Plus an art reveal, sign-ups for a cover reveal, and buddy reads.

Cross-posted on Substack.

Common Grounds has been written, edited, formatted, edited again (and again and again and…). It is ready for readers. I am going to have a cover reveal on Tuesday over on Instagram (more on that later), and then ARC sign-ups and pre-orders will be live! I’m so excited to share more about this book with everyone, so I decided that today will be an art reveal and character profiles here on the newsletter. But first…

In honor of Emery’s love of hazelnut lattes, I have been drinking coffee with hazelnut syrup in my new Baker’s Blend mug. It is absolutely delicious. It might actually be my new favorite thing. Iced, it’s even better. I can’t wait for warmer days when I can drink iced coffee without feeling like my I’m frozen on the inside and the outside. It has been snowing in the Midwest. In April. Yay.

These awesome mugs are available for purchase on my website. The description says they’re not microwave-safe, but you know I completely disregarded that and it’s been fine so far. You know, in case you were wondering.

Now, to dive a little deeper into my new couple. Let’s start with this art reveal, shall we? [Officially] introducing Emery Darlis and Trevor Kovacic!

How beautiful are they?? One of my street team members said they are unreasonably hot, and I have to agree. Lorissa did such an amazing job on these two. I also have a full print with them standing in the coffee shop that will be available with signed copies. It’s gorgeous.

So, if you’ve been around for a while, we already know that Emery is a lifestyle reporter for a local web magazine. She has been tasked with writing feel-good local stories, which is a long way from what she wanted to do with her life—and what she used to be doing at a more prestigious newspaper. She was laid off, though, and this is now where she finds herself.

Because I am who I am, she’s a bit of a grumpy girl. But that’s really because she’s been stuck in a rut for so long, and because she’s had to wall herself off after a couple of curveballs. She got divorced, her parents essentially stopped talking to her because she chose to leave her ex, and she got laid off from her dream job all in a matter of months. Now, she’s kind of just existing. She goes out with her sister and best friend. She enjoys her life outside of work, mostly, but things haven’t felt good in a long time.

Enter: Trevor Kovacic. Trevor is a descendant of Croatian immigrants; his grandparents came to the United States just after World War II when Croatia—and all of Europe—was pretty torn up. They settled in Indiana near a community of other Croatian immigrants, and his grandfather opened Baker’s Blend Coffee shop in 1954 as a place for the community to gather and drink good coffee.

For a while, the shop did very well. But the downtown Baker’s Grove landscape changed. High-rises and big, steel buildings started popping up and taking over. The smaller mom-and-pop stores started closing. Now, Baker’s Blend and Donna’s Diner are pretty much all that remain from that generation. And, of course, a larger coffee shop has opened up down the street, making it hard for Baker’s Blend to compete.

When Trevor’s grandfather and father passed away within a few years of each other, Trevor was left to take over the shop. He did it gladly; he has always loved it there. He practically grew up there. But it’s hard to keep up with the current economic climate, and at the start of the book, he’s about two months away from having to close for good.

This book is about two people who are feeling stuck. They know they want something more, but they don’t know what or how to get it. Emery is stuck because she wants to be. She believes living her life the way she has been for the past few years is the best way to avoid getting her heart broken again. Trevor is stuck because he doesn’t know what to do with his business, and the people who could give him some advice are gone.

Both of these main characters are older—Emery is 37 and Trevor is 40. They’ve lived a good portion of their lives playing it safe, but they’ve also lost some people along the way. So the real struggle for these characters is not only how to get un-stuck, but how to navigate their feelings about letting go of some fears they’ve been unknowingly hanging on to.

They also have to figure out how to let new people in. At it’s core, this book is truly about believing that the people who matter to you will stay, and trusting that they have your best interests at heart.

Now that you’ve officially met these characters, it’s time for a cover reveal! I’m revealing the cover over on Instagram (though if you’re part of my Facebook reader group, you’ve already seen it!) on Tuesday, April 9! If you’d like to help with the reveal by making a social media post about it, please sign up here. The more, the merrier!

And, on April 11, The Write Place will be celebrating its first birthday! (Can you believe it?) We’re going to be doing a buddy read (or re-read) and chatting in a group chat on Instagram! Shoot me a message over there if you’d like to join in, and I’ll add you to the group. This could be a great time to try the audiobook if you haven’t already!

I am still 72% into House of Flame and Shadow. I got to a lull in the action and edits for Common Grounds came back, so I paused to get everything together for my book. I’ll be diving back in soon.

I’m (un)happy to report that I only read one book in all of March. Unless you count the approximately 29,238,347 times I read Common Grounds. And the book I edited for a client. Which I do but, you know, it’s hard to track that on StoryGraph. April is going to be better, I swear. (I hope.)

I hope you enjoyed the peek into my characters this week. I can’t wait for you to be able to dive in and read all about them. Be on the lookout for a special cover reveal newsletter next week with a link for ARC applications! Until then, may your books and your coffee be delicious.