#Interview with Leslie Cohen of My Ride or Die

Who out there has ever said they’ve had it with dating? Yep, I see a lot of raised wine glasses. Which means our guest today has the perfect book for you! Welcome to the blog, Leslie Cohen!

Thank you! Happy to be here. 

We absolutely love the concept of your newest release, MY RIDE OR DIE. Two friends who are fed up with the whole find-your-other-half thing decide to move in together and be the support that a partner would otherwise provide. Genius! What inspired this idea for Amanda and Sophie’s arrangement?

I loved the idea of taking the usual romantic comedy and flipping the script, which in this case meant taking the friendships, which are usually ancillary to the main story, and giving them center stage. I’m always drawn to the idea of taking something very classic, like a love story, and messing with it, while still keeping some of the elements that are tride and true. 

I can already imagine the impeccable decorating! Being best friends they’d likely have similar tastes, but do Amanda and Sophie ever butt heads through their brownstone remodel? 

Definitely! Their tastes are very different, not to mention their way of doing things. I wanted Sophie and Amanda to have a great, yin-yang dynamic but without either of them falling into stereotypes. So they do disagree, but when it comes to the remodeling, all of their disagreements take the form of fun banter. 

As fun as it would be to move in with your best friend—who wouldn’t want to always have their bestie around, imagine what hilarious situations you’d get into—it’s also a pretty serious commitment. Especially when the two women continue to date, even if it’s just for fun, because dating means emotions. Not to spoil anything, but what was Amanda’s biggest challenge with her romance? 

It’s an ideal situation in many ways but it also presents its fair share of problems, which they are semi-aware of going into it. Amanda especially has a moment, just after they decide to do this, where she wonders if she’s made a mistake. They make this huge commitment to each other, enhancing their bond, but in many ways, by doing this, they are putting their friendship at great risk. What’s interesting to me, in this book, is the exploration of—how do we find the right place for both friendship and romance to coexist? Amanda’s struggle is that she wants to break free from her usual routine, from what society expects of her, but there are some aspects of those things that she still very much wants. 

Friendships, like any relationship, grow and change over time. And it always involves choice. You can choose to remain in a relationship and invest in it, or not. What is the most important thing you want readers to gain from reading MY RIDE OR DIE? 

Readers will find, in My Ride or Die, lovable characters and a relatable, engrossing story that they won’t want to end. I’m hoping that they gain a newfound appreciation for their friends and that they might miss the ones that they haven’t spoken to in a while. It’s a fun journey, with lots of laughs, but it’s also affecting. 

I hope every one of our readers has a strong friendship like Amanda and Sophie! Cheers to MY RIDE OR DIE! Thank you so much for stopping by and thank you for bringing us a strong friendship story!

Thank you!!

About the Book

My Ride or Die: A Novel
by Leslie Cohen  
Format: 336 pages, Paperback
Published: April 20, 2021 by William Morrow Paperbacks
ISBN: 9780062966780 

A timely and hilarious millennial women’s fiction novel about two friends who decide to give up their search for a perfect man and devote their lives to each other—but their careful plan soon begins to unravel with unexpected consequences. 

For many women, finding the man of their dreams can be something of a nightmare. Luckily, they can often rely on their friends for the support they so desperately need. Friends for over a decade, Amanda and Sophie decide to flip the script. Why can’t they spend their lives with each other and just keep men on the side for fun, sex, and occasionally fixing things around the house?

Amanda is a lawyer who excels in her professional life but crumbles at the slightest sign of a common cold. Sophie is an aspiring artist who has lived all over the world and doesn’t crumble, period. Together since freshman year of college, they’ve been through it all. But when their romantic lives explode at the same time, they decide that enough is enough. Enough pretending that traditional relationships work for everyone. Enough fantasizing about an old-fashioned ideal. 

They enter into a mutual arrangement: They will rely on each other and give men the secondary role that they deserve. And much to their surprise, it actually works. Amanda and Sophie fix up a dilapidated brownstone and create the home they’ve always wanted. Soon, they have love and emotional support as well as a wide variety of male “crushes” on the side. But when one of their crushes becomes something more, Amanda and Sophie must reconsider the life they’ve begun to build and how far they’re willing to go to keep it.

AMAZON | B&N 

About the Author

Leslie Cohen was born and raised in New York. She studied fiction at Columbia University, and wrote a weekly music column for a newspaper in Colorado before working in publishing for several years. She is the author of This Love Story Will Self-Destruct and the forthcoming My Ride or Die. https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/leslie-cohen