His Abducted Bride

At the moment, I’m on Chapter 15.  I had to go back and fill in a scene and swap another one, but everything is right on track.  Sandy spends 95% of this book in the fantasy world she created, so you won’t see much of her friend Caitlyn (from Suddenly a Bride) and I don’t know if Lexie fits in this story at all.  Sandy is Caitlyn’s friend, not Lexie’s.  Lexie will most likely show up in Blake’s book.  (Blake is Caitlyn and Lexie’s brother.)  But Blake won’t be part of the Across the Stars Series.  He’ll be in the Florida Contemporary Romance Series.  Substitute Bride is the first book in the Florida series.  I have not scheduled Blake’s book yet so I have no idea when I’ll write it.

I expect His Abducted Bride to finish up the Across the Stars Series.

His Reluctant Lady

I’m on Chapter 11 of this book, though I have written two scenes that come later in the story because those scenes kept me awake at night.  LOL  When a scene bugs me enough, I break down and write it.

Since this book has Claire and Nate (from The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife) and Ethan and Catherine (from A Most Unsuitable Earl) in it, I thought I’d throw in one or two scenes that give a glimpse into what these characters are doing now.  On the time line, His Reluctant Lady starts at the last 1/4th of A Most Unsuitable Earl, so Catherine and Ethan haven’t had their child yet.  I figure someone is bound to wonder why I don’t mention their child when I mention Claire and Nate’s.  Well, the reason is because Catherine is still pregnant.

For fun, I’m adding a scene with Ethan and Catherine that is really a follow-up from A Most Unsuitable Earl because there was one issue I had left unresolved.  I’m not telling what it is (some of you will probably guess), but I’d rather wait until the book is out so you can find out what it is.

As a side note, I got another Regency story idea while writing this book.  I mentioned a wager that two earls are making for a lady, and Agatha (heroine in His Reluctant Lady) exposes it in the Tittletattle.  This has a few consequences, one of which will be the focus in the book I’ll write featuring the two earls and the lady in question.  I might end up writing that book instead of Just Good Friends.  I want to write Perry’s story in The Earl’s Scandalous Wife, Boaz’s Wager, and Patty’s Gamble, so I only have a slot for one more book this year to work on and I think the earls with their wager will be it.

Kent Ashton’s Backstory

This is going to be a novella.  It was supposed to be a short story.  Then it was bumped to a novellette.  Now it’s moving to a novella.  I’m in Chapter 7, and I figure I probably just made it past the halfway point.

Just so everyone is clear on what this is, it is a prequel to Lassoing Her Groom.  I’ll make that clear in the description when I publish it.  I realize some people will assume this is a romance, and while it has a romance in it, it is one in which the hero does not get the girl.  So it’s a sad ending.  Ann, after all, ended up with Todd in Falling In Love With Her Husband, so she can’t end up with Kent.  There’s also a surprising twist with Rebecca.  For a moment, I thought I’d end up in trouble with her since she let me know that she’s not the villain I expected her to be.  It’s not easy when the characters end up changing on me.  But she gave me a nice “out” so I can proceed with making Kent the hero in Lassoing Her Groom.  (For a moment, I thought Kent really would end up with Rebecca, but as it turns out, this won’t be the case.  *big sigh of relief* I’m already 22,000 words into Lassoing Her Groom and don’t want to lose that story.  LOL)

Lassoing Her Groom

Currently, I am at Chapter 8, though I have written about two chapters’ worth of future scenes.  (So this book is really 10 chapters completed.)

I have to say that Rose Larson is turning out to be a very persistent heroine.  No matter how much Kent does to push her away, she isn’t backing down.  She has it set in her mind that she and Kent will end up together (and she’s right), and nothing anyone says or does is changing that.  I’m not exactly sure how she convinces Kent they’re meant for each other, but since I already have a scene in mind where he proposes, I have to trust these characters to get me to that proposal.  LOL

A lot of writing depends on trusting the characters to lead me to the happy ending.  I know they will get me there, but I can’t help but wonder how sometimes.