Ana Huang Dishes on ‘The Keeper,’ Her Next Era & Anaverse Adaptations
The best-selling author opens up about the future of the Anaverse.
The Queen of Heat is back! From breaking down the conclusion of her Gods of the Game book series to dropping long-awaited updates about not one, but two, adaptations, Ana Huang is setting the stage for a spicy new era of the Anaverse in our latest Author Spotlight.
On October 27, Huang debuted her eighteenth novel, The Keeper. After concluding her sports romance book series, with Noah Wilson and Carina Vu’s highly anticipated happily ever after — Hello, single dad trope! — Huang took Swooon inside her goodbye to the English Premier League.
Looking forward to the next era of the Anaverse, which will debut after her final Kings of Sin novel and spiciest book yet, King of Lust, Huang teased her next series and its “deadly” lead. Plus, the beloved BookTok author revealed the latest on the development of Netflix’s Twisted Love adaptation, and her take on casting Alex and Ava.
Inside Gods of the Game’s Final Run
When Noah Wilson, the “grumpy goalkeeper” of Huang’s fictional Blackcastle football team, first popped up in The Striker, she knew that he was getting his own book. The same went for Carina Vu, the third member of the Gods of the Game FMCs’ friend group. Huang had even dropped hints throughout The Defender that unresolved romantic tension lingered between them. Still, uncovering their dynamic as a couple was the name of the game for penning the book series’ final couple.
At the start of The Keeper, Carina loses her job, and Noah loses his nanny, the perfect setup for a forced proximity romance. While the Blackcastle star doesn’t want to hire a friend, a chance encounter between Carina and his daughter, Evie, leads to her becoming his new employee. From there, the tension that has been “bubbling under [the surface]” becomes impossible to ignore, even though Noah had Carina sign a strict no-dating contract.
“They have their own reasons for not wanting to get involved with the other person,” Huang explained. Yet, as soon as the two saw each other with someone else at Samson’s party, “They reached a breaking point.”
Huang revealed, “Noah is such a restrained person, and he has really great willpower in a lot of ways. Sometimes it takes an external force to really force him to confront his feelings, and I think that was what Samson and the party was for him.” It was Noah “finally opening up” and “coming after her” that allowed Carina to let her guard down.
Of course, admitting their feelings was just the beginning of the adventure for these two. With Carina by his side, Noah was able to maintain custody of Evie, despite the efforts of her late mom’s parents. Together, they finally traveled to Antarctica to achieve Carina’s biggest dream. Huang confessed, “Like Carina, I have always wanted to visit Antarctica. It’s been at the top of my bucket list for so long.”
With Noah and Carina finally together, Huang revealed the endgame for all her Blackcastle couples: Asher and Scarlett tied the knot and welcomed their son, Jude, with another baby on the way. Vincent and Brooklyn eventually made it down the aisle as well, right after Noah and Carina, who were about to become a family of four, just in time for Noah’s retirement from the league.
“I think that series is such a comfort place for me because my other series tend to be a little bit more intense,” Huang reflected. “Going to Gods of the Game, it feels like a warm hug. It’s a lot more wholesome than my other series, and so [it’s] been my safe, happy place.”
Still, the Anaverse is far from complete. The author opened up more than ever before about what’s coming next in Kings of Sin and her untitled new series.
A New Chapter
As readers know, all of Huang’s series exist in the same universe, and for her next novel, King of Lust, we’re traveling back across the pond to meet the last of her Kings of Sin. With The Keeper‘s publication date around the corner, Huang assured us that she was “in the middle” of writing King of Lust.
Teasing the novel’s leads, Killian and Tate, Huang revealed, “They are super fun for me because they have a little bit of a different dynamic than any of the other couples in the series. Obviously it’s quite spicy. There is a little bit of an age gap — not a huge one — but probably like a 10-year age gap between them.”
According to Huang, Killian is going to be quite the yearner as well. “I think we’re gonna see a little bit more of the groveling hero coming back, maybe at the end of this,” she added.
While we’re eagerly awaiting Killian and Tate’s arrival on April 27, 2027, there’s another addition to the Anaverse on the horizon. Huang confirmed to Swooon that after the April 2027 conclusion of her Kings of Sin series, she’ll be changing her publishing schedule from two books a year to just one. After all, a girl needs a social life!
During a previous interview with Swooon, Huang revealed that her next series will “be a little bit darker” with “more action and suspense.” Of course, these teasers got fans talking about who the next lead could be. While Huang couldn’t reveal who will take the mantle, she revealed that she has seen some fans accurately predict the lead. She confirmed, “I will say it is someone that people bring up quite a bit.” Another clue? “He or she is deadly, literally.” Readers, it’s time to look back through Huang’s morally gray secondary characters!
Anaverse Adaptations
Trust us, we couldn’t end our conversation with Huang without checking in on both of the Anaverse adaptations in the works. Before the publication of The Keeper, Huang’s Gods of the Game book series was officially picked up by Amazon MGM Studios.
“We’re still pretty early,” Huang revealed to Swooon, “So we’re still sort of in the scriptwriting process. But I am so excited to see everyone come out on screen and see [The Striker] as a movie.”
Huang is also holding out hope that all three of the (eventual) main couples will appear in the first film. “That’s how I envision it, Huang explained. “Because it’s such a found family, and they’re such a big part of each other’s lives, I think it would be quite odd if they didn’t at least come as like a cameo. But you never know, right? Like in the [filmmaking] process, it’s always what serves the story best and what serves the film best.”
On the other hand, Twisted Love, the novel that skyrocketed Huang’s career, is coming to Netflix as a TV series. Recently, Huang posted a photo at the Netflix office, teasing that more information on the adaptation is coming soon. As she put it, an author would generally have “broader conversations” with the streamer, “and then the more detailed conversations would be with the creatives… The writers and the behind-the-scenes team.” She added, “There’s a lot of moving parts when it comes to an adaptation, for sure. And this is the first time I’ve worked on one, so it’s a learning process for me, but it’s really exciting.”
Now that the pilot script has been penned, Huang teased what she is looking for in her perfect Ava Chen and Alex Volkov. “They have to embody the vibes… Alex being so cool and aloof, and Ava being so sweet and sunshiny,” she said. However, her biggest requirement is the actors’ chemistry. “For romance, the most important thing is that they have chemistry. And I told them this. I’m like, ‘Whoever is cast, they have to have so much chemistry with each other. It has to come out onscreen.'”
As for who, if anyone, is in the casting process, Huang teased, “I am especially excited for fresh faces. Which, I think, would be very exciting.”
