It's release day for This Time Around!

Want to know a dirty little secret?

Seven years ago, I never imagined marrying a single dad or
writing a rom-com inspired by that unique dynamic. Funny
how things turn out!

If you go back and read through posts I wrote seven years ago when this blog was brand new and my life was much, much different, I'm betting you'd catch me in a lie.

It wasn't a lie, exactly. Just a steadfast belief that I would never, ever want to write a rom-com with kids in it. For that matter, I'd never, ever have kids in my own life. Period.

Funny, how things change.

That's actually the idea behind my new romantic comedy, This Time Around. That notion of looking at the life you expected as a younger, more naive version of yourself, and setting that pretty picture next to the framed photo of how things actually turned out, and then asking yourself, "what in the ever lovin' hell was I thinking?"

Okay, here's another declaration I might live to regret someday: I can't imagine ever writing romance with a nubile young 21-year-old heroine and her equally-inexperienced, fresh-faced love interest hero. Those kinds of stories don't appeal to me. I love characters who've lived a little. Who've set off running in one direction, tripped over their own ambitions, and wound up falling ass-over-teakettle into something they never saw coming.

That's how it is for Jack and Allie, the thirty-six-year old stars of This Time Around. They were high school sweethearts whose relationship imploded a couple years into college when it became clear they wanted different things out of life. But when they meet up again sixteen years later, it's clear they both ended up in much different places than either expected.

Is it okay to admit I kinda love it when people have to eat their words? Even when they're my own words and I'm the one doing the snacking. Words are delicious, by the way.

Oh, and there are cats! Lots and lots of polydactyl cats in this book. Not sure what a polydactyl cat is? I can help you with that!


So that's a little bit of what to expect in my new romantic comedy, This Time Around. Want to buy it? You can do that right here for only $3.99.

And while you're at it, please comment below to let me know one thing you once predicted for yourself that now makes you laugh a bit with the power of 20/20 hindsight.