Lead Me Home
Queen Anne Hill Book 1
Catherine Bybee
Montlake Pub
June 2026
Lead Me Home by Catherine Bybee is the first book in her newest series. The plot delves into how someone can find a love founded on mutual respect and kindness while struggling with toxic family situations. Unfortunately, Bybee experienced something very similar and drew from her own family experiences.
The main female lead is Luna Canning, the youngest of three siblings. She inherited the family home from her grandmother and shares it with a good friend, Miley, and a ghost. Luna is a forensic accountant who trusts numbers more than people. She steeks control and certainty in her life because her past was so unstable.
She is very guarded about her life until one day she meets PI Nate Warren after a coffee spill. They realize they both have been hired to investigate a corporate fraud. At first, they have an uneasy alliance, but both realize they enjoy each other’s company and that there is chemistry between them.
This story intertwines heartbreak, suspense, and healing. But it also highlights sensitive topics of child abuse, neglect, emotional manipulation, and narcissism.
Elise Cooper: Is Luna based on yourself?
Catherine Bybee: Luna is very personal to me. If you’ve read the author’s note for the book, I make no secret that my childhood left some scars. And if you’ve met me, you know that snark and independence is part of who I am. So, yes. I drew on my own experiences for Luna, as I do for most of my main characters.
EC: Idea for the story?
CB: I wanted to write a romance that could help women reclaim their agency and set emotional boundaries. We can’t stay silent. That lets our abusers win.
EC: Do you write a certain type of heroine?
CB: One of the things you’ll notice about all my books is that my heroines aren’t victims. They may have suffered trauma, they may struggle with self-doubt, they may have been told they’re worthless. But they will figure out how to move beyond that and claim their power, gain their voice. My heroines learn that the biggest obstacle in your life that is keeping you from whatever it is you want is your own fear. There is no reward without risk.
EC: How would you describe Luna?
CB: Luna is at the stage where she’d jumped off the wheel, but because of what she left, she doesn’t believe the right guy can be out there. And she certainly doesn’t trust herself to make the right decisions when it comes to men. Her walls are high because they have kept her safe.
EC: How would you describe Nate?
CB: Nate is literally able to protect her. He makes it clear that he will do whatever he can to earn her trust. He is willing to show up consistently and does not look for rewards, hoping to get past the walls Luna has built.
EC: Was the house a character in the story?
CB: When I was a child, I lived in an old Victorian home in Queen Anne Hill for a very short time. That house was haunted. Like seriously. It was haunted. I have some theories about why, but that’s a whole different conversation. Honestly, an eerie house where strange things happen? That’s definitely a Catherine Bybee setting. And yes, there are several things in the book that happened to me and my brother and sister when we were living there. It’s been a lot of fun writing a book where the house is as much as a key player in the story as the people who live there.
EC: There are ghosts in the story, literally and figuratively?
CB: As a child I briefly lived in a haunted house, so that’s always been a real thing for me. Luna’s story, and her siblings and friends, fit naturally into that. They’re haunted by their toxic childhood, the traumas that they had to normalize, and now they’re trying to move past it. I think my readers will be able to resonate with that. Early in my career I wrote a time travel series that had a LOT of magic in it and readers are still asking for the sixth book. I miss writing paranormal. I like the idea that deceased loving family members are around in spirit looking out for us.
EC: What about the next book?
CB: The second book is about Luna’s brother, Ash, and her best friend, Miley. And we’re going to learn more about her sister Harper’s marriage. Things aren’t looking good there. We’ll find out more about that later in the series. With the house as a central character, there are bound to be more members of this found family moving in.
THANK YOU!!
