Podcast Episode: Why I Wrote a Spicy Age-Gap Romcom: Meet Over My Head

Pip: Shelly Meyer has apparently decided that writing across romance, mystery, and suspense wasn't quite enough territory — so she went ahead and added a whole new zip code.

Mara: Today we're covering the new project: a spicy age-gap romcom called Over My Head, set in Chicago, with neighbors, a workplace complication, and a twenty-year gap between the leads. Let's start with why this book exists at all.

Why a Spicy Romcom? The Story Behind Over My Head

Pip: The interesting question here isn't just what Over My Head is — it's why this book, why now, and what it signals about where this author's instincts are actually pointing.

Mara: The origin is personal. The post puts it plainly: "I've also been looking for my niche" — and writing this book is described as the moment something clicked, after years of working across multiple genres.

Pip: So this isn't a genre experiment for its own sake. It's a writer following a thread until it leads somewhere that finally feels like home territory.

Mara: Right, and the book itself reflects that. Sophie Bennett is thirty, a brand strategist working from her Chicago apartment. Alex Reid is fifty — founder and CEO of Aureline Group, a luxury hospitality company. They meet because Sophie goes upstairs to complain about the noise, and Alex opens the door.

Pip: And then Sophie's agency lands Aureline Group as a client, and she walks into a conference room to find her extremely attractive, twenty-years-older neighbor sitting at the head of the table. Oops is doing a lot of work in that paragraph.

Mara: The post is clear that the age gap is one layer, not the whole story. There's also the professional conflict — Sophie has worked too hard to let attraction derail her biggest career opportunity, and Alex has a company to protect.

Pip: What I find genuinely interesting is the stated priority: "I wanted readers to care about Sophie and Alex first. I wanted the tension to build. The spice should feel earned."

Mara: That's the structural ambition — slow-burn chemistry, banter, and humor carrying the story before anything else. Mia, Sophie's best friend, is specifically credited with keeping the comedy sharp. And Alex's friend Ryan apparently creates a second complication when he meets Mia, so the interference runs in both directions.

Pip: Neighbors, colleagues, best friends causing chaos — it's a full ecosystem of bad timing.

Mara: The post frames the whole project as a convergence: enemies-to-lovers, neighbors-to-lovers, age-gap, and workplace romance, all set against a snowy Chicago winter. More behind-the-scenes posts, excerpts, and release details are coming.

Pip: A writer finding her niche by leaning into everything she already does well — just with more heat and a twenty-floor elevator ride's worth of tension.

Mara: Sophie and Alex are just getting started. More to come.