Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Checking In

I'm making good progress on Mike and Yoshi's book, which continues the Firsts and Forever Series. It's written from Mike Dombruso's perspective, and it's very much a friends-to-lovers story.

I've absolutely loved seeing the world through Mike's eyes! He's been in the background since the second book in the series, and we've never really gotten to know him. It's been great fun learning what makes this quiet, seemingly reserved, widowed father of three tick, and that old expression has proven to be true: still waters run deep. I've also really enjoyed exploring his relationships with his three sons and his three brothers, especially his oldest brother Dante.

It's been great getting to know Yoshi in depth as well. He's been around since Belonging (book 8 in the series, which came out in 2015), but we don't actually know all that much about this sexy, Japanese-American tattoo artist. And even though Mike and Yoshi have been friends for a long time, I've really enjoyed watching these two characters getting to connect and learn about each other on a much deeper level.

I've taken my time in this book to really focus on Mike and Yoshi's friendship. For the first third of the book, we get to see what that friendship means to both of them, while getting to know the two main characters as well as Mike's three sons. In the next third (act two), Mike and Yoshi finally come together as lovers. They're on vacation on Catalina Island, which provides a beautiful backdrop to their newfound passion. Then in act three, they're back home in San Francisco, trying to navigate life not only as a new couple, but as a new family, which is a lot of pressure on both of them. I'm loving the added element of the three kids in this book, each of whom has proven to be a unique individual with his own take on things.

The title and cover reveal will happen in a few weeks, and I'm shooting for mid-to-late May to have the book completed and published on both Amazon and Smashwords (which in turn distributes to iTunes, Barnes and Noble and other outlets).

If you'd like to receive a notification when this book is available, you can sign up for my email newsletter here. I only send about four newsletters a year, primarily to announce new releases. And to get a peek at some of the inspiration photos for this book, you can visit my Pinterest board here. More soon!