Grace Hughes Interview: Eldritch Demons and High Tension In When the Sky Breaks

Grace Hughes Interview: Eldritch Demons and High Tension in When the Sky Breaks 🌩️🖤

​Hello Besties! Rebecca here, and we are officially back for Season 5! Kirsty, Jess, and I sat down in the virtual studio with the brilliant indie author Grace Hughes, and we are completely losing our minds. Her debut dark romantasy When the Sky Breaks dropped on August 18th, and my brain is still melting from the atmospheric dread. If you love romance and a golden retriever MMC who is secretly devoted to his wife, you need this on your TBR right now.

​The Potion: Milkweed's Magic 🍹

​For our Season 5 premiere, we whipped up a drink called Milkweed's Magic. It is a moody, earthy blackberry and bourbon cocktail inspired by the dark roads of the Outer Court. We know Grace is strictly an Ahmad tea girl before 1 PM and a LaCroix queen in the afternoon, but this drink sets the spooky aesthetic perfectly!

​Rebecca's Radar: Why You Need to Read When the Sky Breaks

​This book has been living in my head rent free. The story follows our FMC Sorcha (pronounced Soor-ka). One minute everything is calm, and the next a terrifying portal tears open and an eldritch creature unalives her father right where he stood.

​To secure her claim to the Outer Court, she is forced into a strategic marriage with her father's steward, Neal. The tension between them is so out of control. Neal is trying so hard to stay professional while his feelings are practically screaming through the pages! They end up fleeing across storm lashed oceans with an amazing monster hunter named Ansel.

​Grace literally gave us a dream cast of Florence Pugh for Sorcha, Aidan Turner for Neal, and David Tennant for Ansel. It is absolute god-tier casting. Plus we found out Grace loves outdoor adventures like hiking and bird watching, which totally explains how she wrote the terrifying wilderness survival elements so perfectly!

​The Spice-o-Meter & Trope Trial

​We had to pull up The Spice-o-Meter for this one. Grace rated it a solid 2 out of 5 for heat, which means you get that sweet, agonizing slow burn tension! The yearning will make you entirely feral.

​Here is exactly what you are getting yourself into:

• ​Arranged Marriage: But make it gritty survival. The proximity tension is unbelievable.

• ​Eldritch Demons: Terrifying monsters that are perfect for the dark fantasy fans.

• ​Reverse Grumpy x Sunshine: Paired with an age gap and intentional pregnancy!

• ​Touch Her and Die: With a golden retriever MMC. We are absolutely putting Neal on The Trope Trial in a future episode.

• ​Found Family: Because hunting monsters together bonds you in the most chaotic ways.

​Future Projects

​We are already begging for more because When the Sky Breaks is just book one of a romantasy horror trilogy. Grace also casually dropped that she is working on a new dark military epic fantasy trilogy! We are so ready for all of the emotional damage.

​Listen to the Episode & Grab Your Copies

​Ready to ruin your life in the best way? You can grab your copies of When the Sky Breaks on Amazon right now! But first you need to go stream the full interview episode where we break down all the chaotic details!

​Listen to the full episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or watch us over on YouTube! Make sure you go follow Grace on Instagram at @authorgracehughes, and please tell her The Coven sent you!

​Are you ready for the eldritch chaos or are you still recovering from your last book hangover? Come yell at me in The Coven's Cocktail Club on Instagram!

​Goodnight Book Babes!!!

Disclosure: Episodes and blog posts feature a rotating mix of personal purchases, library reads, and gifted review copies (ARCs) discussed by hosts and guests. Moving forward, any specifically highlighted review copies are explicitly disclosed during the audio episode.