How Desperate Measures made me love Katee Robert (and a Q&A with Katee!)

Picking up a new author can be nerve-racking and I can still remember the first time I picked up a full-length title by Katee Robert. The title was none other than Desperate Measures which was being regularly recommended at the time.

Originally released in 2019, this was the start of Katee Robert's Wicked Villains series and it was an interesting one to start with. While it might seem like an odd place to start, I had heard a few rumblings about the tropes and the story it was revamping.

For those who don't know, Desperate Measures was Katee's take on a Jasmine x Jafar pairing with some kinkier elements. What a way to start my Katee Robert reading journey, huh? Honestly, this book was so much fun when I first read it and with the series being re-released, it's giving me even more motivation to do a re-read.

Coupled with the fact that Sourcebooks gave it a gorgeous new cover, annotations from Katee Robert, and some additional scenes, this one is an absolute must-buy. Even if you're not a fan of having multiple copies of the same book, this one is just too gorgeous not to grab.

Katee Robert talks about Desperate Measures and what's next.

The one thing I must fangirl about is that I've now met Katee Robert and they're just as lovely in person as you might imagine. Hearing them talk about books, their writing process and just spending some time with them was amazing. It's just nice to know that getting to meet one of my favorite authors was as delightful as I hoped it would be.

That's why I was happy to put together some questions for Katee as I know that most of my fellow romance readers are always curious about what's coming next or their thoughts on a certain book or series. With that being said, let's get into the interview portion.

Culturess: Desperate Measures follows Jafar and Yasmina and is the first book in your Wicked Villains series. What made you decide to start with their story?

Katee Robert: This is one of those decisions that I laugh about because it would have been much more strategic to introduce readers to the world with A Worthy Opponent (and, indeed, a lot of people actually start there). It's a little bit of a softer ramp up than Desperate Measures, but for all that, I love this book so much. I've always been attracted to this story and found Jafar, in all his renditions, to be such an interesting character. The heart wants what the heart wants!

Culturess: With the Wicked Villains series now releasing wide and with new covers, how does it feel to see the series reaching a wider audience?

Katee Robert: It's really exciting! I was so happy that my publisher understood my vision for the covers and repackaging. Our artist, Anna Moshak, knocked it out of the park. Seeing Jafar and Yasmina on the cover in such a stunning piece--and seeing how readers are reacting to it--is just downright magical.

Cover and genre trends evolve over the years, so it's really great to put a truly fresh spin on this series!

Culturess: In addition to that, Sourcebooks is also publishing Wicked Pursuit in 2025. Can you tease anything about that?

Katee Robert: I absolutely can! When I finished the Wicked Villains series, I was pretty firm that I wouldn't come back to it unless I had something new to say, and awhile back, I saw a TikTok with a creator talking about how they can't go to local kink activities because their parents are deeply involved in the kink community and it got me thinking about how the adult children of the various Wicked Villain relationships would navigate that. No matter how comfortable everyone is with things, it's deeply weird when it's your parents.

Then I read Nicky the Driver by Cate C. Wells, quickly followed by Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton. Both books feature a stalker romance, which was something I hadn't been overly interested in previously, but in the hands of the respective authors, it gave me a lot to chew on, and a deep desire to write something in conversation with them.

And so Wicked Pursuit was born. It follows Ruby Belmonte, the daughter of The Beast trio. She's a bit of a spoiled brat and makes some bad choices--and ends up with a stalker attempting to blackmail her in the process. But she's the heir to the Belmonte territory and she's not one to shy away from a challenge, so things get...interesting.

Culturess: Is there a series you'd love to see get rereleased or get a second chance to get in front of readers?

Katee Robert: I'm in an interesting place in my career in that a lot of my old series have gained new life in the last couple of years. It's been really awesome to see readers discover The O'Malleys series and some of my old Harlequin category romances. They're from a bit of a different era in my career, and it's really cool to see new readers going back for them!

As you can see, there is plenty of exciting stuff on the horizon for Katee Robert. Plus we still have the rest of the series to look forward to. Until then, you can get your gorgeous new edition of Desperate Measures now. I'd like to thank Sourcebooks Casablanca and Katee Robert for setting this up and allowing me to fangirl.

Desperate Measures by Katee Robert is out now where books are sold.