BooksBarbecue
Back Long Story Short
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

I nodded. ‘She copied me in. Our main goal is to get as much good publicity for you as possible. So, you need to be the perfect author for the next five days. Engaged, open, chatty and polite and above all, enthusiastic about not only your books but the other authors at the conference, and love stories in general. Also, do not mention that article. If anyone asks about it, Hayley advised⁠—’

‘To say I legally cannot discuss it,’ Jake cut in. He looked at me. ‘She told me you disapproved of our statement when the article came out.’

‘She did?’ I replied, startled. I had tried not to let her see how upset I had been about it all, but clearly she’d realised anyway. Jake was giving me a scrutinising gaze across the table and my nerves dialled up again. My mind went fuzzy as I looked back into his eyes. I had never met a man who could make you feel like he was looking into your soul like that before. It made me feel like I couldn’t lie to him. I blinked but he was still watching me and the truth came tumbling out. ‘Well…’ I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. ‘I supposed I would have handled it differently. I don’t believe in lying like that and I think readers probably found your statement… impersonal.’

‘So, how would you have handled it then?’ he asked, raising an eyebrow. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed off by what I had said or not. I knew that he was our client and I should be professional, but I also wanted to be honest like I always was. I had no idea if Jake would respect me more if I was, or even less than he did already.

‘I think I would have accepted what I had said and been honest and admitted in the statement that I had said it. I would have asked my readers for their forgiveness, if that was what I wanted. I would maybe have explained why I had said those things in the first place.’ Curiosity sat deeply in me about why someone who had a career in writing romance had suddenly slagged it off like he had done. Was he really so materialistic that he had written all his lovely books just for the money? Did he really not believe in love and romance at all?