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Zibby Owens
Today's episode is sponsored by Nutrafol. Do you know that feeling when you're brushing your hair and somehow it just looks a little thinner than usual, maybe a little less full? And you're like, what is going on here? Well, Nutrafol supports hair health from within, helping you grow stronger, visibly thicker hair so that those moments happen less often where you're worried about your hair. Nutrafol is the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand and it's the number one hair growth supplement brand personally used by dermatologists and by the way, personally by me. This is the brand that I trust. Adding Nutrafol to your daily routine is easy. Order online, no prescription needed, with automated deliveries and free shipping to keep you on track. Plus, with a Nutrafol subscription, you can save up to 20% and get added perks to support your hair health journey. So let your hair be one less thing to worry about. See visibly thicker, stronger, faster growing hair in three to six months with Nutrafol for a limited time Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you visit nutrafol.com and enter promo code Zibby Z I B B Y. That's nutrafol.com spelled N U T R-A F O L.com promo code Zibby. Enjoy. Hi, this is Zibby Owens and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly Moms don't have Time to Read Books in my daily show, I interview today's latest best selling buzziest or underrated authors and story creators whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author and obviously podcasters, I get a comprehensive look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't have to stay in the know, get insider insights and connect with guests like I do every single day. For more information, go to zibbymedia.com and follow me on Instagram Ibbeowens Jane Costello is the author of 40 Love, a novel. This is actually being published by my publishing company, which we call Zivi Publishing. Jane Costello is the author of 16 novels for five of which were written under the name Katherine Isaac. Her books have sold over a million copies in the UK, have been translated into 26 languages, and have been selected by the Richard and Judy Book Club. She has won the Romantic Novelists Award twice. Her last novel, It's Getting Hot In Here was a Book of the Month selection. Jane was born in Liverpool, England where she still lives with her husband and three sons. By the way, we also published It's Getting Hot In Here. Enjoy. Welcome Jane, thanks so much for coming on Totally Booked to talk about 40 love. Congratulations.
Jane Costello
Thank you so much. So excited to be here.
Zibby Owens
Jane. This book means so much to me on so many levels. One that I wrote a book called 40 Love that Never Sold, which you know, but this book is far superior to anything I tried to do and two because well a also we're publishing it so that's also great. Yes, happy to do your second book with us. And three like I just could not relate more. There are so many things in common with this book in my life and it's funny and the main messages are so resonant and the coexistence of heartbreak and love and all of it like the bigger messages of the book are just absolutely beautiful and so important and it's funny and romantic and it's everything and the empty nester. Oh my gosh. I just love. I love the book so much. I love it.
Jane Costello
Oh, I'm so happy to hear that. Well, absolutely. When I found out that you'd written a book called 40 Love, oh My goodness, I just, I thought this better be good, what I'm writing.
Zibby Owens
No, yours is, yours is so much better.
Jane Costello
It's such a good title, isn't it? I think that's the, that that's the thing. It just sort of covers all bases.
Zibby Owens
So, yes, I just feel the material for women in this age, our age, collective. I mean, it's, it's so ripe for material to write about and think about because it's the intersection of so many things. Right. Motherhood and love and reinvention and just all the things. And like, what do we do? I mean, I have your book. It opens and follows throughout Jules's daughter Frankie's adventures on her trip through Europe, essentially, and how many times she hits the find my iPhone thing. And I am literally doing that this morning with my 18 year old daughter who is on a trip that I am worried about. I mean, it's just crazy. But it's also what, what is the after, which really is what is the meaning of all of it really, you know, after kids.
Jane Costello
Absolutely.
Zibby Owens
But maybe we should back up. Okay, okay, okay. Why don't you tell listeners what 40 love is about? Okay.
Jane Costello
Well, it's, as you said, it's about a single mom called Jules who, she lives next door to a tennis club and has done for many years but has never set foot in it. And she has absolutely no intention of playing, basically because she last played when was a sort of young teenager and had this awful experience with a, you know, with a, a bullying coach and lots of mean girls. And, and so she associates the sport with nothing but misery and has no intention of playing. But then her daughter, as you say, Frankie, is 18 and she decides she's going on this backpacking trip around Europe. Frankie has adhd and Jules is absolutely terrified that some disaster is bound to befall her. She's just, you know, she is absolutely racked with anxiety about the whole thing. And as well as that, she's got all kinds of restructuring going on in her job. You know, she's been widowed. That's why she's a single mom. So she, you know, everything is falling on her and she's got this job as a, as a buyer for a sort of lifestyle brand, a job that she's really loved all her career. But she is feeling that thing that unfortunately a lot of women feel when they get, when they hit their 40s is that, you know, there's a lot of shiny new things appearing in the office. And as they start restructuring and they. The company has this new buyer. She is convinced that she is not long for the company and has no idea what she is going to do, you know, for a living. That's all she's done all her career, so there's all kinds going on. And then she's got perimenopause on top, which we all know is great fun. And so her friends essentially persuade her to join the tennis team in the club next door because they've all joined to help out a friend and they are doing this beginners class called Rusty Rackets. And she, she is just persuaded by them to join and she gradually gets sort of sucked into it against her will initially and, you know, and is persuaded to join this team that are at the bottom of the league. They're bottom of every league. They've just failed at absolutely everything. And their, their entire sort of existence is incumbent, incumbent on, you know, they have to win something. So she really gets sort of into this and discovers friendship, but most of all, obviously this being a rom com romance because a. A guy from her past who was her first school crush when she was very young is back in town after a couple of decades and is displaying this killer forehand right outside her bedroom window. And obviously, you know, there's a lot of chemistry between them and sparks fly, et cetera. So it was, it's sort of set in the same world as it's getting hot in here. The first book of mine that you published.
Zibby Owens
I love the Lisa Darling scenes in this. I was. I mean, it's so genius how you just weave that in and you get to see like little glimpses of her who we've missed since that book. So that was awesome.
Jane Costello
Yeah, well, this is it. I mean, that book I think resonated with a lot of people because you just don't see characters, you don't see a lot of romantic leads who are women in their 40s and who are, you know, depicted doing all the other stuff that we have going on in our lives when you hit mid, you know, midlife. And so a lot of that, the comedy and all that kind of stuff I think really resonated with people. So I was keen on the idea of writing something again, but not a sequel because I think with a sequel you have to, you know, you have to smash. Smash everything up. All the ends you've neatly tied up at the end. You have to, you know, come and Demolish it all. And I just, I just didn't want that to happen. But it was so much fun being able to sort of revisit all those characters and their friendship group was one of my favorite things about both books. Really?
Zibby Owens
Yeah, that was, it was really genius because it also just makes us. I mean, not that you at all have to have read the first one, but it's just like, it's like a warm smile, like you're getting a hug from an old friend in the middle of, you know, the jolt of like, wow, this is still happening. There's so much here. One of the funny things I love is how you kept referring to Ally McBeal, which is one of my favorite shows. I mean, my girlfriends and I did not miss an episode ever. It was like on the calendar that we hand wrote, you know, like it was. And it was such a good example of like a woman at the time sort of coming into her own and all of that. And you also referenced Dirty Dancing, which is one of my other favorites. And just every pop culture reference that you sprinkled throughout, I was like, oh, yeah, that one too. That one too. It will make many people feel seen.
Jane Costello
Yeah, absolutely. I think if you're a Gen X woman, there's certain, you know, certain cultural references that just. You only have to say the words and they mean, you know, they instantly, you know, full of meaning, aren't they? But Ally McBeal was, I mean, I was also completely obsessed with Ali McBeal at the time. And, you know, I think one of the. As well as being a book, obviously it's a book about tennis, it's a book about midlife, it's a book about, you know, friendship and all that kind of stuff. It is also a book about a woman who is carrying a lot of emotional baggage and is very much living in the past and, you know, sees her glory days as being in the early 2000s. That's, you know, when her husband was still alive, when she was happy, you know, and it's just sort of at the start of the book, thinks that all her fun times are behind her and that life is just stress, non stop stress. And so the Alan McBeal part of it was just sort of, you know, one way that she was just, you know, she just wrapped herself in this cozy blanket of nostalgia and would sit watching Ally McBeal just like she had done the first time round. And yeah, she, she. Well, obviously it's a book about reinvention. So she does have to wean herself off Bali Mobile by the end.
Zibby Owens
Which is okay. Which is okay. I love Jules's close relationship with her brother Jeff. That is also. And he is like the consummate gay dad who's so into his kids, who's, like, you know, just hilarious, and they have the wittiest banter. And that love also courses through. And it's also not just funny in the moment, but how family can be there when life goes in unexpected directions. And the power of that love, it was really. I really loved that relationship as well.
Jane Costello
Oh, yeah. I mean, he was one of my favorite characters from It's Getting Hot in Here because he's sort of, you know, the one guy among this circle of female friends and. But he's just. He's one of these characters who, when I created. He just took on. Instantly took on a life of his own, you know, and, like, you say, the banter between him and his sister Jules, it just felt very, very natural that. That sort of sibling relationship where you. You can, you know, when you kids, when you bicker nonstop, but, you know, you absolutely, obviously love each other, and. I don't know, it just. Yeah, it felt. He fully exists, fully formed in my head. Jeff does and is very much a character I absolutely love.
Zibby Owens
And you even sort of tie the loop with Lisa's friend with breast cancer, which was the catalyst for so much of what happened with that book anyway. Just those little Easter eggs everywhere. So good. Of course, a huge piece of this is her relationship with Sam, this cutie from her past who had essentially ghosted her. And we don't know why until, you know, obviously we. We find out at some point, but the chemistry of that, her, you know, his beard, his legs, like, you make it, like, so tangible and awesome. Like, we feel like. Like we have this moment. I won't give away this whole shed scene, but, oh, my gosh, like, the sexual tension that, like. It's like. I'm, like a total voyeur in these moments, you know? But they're so funny. Like, your sense of humor is so funny. It's not like a. Just like a. It's not like a sex scene. It's like a. It's, like, hilarious at every turn. Like, when they leave and he has, like. It's just so funny. Like, it's. It's so funny.
Jane Costello
I just. Yeah. Oh, gosh. I mean, I. He. Yeah, obviously, he. Well, I will say, first of all, I am. Obviously, this book is launching in the UK next week, and I. I'm sort of dreading what my tennis ball Fellow tennis club members are going to say about the shed scene. The questions that will raise about what I may have got. May or may not have got up to, which is nothing, by the way. It's all my imagination. But, yeah. Oh, he. I love writing a sort of complex hero, and he's definitely, you know, they've got this past. But I think the key, the. The big thing between these two is, is there is just so much chemistry. And that is what I absolutely, as a reader, I love. I've always loved books where the two main characters have just got this sizzling chemistry. And as you say, it's. It's not, you know, it's not a big, explicit sex scene. It's. It's. It's about the yearning, you know, and this sort of tension between the two of them. So, yeah, I really love depicting that, particularly because, you know, the main female. Main character is in her 40s, and that is not something, you know, we often associate with this sort of genre. Usually, you know, it's far more common to see, you know, books with a romantic lead in it that, you know, it's sort of 25. So I very much want this book to. Well, I hope it's a celebration of midlife and a sort of, you know, it's a battle cry for our great second act rather than, you know, the alternative, which is to just sort of, you know, sit quietly and go away at this sort of. At this age. You know, I really wanted this to, you know, for the. For the female to be very desirable and, you know, and obviously she very much desires Sam as well.
Zibby Owens
Well, it's just great how you structured that whole thing as you did in your last book. You know, all of that longing and then the obstacles that come in and how do they get past the obstacles and. But it doesn't feel like, you know, deliberate plot points. It's like, this is what happens in life, you know, and. And then there are moments where, you know, because she, you know, Jules had been seeing Gavin, and do we root for Gavin? Do we not root for Gavin? Like, I don't know. I was just so. I was so into the whole thing and. And then the level of depth that you find out throughout the book, that just keeps the bigger messages coming of, like, how do we make sense of life after loss and do we close ourselves off to love as a result? Or are we more open because we've been through so much and how does it affect people differently and what does time do? And you have a line that's so Good about grief. Wait, hold on. Let me find it. We discuss what it's like in the acute stages when you're filled with fear and feel like screaming every time you hear the words, I'm sorry for your loss. We talk about how we hid how much we were suffering. I'll skip around to not reveal anything, refusing to accept help, even from friends and family, and throwing myself into a hundred different activities with Frankie. We also talk about how even years later, although the noise in your head does quiet down, there are times when sadness can still engulf you. Yeah, it can feel like a tidal wave sometimes, can't it? I say, oh, so lovely. And then after you say, hold on, oh, I also the fact that he's a good cook. I mean, this is basically parts of my husband in here. I'm just gonna say I have finally realized that it is fully possible for happiness and heartbreak to rub alongside each other and coexist. That life is too long for them to be mutually exclusive. And that's just it. It's just amazing. Today's episode is sponsored by Quints. 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Jane Costello
Wayfair Every style, Every home. Yeah, yeah, that, that line actually is sort of was really important because all the way along when you're writing a book like this, you know, obviously you are, you throw obstacles at your characters to keep them apart. And, and this was just so huge for Jules. You know, she, her grief for her husband is all encompassing, you know, at the start of the book. And it just felt like a sort of, it would be an unsatisfactory sort of, you know, I didn't want in any way for the reader to think, oh, well, she's over it type thing. You know, it had to be, you know, she, she just simply had to find another part of her, her heart, you know, for, for, for Sam rather than, you know, her really kind of having the, the full resolution, if that makes sense. You know, they had to simply coexist because she was you know, always going to, to love her husband. You know, that was always going to be the case. Wow.
Zibby Owens
And then you move on to like just the tennis itself, which as a tennis lover was also really fun and the potential mishaps and the victories. And you have a line later where somehow I played like I was actually a tennis player. Like, it all just like came together. Like, who was that person on the court? Could that have been me? And there are those moments where you're just like, well, I don't know why today was such a good day. I didn't do anything differently. It just like clicked. And what a great feeling that is.
Jane Costello
Absolutely. You know, I mean, I must stress that if you, you know, any readers who are not into tennis, this, you know, it's obviously it's a book about tennis, but it's, you don't need to be a tennis superfan to read this book by any stretch of the imagination. It is very much a sort of framework really, and, you know, sort of what happens on The. On the tennis court is, you know, there's a lot of analogy, really, about how about the sort of things that's going on in her life and the way she handles it, you know, And I think, you know, I started playing tennis like jules in my mid-40s. I hadn't picked up a tennis. You know, I played swing ball. That was it. You know, I had absolutely no. No lessons, no nothing like that. And I quickly, you know, fell in love with the sport, not just because of the sport itself, but the camaraderie, the social life, the. The sense of competition that you don't really have a lot, if that makes sense. You know, we've been raising kids and. And actually, you know, it just being competitive playing, you know, we don't play as adults, so all that. I absolutely loved it. But, yeah, anybody who's ever, ever played tennis will tell you you can go from joy to heartbreak very quickly, you know, and so it felt like a good, sort of a good place to draw in Jules, you know, the analogies to what's going on in. In her life. And I have, you know, having played it, you know, as a midlife woman, been part of a tennis team myself, I had a lot of material. It was unfortunately, a lot of comedy material because, you know, there's so much of the get. You know, we. We do a. A lot of laughing, you know, on. On court and. Yeah. So this. A lot of fun stuff actually made it into the book.
Zibby Owens
I need to. I mean, I don't. Well, I guess this is one of the things in the book. It's like everybody says they don't have time, but then once they do it, it improves their lives so much. So I have to stop making excuses and find something this summer or something where. Because you, you know, Jules and you are having so much fun.
Jane Costello
Absolutely. I mean, there's a part in the book where somebody says, this is my therapy. And it is. You know, it absolutely is. It's. She has all kinds of things going on in her life, you know, all kinds of challenges. She can't sleep. She's wrapped with anxiety.
Zibby Owens
I love all your. All your Instagram references were so funny. What did you say? They kept showing you something so much, and you're like, I had to intentionally pick, like, you know, babies who were separated from their moms reuniting just so I could get a different algorithm going.
Jane Costello
Yeah, she's haunted by all these tennis. The algorithm keeps following her and throwing these videos at us so she can't escape. But, yeah, it's very much sort of a question of, you know, an escape, I would say, when you're on a court. And this is what I find and you know, was very much something that I wanted to get across in the book. All those things that are whizzing around your head and eating you up just sort of cease to exist and all you're thinking about is something as inconsequential and in that moment really important as getting a little fuzzy ball in between some lines, you know, and it is, it's so freeing and just how, you know, obviously it's good for your physical health, but in terms of mental health, I just think it's, there's a reason why loads of women in midlife love to play tennis. And I would say that's it.
Zibby Owens
You know, it's so funny. I feel like, yes, the book is escapist in that we can all press pause on our lives and delve into the characters lives and have all the thrills and laughs and funny conversations, dinner parties that we're not invited to necessarily in our lives, but we get to attend in the book. Just this full on immersion into someone else's life that is so satisfying, we don't even have to live it, we just get to do it through you. But I also feel that the book is this huge permission slip. It's a permission for women, and I guess men too, but particularly for women whose kids are a little older or who are growing up or who are searching for meaning to get past what happened before, to have more fun, to try new things, to enjoy the next chapter, to embrace the body and all the feelings and love and lust. And yes, there's been hardship in everyone's life when they get to this age. It's impossible to get to this age without losing people or having terrible things happen. And yet to really appreciate the next stage, we have to have permission to pursue joy and love and fun. And if nothing else, I feel like the book gives that to people in the form of this adorable package. You know, it just is like here, go, go live your life. Go do this. Go have fun and laugh and, and enjoy it in all the ways you can. Right?
Jane Costello
Absolutely. Absolutely. That has just nailed it. That has completely nailed the message behind. I mean there's lots of, you know, you can read lots into all kinds of things that happen in the book, but that is it in a nutshell. You know, we, we. If you have kids, and I know both of us do, you know, you spend so much of your life, especially when they're younger, but also when they're older as well, you know, this, you know, I've got three kids. I'm still running around all over the place. It is the nature of it, you know, but we've. We spend so much of our lives doing things for other people and you know, an hour to go and play tennis a few times a week. It's, it's, it's. It's recharging your batteries. It's putting, you know, it's putting your own oxygen mask on before you. You sort of go and help everybody else. And you know, I like I say it's just so important. It's become such a huge thing in my life and it very much. I would encourage, whether it's tennis, whether it's something else, whether it's golf, whether it's whatever you want, you know, you need to sort of at some point find that thing and, and start embracing what it is to be, you know, what it is to really live again, you know?
Zibby Owens
Yes, 100%. I love it. Well, it masquerades as a mom rom com of a certain age. Middle aged mon com. But it is, it is really a deeply inspiring book that makes you think and feel and not that mom comes don't, but it's just like. I feel like that puts it in a different category. But this has so many. I don't know, it's just a little deeper than. It's deeper than that. It's like there's so much heart and message behind it and it's. I find, like, deeply inspiring. So I loved it. I really loved it.
Jane Costello
Oh, I'm honestly, I'm so happy to hear that. I really am because there are a lot of storyline threads in it. You know, there's a lot happening to her, which I just felt was true to life.
Zibby Owens
Yes.
Jane Costello
You know, so it just felt, you know, I had to make this multi layered. There's a lot going on, but that really means a huge amount. Zibby, honestly, I'm so happy to hear that.
Zibby Owens
Well, I'm honored that we are publishing this book. I can't wait for it to come out and shout about it from the rooftops and hope that everybody gets the message in this really fun, enjoyable package.
Jane Costello
Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, let's hope as many people as possible read it and just enjoy it.
Zibby Owens
Yeah, me too. Okay, well, congratulations, Jane. So excited. Yay.
Jane Costello
Thank you.
Zibby Owens
Okay. All right, I'll see you soon. Talk to you soon.
Jane Costello
Thank you, Siby.
Zibby Owens
Bye Bye. Thank you for listening to Totally booked with Siby, formerly Moms don't have time to read books. If you loved the show, tell a friend, leave a review, follow me on Instagram the end at ibbeowens and spread the word. Thanks so much. Oh and buy the books.
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Host: Zibby Owens
Guest: Jane Costello
Date: May 19, 2026
This episode of Totally Booked with Zibby features author Jane Costello discussing her latest novel, Forty Love, Zibby’s July book club pick and a title published by Zibby’s own publishing company. The conversation dives into the novel’s themes of midlife reinvention, love, grief, tennis, and the unique challenges and joys facing women in their 40s. Jane and Zibby reflect on the importance of finding joy, pursuing passion projects, navigating complex family and romantic relationships, and the resilience and depth of women at this stage of life.
On midlife themes:
"It's so ripe for material to write about and think about because it's the intersection of so many things. Right. Motherhood and love and reinvention and just all the things." — Zibby Owens (05:34)
On female leads over 40:
"You just don't see a lot of romantic leads who are women in their 40s and who are, you know, depicted doing all the other stuff that we have going on in our lives when you hit midlife." — Jane Costello (09:56)
On nostalgia:
"She just wrapped herself in this cozy blanket of nostalgia and would sit watching Ally McBeal just like she had done the first time round..." — Jane Costello (12:45)
On grief and love:
"I have finally realized that it is fully possible for happiness and heartbreak to rub alongside each other and coexist. That life is too long for them to be mutually exclusive." — (Zibby quoting Jane, 21:16)
On permission for joy:
"If nothing else, I feel like the book gives that to people in the form of this adorable package. You know, it just is like here, go, go live your life..." — Zibby Owens (29:40)
On reinvention and self-care:
"You need to...find that thing and, and start embracing what it is to really live again, you know?" — Jane Costello (32:35)
This episode offers a heartfelt exploration of Forty Love, celebrating both the comic and profound in women’s midlife journeys. Zibby and Jane bring warmth, relatability, and inspiration, making the case for joy, reinvention, and the beauty of embracing life’s messiness. The conversation doubles as both a companion to the novel and an encouragement for listeners to prioritize their own happiness and transformation.