The Writing Life

A small piece of me surfaces in every story that I write. And since books, food, and music are a few of the things I am passionate about, music and food often show up in the stories I write.

One of my favorite scenes in Engaging the Enemy is where Kayleigh teaches Parker—her former friend and fake fiancé—how to dance with Marvin Gaye crooning “I Want You” in the background. In The Billionaire’s Legacy, Benji and Sloane dance to L.T.D.’s “Love Ballad” at Blake and Savannah’s wedding. And in A Valentine for Christmas Julian and Chandra can’t resist going down the Soul Train line when McFadden & Whitehead’s “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” begins to play.

And as for food…well my characters are always eating and drinking. From the fluffy, crispy, delicious waffles Parker and Kayleigh shared over breakfast at their mountain cabin to the meals Blake cooks for Savannah in Savannah’s Secrets or the gooey, decadent brownies Dallas and Zora shared in Waking Up Married the night before they awoke to discover that they’d gotten hitched at a Vegas chapel.

My latest release, Twice Faked—an HEA Collective Exclusive—gave me another opportunity to mash up my love of books, music, and food. The story is about a fading pop star and a celebrity DJ who find themselves faking a relationship again, just like in high school. Only this time the stakes are much higher than vying to be Homecoming King and Queen.

Karris Baker is trying to stave off the bad press after her breakup with her former boy band beau so it doesn’t detract from the publicity she’s trying to drum up to save her old high school in Atlanta, Georgia, which is dilapidated and on the verge of closing. Ward Hughes is tired of traveling the world and living in hotels. He wants to settle down in Atlanta and start the next phase of his career as a songwriter and record producer. So helping Karris write and produce her comeback album would be just the thing to help him switch tracks in his career. But as they fake a relationship to save their old school and revive their careers, they discover that maybe nothing about their relationship has ever really been fake.

I had so much fun writing Twice Faked—available exclusively through the Happily Ever After Collective patreon here. The story is a blend of fake relationship, enemies to lovers, and second-chance romance with lots of fun banter and a host of memorable secondary characters (something I also love.)

To get your copy, join the Happily Ever After Collective for as little as five dollars a month. You’ll get access to exclusive behind-the-scenes info, exclusive author chats, HEA Collective merchandise and so much more.

Read the second excerpt of Twice Faked below. Read the first excerpt here.

Twice Faked Excerpt #2

“So… about this proposal of yours that we date. For publicity reasons,” he added quickly.

“You’re considering my request?” Karris turned toward Ward. “What happened to ‘request made and denied’?” She mimicked his deep voice.

“You know you’re not helping your cause, right?” Ward furrowed one of his thick brows and frowned.

“Sorry.” Karris tucked her hair behind one ear. “Maybe I’m looking a gift horse in the mouth here, but you were so adamant about not doing it. What changed?”

Ward shifted his gaze from hers to his photos on the wall, then back to her again. “I’ve had a change in perspective.” He folded his leg, propping an ankle over his knee and resting his chin on his fist. “Tell me how you see this playing out?”

Between her own objections to this plan and Ward’s rejection, she hadn’t thought through the details.

“I just need to change the story out there about me. I was thinking we could go on a few dates. Be seen having brunch at Café Intermezzo and a few other spots around town. Be photographed at a nightclub or high-profile event in New York or LA—whichever you’d prefer.”

Ward stared at her with an unreadable expression, so she kept prattling on.

“You’re a very busy person, so I want to be respectful of your time and work around your schedule. It’ll take a little planning so we can leak our location to the right media outlets. Take a few photos with fans to ensure the sighting hits social media and the right blogs.”

“Will we be required to wear matching outfits?” Ward groused.

“I’m a solo act, sweetie. I don’t do matching outfits.”

One of Ward’s thick eyebrows shot up.

“Correction: I haven’t done matching outfits since we wore them in high school,” she clarified.

“Humph.”

Karris was beginning to think conversing with a tiger would be easier. At least the tiger would eat her and put her out of her misery.

Eat her?

Okay, now she was having indescribably naughty thoughts about those sensual lips of Ward’s.

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Until next week!