Meet the Author: Isla Gregg

Isla writes hockey romance with spice. You can find her on TikTok @Isla.gregg and Instagram @Isla_gregg_author

Tell us about One Night of Fate. 
This book focuses on the MCs, Cameron and Astrid, who meet by chance when their paths cross in Las Vegas. They end up spending a wild night together with the mutual understanding that nothing is to come from their time together, however Cameron falls asleep plotting how he can convince Astrid to give him a chance at a real relationship with him and when he wakes up, she's gone. They both go back to their lives, Cameron as the captain of the NHL team in Boston, the Bears, and Astrid to her life as a graphic designer in, you guessed it, Boston. Our MCs paths cross once more when Astrid finally agrees to a date with a coworker and he takes her to a Boston Bears game. Cameron spots her in the crowd, and with the help of some sleuthing on the part of his teammates, is able to find Astrid after the game at a popular hangout spot for fans. 
 
I wrote this book which has now launched into a series because I couldn't find a book that quite scratched the itch I was looking for as a reader. I love romance books and hockey romance especially, and I kept finding books that held my interest with spice but the characters didn't have any growth, or the characters had that growth and arc through the story but there wasn't any spice. My goal with this book and with my writing in general was to write a book that I would enjoy as a reader myself, and I think I've accomplished that with One Night of Fate. 
 
Share a favorite line.
There's a part in the book where Cameron sends tickets to Astrid's office for a game that night and he sends a jersey for both her and her best friend, who just happens to be in Astrid's office when the package is delivered and Cameron calls and listens to Astrid open the gift box while on speaker and after her and Bailey thank him she's getting ready to hang up the phone and he tells her to take him off speaker, which she does, and he tells her that he can't wait to have sex with her while she wears that jersey with his name on it and when she hangs up, she realizes that Bailey overheard their entire exchange and is just like standing there fanning herself. 
 
Share a core memory that made you want to be a writer.
Again, it goes back to me wanting to write the kinds of books I enjoy reading and discovering a couple whose story has you giggling and kicking your feet over at 2am because you can't put down the book. 
 
What was your favorite book as a child? 
As a child, I really enjoyed The Witch of Blackbird Pond and Island of Blue Dolphins. As I got into high school I became a huge fan of Nicholas Sparks and closed-door romances. While I was in college I didn't really have any free time to read, I was a chemistry major so I had a really heavy academic load plus I worked, at times, three jobs. It wasn't until my husband gifted me a Kindle in 2018 that I really got back into reading for fun.
 
What was your last five-star read? What made it a five-star for you?
I want to preface this by saying that I hand out five-star ratings like it's candy on Halloween but that’s not to say this book didn't stand heads and shoulders above the rest: Pucking Around by Emily Rath. She does an amazing job of character development and in this book specifically, has four MCs who all have their own hurdles to overcome which concludes in this huge grand gesture at the end of the book and it's such a satisfying happily ever after.
 
What finally made you decide to write a novel?
I couldn't find one that satisfied me in terms of spice, comedy, and pacing. 
 
What is the most challenging aspect of being an author for you?
Remembering tiny details that don't have an impact on the overall story, like what day it is when the couple meets and then referencing a different day later in the story that they didn't have an interaction on
 
What is something you've learned along the way that might have changed how you wrote your first book?
Since I wrote this book I've learned alternative methods to developing the story and guiding my characters through their growth so this next project I'm working on is going to have much stronger character arcs than my first book did. 
 
What piece of advice do you have for a new author?
Hire an editor! Whether it's line and copy editing or developmental editing, you need someone else looking at your work because you never know that your words are being received in the way that you intend them to be. 
 
What do you need to set the mood for writing
Quiet is best but I do need some ambient background noise. Nothing that's going to interrupt my thoughts though because if I forget it it's gone forever. 
 
What is something you'd like readers to know about you as a person?
I use a pen name because I would be mortified if my mother-in-law ever read one of my books. Also, fun fact I was a competitive equestrian in college. 
 
What are you working on right now?
The next installment in the Boston Bears Hockey Series. 
 
When is your next book coming out?
It's titled One Night to Date, it's a childhood friends to lovers/ fake dating romance that follows Reid Charbonneau (rookie player for the Bears) and Jess McGrady (his personal assistant). They were friends in high school before Reid moved to live with his mom in Canada and they lost contact. Reid has always had the ability to pull Jess out of her shell because her tendency is to shy away from anything that puts her in a vulnerable position and Reid is able to get her to take risks in a way that she's comfortable with.
 
When did your last book come out?
One Night of Fate was released on April 24th. It's available in paperback on both Barns and Noble and Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited.