I Want You More: A Novel

by Swan Huntley

Overview

“A deliciously twisted love story that sneakily upends your expectations at every turn; a candy apple with a razor blade hidden inside.”
—Graham Moore, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game

A ghostwriting gig in the Hamptons becomes far more than a job in this sexy, atmospheric, and deliciously tense story.

Reeling from her father’s death, Zara Pines accepts a ghostwriting gig for celebrity chef Jane Bailey. Jane, star of the wildly popular cooking show 30 Bucks Tops, insists that Zara spend the summer with her in her East Hampton home.

As the two women create Jane’s book, their attachment grows stronger. Zara, who’s lost and searching for an identity, finds one in the shadow of Jane. She starts wearing Jane’s clothes, speaking like her, and adopting her mannerisms. Eventually, the line between the ghostwriter and the subject blurs, and Zara starts to see the side Jane keeps hidden from the cameras.

This dark and twisty novel about fame, lies, and obsession will make even the most openhearted reader question how safe it is to trust the people they admire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781958506707
Publisher:	Zibby Publishing
Publication date:	05/20/2025
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Swan Huntley is the author of Getting Clean With Stevie Green, The Goddesses, We Could Be Beautiful, The Bad Mood Book, and You’re Grounded: An Anti-Self-Help Book to Calm You the F*ck Down. She lives in Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

A deliciously twisted love story that sneakily upends your expectations at every turn; a candy apple with a razor blade hidden inside."
—Graham Moore, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game

"A one-sitting binge read, I Want You More by Swan Huntley needs to instantly be added to your summer beach bag! Intoxicating, sizzling, and utterly propulsive, I devoured this sensual, twisty suspense about a ghostwriter who gets swept up with a new gig in the sun-soaked Hamptons, and dangerously starts to get swept away by her subject, a charismatic TV cooking show star. This is one delicious ride!"
—May Cobb, author of The Hunting Wives

“I Want You More has it all. A modern, stylish thriller that probes the bleeding edge of self and other. Huntley’s novel is sexy, propulsive, and damn good.”
—Ivy Pochoda, author of These Women

“Unforgettable characters, sharp social commentary, twisty turns, and sky-high stakes—I devoured this book like a tasty treat made by Jane Bailey herself!”
—Katie Sise, author of Open House

“I Want You More, about a ghostwriter who falls for her celebrity chef client, has sharp bites. It's a darkly funny, sexy love story—a must-read for anyone who loves food and femmes. It’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you hungry…and, most of all, it’ll make you thirsty, if you know what I mean!”
—Dibs Baer, author of Lady Tigers in the Concrete Jungle

“Like cinnamon Red Hots, this of-the-moment domestic thriller keeps you sweetly sucking away till it delivers the punch.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Deliciously disquieting…strikes a delicate tonal balance between seductive and serious…Readers who have ever wondered, ‘Do I want to be her or be with her?’ will feel a chill up their spines.”
—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2024-02-17
A ghostwriter hired by a charismatic food personality finds herself falling in love.

The well-developed pair of characters at the center of Huntley’s fourth novel are Zara Pines and Jane Bailey, brought together when the recently bereaved, broke, and emotionally drifting Zara is hired to write Jane’s memoir, to be titled I Want You More. The title comes from a signature moment on 30 Bucks Tops, Jane’s cooking show, when she considered the relative merits of two cucumbers—one of many small details of the character (an “edgy cowgirl” in ripped jeans, “like if Debbie Harry used leave-in conditioner") and her repertoire (“maple bacon carrot avocado toast”) that smartly hit the mark. Zara is flown out to the Hamptons to stay at Jane’s estate for the interviews, showing up with her best friend, Diego, part of Jane’s significant gay-male fan base. Zara herself has never even watched the show and is distracted by her budding romance with a lovely woman named Andie that began right before she left California. This resistance won’t last long, as the force that is Jane sucks Zara into her orbit, and certain details of Jane’s background—she lost her parents in a murder-suicide, her first husband died from a fall in the bathroom—disturb Zara less than they do the reader. The thriller plot that unfolds is relatively predictable and familiar, but the window-dressing—the paparazzi and the fans, the married couple who take care of Jane and her estate, the social media, food, and exercise—is all just right. You’ll speed through this one in an afternoon or two at the beach.

Like cinnamon Red Hots, this of-the-moment domestic thriller keeps you sweetly sucking away till it delivers the punch.

Kirkus Reviews