Hayden Hill's Blog

Very exciting news coming soon!

2016 is going to be an amazing year!

100,000 new books are published on Amazon every month… gosh, pretty crazy, right? It’s hard for books to stand out from the crowd, and HOPELESS FOR YOU is no exception. I think reviews are a great way to gain attention though, which is why I’m going to give those who review my book (or have reviewed it already) a chance to win big!

I’m putting up a total of eight prizes, including two $50 Amazon Gift Certificates (yikes! you read that right!), three signed paperback copies of HOPELESS FOR YOU, plus, and here’s the kicker…. THREE eArcs of HOPELESS FOR YOU, TOO!!!! (squeee!) Sorry, I get excited about my own books But seriously, I think you’re going to love where the story goes next. Anyway, the eArcs will be delivered to the winners at a later date when I’ve finalized book two, but the other five prizes will be awarded next week!

Good luck lovely readers!

P.S. If you already left a review of HOPELESS FOR YOU at some point, just put the URL in the option below and you’ll get an automatic entry.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I can’t tell you how much I’ve looked forward to this day, but HOPELESS FOR YOU has been published!

I’m so happy to get it out there. Happy, and relieved

HOPELESS FOR YOU started out as a rosebud of an idea that grew into this all-consuming tree whose roots had taken a firm hold in every part of my life. I worked obsessively on it. In the mornings. At night. On weekdays. Weekends. On vacation. I poured everything into the book, heart and soul, and now it’s finally out there. It was a labor of love that’s for sure. They say that great art comes from pain. Well then this was my greatest work yet. The story of Kade and Ash has been floating around in my head for years now and I sincerely hope you enjoyed following them as they discovered themselves and their love for each other.

I want to thank my beta readers who helped me craft this into the best book it could possibly be: Crystal Taylor, Emiko Rei, Jennifer Ramey, Lucinda Callahan, Christine Buenaflor, Apoorva Anapindi and Lisa.

I want to thank my editor, Bev Rosenbaum, for steering me away from the bad paths and down the good ones. Her story insights have been invaluable.

I want to give a big shout out to the amazing bloggers who took a chance on a brand-spanking new romance author. Special thanks to Shaneika Morgan of ItchingForBooks for setting up a blog tour.

Lastly, I want to thank you, my readers, for giving the book a chance

You guys are incredible and I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me. Great art may come from pain but there is no greater love and joy than what I feel for all of you.

You can grab the ebook from Amazon at $0.99 cents for a limited time:

You can also pick up a Paperback copy here: Amazon.com Paperback.

The hardcover is out as well, the link isn’t available on Amazon yet. I’m running a Giveaway on Goodreads for the hardcover until September 23rd though:

Giveaway ends September 23, 2013.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Thanks again for giving the book a chance! Take care all you amazing readers out there!

CHAPTER FOUR

Ash

Eighteen months earlier…

It was a perfect day.

I just got home from five-o’clock Christmas mass and had to rush upstairs because I still had presents to finish wrapping. My folks liked to do the present opening thing on Christmas Eve. The plan was to celebrate Christmas at my house tonight and then Devon’s tomorrow.

Devon spent a few minutes downstairs chatting with my folks and then he joined me in my room. I’d wisely chosen to wrap his present first, and I was just putting the finishing touches on the ribbon. Gosh, ribbons could be such finicky things. I had to retie the thing three times. I wanted it to be perfect.

“Hey,” Devon said, whispering in my ear. His warm breath ran down my lobe to the nape of my neck, where he planted a tender kiss. “You look amazing tonight, as always.”

“Mmm,” I said, pushing my head into him.

“Miss me for the long time we were apart?”

It had been a whole twenty minutes. “You know it.”

We kissed. It wasn’t a light peck. It was a long kiss that spoke of the years we’d known each other. The years of trust, friendship and mutual sexual discovery. I’d almost say it felt like a comfortable kiss, but it was far too arousing for that.

He started to unbutton my blouse. I stopped him.

Both our folks knew we were having sex. Still, I refused to let him seduce me while my parents were downstairs. It made me feel dirty, somehow.

“You know I won’t have sex when my folks are home,” I said.

“Come on.” He tried for my blouse again. “It’s not like they’ll barge in on us or anything.”

There was a knock at the door.

I gave him a self-satisfied look. “You were saying?”

My stepdad Bill poked his head in the doorway. “I’m not interrupting anything I shouldn’t be, am I?” He was looking right at me.

“Well, if you were,” I said. “You’d be staring at a pair of naked butts rocking it out right now.”

Bill frowned. “Thanks for that image, Asha.” He always called me by my full name, I guess to annoy me. “I meant seeing any presents I wasn’t supposed to be seeing.” He was already starting to close the door again. “I came up to tell you dinner is ready. Mario’s really outdone himself this time.” Bill had hired Mario away from a local Italian bistro to head our kitchen. His food was outstanding. “Wait until you taste his turkey souffle. You’re gonna love it.”

When he closed the door, Devon and I exchanged a disbelieving glance.

“Turkey souffle?” Devon said.

“Sounds really bad.”

He gave me a light peck on the cheek and got up. “The weirdness that goes on at your house…”

“Tell me about it,” I said, laughing.

The souffle was surprisingly good, and after dinner we sat down in the living room to open presents. Devon and I had decorated the tree, which was a freshly cut blue spruce about seven feet tall. Different colored lights spiraled near the trunk like glowing birds, while Tennessee-themed ornaments such as bears and mountains hung from the outer branches. We’d slathered the whole thing in shiny red and blue icicles so that altogether the tree looked a little like a big, hairy pinecone.

As usual, there were a ton of presents under the tree. They came in all sizes, but I knew most of them were just the usual filler items nobody asked for but got anyway: shirts, ties, socks, chocolates.

“Let’s get started,” Mom said eagerly. She always got excited at this part. Watching me open presents reminded her of when I was younger, I guess.

I was the self-appointed present giver. I liked being able to choose what presents were opened and in what order. I went to the tree and picked out one I’d gotten for mom.

She took it and read the label. “To Mom, from the Hillbilly Wonka Chocolate Factory.”

I always had fun with the labels, and rarely signed my own name. Instead, I’d reference books we’d read in the past few months, or a movie we’d recently seen as a family. Usually I liked to sign something that hinted at what was inside, though sometimes I’d write red herrings just to keep everyone on their toes. Devon and I were the only ones who ever did stuff like that, but our handwriting was so different, everyone could usually tell which presents were from him or me.

“Well, it’s certainly not chocolates,” Mom said, shaking it. She knew all my tricks. I think she already realized what it was but she still took an agonizingly long time opening the present. It wasn’t chocolate, of course, but one of the romance novels she’d asked for this year.

Bill’s turn was next. Again, I gave him one of mine.

“To Bill,” he read. “From Dan Brown. Hmm.” He devoured the wrapping paper. Inside was the latest treasure hunt thriller from Dan Brown. “How’d you know I wanted this? Thanks, Asha.”

I glanced at mom and she gave me a conspiratorial wink.

I figured it was my turn next and I decided to grab the gift Devon had gotten me. I knew which one it was because of the label.

To Ash, From Your Most Secret Admirer.

Devon looked at me apprehensively. “Maybe you should open that one later, Ash…”

“Why?” I shrugged happily and tore off the silver wrapping paper, revealing a small box. At first I thought there was a watch or an earring or something inside. When I opened it up, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

The moment I’d been waiting for had finally arrived.

Devon knelt in front of me and wrapped his hands around the box and the silver ring it contained. “Ash. We’ve been through a lot together, you and I. You mean everything to me. We’re not like other couples―you’re by my side day in and day out and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Let’s make it official. Will you marry me?”

I glanced up and saw mom and my stepdad close to tears where they sat on the couch. I was nearly crying myself.

I knew Devon was the one and I was certain that someday he’d put a ring on my finger. His timing had caught me a little by surprise, but we’d been dating three years and now was as good a time as any.

“Yes,” I said. My face was wet with tears of joy. “Yes.”

Devon slid the ring onto my left hand.

I knelt and slammed my lips into his. My stepdad and my mom clapped in the background but I hardly noticed. This kiss was different than the one we’d exchanged earlier in my room. More urgent. Like we wouldn’t get the chance to kiss like this again.

He was the first to pull away, and he glanced sheepishly at my folks. “Sorry.”

“No,” mom said, the happy tears streaming down her face. “Don’t stop because of us.”

Devon glanced at me, seeming anxious to pick up the kiss, but I only smiled politely because for me, the moment was already broken.

Besides, there was something I had to do.

“Wait here,” I said. I ran upstairs and retrieved a small, wrapped gift from my room. I’d been debating whether or not to put this one under the tree but eventually I’d chickened out. I could give it to him now, though.

“I have something for you,” I said when I got back downstairs.

Devon unwrapped the present, revealing a small, black leather box. He opened it.

“I don’t know what to say, Ash.” He held up the titanium ring. “Guess I’ve been dragging my feet. Good thing I got the nerve to propose to you tonight or you would’ve beaten me to the punch.”

I shook my head. “Honestly, I’ve had it a few months but I never actually had the nerve to propose. I decided I’d give it to you when you gave me mine. To show you how much I love you. Take it. Use it to remember me when we’re apart.”

“I don’t need a ring to remember you but I’ll take it.” He slid the ring onto his left hand and we kissed again, a polite kiss that was mindful of the watching eyes of my folks. Though I supposed we shouldn’t have been shy because everything was official now.

Devon snuck into my room that night and for the first time we had sex while my folks were home. Devon picked up on my urgency and we made love with the same intensity as we’d kissed beneath the Christmas tree. I’m not really sure what had gotten into me, but I felt like we had to treat every moment we had together as something precious.

I stifled my moans with the pillow, and when we were done, I just held him in my arms, not wanting to ever let go.

“What’s wrong?” Devon said.

“Nothing.” I couldn’t keep the sadness from my voice.

“Ash…”

“Just promise you’ll never leave me?”

He sat up in bed and tenderly held my cheek. I could see his green eyes in the dim light of the lamp. “Of course I won’t. You mean everything to me.”

I closed my eyes and nuzzled his chest.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he said.

“Nothing.” I wore the bravest smile I had.

He knew I was lying. “Tell me.”

I sighed. “I guess, well, I’m scared.”

“Of what? Married life?”

That wasn’t it, but I murmured in agreement, anyway.

“Nothing’s going to change, Ash.” He entwined his left hand through mine and our engagement rings touched with a satisfying clink, just as they had during our lovemaking. “Things are only going to get better from here on out. I’ll never leave you. I swear it.”

We made love again.

It was a perfect day.

* * *

We’d been fighting.

Devon had wanted to wait the traditional three months before hosting the engagement party, but I’d insisted on having the engagement party sooner. As in right away.

It just seemed, well, too good to be true. I kept having this premonition of bad things to come. Which was strange because I knew life wasn’t out to get me, that bad things didn’t happen to good people.

But I also knew my mom and dad had divorced when I was ten years old.

Most ten-year-old kids were good.

All I could do was bury myself in the engagement party planning, and of course, the subsequent wedding. I tried my best to ignore the premonition but it ran through everything I did like this poisonous undercurrent, making my voice bitter when it should have been happy, sarcastic when it should have been serious.

Needless to say, Devon had trouble dealing with this new, insecure me. It didn’t help that my plans for the party, not to mention the wedding, didn’t match his own.

I wanted the best wedding ever. I wanted singers and dancers and a big cake and all my friends and an amazing buffet with nine different stations. Weddings only happened once in a lifetime, at least as far as I was concerned, and a wedding was the one time it was okay to really go all out and splurge and not feel bad about it. Gina and I had been dreaming about getting married since we were five years old, so of course I wanted everything involving the wedding to be special, including the engagement party.

Devon, on the other hand, wanted a small wedding, and an even smaller engagement party. Thankfully, my folks also wanted a big one, and since the engagement party was traditionally hosted by the bride’s family, I got my way in the end. At least for the engagement party.

Gina helped me plan everything. She was my maid of honor and wedding/engagement party planner rolled into one. Devon and I usually ate Mexican on Saturdays for dinner, so of course I insisted on having a Mexican theme for the engagement party. Despite the short notice, Gina called in some favors and arranged for a live Mariachi band to play. On the menu were chicken wraps, mini beef tacos, amazing guacamole, and margaritas. Dessert was churros, of course. They were so good, especially with that extra thick manjar caramel slathered on top. Probably bad for the dress size, but engagement parties only came once in a lifetime, right?

I wanted to have the party as soon as possible and my folks were happy to oblige. They wanted the wedding almost as badly as me. See, what I haven’t mentioned is that Devon was the son of a shipping magnate, and heir to a staggering fortune. But for me it wasn’t about the money. It never was. When would my folks understand that? My stepdad already had a lot of money, so I didn’t see why it was so important to him and mom that I marry someone rich. Anyway, long story short, my folks let me roll the engagement party in with their own New Year’s Eve party, so of course all my stepdad’s friends and their children were here. At least I’d be spared the awkward conversations that always came when my stepdad’s friends (re)introduced their sons to me―hopefully now they’d finally get the message that I was off the market.

As for the rest of the guests, Gina and I had spent two full days putting together the event on Facebook and inviting everyone. We’d called it Ash’s Kick-Ass Engagement Party. The turnout was fantastic, even a half hour into the party. Most of my girlfriends were here. I didn’t see any of Devon’s friends, though. I wasn’t sure how many of them he’d invited―probably none, given the arguments we’d had about the party. Too bad for him.

Devon’s family still hadn’t arrived yet. When I called to check on him, we ended up squabbling, this time over a drink.

Gina and I had planned the party as best we could in the short time we had, but we’d forgotten one of the most important items: a bottle of White Gold. It was traditional for Devon and I to share a bottle of the stuff on every special occasion. It was our “couples” drink, and things like anniversaries and birthdays just weren’t the same without it. Devon was usually the one who brought it. But when I called him, he told me he assumed Gina and I had already gotten a bottle so he hadn’t grabbed one. Boy, did I chew him out.

He said it was too late to pick up a bottle now and we should just have the party without it.

I said no. I wanted everything to be perfect, remember?

Devon finally caved. He hadn’t left home yet because he was going to hitch a ride with his folks, but his mom and dad still weren’t ready and most of his household had the night off so he told me he’d just go out in his own vehicle and grab the bottle. That wasn’t a problem because he’d just turned twenty-one and could buy drinks legally.

“I can’t believe how he acted on the phone,” I told Gina after I hung up. “He didn’t even say good-bye. I mean, he was the one who was supposed to pick up the bottle in the first place. He always does. And now all of a sudden, you and I are in charge of picking it up just because we’re planning the party?”

Gina smiled sympathetically. “Well, he does have a point. We are the party planners, after all. If I were him, I would’ve assumed we had it covered, too. It’s just too bad we didn’t think of it.”

I refused to admit she was right. “I don’t know… is it me or is Devon becoming a jerk now that he’s asked me to marry him?”

“Ash, I hate to say this, but it’s definitely you.” Gina patted me on the shoulder. “What’s been eating you lately? You’re definitely not yourself.”

I hadn’t told her how I was feeling. How could I? I wanted to get married as fast as possible to avoid anything bad happening, which was ridiculous. Who does that?

When I didn’t say anything, Gina sighed. “Must be engagement jitters. That or too much free time on your hands.”

Gina was right about the latter. Having time off from class was definitely a bad thing because it gave me too much time to think about my situation. I’d just spent my first term at UT taking premed, something I didn’t want to be doing at all.

Devon knew the story. Before the semester began, I’d told him I wanted to be a veterinarian, and that my folks where forcing me to become a doctor instead—my mom insisted that I follow in her footsteps because a veterinarian just didn’t have the same prestige as a doctor. Devon had listened, but he said that premed and prevet were pretty much the same and I could just change it later. Somehow, I didn’t think that would work out too well. I felt like I was leading my folks on, and changing later would only make things harder for me. If I waited too long, I knew I’d never do it.

God, I wished I was a stronger person, someone who could stand up to my folks. Someone like Gina. Because I felt like I was wearing one of those wool sweaters you weren’t supposed to put in the washing machine, but somehow I’d done just that and cranked the heat up on high so that the sweater was growing tighter by the minute.

No surprise then that with all these pent-up emotions and feelings roiling around inside me, I was taking out my frustrations on Devon.

Still, I had my doubts about the whole thing. “I don’t know, Gina. Do you think it’s really just me?” I swallowed the knot that was rising in my throat. “I mean, we’ve been fighting ever since he proposed. Do you think he’s regretting it? Maybe it would’ve been better if we’d never become engaged.”

Gina looked at me kind of funny and then she gave me a hug. “You poor thing. I wouldn’t worry about it. Couples have their ups and downs. You should know that by now better than anyone.”

“Well, sure, but I’m nineteen. He’s twenty-one. Maybe it’s too early for the both of us.”

Gina smiled. Patiently, I thought. “You’re just a bit scared of the wedding Ash, that’s all. Spending your whole life with someone is a scary prospect. Nineteen or twenty-one or thirty-five, marriage is always going to be a bit scary. Why do you think I’m still playing the field? But come on. This is silly. You love him. He loves you. You’ve been together three years. Three years.”

She was right: I was scared. And he did love me as much as I loved him. I thought back to Christmas Eve and the vows we’d exchanged and the love we’d made that night. Our behavior since then was downright ridiculous. At least mine was. Like I said, it felt too good to be true, and I guess I was so certain things were going to go wrong that I’d started making them go wrong myself. A self-fulfilling prophecy sort of thing.

Gina put an arm around my shoulder. “Come on, Ash, let’s go to the churro table.”

I sighed in defeat. “I could use a couple of churros right about now. More than a couple.” As Gina led me away, I promised her, “I’m going to stop these fights with Devon. I’m going to get my life straightened out. That’s my New Year’s resolution. I’m going to switch to the degree that I want to take, not the degree my folks want. And Devon’s going to be there at my side through it all. Together we’re going to take life by the horns.”

Gina and I were hanging out at the churro table and I was in the process of eating my third churro of the evening when my phone rang.

It was Devon’s mom.

I answered it, feeling happier than I’d felt all week. Things were finally going to work out. Things were finally going to get better, just like Devon had promised they would.

“Ash?” It sounded like Devon’s mom had been crying.

My heart beat faster. I felt a rising sense of dread and I couldn’t silence the voice that was whispering to me from deep inside.

I was right I was right I was right.

Something horrible has happened.

And it’s all my fault.

“Yes?” I said, my voice trembling.

“Are you sitting down?”

My God. No. This wasn’t happening.

It couldn’t be happening.

In a daze, I walked across the room until I found a chair. I sat down. Fell down, really.

“It’s Devon,” she continued, almost choking up. “He’s been in an accident. Drunk driver.”

I couldn’t process the words for a few seconds. I just stared into space, blinking.

“What?” My throat had constricted and I couldn’t recognize my own voice, which came out in this high-pitched whine. I couldn’t see, either. Not a thing. My eyes burned and my face felt wet. My hearing was strangely amplified, though, and I heard only one sound, the voice of Devon’s mom. She’d become the only thing that existed in the world for me at this moment. All other sight and sound was extraneous. The people laughing and dancing around me. The happy singing of the Mariachi band.

“He was on the way to the store. It was a head-on collision. The airbag didn’t deploy. Ash….”

Neither of us said anything for long moments.

“He’s… he’s okay, right?” I managed to say through the daze of shock. “He’s going to be okay?”

There was a long pause. “He wanted me to tell you he’s fine.”

The tight clamp that had closed around my throat opened back up. I’d never felt more relieved in my life.

Devon was going to be okay.

If he’d left a message with his mom, that meant he was up and about and talking. He was fine.

“Thank God,” I said.

“Ash, we’re at UT Medical. Better… better get here soon.”

I left the party without saying a word to anyone. I thought I heard Gina calling my name, but her voice sounded distant, dreamy. I ran, staggering, to my car.

Devon was fine. I was sure of it. His mom would have told me if anything were wrong. And I would have felt something if he were hurt, wouldn’t I? We were soulmates. Our psyches were joined beyond the physical realm.

He was fine.

I could barely see the road for the haze that clouded my vision. My breath sounded loud in my ears. Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out. There was a red light. I drove through it. I almost hit a crossing pedestrian. I drove through a stop sign. Another car slammed on the brakes.

He was fine.

I pulled into the hospital parking lot and when I opened the car door, I tripped on my high heels and almost fell. I abandoned the heels and ran in my stockings.

He wasn’t fine.

Devon had third-degree burns over eighty-percent of his body.

He should’ve been dead, but somehow he’d clung to life.

When they finally let me into his hospital room, I couldn’t even see his face because he was wrapped in gauze from head to toe. Little holes had been poked in the fabric for his mouth, nose, and eyes. He was unconscious, and his breathing sounded strained, like every inhalation was a fight.

Only his left hand remained un-bandaged. The hand on which he wore the engagement ring I’d given him. Strangely, the fire hadn’t touched it.

He’d crawled away from the burning car on his own before it exploded. The doctors said he should’ve died from his injuries in the car, but he’d crawled away. He was a fighter. They were convinced he was going to pull through this because someone who had found the inner fortitude to crawl away from a burning car just didn’t die in the end. It went against nature. Not just the doctors were saying that. Everyone was.

They made me go home but I returned again the next day and sat at his bedside, holding his hand. It was New Year’s Day. Devon hadn’t regained consciousness. Probably for the best, at least for now, because if he did he’d only know a world of pain. An IV drip provided a steady stream of morphine and saline into his body.

We were alone. His folks and mine had gone to the cafeteria to give me some time with him. The nurses were a shout away.

“Devon,” I said. My eyes and nostrils burned from all the crying I’d done yesterday and today, and my throat itched. I stared at his featureless face. At the gauze that wrapped most of his body. “I know you’re still in there. I know you can hear me. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have forced you to go out and pick up that bottle.” Choking up, I shut my eyes for a second. The steady beep of his heart-rate monitor permeated the room. “There are so many things I have to tell you. So many things I’ve left unsaid. I swear, I’m going to be a better person. I swear I’m never going to fight with you again. I love you. I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but I’ve loved you through the good times and the bad. That’s why we’re getting married, right?” I tried to smile through the tears. “Devon. We’re going to spend our lives together. You can’t go. Not now. Not when we’re so close to tying the knot. Not when we’re so close to starting our lives. This is our time. Our start.” I couldn’t help the tears now, and the waterworks just flowed. “When you’re better, we’ll run away, just the two of us. I don’t care what you look like. I don’t care if I have to push you around on a wheelchair all day. We’ll go somewhere where there’s no school, no peer pressure, no parents to tell us what to do. Maybe Europe. Or Canada. Or even Mexico.” I entwined my hand in his. I felt our two rings touch. The clink sounded so sad to me―it was just a whimper without him there to push back. “Can you imagine the two of us in Mexico? On the beach? Sipping piña coladas by the pool? We could eat churros and tacos and drink margaritas all day.” I squeezed his hand tightly. So tightly. “We’ll get through this, Devon. Don’t forget your promise to me. Don’t you dare. You swore you’d never leave me.” I let go of his hand and stood up. “You’re too young to die. You’re a fighter. Everyone’s saying it. Well fight, damn you. Fight!”

But nothing could hold him here. Not all the money his folks had. Not his inner strength, not the promise he’d made to me, not even the love we had for each other.

They’d said he couldn’t die.

Except he could.

And he did.

He never regained consciousness.

Two days after the New Year I buried Devon.

Just got the proofs in for the mass-market paperback cover for HOPELESS FOR YOU. It really looks amazing! Click the image for a larger view:

Let me know what you think in the comments section.

By the way, the response from my beta readers has been amazing so far, and really positive. I’m really glad everyone likes the book so far! A few betas from Tennessee caught some mistakes in regards to Southern culture, and I’ve fixed those up along with some other small inconsistencies. I still have a copy edit lined up with my editor, but the book looks good to make the September 23rd, 2013 release date. Yay!

On a side note, I’m back in Canada. I’ll miss Italia that’s for sure–the good food, the great people, but there’s something to be said about waking up in my own bed

Here it is! I’m a happy to reveal the official cover for HOPELESS FOR YOU. The book is on target for its September 21st, 2013 release date. To be notified when the book comes out, click here.

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BLURB:

Ash Jensen, a squeaky-clean sophomore at the University of Tennessee, has a trail of baggage a mile long. She swore she’d never love again but when she finds herself interned to a yummy Canadian conservation officer that promise is tested big-time. Kade Gyllenhahl sports wild tattoos, a rebellious attitude and a fohawk to die for. He’s definitely the wrong man for her and she knows it.

Kade doesn’t have time for a girl like her. She’s a pretentious, unreadable princess who lives her life by her parents’ rules. Besides, he’ll lose his job if he sleeps with Ash. Now if only he could get his mind off her.

When the two of them end up alone and isolated on a routine field trip into the woods, things get a little complicated…

I’m in Milan visiting relatives, and between bouts of spaghetti al’astice and Lambrusco wine I’m working through the second round of developmental edits my editor Bev sent my way. The focus this time round is fine tuning character and conflict.

Once the developmental edit is done, I’ll send the manuscript off to the beta readers–if you’re interested in being one drop me a note via the Contact tab above–and then back to Bev for a final copy edit.

The cover reveal for HOPELESS FOR YOU is scheduled for August 15.

Anyone, it’s time to get back to character and conflict. Talk to you soon, readers!

Hello everyone!

Today I’m happy to announce that HOPELESS FOR YOU, my upcoming New Adult Romance, is officially scheduled to launch on September 23st, 2013.

You can find HOPELESS FOR YOU on Goodreads here. There will be a Goodreads Giveaway soon for Advance Review Copies (ARCs) and I’ll let you all know when it’s ready to go. Or you can just add the book on your shelf on Goodreads and it should notify you when the Giveaway starts.

This book has been a long time coming and I can’t wait to get it into your hands!

The cover reveal is coming this August.