Cover Copy for Unbuttoned and Novellas

I’m working on another novella right now. This one isn’t for Presents OR Silver Creek. (Sekrit Project alert!) But it is a rom com in the vein of Silver Creek, and, like that series, is set in Oregon and contains shenanigans and a sexy cowboy.

I never thought I would enjoy writing short, but now that I’ve done it, I find that I really enjoy it. I’ve written two ‘shorts’ for Harlequin, one a 14K ebook (The Life She Left Behind) and now an online serial read, which is 10K and has a chapter release every week. (You can read it here)

I’ve also done a couple of 30K novellas. This will be my third one. I find there’s something wonderfully straightforward and refreshing about them, and part of me wonders if it’s the manner of conflict you have time to deal with in a novella.

It has to conflict you can solve in an abbreviated word count. Presents is like that too, but 50K, so long as its tightly focused on the main characters, is enough time to delve pretty deep! And that’s not to say novellas can’t be deep. But I think it’s easier to fill them with real world conflict and have it sustain over the course of the book nicely.

I’ve said it before, but size matters. The size of your conflict matched up with your word count. Striking that balance is a huge part of whether your book is successful…or not.

And on that note, my editor said I could share the cover blurb for Unbuttoned, my Silver Creek novella, coming out in June!

Carly Denton has learned to keep her buttons and emotions firmly fastened. Her parents’ constant drama, and an unrequited crush on her brother’s best friend, taught her to keep her passion beneath the surface. But she can no longer avoid the one man with the ability to bring that passion to a boil…

Lucas remembers Carly as a freckle-faced tomboy—not a frosty woman who treats him like a burr under her saddle. But when they have to work together on a charity project, Lucas is shocked to find their bickering melt into some serious mutual attraction. He’s determined to show Carly that he’s the man for her, if only she’d learn to let loose.

Lucas is the last man on earth Carly should give in to. The freedom she finds in his arms has her feeling happier than ever, but is it enough to make her realize that the greatest risk isn’t losing your heart, but losing the chance at happiness?