june updates
little things, volume sixteen
Hey book bestie! It’s time to catch you up on what went on behind the scenes in May.
I completed my first brand design and graphics for an indie author client. I can’t wait for you all to see everything in the near future.
Character art was revealed for Come Back to Me on May 4th.
I sent out my second monthly newsletter on May 11th.
On May 15th, I posted about Mental Health Awareness Month and my journey with anxiety/panic attacks.
On May 17th, I celebrated two years of After All This Time being out in the world.
I received my first proof copy of Come Back to Me. I cried a little because it’s surreal to have a physical copy now. I’ve been working on this book off-and-on for almost three years.
I started a copy edit for one of my editing clients. Oh, and I’m fully reserved for the summer *sobs*. I still can’t believe I get to do this as my job.
Thank you so much for reading through my monthly newsletter. Check back next month for the next one.
AUTHOR JESSICA SYDNEY’S JUNE BOOK SPOTLIGHT
Abigail Briar has spent her life searching for approval, acceptance, and validation: from her parents, from academia, and from herself. The only person she feels entirely at ease with is her best friend.
Three things truly matter to Erik Larsson: the environment, his family, and his best friend since childhood. In a world that constantly places stress on his mind and body, Abby has always been his quiet haven from the noise.
Constant companions since they were born two weeks apart twenty-five years ago, it’s always been them against the world. Through mental health issues, family struggles, and across large distances, they’ve always had each other’s backs.
To everyone around them, they’re a perfect match, although they’ve spent years insisting they’re just friends.
When they spend a week in the close proximity of a holiday with their respective (and ever so slightly meddling) families, the connection that has always existed between them begins to heat up. But as the tension between them reaches boiling point, will ghosts from their long history threaten to tear them apart?
Sunshine Kisses by Kelly L. Clarke is book one in the Love in London series, specifically a series of interconnected standalones. It’s an open door childhood best friends to lovers second chance contemporary romance with mental health and autism rep as well as references from The Princess Bride, a dual timeline, and dual POV.
HIGHBALL HONEYBEE BY M. RHIANNON
The line between loathing and love is dangerously thin.
Blair Kennedy is a big believer in love.
Not just any love.
The kind that stops time, completely consumes you, and refuses to be ignored.
But her past scorched that dream, and love has been in a Sahara-level drought ever since.
With love on the back burner, work isn’t just a lifeline for Blair.
It’s everything. Her way of proving she’s worth something.
A new job at a firm she admired feels like serendipity.
Blair is driven and unshakable.
Heels firmly afoot, highball in hand, she’s ready to conquer.
There’s only one problem: her CEO, Presley King.
Billionaire. Brilliant. Infuriatingly perfect in a suit.
He pushes her harder than anyone ever has, and she matches him.
She thrives on the tension until the lines between loathing and lust begin to blur.
Just when she thinks she can handle him, her past swaggers back in.
The man who once held her heart, who knows her better than anyone, reminds her what love feels like.
One man feels familiar and inevitable.
The other torches her soul, and she’s drawn to the flame.
Blair is caught between history and desire,
but the line between past and passion is never clean. It’s loaded with secrets.
And some secrets don’t just simmer-they explode.
Shattering reputations and burning any chance at the big, all-consuming love.
Highball Honeybee by M. Rhiannon is book two in the Cocktails & Dreams series. It’s an open door workplace billionaire romance with forced proximity, strong friendships, and sizzling chemistry.
STATE OF GRACE BY MAGGIE LINN SHARPE
Meg
It’s been over three years since I lost my husband to a car accident. Three years of healing and discovering who I am without the man who had been my one and only since we were kids. Three years of figuring out how to be a single mom to our son. I’m ready to move on and try dating for the first time in my life, but between knowing literally every person in our tiny town and my mother-in-law wanting to relive the past, I’m not in any hurry.
That is, until Hunter Morgan lands in my front yard. He’s handsome, and so freaking charming I can’t help but like him, but he’s not here forever. The spark between us is undeniable. I can’t let myself fall for him, but a temporary fling could be the perfect bridge between my first love and my someday love. After all, who better to help me get used to dating than a millionaire with a playboy reputation and a secret heart of gold?
Hunter
I’m supposed to be in my shiny corner office in New York, preparing to take over as CEO of my family’s communications empire, but instead, I’m here in small-town Ohio doing manual labor. As punishment for a lapse in judgment, my dad banished me, demoted me, and there’s no end date in sight for my exile. The town of Beachville Springs may be charming, but I’m ready to get back to the big city.
I never saw Meg Thompson coming. She’s gorgeous and fiery, but more than that, she’s selfless in the way she takes care of everyone around her. It makes me want to be the one who takes care of her. The harder I fall, for both Meg and the quaint town, the more I want to stay. But with a past like mine and my family legacy riding on my shoulders, how could I ever deserve to fill her late husband’s shoes?
State of Grace by M. Rhiannon is book one in the Beachville Springs series. It’s an open door small town romance with a single mom, love after loss, and a guaranteed HEA.
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