The release day for The Bad Boy’s Gift is finally here, and I am so excited and proud. The Bad Boys of Regret Hollow series has been a year in the making, but in many ways, it’s actually been four years in the making and encompasses so many of publishing's unpredictable ups and downs.
In the spring of 2012, Musa Publishing sent out a submission call for a new imprint called “Finally Ever After,” seeking second-chance romance short stories. Second chance romances between reunited lovers are my favorite stories to write, so I immediately jumped on the opportunity. I quickly had a draft of a story titled Zane’s Art, and I knew I wanted to write a sequel, titled Wyatt’s Guilt. In October 2012, Zane’s Art was published, followed by Wyatt’s Guilt in December. Zane’s Art was largely lost in a frenzy of new book releases, but Wyatt’s Guilt became my bestselling book from Musa Publishing.
The imprint, however, never caught on or had much success, and in early 2015 Musa Publishing closed its doors. I got all the rights back to my books, but instead of immediately putting them up for sale, I waited. The abrupt closing caught me by surprise, and I didn’t have a plan. (I like to have a road map, know what’s going on, and know where I’m going!) I also knew that my writing had improved in the years since I’d written these stories. And finally, I wanted the books to be part of a bigger series, with familiar secondary characters in each book, even as each book could be read as a stand-alone happily-ever-after story.
With these tenants in mind, I created the fictional small town of Regret Hollow, Wisconsin and a unifying theme—bad boys! I transformed and expanded the baseline story from Zane’s Art into Zane and Julianne’s story in The Bad Boy’s Gift. Then I did the same thing for book two, using Wyatt’s Guilt as a base for the Wyatt and Nicole’s story in The Bad Boy’s Guilt.
Also caught up in the Musa closing was a novella I had self-published and then taken to Musa to be part of another imprint. With a huge transformation and expansion, the story formerly known as Haley’s Man became The Bad Boy’s Guarantee. For the fourth book in the series, The Bad Boy’s Goodness, I went completely from scratch, writing a brand new book with two characters who first appear in The Bad Boy’s Gift.
By November of 2015 I had all four stories written and self-edited. I then turned to Kate Richards, my wonderful editor from Decadent Publishing, who also has her own freelance editing company Wizards in Publishing, to help me whip my books into shape. In addition, I turned to the amazing Kim Killion of The Killion Group and Hot Damn Designs to create the beautiful covers. In January, I took my books and my dreams to Danielle Barclay of Barclay Publicity to help me create a launch plan for The Bad Boys of Regret Hollow series.
And now, here I am. I have a plan! All four books are available for pre-order. The Bad Boy’s Gift is live, available now, and only 99₵!
In addition, I have a spectacular giveaway going on with the grand prize of a Kindle Fire, so be sure to enter the Rafflecopter below.
His gift is the only thing left from the love they shared…and she plans to sell it.
Former bad boy, now famous artist, Zane DeMonde laughs off an engraved invitation to return to Regret Hollow, the same town that booted him out fifteen years ago. When he discovers the woman who once broke his heart is putting his professional reputation at risk by selling his old paintings, he’s no longer laughing. He’ll do anything to stop her, even return to town … even put his heart in jeopardy again.
High school art teacher Julianne Truman's last chance to save her beloved art department from budget cuts is to sell the old artwork Zane gifted her. Her heart breaks to remove the final traces of him from her life, but she needs to finally move on from the love she never got over.
Julianne’s life belongs to her students, and Zane’s only goal is to protect his art. But the moment they wrap their arms around each other, their old attraction flares to life hot enough to incinerate them and their best intentions.
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Love this, can´t wait for my chance to read! =)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway & Happy Tuesday!
//Linda
Thanks for the giveaway :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance!
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Sara. Sometimes what we consider bad luck turns out to be a great chance.
ReplyDeleteEmma