Gary Balanoff is a romance novelist based in Oviedo, Florida, who writes emotionally rich slow-burn love stories after earlier careers in TV news and real estate. His novel Too Soon for Love? follows college student Drew Harrison and Samantha Langston through a tender romance upended by an unexpected diagnosis. We spoke about trauma and redemption, the two romances wrapped around a tragedy, and his pre-dawn writing routine.
The Interview · Gary Balanoff
On Timing, Faith, and the Slow Burn of Real Love
The Oviedo romance novelist — a former TV newsman and real-estate broker in his third chapter — on the two romances at the heart of Too Soon for Love?, writing women readers trust, and why true love almost demands a slow burn.
By DORX Chronicle Editorial Desk
September 20, 2026 · 10 min read
DORX Chronicle: What inspired you to write Too Soon for Love?
Gary Balanoff: All of my books revolve around subjects and trauma first — I put strong characters in positions that break them, and they must find a way to overcome and find redemption. In this case Drew falls fast for Samantha, but her illness creates that trauma. I know so many people who’ve experienced love and loss, and I wanted to show what happens as they wrestle with their sorrow, and find out if he and his son Christopher can overcome it.
DORX Chronicle: How did you develop the main idea and the love story behind the book?
Gary Balanoff: After the first several chapters it would appear Samantha and Drew are on a glide path to an HEA. Cancer destroys that dream. So the unseen second romance starts with friendship, as Drew finds a kind woman who helps provide a tribute for Samantha — but their friendship becomes much more. I’ve seen this happen: young people don’t want to forget the love for the spouse who passes, but they have to confront how to make it through potentially many decades alone.
DORX Chronicle: Who are the main characters, and what makes their relationship important to the story?
Gary Balanoff: It’s basically two romances wrapped around a tragedy. How soon should you love? Is there a too fast? Can you postpone it till it’s too late? How about second chances? I try to explore all of this and give the characters a chance to see that those answers don’t come easily — but they are possible.
DORX Chronicle: The book is described as a slow burn. How did you build the relationship and keep readers interested as the story developed?
Gary Balanoff: Lust is short term while love is long term, so true love almost requires a slow burn.
DORX Chronicle: Could you tell our readers a little about yourself, your background, and your journey as an author?
Gary Balanoff: I spent seven years in TV news covering the state capital, the capture and trials of Ted Bundy, and the first Space Shuttle launches, then 40 years in real estate — including 20 as founder and broker-owner of a successful RE/MAX franchise — before I started to write. I’ve published seven books so far.
DORX Chronicle: What was the most challenging part of writing Too Soon for Love?, and how did you handle it?
Gary Balanoff: Any time you focus on a cancer diagnosis and the death of the female main character, you take a chance that readers will DNF and not wait for a happily ever after. That’s why I decided to leave out a day-by-day description of Drew’s mourning and skipped to the fateful day two years later at graveside.
DORX Chronicle: What was your writing process like while developing the book?
Gary Balanoff: I get up most mornings between 5:30 and 6 AM and write 2,000–4,000 words before most people start their day. It gives me a boost, and sometimes I go back to write more if I want to add. The first draft is like a race car speeding around curves to get to the checkered flag. Then I spend a lot of time on the following drafts before turning it over to my cover artist and copy editor, and then it gets formatted.
DORX Chronicle: What has been the most memorable or meaningful response you’ve received from readers?
Gary Balanoff: I love the fact that so many people have enjoyed the way Samantha took her time falling for Drew. Most of my readers are women, and it’s difficult creating the mind and desire of a woman — but talking with readers about the subject gives insights, just as women authors need to be careful about how they write male characters.
DORX Chronicle: What do you hope readers take away from the book’s themes of love, faith, patience, and timing — and what are you working on now?
Gary Balanoff: First, I hope it becomes evident that all my books pay tribute to women who must overcome past betrayals and traumas — I always give women a dose of inspiration with entertaining characters. Anyone can be single and happy and fulfilled, but so many are so ruined by such experiences that they feel unlovable. That should never happen, so I feel it’s my responsibility to bring hope and redemption.
DORX Chronicle: Where can readers find the book?
Gary Balanoff: At Garybalanoff.com or on Amazon. You can also follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube.
- interview
- romance
- slow burn
- fiction
Comments
28 comments
- James Carter
There is a bigger question underneath the romance here: how much of our past should we carry into a new relationship? You can't erase what happened to you, but you also can't make a new person pay for what someone else did
- Mariam Bello
That's probably one of the hardest parts of starting over
- Aisha Yusuf
I agree with this. Timing matters, but so does emotional readiness. You shouldn't rush just because you're afraid another opportunity won't come
- Michael Adams
The part about not postponing love until it's too late is probably the idea I would argue with most. There's nothing wrong with being careful. Sometimes people rush because they're terrified of being alone, and that can create even more damage. I think there's a balance between being open to love and forcing something because you're afraid of missing your chance
- Grace Mensah
I don't think every love story needs a tragedy to make it meaningful, but I understand why the author uses trauma as a starting point. Difficult situations reveal parts of people that ordinary circumstances might never bring out.
- Andrew Wilson
That's probably why those stories can be emotionally powerful. You get to see what the characters are made of when life stops being easy
- Tunde Balogun
There's something realistic about the idea that friendship can gradually turn into love. I've always thought the strongest relationships often have a friendship underneath them. You learn who someone is when there's nothing to gain from pretending
- Rebecca Morgan
Exactly. Romance can create a lot of pressure to impress someone. Friendship gives people more room to actually be themselves
- Hannah Carter
The thing I would challenge is the idea that women readers automatically want a certain type of romance. Readers are individuals. Some love slow burn, some want instant chemistry, some want second chances, and some don't care about romance at all. I hope authors don't feel pressured to write toward a single “female reader” formula
- Tane
That's fair. I think the author's point was more about listening to his particular readership than trying to speak for all women
- Oliva
I'm curious whether readers who have experienced serious loss will connect with the second romance differently from readers who haven't. Stories about grief can feel completely different depending on what you've personally been through
- Samuel Okafor
Definitely. Sometimes a fictional situation hits differently because you've already lived through something similar
- Chiamaka Eze
I don't agree with the idea that people who have been betrayed are necessarily “ruined.” Hurt, yes. Changed, definitely. But I think people are capable of rebuilding themselves without needing another person to prove they're lovable again
- David Carter
I think that's actually consistent with what the author is saying. The hope should come from within first, and another relationship can come afterward.
- Peter Anderson
I'm curious about the decision to make Samantha's illness such a central part of the story. Cancer can be a difficult subject in romance because readers become emotionally attached to the character. But maybe that's exactly why it works, it forces the story to deal with love beyond the happy-ending fantasy
- Fatima Yusuf
Yes, and it also makes the second relationship more complicated because Drew isn't starting from a blank slate.
- Daniel Foster
Getting up at 5:30 every morning and writing 2,000–4,000 words is impressive, but I'm more interested in what happens after that first draft. A lot of people think writing is just sitting down and typing, but his description of the rewriting process is probably closer to reality
- Adeyemi
Absolutely. The first draft is often the easy part compared with going back and fixing everything that doesn't work
- Sarah Thompson
I actually appreciate that the book doesn't seem to promise that love will magically fix grief. That's one thing romance stories sometimes get wrong. Losing someone changes you, and a new relationship shouldn't erase that history
- Kelechi Okoro
Yes. Healing and replacing someone are two completely different things
- Ibrahim Musa
The part about trauma stood out to me more than the romance. Putting characters through something difficult and then asking how they rebuild themselves is much more interesting than simply watching two attractive people fall in love
- Grace Johnson
Same. I usually connect more with romance when the characters have something real to overcome
- Laura Bennett
I'm a little torn on the “slow burn” argument. Slow doesn't automatically mean meaningful, and fast doesn't automatically mean shallow. I've known people who fell in love quickly and stayed together for decades, and people who took years to figure things out and still didn't work
- Michael Turner
That's fair. Maybe the real point is that lasting love requires time, even if the attraction itself happens immediately
- David Wilson
The two-romance structure actually sounds more interesting to me than a standard love story. The first relationship changes Drew, then the second one has to deal with everything that happened before. That's much closer to how real relationships work because nobody enters a new relationship without carrying some history
- Amaka Eze
That's exactly what caught my attention too. People don't just reset emotionally when one relationship ends
- Jessica Miller
I don't think being single means someone is necessarily “unfulfilled,” and I'm glad the author acknowledges that. Romance should be about adding something to your life, not rescuing you from having a life in the first place
- Femi
Absolutely. A relationship shouldn't become someone's entire identity. That's probably one of the healthier messages in the interview
- Emeka Nwosu
One thing I really liked was the honesty about writing women. A male author trying to write female characters realistically can easily get it wrong, so admitting that he learns by actually talking to women readers is a good sign to me. Nobody completely understands another person's experience
- Olivia Brown
Yes, and honestly female authors can get male characters wrong too. I think listening to readers is probably more useful than assuming you already know everything
- James Thompson
That's interesting. I usually prefer when authors don't drag out grief for chapters and chapters, but I can see how showing some of it could add emotional weight
- Melissa Carter
I'm not completely convinced that skipping the two years of mourning was the right choice. I understand why the author did it, but grief is such a major part of the story that I would actually want to see some of that struggle. It might make Drew's later relationship feel even more believable
- Chinedu Okafor
The part about finding love again after losing a spouse really got me. I don't think people talk enough about the guilt that can come with moving forward. There can be this feeling that loving someone new somehow betrays the person you lost, when realistically you can't spend the rest of your life punishing yourself for surviving
- Sarah Williams
Exactly. Remembering someone and moving forward aren't necessarily opposites. You can carry the memory and still allow yourself to live
- Rachel Morgan
I actually disagree with the idea that true love has to be a slow burn. Sometimes people genuinely know very quickly that they've met someone special. I think the important part is what happens after that initial attraction. Do they build trust? Do they show up for each other? That's where the real test is
- Daniel Harris
I see your point. I think the author is probably talking more about love becoming deeper over time rather than saying every relationship has to start slowly
- Henrik Larsen
The fact that he spent so many years working in television news and real estate before becoming an author is fascinating. I always enjoy hearing about people who begin a completely different creative chapter later in life. I imagine those earlier experiences must influence his storytelling in some way.
- Amélie Dubois
I found his comments about writing female characters particularly interesting. It’s good to hear an author acknowledge that you can’t just assume you understand another person’s experiences. Listening to readers and learning from their reactions seems like a much better approach.
- James Anderson
“How soon should you love?” is actually a really interesting question. Everyone seems to have a different idea about when it’s right to let someone into their life
- Eliizabeth
Sometimes you meet the right person at the wrong time, and sometimes you’re simply not ready yet
- Elena
Getting up around 5:30 or 6 in the morning and writing thousands of words is serious discipline
- Rossi
I always wonder how authors manage to keep that kind of routine going for years
- Lukas Schneider
I wasn’t expecting this interview to get as emotional as it did. The discussion about Samantha’s illness, Drew’s grief, and then the possibility of another relationship later on sounds like it could really make you think
- Susanna
I agree that some relationships are much more interesting when you get to watch the characters gradually understand each other instead of suddenly falling in love
- Daniel Müller
The question of whether you can love again without forgetting the person you lost really caught my attention. I think that’s something people don’t always talk about when discussing grief
- Camille Bernard
Moving forward doesn’t necessarily mean leaving the past behind
- Sophie Laurent
I really liked the part about the story being “two romances wrapped around a tragedy.” That made me look at the book differently. It sounds like it’s not simply about finding love, but also about what happens when you lose someone and have to figure out how to keep living afterward
