Miles & Caroline character art!!!

My gorgeous Lennox Lovelies,

What do parenting and authoring have in common? It's the LIES. Stick with me here. 😆

When I had babies and then very young kids, I was always told it would get easier. At the next milestone, the next age, when this growth spurt ended or that tooth finally came in. Heck, even when the weather changed. "It gets easier," more seasoned parents would tell me.

Aaaand it was horseshit.

Look, it's true that the relentless, soul-crushing bodily fatigue of having a newborn or toddler eventually ends. Parents do eventually get a full night's sleep. But it can take many years to get there, and even when you finally get there, that flavor of hard (be cool) is just replaced by some other flavor of hard (I said be cool).

Kids grow and brains mature and siblings come along and friendships form and these little lives get more complex and nuanced as they get older. So, you may get eight hours of sleep, but now your kid hits you with questions that you can't answer, they have social upsets and moral quandaries and they want to start wearing mascara and maybe get their nose pierced and oh shit, are there GANGS at the high school??

"How the fuck does this relate to writing a book, Hannah, you absolute turnip??" you might be asking me, and rightly so.

Here's the thing: it doesn't get easier. Just because you've been doing it for longer or have more experience doesn't mean it's easier. Every story (like every child) is its own unique tangle of multifaceted mayhem and it must be shaped with brand-new research, brand-new problem-solving, and brand-new emotional support snacks (because that safe food you used to have all the time now tastes like ass).

The problems every story presents are different. The solutions are different. The characters are different. The plot is different. The tropes are different. THE WHOLE DAMN FUCKING THING IS DIFFERENT.

And it's not easier. It's just... again.

Sure, aspects of it get easier. But others get harder.

I'm trying to remind myself of this as I draft my fourth book (current word count 31k, thank you, thank you, I accept any and all gold stars ⭐) and want to tear out my hair that it's not easier. Shouldn't it be?? I've written three whole-ass books already! Don't I know what I'm doing yet?

"My sweet summer child," I say to me, gently caressing my own face. "No the fuck you don't. Now get back to work."

Anyhoo, I've got some delicious character art of Miles & Caroline to share with you because part of "get back to work" involved actually commissioning it and I FINALLY DID THAT THING.

So, thanks for reading this far. I hope my rambling above resonated with you as a creative or as a parent, or both, or neither. You do you, boo. I just write kissing books.

Speaking of kissing.... LOOK AT THEMMMMM:

This was drawn by Valery Maroushchak (who also did my previous character art for Hey Jude and Jesse's Girl)! She did such a fantastic job. I think my eyes will be permanently heart-shaped. 😍

NOTE: I haven't shared this yet on social media so please refrain from doing so until Wednesday when I plan to post this on my Instagram.

I hope the weather is lovely where you are and that you have a great book to read while Gus' story simmers along over here! He is shaping up to be all the things sweaty emojis are made of, so GIRD YOUR TITS. I think you're gonna love him. ❤️️

Books Books Books!

Check out some of these fantastic indie romances, y'all:

Ronnie Mathews: Melody Whispers​

Blurb:

Two truths and a lie: they met on a fall evening, their time together was unforgettable, and that was the end of their story.

The last thing Harriet Thomas expected was a surprise on a rare evening off. More determined than ever to build a bright, happy future for herself and her unborn baby, she knows what she has to do: track down Warren, the man with the sad eyes she spent the night with. Harriet makes one thing clear: you’re in or you’re out, and, to her surprise, Warren shows up, day and night.

Happy endings aren’t on Warren O’Connor’s radar. He lives life one day at a time, throwing himself into his job, trying to forget a past that still haunts him. That is, until a single encounter rewrites his entire future. She was supposed to be a moment of weakness, but Harriet ends up giving Warren more than he bargained for—a reason to hope again.

get Melody Whispers!

Hailey Rodger: Over the Line​

Blurb:

The plan was supposed to be simple. Heal, rehab, get back on the ice.

Definitely don’t let anything past the line—especially Dr. Carina Park.

She’s the last person I should want. Too young and off-limits. Too focused on her career as an orthopaedic surgeon. She has a spine of steel and doesn't flinch, no matter how grumpy I get.

From the second she puts me back together after my knee blows out, I know I’m in trouble. Because under all that armor, she’s fire and focus and the kind of sharp I’ve always respected.

So when one unexpected night turns into something neither of us planned for, the line between what’s right and what’s real stops feeling so clear, and I stop pretending I don’t want more.

Nothing about this is simple. She’s built her life in the OR, and I’ve built mine protecting the goal line. Now we’re both fighting for something we never saw coming.

She wasn't part of my plan, but I've never wanted anything more.

And if she wants me too, I’ll gladly step over the line.

Over The Line is a grumpy x grumpy, goalie x surgeon, accidental pregnancy hockey romance, and is book four in the Colorado Storm series of interconnected standalones.

get Over the Line!

Marissa James: Blue Line​

Blurb:

One night. That was the deal. But things never go according to plan.

I’m not looking for love. Every relationship ends with the guy leaving me for their soulmate.

Then I come face to face with an ex-boyfriend and his fiancée. He makes me feel like I’m not doing anything with my life. So I tell a white lie, that I’m also engaged.

It backfires when I’m invited to his engagement party. Now I need a fake fiancé.

Enter Weston Reynolds, my brother’s best friend and teammate—the guy I’ve secretly had a crush on for years.

Except news of our “engagement” leaks, resulting in endorsement deals for Weston, and he asks me to keep up our ruse for the rest of the offseason.

The more time I spend with him, the more the lines between fake and real blur. I think he might be my forever, but I don’t know if I’m his.

Blue Line is book four in the Orlando Storm series but can be read as a standalone.

get Blue Line!

💛💛💛💛💛

And as always, here's where you can find my books.

get the Lennox Valley Chronicles!

May your book boyfriend be the type who ACTUALLY makes life easier. (And hotter. And orgasmier. Can't hurt.)

xo,