Nothing More Live in the Wild

In case you missed this morning’s posts, Nothing More is finally live! It’s out on Kindle, and I’ve uploaded the paperback; just waiting on review approval from Amazon for that one. I’ve tried – keyword tried – getting it uploaded to BN and Kobo, but no dice so far. The upload screens just spin and spin without progress. I’ll try again later. 

Anyway, it’s out! I’m happy, I’m relieved – turning a book loose in the wild always feels like turning in a massive research paper in school and then switching your brain off right afterward. Big sigh. Once it’s been out for a week or two, I want to do a spoilery debrief post where I can break down specific scenes and creative decisions. I’d even love to take reader questions in that post, so be thinking of yours as you read and I’ll ask for them in a FB post before I draft the blog post. For now, though, I’m talking about the book in a general sense.

Last year, right after I released Long Way Down, I thought I’d push Fortunes of War back a teensy bit to make room for a “quick” NaNo project featuring Raven and Toly. *laughs through the tears over “quick”* I finished the manuscript in February, and then spent the past month editing and working with my editor and beta to get it to where I wanted it. 4 months is quick in the publishing industry (5 if you count this month), but it’s felt like a much larger undertaking than I originally anticipated. 

I think for some, romantic storytelling is about offering fantasies into which readers can insert themselves: authors asking “what do readers want for themselves?” For me, it’s instead about matchmaking. About pairing characters based on chemistry, experiences, attraction – I’m thinking about them as if they were two friends I was trying to set up at a party. It’s not about what I want, but about what works best for them as a couple. It’s an approach that’s led me to some unexpected pairings, Raven and Toly, for instance, but which always keeps me on my toes; the challenge keeps it interesting. 

As I sit here in Soffee shorts and a hoodie, between horse feedings and dogs walks, it’s safe to say Raven isn’t much like me at all. She’s one of my favorites, though, and I’ve always been very hesitant to pair her with anyone for a book of her own. Wealthy, chic, sharp-tongued – she’s a great secondary character, but had the potential be off-putting at center stage. Like with every character, I couldn’t write her a love story until I knew what made her most vulnerable. She’s a badass in the modeling and fashion business; nothing scares her professionally, and she never walks away from a meeting without holding the upper hand. Her vulnerabilities are more personal: like all of Devin’s kids, she’s got that killer edge, and intolerance for bullshit. She can play Flattered with the men in her social circles…but secretly hates it. Romantically, she wants a partner: someone good in bed, but someone competent and tough enough to be allowed into her closest confidences. She always thought she’d have to keep a man at arm’s length from her family, because whether he was a banker, or a biker, she assumed he’d be a blowhard she tolerated, rather than loved. Not to get too Freudian about it, but though she never acknowledged it, she was always going to need to be with someone who reminded her of her (most capable) brothers. And someone who was also content to sit back and let her be the social alpha of their pairing. Not a queen because she was married to a king, but a queen in her own right, with her mate standing as prince consort. That’s Toly. 

In a complimentary sense, Toly’s vulnerabilities are personal, too. He knows he’s capable professionally…but he’s only ever been a professional asset. He’s never had anything like a dependable personal connection with anyone, friendly or romantic. There’s a scene in which he wonders if he would even recognize happiness if he felt it. When he was bratva, the women around him were either terribly vulnerable (like his mother), or paid to be there. He likes that Raven is so steely, and her own woman, that she doesn’t need the club financially or socially. They also have a connection that she doesn’t even know about, and which you’ll have to read to learn. Developing feelings for her gives him a bit of an internal crisis, but it turns out, all he ever really wanted out of life was a family. He didn’t expect her crazy family, but it’s a good fit. 

This installment takes place entirely in New York, in both Manhattan and Albany, and it’s very tangled up in the NYC organized crime scene. Club vs. bratva, past vs. future. There’s lots more romance than Long Way Down, along with healthy doses of mystery, violence, and all the usual Dartmoor warning labels. I’m so pleased that these two unlikely characters found their perfect match in each other, and I so hope you’ll enjoy reading about them. 

Xx Lauren