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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

‘Okay,’ Eva said doubtfully. She leaned forward and my panic dialled up a notch. ‘We’ve reached my final question. I know my listeners are keen to understand what happened earlier this year. We all know the furore that followed the article that was published by Kelly Shepperd but in case anyone missed it, here are the highlights. Shepperd said she overheard you at a party talking with other authors saying, and I quote, that “readers are stupid for believing in happy ever afters. But I’m happy to take their money anyway.” You then claimed this was a fabrication by the journalist and were taking legal action. However, nothing seems to have come of that. So, my question is: do you really expect us to believe that you didn’t actually say that?’

I stood up immediately. ‘That was not on your list of questions,’ I called over. ‘You said you were going to ask how Jake felt about the article, not questioning whether it was true or not,’ I added desperately because I knew Jake had decided not to be honest about it all, and I didn’t want him to have to tell more lies on top of lies.

‘I stand by the statement I made,’ Jake said, standing up. ‘As that was your last question, I think we can call time on this interview now, yes?’

Eva sighed. ‘Yes, fine, that’s it.’ She leaned forward to shut off her recording equipment. ‘But honestly, the whole romance community doesn’t believe that article was made up. Why would a respected journalist randomly do that? Kelly Shepperd hasn’t retracted it and your lawyers haven’t managed to prove it was a lie, right? I think you did say it. So, if you don’t think writing or reading romance is worthwhile, I’m wondering why people should ever read one of your books again?’

Jake stared at her furiously. I hastily walked over, hoping I could steer him out of the room before he said anything to make this interview even worse than it already was. But he responded before I got a chance to. ‘I don’t care if they do or don’t,’ Jake flung at her. Then, he marched out.

My heart sunk.

Eva watched him go then looked at me, gesturing to her equipment. ‘I hadn’t turned it off. I recorded that. And I think his readers deserve to hear that’s what Jake Richards really thinks about them.’

‘Please don’t include that!’

‘I’m sorry, but Jake brought this all on himself.’

The problem was, I couldn’t really argue with her.

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