I’ve been working extremely hard to get these books up and running, and with every day I’m coming closer. But that also means I need to start talking about these books or no one is going to know what they’re about or want to read the ARCs when I finally post them.
I’m not used to talking about my books much, just throwing the links out there and hoping for the best, something you probably have come to realize about me if you’ve followed my author journey for any length of time. I’m rather introverted and tend to lurk, but lurking isn’t so great if you have news to share, which I do, and I’ll have a lot of it in the coming weeks.
I started writing this series back in December of 2019. A plot, no, an idea, kind of fell into my lap, and as things do, my story turned into a 500,000 word monster. I’m not sad about it, but it took me a lot longer to get them written and ready to publish than I thought. Four and a half years later, I’m getting close. These were the first books I wrote when I decided to change from 3rd person past POV to 1st person present POV, kicking off my the books I would write under my initials.
As most of my books are, these take place in a huge made-up city in Minnesota called King’s Crossing. In my mind, it’s a mixture of Minneapolis (a city I have been many times), New York City (a city I have never been to in my life), and Savannah, Georgia (a city I have been a handful of times). I wanted the big city feel, especially since Zane Maddox, my main male character for the first half of the series, is a billionaire, but I also wanted the river in Savannah to feature because when we stayed at the Westin, I would love to watch the huge cargo ships go by, and they play a part in book three.
This is the hotel I stayed at, right on the river. It was beautiful, and watching the cargo ships float by was amazing. I hope I bring that feeling into my books.
Anyway, so the story spans a few years and I was able to include the hot stickiness we can experience in the summer, even in Minnesota, and the harsh winter temperatures as well. It’s probably why I like setting my books in Minnesota… I love using all the seasons.
Here’s the cover and the blurb for the first book:
Zane
Six months ago, my parents were killed in a plane crash. They left behind me, my sister, and a billion-dollar company that’s my responsibility now.
The only things that have gotten me through are Zarah and my best friend, Ashton Black.
Until I meet Stella.
Ash hates Stella as much as I love her, and as I try to uncover the reason why my parents’ plane crashed, I struggle to keep both of them in my life.
When she disappears, Ash says, “I told you so,” and all I have left is our friendship built on years of family loyalty, tears, and blood.
Stella
Meeting Zarah Maddox while she tours her parents’ company is a dream come true. She introduces me to her brother, Zane, and a world I want to desperately be a part of as much as I fear.
Ashton Black is Zane’s best friend, and he hates me from the second he hears my name.
He’s not the man Zane thinks he is, but when I discover evidence he’s hurting Zarah, there’s nothing I can do but sacrifice myself to keep them safe.
Zane’s loyalty to the Blacks is stronger than our love, but I won’t be the only one to pay the price.
These books are new for me–they are one long story from start to finish. There’s only one entry point–book one, and books 1 2, 4, and 5 end on mild to hard cliffhangers. The first three books are about Zane and Stella, and the second three books are about Zane’s sister, Zarah, and her love interest, Gage.
As an author, you hear a lot about people hating cliffhangers and maybe readers really do, so I will be very vocal about this point going forward–most of these books end on cliffhangers. It’s another reason why I waited to publish until all the books were ready. There will be a few weeks waiting between books, but not months or even years that are between the releases of some books (no shade to those authors, this was just my preferred way). When the ARCs are ready, they’ll be available all at once, though the releases will be about six weeks apart, if all goes smoothly.
For now, I’ll give you a sneak peek at each book from now until the ARCs are ready, one about every 9 days or so. I’m hoping I don’t need much longer to publish these. I’m so excited, and I hope you are too.
Stick with me through the summer–you won’t regret it!
As always, if you haven’t grabbed your free copy of My Biggest Mistake, you can do that here. It would be great if you could subscribe to my blog for updates and news, especially if you plan to be in on the ARCs and releases of my series. This will be where I’ll post the newest information, so don’t miss out!
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/a4ldiapzmg
Have a great week and a wonderful 4th of July, also, Happy Canada Day to all my friends across the border. Stay safe, and I will touch base with you soon!
VM Rheault 