It’s a wrap. I hit the button!! Finally. Writing a book is like painting a picture (except I don’t have that much talent, lol). Still, you start with a blank piece of paper…bare bones. Then you keep adding to it, and adding… and there’s a lot of taking away too. But a book is built layer after layer after layer, until everything matches up and you can call it finished. It’s a longer process when it’s a thriller/suspense WITH a love story. There’s red herrings…foreshadowing…subplots…sneaky twists and turns. So it took me a while to weave all that together, and I hope it’s worth the wait. I know I’ve promised it for a long time. And I did send it out weeks ago to my ARC Team…but I’m guilty.
I kept writing. Even as they were reading. Even after they finished. I’m sure my team wants to strangle me. (sorry, team!)
The Girl in the Box [Let Me Go], the first book in the series, started out dark. Actually, one reviewer said, “Dark, but beautiful.” Another said “Hauntingly Beautiful.” In the first book, the girls went through a very hard time. But the characters changed. They overcame their obstacles, and grew into survivors. It was was a Coming of Age/Psychological Suspense story with a whisper of romance–just a whisper. But wow, you readers zoned in on that whisper. You lurrrved Jake! I was surprised some readers called this a romance.
So Book 1 was supposed to be a stand-alone book, but after many, many requests I wrote book 2 and now book 3 and overall the series changed to a Romantic Suspense Series, with each sister getting their own happily ever after. You’re welcome.
BUT… in this last book, I gave it pretty much just the romance–at first. Then I sent it out to my ARC Team, and sat back and waited. None of my ARC peeps said anything was missing from Book 3. They all loved it. But I KNEW. I knew something was missing. And I think I kinda sorta left it out on purpose. I didn’t want to go back ‘there.’ To the dark places. That stuff is hard to write. But I couldn’t push the publish button, because Olivia, the MC of this book, kept whispering in my ear that I didn’t tell the WHOLE story. It wasn’t all unicorns jumping over rainbows.
So I put in what I knew was missing–the same stuff you’d find in book 1 and 2…the stuff that makes you gasp and cringe–and it went in only 24 hours before hitting the publish button. Chapters 47 and 48. That’s a warning. If you have triggers, don’t read it. But it’s mild compared to Book 1. So if you mde it through that one and still liked the book, you should be okay. Now the picture is complete–and it goes full circle from Book 1–and Olivia is at last content with her own happily ever after, even if it was a bumpy ride to get there.
<3