Come on, admit it. Who else has ever made a new year’s resolution? Keep those hands up if it lasted more than a week? A month? All year? (Good on you!)
New year’s resolutions can be HARD, yet plenty of people (myself included) make promises to ourselves to do (or not do!) certain things. Exercise more, eat better, lose weight, drink/smoke less, stop drinking / smoking or doing things your mum (or Jesus) would frown upon.
Bree Karlsson, the heroine in my upcoming release The Breakup Project, knows all about making (& breaking) new year’s resolutions. She’s not exactly petite, so the whole ‘no carbs / no chocolate’ type thing might be a goal, but it’s proved to be a goal too far so far.
Coupled with this is the insecurity Bree feels as the ‘lesser’ sibling to her famous pro athlete brother. She’s experienced guys wanting to know her for who she knows, rather than for herself, which leads her to making a new year’s resolution to not date any athletes. Which is fine, except her reputation for not keeping her resolutions is against her, and the man who just might prove to be her personal Mr. Darcy is Mike, her brother’s hockey-playing best friend.
Sibling dynamics are always interesting to explore in novels, and I loved peeking into this a little more in both The Breakup Project and the next book in this series Love on Ice (out January 27). Sometimes it’s only with our nearest and dearest that the truth can really be expressed, which certainly can lead to some fun encounters – and truth bombs! Personally, I’m glad my brother and sister are a little gentler with me than some of the characters I write might be.
Bree’s struggles make her pretty relatable, which is what I always strive for in my books. And as challenging as it can be with her twin, she does have a close family, which is why she’s not too keen on upsetting things when she becomes aware of Mike’s interest.
I love the friends-to-more trope, as I always feel like the couple has a strong relationship to build on, and the awareness of the other’s interest can be super sweet to discern.
So now does Bree deal with her resolution to not date any athletes? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
The Breakup Project, out December 29, just in time for the new year.
New Year. New Resolution. New Romance?
What happens when the best-laid plans break a friendship?
As the twin sister of hockey’s hottest forward, romance-loving Bree Karlsson is used to being ignored, leading to a New Year’s resolution to not date any athlete in her attempt to find Mr. Right. But what happens when the man who might prove to be her personal Mr. Darcy is her brother’s hockey-playing best friend?
Mike Vaughan might be happy playing in Boston, but he’d be even happier if Bree could one day see him as more than a good friend. He agrees to help Bree with a special project in the hope she’ll finally see him as something more. But when a misunderstanding ends in a Valentine’s Day disaster, Bree realizes that her breakup project may have broken her friendship with Mike in two. Can she ever redeem her mistake?
This friends-to-more romance has plenty of heart, humor, and swoon-worthy kisses in this first book of the Original Six, a sweet, slightly sporty Christian contemporary romance series.
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I am off to see if I can pr-order! I know I will enjoy the sporting aspect!
Oh, yay Penny – and thank you! People who don’t mind a bit of sport in their fiction should enjoy this series (especially book 2, which has a Winter Olympics focus – and an Aussie female short track skater!) Happy reading!
She is relatable. I had a brother who was really good at sport and school work. I am not and it was always oh your brother was so good at that you should be too. or I taught your brother he was so good. I remember one day dad was watching me play netball for the only time ever I one of the best players (It only ever happened that one time). Dad was proud my brother couldn’t handle me getting some credit and goes Oh I got 4th best player in my game today (football) and got $5. That was the end of any praise from dad it all went to him. I was still in primary school so about 11 and brother was almost 16. So I can understand the living in someone’s shadow and being introduced as someones sister. It’s like you don’t have an identity of your own.
Thanks for sharing. (I am enjoying my early read which I won from a blog).
Ouch! That’s tough Jenny. And yes, I really hope people find Bree relatable as I think we all can feel overlooked or passed by at times. Thanks so much for ‘getting’ Bree – that’s exactly her issue, living in the shadow of her famous brother.
Happy reading!