Beware of Dog is One Week Old

 

With the cat, of course

Beware of Dog published one week ago today! Feels like longer. 

If you haven't grabbed a copy yet, you can do so here:

Kindle

Paperback

Nook

Kobo

If you have read the book, you can keep scrolling for some personal headcanons/alternate version of scenes. There are spoilers here, so proceed with caution! 

Ready?

Last chance to back out...

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Mercy and Ava's Fourth Baby

She doesn't appear here, or even in Lord Have Mercy for that matter, since Ava's pregnant at the end of the book, but Mercy and Ava's fourth baby is a girl, named Sophie. 

The Met

I was originally going to have Cass and Shep attend the Met Gala. Raven and Cass were definitely going to insist that Shep wear red.

“Nobody’s gonna want pictures of me there.”

With a leap of excitement, Cass noted he didn’t say he wasn’t going.

“Hm.” Raven made a considering face. A devious one. “That depends on how I dress you.” She smiled evilly. “I’m thinking red.”

“Over my dead fucking body.”

But Cass perked up at the idea. “Dark red.”

“Of course.”

“With black lapels?”

“Ooh,” Raven said. “Yes. Velvet or satin?”

Cass considered.

“No red,” Shep told first her, and then Raven. “No. Red.”

“Don’t fight it.” Toly hid a rare grin in the edge of his glass. “You know you’ll wear whatever they pick out.”

It was going to be face-palm secondhand embarrassing, but Shep would try his best not to make a fool of himself, for Cass's benefit, and some of the fashion big wigs Raven wanted her to meet would be charmed by the pair of them, once they got past the age difference. Really, you'd be better off taking a toddler to a formal event than Shep. 

I wound up scrapping the scene before it was written because, one, it didn't add to the actual plot of the story. And two, given both Cass and Shep's injuries, going to the Met didn't work within the timeline. Just know that they attend at some point, and that it's cringey. 

The Trial

I'm a sucker for a good courtroom scene, so I was originally going to have Sig's trial begin, and to show Jamie and then Cass testifying. Cass was going to hold her own, despite the defense attorney's best efforts to trip her up. When it looked like the jury was leaning toward conviction, that was when Sig and his dad would sic the Tres Diablos on Cass. 

Ultimately, I decided the book was shaping up to be long enough, ditched the trial scene, and cut straight to the shooting. It heightens the near-tragedy of it all having her get shot on her wedding day, and the plot doesn't get mired down in slow procedural drama. 

The Kids

It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it line in the epilogue, but it reveals that Raven and Toly have three kids total. Natalia, another girl, Alina, and a boy, Maxim. 

Shep and Cass's first baby, the source of her morning sickness in the epilogue, is a boy, named after Devin. They call him Dev. 

I also have (what I think is) a funny scene in my mind that I don't want to talk about, because I want to actually write it out. It'll have more impact that way. I mentioned posting fluff, and I do intend to, so be on the lookout for more Brood shenanigans here on the blog in short form.