Countdown to 20

I cannot do my 11th Avon romance, Confessions of a Little Black Gown without pairing it with its back-to-back partner, my 12th Avon romance, Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress. I wrote these books in about nine months total without any interruption so they could be published back to back. It wasn’t easy, but the stories are so intertwined that is was the best way to write them.

Yet these stories couldn’t be more different. Confessions of a Little Black Gown takes place over the fortnight of a house party, while Memoirs is just that—the story of Pippin and Dash and the twenty plus years it takes them to find their way to each other. While I love the fast paced romance of Tally and Larken, the poignancy of Pippin and Dash is in the mistakes they make and the heartbreaking choices that leave them separated for so long.

To me, this makes their story more real than any other romance I’ve written. When Pippin makes the choices she does in Confessions, when we see the outcome in Memoirs, it is heart wrenching. While some readers felt the pair were cheated by not having their immediate happily ever after, I will stand my ground in the firm belief that in the end, the Pippin and Dash who gain their hearts’ desire will never waste a single moment of that gift.

Besides, Memoirs is a good reminder that true love can happen at any time in our lives.