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Fiercely Independent People
No Home Without You follows a woman living in solitude with her cats after an asteroid struck Earth, who encounters a man who shows up at her refuge with an injured ankle, leading to feelings she wasn’t expecting. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for the story was to continue the Love and Survival series with two people who had opposite experiences in the post-apocalyptic world. Cam grew up in the shelter of xTerra, the bunker complex in South Dakota. His family were preppers who had been there before the asteroid. Lissa had lived in the outside world, but grew frustrated with her lonely existence at a refugee center. Both were intended to be quite different from the couples in the previous two books (The Edge of Life: Love and Survival During the Apocalypse and Aftermath: Into the Unknown).
I wanted to have a love story between two fiercely independent people who weren’t used to relying on anyone else. Cam comes from a community but feels apart from it. Lissa has chosen to be alone for six years before Cam arrives.
I also wanted the political aspects and questions about refugees and the right to have safety to simmer throughout the story. Several characters from earlier in the series continue, even if the main characters, Cam and Lissa, are new.
xTerra represents safety, but also control and exclusion. What drew you to that kind of community dynamic?
The refugees that flooded xTerra immediately after the asteroid would have changed the quiet prepper community that lived there already. There were hints of this in The Edge of Life (Book 1). It continued when we see xTerra when Robin and Kory arrive in Aftermath (Book 2), so No Home Without You was the logical next step.
I can see many of the original inhabitants feeling like they’d been invaded or taken over, as this influx of people would have changed their community. When resources are scarce, including safety, those who have it would be reluctant to share.
Cam’s mother, the mayor, represents those people. She was modeled on someone I know in a position of power who seemed kind and positive on the outside, but was actually rage-filled, insecure, and petty. I saw through her from the beginning, and over time, my co-workers saw the real her, too. She reminded me of Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter, which came up in the story.
The romance grows from trust and shared labor rather than instant attraction. Was that always your intention, and how do you define love in a world where survival is the first priority?
From the beginning, I wanted Cam and Lissa to build trust, friendship, and attraction before it became about love. Neither of them trusted easily and had been self-contained for years, not admitting that they were lonely or needed anyone else. It didn’t seem realistic to have them open to love and instant attraction in a world where everything is hard-won.
In a world where survival is the priority, love can only occur if you trust someone to have your back and work with you to secure survival. Neither Cam nor Lissa is someone who is casual about anything. Their lives are planned and deliberate, and I felt like love would develop this way, too.
Where do you see your characters after the book ends?
After the book ends, I see my characters living out their lives together, choosing to work together to survive. They’ll live in xTerra for the winters and on their own the rest of the year.
I hope No Home Without You ties up the Slains and xTerra arc with the three books in this series. While there are many spin-off tales I plan to write, the community of xTerra is safe for now. I imagine them rebuilding community and society, mostly from within their walls, while people like Cam and Lissa choose to come and go, living their lives with a degree of independence and self-sufficiency.
Author Links: GoodReads | Lena Gibson | Facebook | Website | Amazon
When Cam defies orders to help a desperate refugee family, his mother, the mayor, is ousted. She disowns him, calling him a traitor. To let her hurtful words settle, Cam leaves on an extended trip.
Solitary for six years, Lissa lives in an abandoned mansion in Nebraska. Fiercely independent, she trusts no one. But one day, spying on a hunting party, she encounters Cam. Fascinated, she watches him, unable to get him off her mind. Injured in an early snowstorm, Cam stumbles upon her refuge. They strike up a friendship, but despite their mutual attraction, Lissa keeps him at arm’s length. After his ankle heals, he returns to xTerra. Alone.
When Lissa overhears a plan threatening xTerra, she embarks on a harrowing journey, risking everything to protect the man she’s come to love. If she and Cam can save xTerra and open their hearts, they may find a home together.
Don’t miss No Home Without You, not just another post-apocalyptic romance, as Cam and Lissa battle for love and survival.
No Home Without You: A Post-Apocalyptic Romance
No Home Without You by Lena Gibson is a post-apocalyptic romance, the third book in the Love and Survival series. It follows Cam Montgomery, a man from the fortified community of xTerra, and Lissa, a woman who has survived for years on her own after an asteroid-shattered world forced people into camps, militias, and hard choices. Their story moves between danger, refuge, family conflict, political tension, and the slow question of what “home” can mean when the old world is gone.
What I liked most was how grounded the survival details felt. Gibson doesn’t treat the apocalypse as set dressing. The early scenes with Lissa scavenging, caring for her cats, weighing socks against food, and choosing solitude over a dangerous refugee camp gave the book a lived-in texture. I could feel the cold floors, the stale air, the constant mental math of staying alive. Cam’s world is different but just as tense, with walls, rules, watch towers, and leaders arguing over who deserves safety. That choice worked for me because the book’s romance grows out of practical trust rather than instant fantasy. Love here isn’t just longing. It’s shelter, shared labor, and someone choosing to stand beside you when fear would make running easier.
Gibson also makes some smart choices with character and conflict. Cam and Lissa are both guarded, but not in the same way. He is shaped by duty, family pressure, and a community that both protects and confines him. She’s shaped by isolation and hard-earned self-reliance. Watching them come together feels satisfying because neither person is simply “rescued.” They challenge each other. They give each other room. The political side of xTerra, especially the arguments over refugees and power, adds weight without swallowing the emotional story. The villains and moral lines are drawn clearly, but the directness gives the novel its page-turning pull. It knows it’s a romance, and it knows it’s post-apocalyptic fiction, so it keeps both the heart and the threat in motion.
I would recommend No Home Without You to readers who enjoy romance with real stakes, survival fiction with a hopeful core, and stories where “home” is less about a place than the person who makes you feel safe. Fans of post-apocalyptic romance will probably appreciate it most, especially if they like capable heroines, protective but emotionally wounded heroes, found community, and a plot that mixes danger with tenderness.
Pages: 359 | ASIN : B0GSMZSRZM
A Chance to Use My Knowledge
The Right Time is a time-slip romance where a woman escaping an abusive marriage wakes up in the 1980s, finding a second chance at freedom, love, and self-discovery amid the ache of what she’s lost. What inspired you to blend time-slip elements with a story of domestic survival and healing?
I was continuing my Time Slip series that started in The Wish: A Time Slip Novel, the first of a series of stand-alone women’s fiction stories that will take place in various times. The therapist from The Wish, Dr. Maeve Fossey, is the only recurring character, as she hears the wishes and mysteriously causes them to come true.
A couple of years ago, Taylor Jenkins-Reid’s Malibu Rising won a Reader’s Choice award for best Historical Fiction. It was set in the 80s, and this blew my mind! I grew up in the 80s. I love reading historical fiction, but I hadn’t written any. If the 80s are historical fiction, I can finally write a “historical” story set in a time I remember and provide details that feel authentic without a ton of research. I loved 80s music, movies, and TV, so this was my chance to use some of that knowledge.
How did you approach writing the 1980s setting in a way that felt nostalgic but not overly romanticized?
In 1985, I was thirteen years old, so I was old enough to remember a lot about the time. I think because I was there, I didn’t over romanticize it. There are advantages and disadvantages to every time.
Andie’s journey feels deeply personal. Was any part of her story drawn from real experiences or people you’ve known?
There are several pieces of this story that are based on real events, and writing about them was a type of therapy. The late-night fights between my mom and her boyfriend from when I was ten were real. On at least two memorable occasions, I heard them fighting, mostly his loud voice. Once, he tried to hit her and missed, punching a hole through the drywall of their bedroom wall. The second time, he broke a sturdy homemade stool in the kitchen, smashing it to pieces for emphasis as he berated her. For the next several months, until we moved, I had trouble sleeping. The cat and dog were also real. My cat would climb up to my loft bedroom to sleep, and the boyfriend’s dog would guard the base of the ladder.
My mom’s excuse about hitting a doorknob when trying to explain a black eye is something I also remember. The black eye was a turning point because she was unable to hide the abuse at work after that. Usually, he hit her where it didn’t show. Her co-workers all drove trucks and helped us move that Friday.
Also, real was being stood up by my co-workers for a Starbucks gathering in 2018 or 2019 that many said they would attend. In the story, nobody shows up. In real life, after waiting 75 minutes alone, I left and was walking home when someone else texted to ask if we were still there. I didn’t tell her I’d given up. I went back and met her for twenty minutes before heading home again. On the way, I ran into 5 others from work who’d gone out for drinks instead. I was hurt because they’d been no-shows for me and had gone out in the neighborhood anyway. They hadn’t bothered to tell me they’d changed their mind or invited me to go to Browns instead. I’ve never tried to have an after-school get-together again. If invited to a book launch, my co-workers don’t even RSVP, so I stopped including them. Like Andie, I struggle with personal connection daily.
And, who hasn’t been stuck in a Customer Service loop somewhere, trying to use authenticator apps and personal verification questions? Most of the time, all I want is to get through to a person who can help, not AI Customer service or endless menu loops that don’t answer your question or let you choose a team member to speak to. The frustration is real.
The other piece that was more fun to use was my experience working at video stores. I worked in one from April 1989 to July 1990 in high school. I worked at another through my third to fifth years of university from 1992 onward, keeping one shift a week through my substitute teaching years, only giving it up when I was hired for a full-time teaching position in September 1996.
What can readers expect in book three in your A Time Slip series?
I am toying with a few different ideas, but the one calling to me the most is related to The Right Time. One of the tertiary characters may suffer a heartbreak and find herself somewhere new. She is in her early thirties in 1985, and I think she will wish herself into the future, but I’m not sure where yet, but I hear Canada is lovely.
With two more Racing books planned, a dystopian heist clamouring for attention, and romantic suspense in progress, my next time slip story is still swirling through my thoughts without feeling concrete. Not yet.
The Right Time: Back to the 80s
The Right Time is a time-slip romance that follows Andie, a woman trying to escape an abusive marriage by starting over in an unexpected way, nearly fifty years earlier, in the 1980s. She finds herself grappling with heartbreak, survival, and the strange blessing of a second chance. The book weaves together themes of self-discovery, nostalgia, and the longing for safety and love, all wrapped in a blend of magical realism and women’s fiction.
The writing pulled me in right away. Gibson writes with a straightforward style that’s easy to sink into, yet she layers in emotion without ever making it feel heavy-handed. I found myself rooting for Andie almost instantly. Her struggles felt raw, sometimes painfully so, but that’s what made the story stick. There were moments that made me angry at the unfairness of her situation, then others that made me smile with relief when she carved out a sliver of peace for herself. The details of the 80s setting added charm, but they never overshadowed the deeper story, which is what really mattered.
I felt the pacing meandered, lingering on small domestic details, but oddly enough, I didn’t mind. Those slower scenes gave the book a lived-in feel, almost like watching someone rebuild their life one messy, ordinary moment at a time. The romance element had a soft touch. It wasn’t all swoon and sparks, but more about the ache of possibility, of whether Andie could trust herself again. That restraint worked for me. It felt authentic, not like a fairy tale.
By the end, I closed the book with a sense of satisfaction. It’s not flashy or grand, but it’s heartfelt. I’d recommend The Right Time to readers who enjoy character-driven stories, especially fans of women’s fiction with a hint of magic. If you’ve ever wondered about do-overs or if you simply love a slow-burn story rooted in courage and hope, this book will speak to you.
Pages: 348 | ASIN: B0FQWHNG2S
Finding Your People
Racing Towards Destiny follows a neurodivergent marketing professional who has her whole life implode in a single day, she quits her soul-sucking job, catches her boyfriend cheating, and impulsively buys a one-way ticket to Spain. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Half of the inspiration was having a bad boss for eight years. I wrote Racing Towards Destiny after six of those years when I’d had enough. A couple of friends and I would leave work on Fridays for lunch and fantasize about not coming back. Of course, we always returned after lunch, but sometimes we’d joke and say, “Is this the day we just keep going?” That’s where Anna’s move came from.
The second half of the inspiration was from following MotoGP. There were five sets of brothers racing in the various levels (Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP), and I wondered how it would be to be the one always in the shadow. That’s where Isaac’s character arc and his story came from.
The other background for the setup was based on a favorite children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Anna has the adult equivalent and moves to Spain.
A lot of time was spent crafting the character traits in this novel, especially for Anna. What was the most important factor for you to get right in your characters?
It was important to me that the characters felt real, or three-dimensional, which was why I spent so much time and energy working on them. Anna’s character traits have a lot in common with mine, especially her neurodivergence. While she is not entirely based on me (and our childhoods were very different), many aspects of her ASD are mine. The way she sees the world and how she interacts with it is much like how I do. It was important to me to portray someone on the spectrum who wasn’t emotionally flat but full of emotion and capable. Just sometimes overwhelmed.
While the racers were inspired by some of the real MotoGP racers, they are all fictional characters, so I invented things about them that could be true or seemed to fit with what I know of racing and the racing lifestyle.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Themes of finding your people and advocating for yourself were important. If we don’t put ourselves first sometimes, who else will? Anna was also learning to accept her own value. As the story progresses, she is more difficult to take advantage of and starts to believe she deserves to be treated well.
Acceptance was also an important theme. I also explored the idea of best friends and family.
I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?
The second book is already written, and I’m just waiting to pitch it to my publisher (Black Rose Writing) this summer when they’re figuring out titles for 2027. Vince (Isaac’s older brother) and Catarina’s story takes place during the following racing season. Love on Track #2 is currently called Racing Hearts: A Sports Romance (Love On Track #2).
A second, related duology is in the works; this series will be called Love Off Track and will focus on secondary characters from Racing Hearts. Expect at least one of these in 2028.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Though her autism means Anna struggles to connect, she takes a job as an umbrella girl on the MotoGP motorcycle racing circuit to make ends meet. Traveling across Europe with the team, she is soon caught up in the exhilarating world of racing.
Isaac is a motorcycle racer who lives forever in his brother’s shadow. His older brother is the most famous motorcycle racer of all time-a twelve-time champion. When Anna joins Isaac’s team, he dares to imagine a life beyond racing-one filled with love and family. His newfound happiness improves his performance on the track, but his success causes friction. For the first time, Isaac becomes a contender for the championship and his brother’s rival.
Anna and Isaac must advocate for themselves, or their newfound happiness will skid off track.
Start your engines and grab your copy of Racing Towards Destiny-filled with heart-pounding race action and steamy romance.
Racing Towards Destiny: Love on Track
Racing Towards Destiny is an emotional, fast-paced story about starting over when life crashes at full speed. It follows Anna, a neurodivergent marketing professional whose life implodes in a single day, she quits her soul-sucking job, catches her boyfriend cheating, and impulsively buys a one-way ticket to Spain. There, she meets Isaac, a quiet but accomplished MotoGP racer living in the shadow of his superstar brother. As Anna tries to rediscover herself and chase her dream of being a writer, she and Isaac find unexpected common ground in their search for identity and purpose.
What really hooked me was Anna’s breakdown-turned-breakthrough in the opening chapters. The way Gibson writes her sensory overload in the office felt real, raw, and not overdone. When Anna storms out after her boss steals her campaign, I wanted to cheer. And then she walks in on her boyfriend mid-affair. It’s a lot. But somehow, it doesn’t feel melodramatic. It feels earned. Gibson nails the chaos of a bad day that changes everything. Anna’s voice is sharp and self-aware, even when she’s spiraling, which kept me emotionally invested.
Then the narrative shifts to Isaac, and the change in tone is remarkably effective. He is a thoughtful and introspective athlete, quietly grappling with the emotional weight of living in his brother’s shadow. His internal reflections are both poignant and sincere, offering a humble glimpse into his inner world. The guy isn’t flashy, but he’s all heart. One standout moment is when Anna steps off the bus in Cervera and Isaac notices her first, not in a “sexy woman appears” cliché way, but with curiosity and warmth. It’s subtle but so effective. There’s this slow, simmering build between them that never tries too hard. The chemistry unfolds naturally, through shared moments and quiet understanding.
The pacing of the book is energetic and keeps the story moving with a refreshing momentum. Anna’s transition from corporate America to becoming an umbrella girl for a MotoGP team adds a fun and glamorous twist, bringing unexpected sparkle to her journey. This bold shift in her life opens the door to exciting new experiences and adds a lively, adventurous spirit to the narrative. The contrast between the glitter of racing life and the grounded emotional journeys of Anna and Isaac makes for an interesting backdrop. I also appreciated that the book doesn’t reduce Anna’s neurodivergence to a plot device. It’s just a part of who she is, and it’s handled with care.
Racing Towards Destiny is about more than love or motorcycles. It’s about finally saying no to the life you never wanted and fighting for the one that scares the hell out of you but might just make you happy. If you’ve ever fantasized about quitting everything, getting on a plane, and starting fresh in a sleepy European town, this book will hit the sweet spot. I’d recommend it to fans of emotionally intelligent romance, anyone craving a fresh start, or readers who love character-driven stories with a side of adrenaline.
Pages: 321 | ASIN : B0F7FYS865
Always Asking Questions
Rebels and Saints follows a ragtag group of rebels fighting against the oppressive rule of a corporate regime that controls food, water, and livelihoods in a post-collapse America. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
America has been riding high in many ways since WW2. The US ended up being the most powerful nation in the modern world. And yet… How then can there be no universal health care? So many gun deaths? Teachers paid a pittance? So much poverty in a country with so much? Such a division between the haves and have-nots, as well as polarized politics?
Maybe it’s my Canadian showing (and we’re no 51st state), but I fear a collapse could happen. I doubt it will be like my books, but there are too many problems for things not to come to a head. It’s easy to imagine corporate overlords running the government when so much is about the bottom line and making money.
The GreenCorps towns were modeled on coal mining towns of the past and the monopoly of the company stores, as was District 12 and the Seam from The Hunger Games. Some of my inspiration came from reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and watching the movie October Sky, about Homer Hickum and the Rocket Boys. Escaping that kind of life of drudgery was so difficult.
Another inspiration was for the entire series. The train hoppers were modeled on my grandfather, his brother, and a friend who hopped trains from Utah to California and back several times during the Great Depression.
The landfill scavengers of SoCal were inspired by Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood.
I also wanted to set some of my story in Utah because I was born in Ogden. My family moved to Canada when I was two, but we visited every year through my childhood, and we went on several road trips using Ogden as a starting point. I’ve hiked in the canyons, swam in the Reservoir, and visited dozens of towns and cities in the west. I also forced my husband to detour to Craters of the Moon on our Volcanoes Roadtrip in 2010, so I loved that I could picture the landscape and setting of the story.
Your characters are wonderfully emotive and relatable. Were you able to use anything from your own life to inform their character development?
I always borrow bits of myself and people I know when writing. I hope I can get inside my characters and make them feel real. Clark, for example, doesn’t connect well with others and always feels alone. I’ve felt that way often, and like Clark, I went through a short phase when I couldn’t speak around others. Elsa is tough and doesn’t give in to peer pressure and constantly strives to do better, which I can also relate to. Plus, she’s much happier and more secure with Walker. I can relate to having a partner who makes me feel safe and accepted as myself.
I find that, while writing, you sometimes ask questions and have the characters answer them. Do you find that to be true? What questions did you ask yourself while writing this story?
My editor has pointed out that I ask a lot of questions, and I’m working on reducing the number. That said, I have constant questions and things I’m wondering-my head is a very busy place. I used to think everyone was that way, but it seems I might have been mistaken. I think it might be more common with a neurodivergent brain.
When I was writing, I asked myself what would make the story satisfying? What would happiness look like to the different characters? What would they need to show their hope, their belief in a better life? I thought about what would make a rebellion successful. I didn’t want huge battles and a huge war, but I asked myself how else an uprising could work. My answer was that everyone scared to take part needed to choose a side and be brave in their own way.
I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?
I have two ideas…so far.
1. Wade got away. I think Tatsuda, Ginger, and Wade might meet again in a few years.
2. I have a story on the shelf, one written in 2020, that I plan to revise. It’s set in 2192 across the continent in Salem, Massachusetts. It could be the opening of another series that might connect to the Train Hoppers, showing what’s happening in other places throughout North America post-collapse.
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With renewed hope, they return to join the rebels. Some sneak into SoCol to free Elsa’s family, others lead teams to collect seeds from the bunkers, and others bring hope to the populace and free the downtrodden.
Like Elsa, Janna grew up in SoCal, but instead of escaping, her brother sold her as a prostitute. Liberated by the rebels, she plans to fight alongside them.
Clark grew up in rebel Utah and, one by one, has lost his family to GreenCorps. Broken, he hides among the neutral Saints, taking refuge and avoiding his problems—until he meets Janna.
Though cracks have appeared in the Greencorps stranglehold, it will take everyone working together to break them apart. Without them, the rebel cause will fail and the corporatocracy will once more prevail.
Grab your copy of Rebels and Saints: Catching Freedom, the action-packed conclusion to the Train Hoppers series.
Rebels and Saints: Catching Freedom
Lena Gibson’s Rebels and Saints is the gripping third installment of the Long Haul trilogy, a dystopian saga that follows a ragtag group of rebels fighting against the oppressive rule of GreenCorps, a corporate regime that controls food, water, and livelihoods in a post-collapse America. Set in the year 2195, the novel continues Elsa’s journey as she leads the fight to distribute long-lost seed reserves that could free people from corporate dependency. With high-stakes train-hopping, underground bunkers, and daring escapes, the book is a thrilling blend of adventure and rebellion, all while exploring themes of survival, autonomy, and hope in a bleak world.
Right off the bat, the pacing had me hooked. This is a full-throttle, edge-of-your-seat kind of ride. One of my favorite scenes happens early on when Mason and his team are sneaking off a train into enemy territory. Gibson has this great way of making every movement feel significant and every risk feel personal.
What really made this book stand out wasn’t just the action it was the characters. Elsa, Walker, Mason, and Caitlyn aren’t just rebels with a mission they’re people with relationships, regrets, and fears. Elsa’s internal struggles, especially in moments where she realizes just how much power she wields, feel incredibly real.
The world-building is superb. Instead of drowning readers in exposition, Gibson reveals details naturally through the rebels’ experiences. The concept of train-hopping as a means of resistance is brilliant, adding a sense of motion and unpredictability to the story. And the contrast between GreenCorps-controlled zones and rebel havens is stark. That contrast makes the fight for freedom feel even more urgent.
By the time I hit the final chapters, my emotions were all over the place. There’s a sense of triumph, yes, but also loss—because the fight doesn’t end just because the book does. That’s the hallmark of a good dystopian novel. If you love fast-paced adventure with heart and if you enjoy stories about found families and underdogs taking on impossible odds, this book is a must-read.
Pages: 371 | ASIN : B0DVNLNMGC
