For those of you who are avid readers of ours and read the ramblings, you know that we tend to write ourselves into corners a lot.
Palmer’s book was no different. We wrote Palmer at the end of Lance’s book without realizing how similar it was to her mom, Sedona’s story, but in the end, we liked the irony in it. Especially if you read Operation Bailey Birthday when Palmer was fourteen. She found herself in a similar position as her mom, with a little different circumstances.
The biggest thing that changed in this book was the hero’s name! When he appeared in the bonus scene for The Trouble with Runaway Brides, he was originally named Peyton. But with Peyton and Palmer that got confusing real fast, for both us and all our editors! LOL So we changed it to Hudson and we’re happy we did because it really fits him better than Peyton ever did anyway.
Some of you might remember Matt as Grady Kale’s rival in Cold as Ice. Originally, we thought he was going to play a more intricate role with Palmer and that she was going to actively pursue him and ask Hudson to help her.
We worried about bringing Matt and Theresa in because we didn’t want any love triangles, but we found ourselves in another friend-to-lovers romance and if you know us, this trope puts us on the struggle bus every time. As always, we found ourselves questioning again, why hadn’t they crossed that line already? Sure, Adley was a big reason, no parent wants to take a chance that hurts their child. And we had Palmer’s wound, but Hudson needed to act, so we needed Matt to show interest in Palmer and create that jealousy. Vice versa with Theresa and Palmer.
We love being in Lake Starlight again and bringing in all the mature Bailey kids. It’s always so much fun writing in this world, kind of like going home. Even though we’ll always miss Grandma Dori and Grandma Ethel, Alice and her gang at Northern Lights bring their own brand of fun!
A special thanks to our sensitivity readers. Writing a deaf character comes with its challenges and these ladies made sure Palmer’s character and the world she as she experiences was portrayed as accurately as possible. Misha Patel, Genevieve Lawrence, Renee Blanchet, and Christie Schauer, thank you for all your feedback!
As always, we have a lot of people to thank for getting this book into your hands…
Nina and the entire Valentine PR team.
Cassie from Joy Editing for line edits and working with us on our timeline when the unexpected happened.
Ellie from My Brother’s Editor for line edits and proofing.
Hang Le for the cover and branding for the entire series.
Lindee Robinson for his awesome job of photographing our Palmer and Hudson.
All the bloggers who graciously carve out time to read, review and/or promote us.
Piper Rayne Unicorns who give us a fun space online to chat and show us love on the daily!
Readers – There’s so many options to choose from these days and we are beyond grateful that you invested your time and energy into this little world we created.
I’m sure you know who is next. Harper’s a little quirky, a little wild, and a little free. We can’t wait to dive into her story. And who doesn’t love another Bailey baby coming into the mix?!?
xo,
Piper & Rayne