Robin Merle joins the Spotlight this week to discuss her debut novel, A Dangerous Friendship
Author Name: Robin Merle
Book Title: A Dangerous Friendship
Book Genre: Women’s Fiction Novel
Release Date: October 28, 2025
Publisher: She Writes Press
Welcome, Robin! Please tell us a bit about A Dangerous Friendship.
A writing retreat leads to a summer of dangerous fun in this darkly funny story of obsession and betrayal between friends in the wild 1980s of New York City.
What sparked the idea for this book?
I’ve always been fascinated by the complexity of female friendships—the way they can be nurturing, competitive, and unsettling all at once. We all recognize the classic archetypes: the popular girls, the mean girls. But what about the dangerous ones? These are the ones who promise to lift us out of our ordinary lives into worlds we’ve only dreamed of entering, which can be thrilling, even dangerous. We’re susceptible to letting questionable people into our lives when we’re at our most vulnerable, searching for answers. In my novel, the narrator has suffered the loss of her marriage and is looking for a path to redefine herself. She’s the perfect target for a friendship that feels like salvation… until it isn’t.
If you were speaking to someone who hasn’t read your writing before, why should they want to read A Dangerous Friendship?
I’ll answer the last question first. At my book talks, I do a comedy bit about the top ten reasons to read Robin’s book, in the style of David Letterman. Here is one of them: Because it’s a psychological thriller disguised as a comedy and you’ll spend half the book asking, “Was that true?” and the other half saying, “Who cares–tell me more.”
On the more serious side, If readers are interested in the dynamics and nuances of female friendships, they will love this book, between gasps of disbelief and laugh-out-loud moments. If they love urban energy and humor, savvy writing, and spot-on dialogue they will enjoy this fast and easy read. If they’ve lived during the 1980s, or want to know what life was like at that time, this has all of the edge, glamour, and heartbreak of that decade.
My favorite part about being a writer is the doing—the writing itself, and the rewriting and rethinking.
What do I find challenging? Transforming from a writer to an author, from a wordsmith to an entrepreneur. It sounds naïve but many of us wannabe authors don’t quite get the business of publishing and how different it is from actually creating the work.
Fans of which authors or books might gravitate toward your book?
Elena Ferrante, Emma Cline, Donna Tartt, Nora Ephron
What do you hope readers will take away from this story?
I’d like them to think about their own friendships and their own journeys—the offshoots that weren’t part of the plan. Why did they take them? How were they shaped by them?
I’d also like them to think about how easy it is to be drawn into an unsafe relationship when we’re at our most vulnerable.
Any words of wisdom you give your pre-published writer self (or to a new writer)?
I was talking to a writer who was bemoaning how long it was taking him to create, complete, and publish his short stories. That’s when the phrase “circuitous persistence” came to me. Not all progress happens in a straight, disciplined line. Often life pulls us sideways—into caregiving, jobs, crises, and other disruptions. But circuitous persistence is still persistence. It counts just as much as the people who get to write every day. Even when we can’t move forward in a neat, linear path, we’re still moving. We’re still returning to the work when we can. We’re still holding the thread. And that winding path deserves compassion—not judgment. Please don’t belittle your progress just because it didn’t happen in a straight line.
What are your interests outside of writing and reading?
I counter the experience of living in my mind with living in the outdoors and being active. I’m an avid Nordic skier, body boarder, hiker, and I love to fish and garden.
Are you working on a new project? Please tell us about it.
Yes, it’s a satirical novel called The Enlightenment of Henry Pike, about a wildly wealthy philanthropist who’s beginning to slip into dementia—and the nefarious people around him who are determined to keep him from leaving a legacy to protect the environment. I’ve spent many decades in the world of philanthropy, and that experience inspired me to reveal the underbelly of the business—in the most entertaining way possible. What theme, you might ask, does it share with my other books, A Dangerous Friendship and my first book, Involuntary Exit? Loss. Henry Pike is on the cusp of losing everything…until an unexpected solution appears.
What was the last book you read? What did you think of it?
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood. I loved it. Brilliant. Beautiful writing, humor, and unforgettable characters. It’s about running a book club in a female prison.
Where can readers find you? (Website, blog, social media, podcast, etc.—feel free to include any upcoming, live/online events, workshops, too!)
Website: https://www.theprofessionalguide.com
Blog: https://theprofessionalguide.com/blog/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robinmerletpg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robinmerle.author/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinmerletpg/
I’ll be on Big Blend Radio for Novel November
If anyone is in Maine on March 6, come see me at the Scarborough Library at 12noon.
If you’re in Tucson on March 14-15 for the Tucson Book Festival, come see me at the Indie Author Experience or the She Writes Press booth.
Also, check out this funny piece in BooksByWomen where I interview one of the characters in my book. https://booksbywomen.org/robin-merle-interviews-tina-from-a-dangerous-friendship/
And take a look at my feature in Crime Reads where I review four novels, including my own, about obsession, power, and dangerous bonds https://crimereads.com/4-novels-about-obsession-power-and-dangerous-bonds/
Thank you, Robin! A Dangerous Friendship is out NOW.
A Dangerous Friendship
With dark humor, this women’s fiction novel is about obsessive friendship, secrets, and a life-changing summer in the wild 1980s of New York City.
In 1980s New York City, aspiring writers Tina and Spike bond in a complex, all-consuming friendship that will change their lives forever.
Desperate to redefine herself after a failed marriage, twenty-nine-year-old Tina embarks on a thrill-seeking journey to feel alive again. When she meets thirty-five-year-old Spike, a beautiful, seductive, seemingly invulnerable woman, she becomes enthralled by the older woman’s stories of NYC power brokers, sex, wealthy men, and her past. Tina latches on to Spike as someone who can save her from mediocrity and show her how to be the kind of woman who can have power over men—both in romance and in life.
Chasing adventure and the writing life, Tina and Spike rent a cabin together for the summer in the rural backwoods. There, they go on a wild, manic, darkly humorous journey involving dive bars, drugs, men, and all-night dancing, becoming increasingly psychologically entangled in each other’s lives along the way. But eventually Tina realizes just how dangerous Spike is, and is forced to act to save herself.
Filled with New York wit and fast-paced dialogue, this is a story of loss, betrayal, survival, and blurring the line between attraction and peril.
Author Bio:
Robin Merle is the author of Involuntary Exit: A Woman’s Guide to Thriving After Being Fired. She has published short fiction in The Chouteau Review, South Carolina Review, Kalliope, and Real Fiction. She holds a master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, where she earned a fellowship. In her other professional life, as a nonprofit executive, she has raised over a half-billion dollars in philanthropic support to improve individuals’ quality of life and access to opportunities. A longtime New Yorker, Robin now lives in Scarborough, Maine with her family.