On Book Talk with Cara, Cara interviews author T.I. Lowe about her new novel South of Somewhere, a redemption story following Juniper as she starts over and takes small, realistic steps through addiction recovery and rehabilitation. Lowe discusses the responsibility of researching addiction, including reading memoirs and working through a 12-step-based study, to honor real experiences and build empathy. She explains how the Southern setting—Sullivan’s Island and a grandmother’s beach house—functions as a character while challenging stereotypes about who addiction affects. They explore the importance of recovery community and “found family,” Juniper’s search for the right group, and Henry’s role as a model of healthy, consistent connection. Lowe also shares how she keeps faith elements organic rather than preachy, and previews her upcoming grief-focused novel A Southern Goodbye (planned for fall 2027).

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Rachel Hauck guest-hosts Book Talk to interview regular host Cara Putman about her May release, The Targeted, book three in the Secrets to Keep series, available for pre-order. They read the back-cover blurb and discuss the story of Chloe Ainsworth, a gymnastics coach whose estranged sister returns after 14 years with news that Chloe’s abuser is back, prompting Chloe and law student Dare Shepherd to pursue help through a legal clinic while the stakes escalate. Putman explains the book’s blend of legal suspense and romance, its “ripped from the headlines” focus on abuse in youth sports, and the fractured sister relationship shaped by silence and trauma. She describes using Dare’s law-student limitations to balance legal tension with character-driven emotional stakes, explores truth-telling and its cost, and weaves a lighter faith thread centered on endurance, God’s presence in suffering, and forgiveness, aiming to leave readers with hope and greater empathy.

Want to watch this interview? You can see this episode as well as multiple others on YouTube! Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this conversation, I would be thrilled if you left a rating and review on your favorite podcast app and leave me a note below letting me know who you would love to see on the show!

On Book Talk with Cara, author and freelance book editor Janyre Tromp returns to discuss her upcoming novel The Scorpion Thief and her series Threads of the Lost Myth. She shares her long-standing fascination with global mythology, explains that the series works backward in time to uncover a “lost myth,” and highlights her free ebook novella Guardian of the Red Desert as a key to the series with Easter eggs. Tromp outlines The Scorpion Thief’s 1976–1977 setting around the U.S. King Tut exhibit, featuring two sisters on opposing sides: an Egyptologist curator protecting artifacts and a sister blackmailed into stealing them. She describes extensive research using museum tour documentation, ties to political and historical context, themes of peace versus fear and indifference, Egyptian myth influences, and the book’s mythic, twisty noir/gothic heist vibe.

You can learn more about Janyre and her books at her website: https://beautifuluglyme.com/about-janyre/

Want to watch this interview? You can see this episode as well as multiple others on YouTube! Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this conversation, I would be thrilled if you left a rating and review on your favorite podcast app and leave me a note below letting me know who you would love to see on the show!