciting to see. I’m so grateful to all the readers who have been vocal about what they want to see represented in the books they read, and to all my fellow queer authors stepping up to fill that need.

Books hold tremendous power, whether to entertain, inspire, or educate. What was an experience where you learned that language had power?

I have an entire folder of saved emails from readers who’ve taken the time to reach out and let me know what my work has meant to them. Some are quick note gushing about relating to a particular scene or character, and some are extremely personal accounts of loss, heartbreak, or mental health struggles. They all remind me just how powerful words can be, specifically words that allow you to feel seen and understood within the pages of a book. That’s my number one goal and also my number one honor as an author: creating stories that help my readers feel seen and a little less alone out there. Whenever I’m feeling down about a book release not living up to expectations or doubting whether I’m even worthy of this career at all, I take a look through that email folder and remind myself that if a book I write can make even one person feel seen, anything else that book achieves is just a bonus.

Do you have any other projects in the works at this time?

I’m in the middle of a first draft at the moment! It will be another sapphic new adult romantic comedy, and I’m getting really excited to share more details with my reader group soon.

How do you use social media as an author? What advice would you give to other authors about using social platforms to their advantage?

My relationship with social media as an author has shifted a lot within the past year. I don’t post nearly as much as I used to, and I’ve also really limited the time I spend on my author accounts. Taking workshops and listening to talks led by authors whose careers I admire has helped me come around in understanding some deep truths about social media, namely that it’s more often a way to keep ourselves feeling ‘busy’ than to actually sell more books and that the number one thing you should be doing to promote your books is writing your next one.

Social media is of course a crucial part of marketing yourself as an author, but I think precision, intention, and being real with yourself about the effectiveness of how you’re spending your time are necessary to turn social media into a useful tool. So is taking care of your own wellbeing. My advice for other authors is to figure out what social media platform feels the most fun and creative to you and to focus most of your social media hours on that. For me, that’s turned out to be TikTok. I have so much fun making videos, and I genuinely love the weird goofiness and sense of being part of a giant community that’s present on the app. I’ve also sold WAY more books through TikTok than any other platform. Your audience can tell when you don’t actually want to be on social media, so while I think having some sort of presence on all the major platforms is a good call, focusing my time on what lights me up instead of what drains my energy (and thus my ability to show up for what’s really important: my writing) has been a game changer in how I handle social media as an author

What book is currently on your nightstand?

I’ve been making my way through Queer Cosmos by Colin Bedell for a while now. It’s a non-fiction book that explores astrology and relationships through a queer lens, so I like to pick it up between novels or whenever I have a few spare minutes to get some reading in on the fly. Colin is an absolute gem who totally shifted my perspective on astrology when I first came across his work, and I definitely recommend Queer Cosmos to anyone interested in the subject.

How can readers keep in touch with you?

One of my favourite ways to keep in touch with readers is through my online community, Club Katia! I send out regular club updates via email featuring behind the scenes details, exclusive giveaways, sneaks peeks, and all sorts of other fun stuff. We also have a delightful Facebook group where the community hangs out to chat about books and life. Joining the club also scores you an exclusive free novella and a bunch of short stories and bonus scenes. It’s been such an amazing experience to see the community grow and get to know my readers on a more personal level.

Anyone interested can join Club Katia here.

I’m also around on most social media as @katiaroseauthor. I’m most active on TikTok and Instagram, and I’m always more than happy to chat with readers via email! I love seeing notes from readers pop up in my inbox, and I personally reply to all of them. My email is katiroseauthor@gmail.com.