Grace Newman is a writer from Gloucester, England, who grew up in New Orleans, La. A lifelong Formula 1 fan, she witnessed the World Driver's Championship victories of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, sparking her passion for the sport that later inspired her fiction. Racing Hearts (Hera Books, January 6, 2026), her debut novel, is a spicy, rivals-to-lovers, fake dating, sports romance that takes place in the F1 world. Newman now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their dog, Daisy.
Handsell readers your book in 30 words or less:
F1's glass ceiling meets its match in Georgia Dubois. Leading the sport with F1's first female-run team, she's racing toward glory and rewriting the rules along the way.
On your nightstand now:
Ruth Ware's The Woman in Suite 11. I'm a devoted Ruth Ware fan. There's something about the way she builds tension, whether it's at a remote chalet or an isolated island, that makes her books impossible to put down. I'm only halfway through, but I'm already suspicious of every character. Ware has this gift for making ordinary settings feel sinister, and I know I'll be staying up far too late to finish this one.
Favorite book when you were a child:
The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. I was captivated by the idea of summers filled with mysteries--cycling through the countryside, stumbling upon castles, and camping under the stars with your closest friends. George's tomboy spirit and refusal to be called Georgina made her my hero, and I wanted nothing more than to explore abandoned lighthouses, discover secret tunnels, and prove myself to be as brave and resourceful as she is.
Your top five authors:
Stephen King
Emily Henry
Ruth Ware
J.R.R. Tolkien
Margaret Atwood
Book you've faked reading:
I've been working on Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy for about 10 years now. After recently rewatching the movie, I feel ready to give it another go.
Book you're an evangelist for:
The Fish That Ate the Whale by Rich Cohen. I'll talk about this book to anyone who will listen. It's the wildly entertaining true story of Sam Zemurray, a broke Russian immigrant who became the Banana King, a man so powerful that he managed to topple governments in his quest to build the largest fruit empire the world had seen. This book has everything: ambition, espionage, and a CIA-backed coup in Central America. There is nothing better than nonfiction that reads like fiction.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I can admit I own several different copies due to the beauty of their covers.
Book you hid from your parents:
It by Stephen King. At a young age, I was fascinated by his writing and probably read the story much too young. Still, it captured me into the world of fantasy and sci-fi--something I'll always be grateful for.
Book that changed your life:
Atonement by Ian McEwan. This book fundamentally altered how I think about storytelling, memory, and the weight of our choices. McEwan's beautiful prose drew me into pre-World War II England, making me care deeply about the characters. The way he weaves together themes of guilt, imagination, and the stories we tell ourselves is mesmerizing. It taught me that great literature can make you question everything you thought you understood about a story, and it showed me the profound moral responsibility that comes with how we narrate our own lives. It's very beautiful, and I think about it often, even if I struggle to bring myself to reread it.
Favorite line from a book:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." --from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
This opening line is perfect. Austen is being sarcastic right from the start, and it really sets the tone with Elizabeth Bennet and the world she lives in.
Five books you'll never part with:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Persuasion is Jane Austen's most mature love story, and it hits differently than her other novels. Anne Elliot isn't a witty teenager; she's a woman who made a mistake years ago by letting others talk her out of marrying the man she loved, and now she's living with that regret. Watching her get a second chance with Captain Wentworth feels earned in a way that makes my heart ache. The tension between them is quieter but somehow more intense because of all that history and hurt. "You pierce my soul" will always be one of my favorite book quotes from a romance novel. This book taught me that real love sometimes means waiting, growing, and believing that it's never too late to choose differently. It's a story about hope and lasting love.
A fictional character you see yourself in:
Marianne Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen). She feels everything at full volume, and that's exactly how I am. When Marianne falls in love, she falls completely. She refuses to dim her own light just because passionate women are labeled "too much." Yes, she gets her heart broken over someone unworthy, but she finds her way back. She never loses hope when it comes to love. Her journey taught me that loving fiercely isn't foolish; it just needs to be balanced with wisdom. This is something I always want to put into my characters.