Happy Tuesday, friends! 🎉 Welcome back to another edition of Behind the Scenes with Eliza — the place where I pull back the curtain on all the delicious, messy, inspiration-fueled magic that goes into writing a romance novel. Grab your coffee (or your croissant — no judgment here!), get cozy, and let’s talk about what really happens when I sit down to create a story.

Today I’m sharing some behind-the-scenes inspiration for Don’t Promise Me Tomorrow, the first book in my Lessons in Love series. And specifically — because you know I love this part — we’re talking about the characters. Because for me, a story truly comes alive the moment I can see the people living it.

Setting the scene is everything, isn’t it? Once I know where my characters are, I need to know who they are — and more importantly, what they look like in my imagination. When I close my eyes and picture the two people destined for their Happily Ever After, very specific faces come to mind. And yes, I am absolutely going to share them with you. 😄

Let’s start with the hero. In Don’t Promise Me Tomorrow, Bruce is described as a hunky Australian action hero — the kind of man who walks into a room and immediately makes everyone forget what they were saying. He’s got that effortless, larger-than-life energy. Charming, a little dangerous, and impossibly good-looking. So… who on earth could possibly fit that bill? 🤔

A hunky Australian action hero… Hmmm??? 😏 I mean, when the character practically writes his own casting call, you don’t overthink it. There is really only one answer. One very obvious, very glorious answer.

Mr. Hemsworth. Of course. 🙌 I mean, was there ever really any doubt? Those blue eyes, that jaw, that effortlessly action-hero energy — Chris Hemsworth is basically Bruce in the flesh. Every time I wrote a scene with Bruce, I just… pictured him standing there, looking that good, and the words practically wrote themselves. You’re welcome, and also I’m sorry, because now you’ll be picturing him too every time you read. 😂

Now — on to the heroine! The heart of this story is our small-town Spanish teacher, and I’ll be honest with you: when I was dreaming her up, I thought about what kind of woman could hold her own against someone as magnetic as Bruce. She needed to be warm, a little guarded, quietly strong, and completely real. She’s the kind of woman you root for from page one. And when it came to picturing her face? Well… 👀

Ha! I mean… who doesn’t picture themselves as the heroine? I’ll fully admit it — when I first started drafting her, there was a little bit of wishful thinking involved. 😄 A small-town Spanish teacher who somehow ends up tangled up with a ridiculously attractive Australian? Yes, please, and thank you. But in the spirit of good storytelling (and giving readers someone truly special to connect with), I knew I needed to look a little beyond my own reflection in the mirror…

Ha! Ha! But really — Katie Holmes would be much better. 😂 And honestly? The more I thought about it, the more perfect she felt. There’s something about Katie Holmes — that girl-next-door warmth, the quiet intelligence, the way she can look completely genuine and relatable and also absolutely stunning all at once — that is just so my heroine. She’s the face I see whenever I write those tender, funny, heart-fluttery scenes.

So there you have it — a little peek into the creative mind behind Don’t Promise Me Tomorrow! Chris Hemsworth as a hunky Australian action hero and Katie Holmes as a small-town Spanish teacher destined for a Happily Ever After. I’d say that’s a pretty good casting call for a Tuesday. 💕

Now I have to ask — who would YOU cast as the hero and heroine of your favorite romance novel? Drop your dream casting in the comments below — I absolutely love hearing this! And don’t forget to come back next Tuesday for more behind-the-scenes fun. Until then, happy reading! 📚✨