JULIA BOGGIO & ZOE ALLISON: Festive Fling

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Lets celebrate Christmas early with a little festive cheer that's sure to heat things up. Bestselling authors Julia Boggio and Zoe Allison will join Kristin Pedroja to talk about floppy-haired British heartthrobs, rival neighbours, finding love in unexpected places, and their brand new holiday romcoms, All I Want For Christmas Is Hugh and The Christmas Competition.

About the books:
All I Want For Christmas is Hugh by Julia Boggio
When Henrietta Whitaker moves from New Jersey to the beautiful cobbled streets of Chelsea, it is with one goal; to find the Englishman of her dreams and live out her very own rom-com.

Henrietta grew up obsessing over 90's movies, especially those starring the quintessential British actor Hugh Grant. Now she's fully convinced that what she needs in her life is her own floppy-haired Brit. With his eloquent speech, sparkling wit and gentlemanly manners, what girl wouldn't want to date a man like that?

In her local café Henrietta sets eyes on Albert – outrageously dapper and irresistibly charming – and knows that her dreams are coming true. But before she has the chance to sweep Albert off his feet, in lopes a gruff American man – from New Jersey, no less – who seems intent on stealing all of her attention and throwing her rulebook for the perfect romance right out the window.

All I Want for Christmas is Hugh is as funny and feel-good as any Richard Curtis movie. It's a glorious celebration of unlikely love affairs, British rom coms and the joy of finding love in unexpected places.

The Christmas Competition by Zoe Allison
Two rivals. One street. A whole lot of mistletoe.

In desperate need of distraction from the end of her marriage, Nisa Ansari enters her town’s Christmas house-decorating competition, ready to drown her sorrows in twinkle lights and plastic reindeer.

Her neighbour, the introverted and newly single Kerr Murdoch, decorates his house every year in memory of his mother. Winning the competition would just be a cheerful bonus.

But when the neighbours' displays end up nearly identical, Nisa declares war – her wrath definitely about the decorations, and not at all related to her ex leaving her for Kerr’s ex.

Nisa is determined to win. But as the holiday approaches, and she finds herself highly distracted by her rival's charms, she faces a new challenge: cling to a comforting rivalry, or risk opening her heart to a second chance at love.

Rival neighbours butt heads in a fierce competition for first place in their neighbourhood’s Christmas house-decorating competition in this high-spirited, dual POV, holiday romcom, perfect for fans of B.K. Borison, Lindsey Kelk and Catherine Walsh.

About the authors:
Julia Boggio is a multi-award-winning photographer turned multi-award-winning romance writer. She writes romantic comedies set in the world of professional photography. Her debut book, SHOOTERS, won the Selfie Awards at London Book Fair (2024) as well as gold at the Wishing Shelf Awards. CAMERA SHY won the Shorter Romantic Novel prize at the RNA awards (2025) and her other two books, CHASING THE LIGHT and EXPOSURE!, were shortlisted for Romcom of the Year in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Julia also became an original YouTube star when her Dirty Dancing-inspired first dance sparked a worldwide trend in choreographed first dances. She’s appeared on BBC Woman’s Hour, Richard & Judy, Sky, ITV and BBC news—and The Oprah Winfrey Show where she famously danced with Patrick Swayze. In fact, Julia wrote the Dirty Dancing Mad Libs for Penguin. Her next book, ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS HUGH (Bloomsbury) is out in October.

Zoe Allison lives in Scotland with her husband, two children, and massive notebook collection—having been brought up in a mixed-race family in Yorkshire. Her favourite past times include reading, movies, music and pop culture, and walking into rooms and then forgetting what she went in there for.
Growing up, she always enjoyed stories about falling in love. But rather than daydreaming of being rescued by a knight in shining armour, she would imagine fighting dragons alongside him. As an adult, she went to medical school and became a doctor. However as time passed, she began to crave a creative outlet to counter the burnout that her career inflicted upon her, and also to achieve the happy endings that were so often lacking in the real world.
Zoe is now the author of seven romance novels. She is also still a practicing doctor and has the terrible handwriting to prove it.