aaaaand that's my story folks!!! Couple of announcements.
First things first... THIS BOOK WILL BE GETTING A SEQUEL. How soon I'll start writing it is up in the air.
ABOUT THE SEQUEL: as you all know, this book ends with a lot up left in the air. Lauren and Joey are unresolved, and Joe has to face his demons before he's ready to commit to Brian. I don't want to leave the aftermath of ending a toxic relationship out of Joe's story. As much as part of me wanted to just end this book with Joe leaving Zoey and getting with Brian, I know that it's not realistic. I also want to focus a little more on Richpez in the sequel since they were sort of a B plot. FUN FACT #1: This book was actually originally going to be a Richpez story, but I started thinking about how you rarely see stories of men being victims to toxic women, and before I knew it this story turned into Rosenwalker (also love throwing in bisexual representation wherever I can). All that said and done I love Richpez so I did my best to add in a storyline for them.
FUN FACT #2: this 50 chapter book was supposed to just be a one shot😂
As some of you could've probably guessed, I decided to write this book because I was in a toxic relationship back in 2019/2020. I do not even have words to express just how much writing this book has been so incredibly healing for me! I had this story dancing around in my head for MONTHS before I finally decided to just go ahead and write it for me. In all honesty, I figure maybe one or two of my Instagram friends would look at it a little and that would be it. I never in a million years imagined that so many people would read it, comment on it, and get it to #1 on so many starkid ranks!!!
Coincidentally I ended that relationship the same week that the Black Friday album was released. Monsters and Men was a song on the track that I immediately connected and resonated with. I'll be the first to admit that it complete caught me by surprise how much the lyrics connected me to my pain. Jeff Blim wrote an amazing fucking song folks.
The struggles of my toxic relationship went on long after I ended things. The recovery was long and painful, and I very much want to write about that. This story just wound up being so much longer than I'd intended, I started planning on making that part a sequel once this book hit 25+ chapters.
Thank you guys so much for reading this story and coming along on this ride with me! You all have made this such an awesome experience for me😊I'll announce on this book whenever I eventually begin writing and posting the sequel.
Until then, I love you guys❤️