Entire serial available now on Amazon!
First of all. I’d like to thank all the readers who went into Defining Love not knowing what to expect but gave it a chance anyway. Brand new characters, no sizzling couple or six pack abs on the cover, a story broken up into parts and a twist that I’d mentioned would be different from my other books and the reason WHY I chose to release it as a serial. All of that I’m sure made you wonder hmm do I dare?
For those of you who did, thank you so much!. I’ve heard back from many of you and am so relieved that you enjoyed as much as you did. Can I just take a moment here to stop and say
*PHEW!!!* lol
Everything is always so much clearer in hindsight as it is in this case. The third volume hasn’t even been out a day and already I can see I may’ve been overly cautious by choosing to break it up in parts so that the reader could decide after reading the first volume and finding out what the twist was whether or not they’d read on. Many have already said they really enjoyed it but would have preferred it to be all in one book. Fair enough. This is one time I’m glad I was wrong and that this wasn’t too big a deal for some of you.
**The following contains a spoiler about what makes this different from my other books.**
Not a spoiler about the story itself since the “twist” is revealed early on in volume one anyway it’s not too big a spoiler to let you in on it. The real nail biting and other bigger twists/events come along later in the story. I figured it’s out there now and you may of heard or might have already read some of the reviews that mention it. If not, consider yourself warned.
What was it I was worried about? Well the story itself is my usual voice and style of writing with the exception that for some reason this one felt like it should be told in first person. Aside from that everything else is the same. Contemporary Romance, Dual POV’s between the H and the h. Lot’s of angst as they begin to fall for each other while both are in committed relationships. THERE IS NO CHEATING. However the biggest difference and something I’ve never had in any of my other books is the bisexual content. Yep. Henrietta aka Henri is in a relationship with her long time female bestie.
Is she gay? Well it’s complicated. You’ll have to read to decide for yourself. If you ask her she’s not. Yet here she is in a committed and romantic relationship with another girl. She has had a lot to deal with in her life. The biggest issue she’s had is her abandonment issues. Is they why this ultimately leads her to her decision to do whatever it takes to hold on to the only person she feels has ever loved her? You tell me. =)
Then she meets Aaron. Hot, sophisticated firefighter/entrepreneur with a voice that leaves her in a trance and a body to match.
What happens then? Again you’ll have to read the story to find out. I don’t want to spoil it for you! 😉
Anyhow I’ve mentioned before that this is a story that I’d been wanting to write for a long time. In fact I started writing it years ago. So I’ve been asked why I chose to write this? Was there any real life experience I went through or someone I know that inspired the story? I wish I had a juicier story to tell but no. Not anyone that I know personally. But I do know that this is not uncommon AT ALL.
Here’s what happened and why the story grew and grew in my head over the years until I finally said I’m writing this!!! Years ago when I was researching for the the first novel I ever published Forever Mine. For those of you not familiar with it, the h in that one has a long time best friend who is a heterosexual guy. In the story she doesn’t end up with him though she remains close to him even after she meets her true love and gets her HEA. I did a lot a research because I was curious to see how accurate something like that really was. Does that ever happen in real life? What kept happening every time I googled “Best friends falling in love/not falling in love. ” and similar phrases is I kept coming up with many forum discussions where people were asking for advice because they’d fallen in love with their gay bestie of the same gender. “My best friend is gay but I’m not. I’ve never been attracted to any other girls until now that I think I’m falling for her..” And the opposite. “I’m gay and I’ve fallen in love with my bestie who’s straight.”
I found the discussions as intriguing as I did heartbreaking. =( As with almost EVERYTHING in my life it sparked a story. Trust me I could be taking out the trash, cleaning my kitchen sink, feeding the damn cat and it’ll always spark a story so of course something like would too. However at the time I had too many story’s already clogging my head. I still hadn’t even finished writing Forever Mine and ya’ll know what happened after that one!
Two books later I’m researching the similar subject when now I’m trying to find true life stories of childhood friends falling in love and ending up together for Sweet Sofie. Once again I was sucked into the discussions mentioned above. I kept thinking wow this really happens and A LOT. The wheels in my head were really spinning now and I actually started writing a few chapters. Ultimately I’d go back to my WIP and put this story aside.
Months and years passed and all the while another story began brewing and I was back to Angel and Sarah from Forever Mine.I ended up writing the sequel Forever Yours in which her male best friend once again makes for some drama and so I had to research the whole friendship between two best friends stuff again and you guessed it. MORE hits about the same stuff.
This is when I really started to seriously consider not just writing the story but actually publishing it. I was nervous as hell. I wanted to really get it right and not step on any toes or anger anyone particular communities or people with strong beliefs about this kind of stuff. More than anything I didn’t want to be accused of having any hidden agendas. That I was trying to force my beliefs on anyone. This was a story plain and simple like any other that’s ever come to me only with a slight twist.
With the exception of FM which I started writing way back in high school and put it away for over a decade before deciding to finish it. This story has by far taken me the longest of all the others to write not just because it started brewing so long before I decided to seriously write it. But because once I did I couldn’t decide HOW to write it. A single POV? Hers only? His? First person? Third? I started it it three different times and got WELL into it before I finally decided it would be in first, dual POV’s and a I’d be breaking it up into a serial. Talk about going for broke! lol
This has been such a journey for me. I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous about a release. I honestly had no idea what to expect. While this is different than my norm in a lot of ways writing it still felt the same. I was as excited as I always am when writing a story. What it all boils down to is I hope I’m putting the reader through a journey as enjoyable as I try to with all my books. I want them hooked and unable to put it down. In this case they had to for a week between volumes but I hope they tear through it like they have all my others. I really hope you did/do!
With that said I’m also very glad I did this because it feels like a tore the band aid off. I’ve said this before. I was a story teller before I was a writer. I have many many stories in me begging to be told and not all are romance and alpha males. I still have a lot of those but I’d like to start testing the waters with some other stuff. Stuff I REALLY hope you’ll enjoy even if it’s not my usual stuff. As a reader I know I love reading in all genres as long as the story sucks me in. So while I still have many romance stories coming. Sydney’s up next. Then Livi’s siblings stories in their own spin off series and still more Moreno and possibly 5th Street to come along with new romance novels I will also be putting out suspense thrillers.
Edge of your seat that will have you gasping and hopefully unable to put it down. Just because you normally prefer chick flicks doesn’t mean you don’t occasionally enjoy a really good suspense thriller. Think Fatal Attraction, Gone Girl, The Fugitive, Kiss The Girls Unfaithful. I’m a big sissy so don’t worry nothing too scary! 😉
Anyway I hope you’ll stay on for the ride. I have SO much more in store for you!
Love you guys!!
Eli
Eli
