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Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. EPILOGUE
  55. THANK YOU!
  56. MORE FROM VICTORIA WALTERS
  57. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  58. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  59. ALSO BY VICTORIA WALTERS
  60. Boldwood Ever After
  61. About Boldwood Books

Jake paced for a couple of seconds then stopped and faced the room again. ‘I didn’t want Davis Mulberry to know what was happening in my personal life but I also wasn’t sure I believed in love stories any more because my faith in love had been shattered,’ he said. The room was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. I heard his voice catch. I started to bring my phone down but he saw and shook his head so I kept on filming. ‘I began writing romance because I was inspired by my parents. But the happy ever after that inspired me to write books with similar happy endings, and made me want my own one day, turned out to have been far from happy. My parents, who have been married for forty years and who I thought were the ultimate happy ever after… are actually not.’ Jake sighed. ‘My father had been cheating on my mother for years. On our family, really. He had a second family all along. And I not only found out about them but had to watch my father leave my mother and our family home to go and be with his other family.’

33

A ripple went through the room after Jake’s revelation. I could see the pain behind his eyes, and in his voice as he told us about his parents. There were murmurs of conversations as people took in what he had said.

I looked at Hayley, who was completely shocked and seemed unsure what to say or do, and leaned against the wall again, shaking her head. I turned to Jake and gave him a nod of encouragement. He cleared his throat, waited a moment for everyone to settle back down, then he spoke again. ‘Yeah, my father had lied to me and my mum my whole life. He had another woman, and children, and he used his job that took him travelling a lot to live this double life. It shook our world as you can imagine. I thought they were the ultimate love story but it was a lie. Does that mean all love is a lie?’ Jake shook his head. ‘No, but it’s taken me a few months to realise that. That conversation with Davis Mulberry happened at my lowest point. I did almost want to give it all up. But after the article that revealed what I said about romance books came out, I realised that I really could lose it all, and that made me see that I didn’t want to. That I did still believe in love and I do want to write about it. I have received a lot of messages from readers over the years and I know that I’m not the only one to have experienced a broken heart. So many of you have but you still love reading about love, and I still love writing about it.’