Posted in Fake Marriage Romance, New Adult Romance, Playlist, Romance, Single Dad Romance, Uncategorized, Update, Writing In Progress

Big Things Are Happening

So much has been going on. Most importantly, I’m well on my way to putting my first book, Be My Light, up for pre-order on Amazon. I can’t even believe it’s happening. The final round of editing has been sent back to my editor and then I have to read over it one more time and that’s it! The blurb was a test of my sanity, but luckily for me, I had an incredible friend (who’s also an author) help me out GREATLY and we ended up with a good one. Just picking what options you want on Amazon and entering all the info to publish is both exciting and daunting.

It will officially release on Oct. 15th. There’s 2 playlists that go with the book that I will be posting a link for in a few days. I hope anyone reading this will check it out and think about buying it.

On to my second book (the single dad romance), I have a title, and am looking at covers. That one will be going to the editor after I publish the first book.

I’m currently working on book three and hit my goal of writing 50k for this month. I have no idea what the title will be yet, but it’s another romance (obviously). A fake fiancee romance. I love it and it’s required so much research.

I’ve plotted out two more books and now I can’t decide which book I want to start after I’m done with book 3.

Of course, when I put Be My Light up for pre-order, I’ll post the link in a new post.

Write soon. Bye.

Ari Reavis

Posted in Contemporary Romance, Fake Marriage Romance, New Adult Romance, Romance, Single Dad Romance, Uncategorized, Update, Writing In Progress

Sorry It’s Been So Long

I apologize for not posting in so long, but I have been putting the time to good use. I’ll go in order of books to tell you what’s been going on.

Book 1 (Be My Light):

It is currently in the hands of a professional editor. Yayyy. Just getting back the first 10 pages (the sample edit to see if I liked her style of editing) was both excited and daunting. Excited because, omg this is the first step towards really seeing my book published and out in the world. Daunting because there were so many edits in just those 10 pages, so much to think about, so much to change, wrong punctuation, and so on. Anyway the edits are due back soon and I can’t wait to get started. Plus my editor is great.

Book 2 (Single dad romance):

As you know, if you read the previous post, I’m done with it and it will be getting edited next. I have a cover for it and a title that I absolutely love. I will be self-editing this soon before I send it off to the professional.

Book 3 (Fake marriage romance):

YES, I’VE STARTED BOOK 3. So far, I have six chapters and am trying to write at least 1,000 words a day on it. Like it says above, it’s a fake marriage romance, woman in need of a fiancee stat. It’s gonna have a little more humor in it than the other 2 books.

Welp, I also just had a baby so writing will be a little slower these days, but I’m hoping by the time I get the edits back, I’ll have a little more time on my hands. We’ll see.

Write soon. Bye.

Ari

Posted in Contemporary Romance, New Adult Romance, Romance, Single Dad Romance, Uncategorized, Update

Single Dad Romance In The Bag

As you can obviously see from the headline, my second book is done. At 71k words (before editing), it’s a beauty. I love this love story so much and I hope everyone else who reads it does too. I’m almost done with editing it. I have about 40 pages left to go through.

On the 1st book front, I’m waiting for the professional editing, but I have a cover picked out that I absolutely LOVE. My husband is reading it right now, and that man does not read, so him already being half way through it is a really good sign. He’s all ‘I can really picture what you’re writing.’ yayyy.

I already have the cover for book 2. A friend of mine made it for me before I was even finished writing it.

Write soon. Bye.

Ari

Posted in Contemporary Romance, Romance, Single Dad Romance, Uncategorized, Update, Writing In Progress

On It’s Way To Being Done

I have been typing away on my second book, the single dad romance. Right now I’m at 54k words. I feel like it’ll end up being around 65k.

I feel this weird pressure to make my 2nd book as long as the first. My first book ended up being over 96k words and I can’t help but feel like this one is coming up… short or something. But I also know this book doesn’t need to be that long to finish the story.

I’ve gotten so much better at typing, it’s ridiculous. I usually do about 4k words a day, when my kids and time allow.

Anyway back to work. I’m watching tiny house hunters and currently writing chapter 25.

Write soon. Bye.

Ari.

Posted in Contemporary Romance, Romance, Single Dad Romance, Teasers, Uncategorized, Update, Writing In Progress

Chapter 2

This is the second chapter of my single dad romance. Hope you enjoy.

 

Chapter Two

After leaving the gym, I went grocery shopping, and now I was home, stepping out of the shower when my phone started ringing. Hoping it was Lucas, I’m just as excited to see it’s my best friend, Monique.

I’d met her four years ago when my town decided to show all of Game Of Thrones season 3 at the local theater. When you sit next to a girl for 10 hours, you kind of have to become best friends right?

I swipe to pick up the call, answering with, “I met a guy.”

“Tell me everything.”, is her only reply.

“I was at the gym and got caught staring at this guy doing pull-ups. So, of course, I took my smooth self over there and got his number.”

She snorts, “Right. Smooth meaning you made some corny jokes and he somehow still asked you out?”

“You know me too well.”

“So when are you going out? Wait, what’s his name?”

“His name is Lucas. Is that sexy or what? We both said we’d text each other tonight to figure out the details. Of course, I’m itching to text him, but I’m trying to wait him out. But there’s one little thing I did not expect…”

“Oh God, what?”

“I think he has a daughter.”

Okay, and?”

“And? What if he has baby mama drama? What if the little girl hates me?”

“Are you trying to screw the guy or marry him?”

“Hold up. Nobody is screwing anyone just yet.”

“I give it three dates.”

“You’d give it one if you saw his body and eyes.”, I give a dramatic sigh.

Monique chuckles. “Don’t worry about his kid unless things get serious. I’m sure he doesn’t go around introducing his daughter to every girl he dates.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Should I mention that I know he has a daughter?”

“Are you even sure the girl was his?”

“Oh, well no, not 100%, but they looked like father and daughter. I don’t know.”

“Just go out and have a good time and…”

I don’t hear the rest of what she says because my phone alerts me to a text and I take my phone away from my face to see who it was.

I look and scream, “THE SWEATER!”

“Uh, who?”

“It’s Lucas. Hold on.”

I tap open the text.

Sweater: I held out as long as I could. Please don’t change my name to Desperate.

I burst out laughing. “I’ve got to go.” I hang up hearing Monique say something about wanting all the juicy details.

Me: Don’t worry. Only my best friend calling stopped me from texting you first.

Sweater: Did you tell her all about how good looking I am?

Me: Yup. We were debating…

I delete that and start a new message.

Me: Yup. I told her all about your gorgeous body and beautiful eyes.

Sweater: You were typing something and then stopped. What did you delete?

I’m shocked by his question. I decide to just be honest.

Me: I was saying my best friend and I were debating how many dates it would be before you and me did the dirty, you know, based off said body and eyes.

I hit send with a flushed face. He’s taking a while to reply, so I take that time to change his name to Lucas. As soon as I save it, another message pops up.

Lucas: Well I’ve got to get in on this debate. How many did you both say?

Me: I won’t say who said what, but one of us said one and one of us said three.

Lucas: Hmm, I’ll take the middle ground and say two.

Me: LOL. There’s that confidence again.

Lucas: Hey, you’re the one who said one date.

Me: Why do you assume I was the one who said that?

Lucas: From the way you were watching me do pull-ups today.

Me: Whatever, We’re supposed to be planning a date, not talking about what WON’T be happening after it.

Lucas: I’ll give you three options for a date and you pick one. Cool?

Me: I like options. Make em good.

Lucas: 1) Dinner and I beat you in bowling

2) Dinner and a movie (your choice)

3) Dinner and go-kart racing (where, again, I beat you)

I take a minute to consider my options. I know I’ll be driving slower than my granny at go-karts, so that’s a no. I check the current movies out and there’s nothing I would bother seeing. So that leaves bowling.

Me: Dinner and bowling it is, but you pick the restaurant and bowling alley.

Lucas: I think I can handle that. How’s tomorrow night at 7 sound?

Me: Anxious to see me again huh?

Lucas: You have no idea.

Me: Ok, tomorrow then.

Lucas: Are you going to mention you saw me picking up my daughter?

I don’t really know how to respond. Do I say I was going to mention it, but figured it wasn’t my place or that I didn’t really think it was relevant right now, seeing as we’re not serious?

Me: I was going to wait for you to bring it up during our date. I figured if you wanted me to know, you’d tell me. But now that you brought it up… She’s beautiful.

Lucas: I would’ve told you during dinner, but I saw you leaving the gym when I picked up Bella, so I assumed you’d seen us. And thank you. She takes after me.

Me: Hehe. How old is she?

Lucas: Four, but she likes to make sure people know she’s four and a half.

Me: Too cute. Are you the dad dressing up for his daughter’s tea parties?

Lucas: Hell yes, Gotta impress Mrs. Fuzzy and Elmo.

Me: Well Elmo doesn’t wear clothes, so I’m sure you look better than him,

Lucas: Well when you see me without clothes, you can compare Elmo and me and tell me who looks better.

Me: You can take pictures in your birthday suits and I can judge now.

Me: Oh my God, that sounded so bad. Forget I texted that. Please.

I don’t get a reply for at least five minutes. I spend all of those minutes pacing the floor. I realize I never got dressed after the shower, so I reluctantly put the phone down and tug on some panties and an old gray shirt. I pick up my phone and head to the kitchen. Still no reply.

I get out the pasta, sauce, and ground beef to make some spaghetti. I’m putting the seasoning on the ground beef when my phone pings. It’s shameful how quickly I drop the seasoning to pick up my phone. But when I open the message, my eyes almost pop out of my head.

It’s picture after picture of side by sides of Lucas and an Elmo doll. My first instinct is to laugh, but it’s quickly swallowed as I scroll through the pictures. The first is a full body shot with Lucas and Elmo standing against the wall. Lucas has a barely there towel wrapped around his waist, covering the part of him I’d like to see most. Elmo has a wash cloth pinned around his waist. The little bit I saw of Lucas at the gym is nothing compared to this picture. Heat coils in my lower belly and shoots straight to my pussy. That man is sexy. No offense Elmo.

The next picture is a close up of a smiling Lucas’ face and Elmo’s black mouth and orange nose, and weirdly huge eyes. But it’s Lucas’ eyes that have me looking at this picture for longer than I should. The next picture is of their chests and abdomens. I immediately look past the half of the picture full of red fur and look at Lucas’ chest and shoulders. They’re both broad and toned. This close I can make out some of his tattoos. The ‘Bella’ written in beautiful cursive across his heart. The tree that’s growing out of his towel and spreads across his stomach, with what looks like crows perched on it’s branches. God, how I wish I could see the rest of that tattoo.

The final photo is of the bulge under the towel, or lack thereof in Elmo’s case. And what an impressive bulge it is. If only I could reach through this phone and snatch that towel away. I go through the pictures a few more times before finally replying.

Me: Elmo gave you a real run for your money, but in the end, I gave my vote to you.

Lucas: You took so long to reply, I thought your hands must’ve been busy.

I see Lucas has no shame. I like it.

Me: I’ll save that for later.

Lucas: Then my night is complete.

Me: Don’t worry, my hands will have recovered enough by tomorrow night to whip your ass in bowling.

Lucas: HA! We shall see. So do you want me to pick you up or would you rather meet me at the restaurant?

Me: I’ll meet you there.

Lucas: Ok. When I decide where we’re going, I’ll text you the name. I can’t wait to see you again.

Me: Sounds like a plan. See you at 7.

Lucas: Goodnight Cassidy.

Me: Goodnight Lucas.

Posted in Contemporary Romance, New Adult Romance, Romance, Single Dad Romance, Uncategorized, Update, Writing In Progress

More Work Done

Haven’t written in a while, but I have been writing. I wrote a chapter towards the end of my new adult romance, where a lot of the drama comes in. I was worried about writing out of order, but the chapter seriously had me up at 3am screaming to be written, so I did it, to keep my sanity. But after writing such an emotional chapter (a sad chapter), it was hard to go back to the previous chapter and get back into the happy period the main character was in, so I switched to my single dad (contemporary) romance for a while. Got another chapter done for that, and then went back to my new adult book.

I took 2 days off writing over the weekend because, honestly I just didn’t feel like writing. My hand hurt and I just needed a break and I had to keep reminding myself that was ok.

But now I’m back at it and finishing another chapter for my new adult romance. I’m going to a book conference at the end of the month, so I don’t know quite how that’s going to work. I’m terrified of bringing my journal and having it get lost at the airport or something. And I don’t know how much time I’d actually have to write anyway.

Write soon. Bye.

Ari

Posted in Contemporary Romance, New Adult Romance, Romance, Single Dad Romance, Teasers, Uncategorized, Update, Writing In Progress

Deadlines

deadlineI’ve set a deadline for myself. I want to be done with my new adult romance by 11/24 of this year. It took me a month to write a good 40% of the book, so I think 2 months is a good time frame to finish the rest. Then comes the editing and all that fun stuff. Yay.

I’m officially finished with my first journal and writing in the second. Since my last post I’ve written 3 chapters and the first sex scene (wiggling eyebrows). Turns out googling sounds to write in a sex scene besides moans and groans will lead you down a very funny wormhole. I saw some things I found so ridiculous, it ended up being funny.

I want to dedicate some days to my contemporary romance, but I feel like my new adult is always just demanding to be written every chance I get. I feel like I’m neglecting one of my babies, but I also feel like I should write what’s speaking to me at that moment and not force anything.

Write soon. Bye.

Ari

Posted in Contemporary Romance, Romance, Single Dad Romance, Teasers, Uncategorized, Update, Writing In Progress

First Chapter

one I said I would post the first chapter of my contemporary romance and voila!! Here it is. Since I still haven’t figured out the title, I’ve been referring to it as ‘Cassidy’ in my mind, since the story is told from her POV. So here it is, hope you enjoy it.

Chapter One

That man has got to be a gift from God. I almost checked to make sure I wasn’t drooling while watching this gorgeous man do pull-ups. I had seen him a few times in the gym on the weekends, but never on a weekday, which is when I usually had time to squeeze in a workout. But here he was, all muscles and sweat and I could not find it in myself to move off the sit-up bench. It’s not like I’d done more than ten crunches anyway. I hadn’t been able to workout other than a pull-up here and there in a month and my stomach was not having it today.

Mr. Gorgeous finished his set and dropped down. He turned his head so quickly, I didn’t have time to act like I was ogling him. He caught me staring and raised an eyebrow. Welp, I figured I was already caught, so I smiled and got up to walk towards him. I held my hand out, “Hi, I’m Cassidy. The Starer.”

“I’m Lucas. The Sweater, which is probably why you really don’t want to shake my hand right now.”

I bought my hand back to my side and his dark gray eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Well Lucas. I was admiring your pull-ups, in a totally platonic way.”, he gave a sarcastic nod, “Because I’ve been doing this pull-up challenge for two weeks, but cannot seem to get past two pull-ups. Three, if I practically do the worm on the third.”

He chuckled and it made me want to tell a million jokes to hear it again and again.

“Well, platonically speaking, chin-ups might be a little easier for you. Maybe I can stare, I mean watch you, do some and see if you’re doing anything incorrectly.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely now embarrassing myself like that in front of someone so sexy.”

He smirked, “So I’m sexy, am I?”

“Like you didn’t know that?”

“Doesn’t hurt to hear it every now and then.”

“Mmhmm, I’m sure you’re really hard up for compliments.”, I said, rolling my eyes.

“Well, let me take you out for dinner and you can compliment me all night.”

“Is that the best you can do? Honestly?”

He cringed a little. “It’s been a while since I asked a beautiful woman on a date.”, he admitted.

I found that really hard to believe, but I guess that was something I could ask over dinner.

“I’ll give you a pass, I guess.”, I shrugged.

“Next time, I’ll make a much better effort.”

“Already planning a second date huh? Well aren’t we confident?”, I smirked.

He only smiled. “Give me your phone. I’ll call myself from it, so we’ll have each others’ numbers.”

I took my phone from my armband and handed it to him after putting in my passcode. I watched the muscles in his arms bunch as he typed in his number before I got a hold of myself and looked at his face. He had a small smile and I wondered what was so funny. When he handed me my phone back, I figured out the smile. On my screen I saw an outgoing call to ‘The Sweater’. I burst out laughing. Once I heard his phone ringing, I pressed the end button.

“Please tell me you’re not going to make my contact name ‘The Starer.” I pleaded.

He chuckled that chuckle and shook his head. “I have a much better name in mind for you.”

“Do tell.”

“I’ll tell you when we’re eating dinner.”

“Ah, making sure I show up huh?”

“More like hoping.”, he said with sincerity in his eyes.

I smiled, “Well, at the risk of seeming desperate, I’ll text you tonight, so we can figure out the where and when.”

“At the risk of seeming even more desperate, I might text you first.”

“Oh, text away Lucas.”

He smiled and his face lit up. I figured this was a good time to make my exit while I still seemed like the cool and collected one. I put my phone back in my armband. “Well Lucas, my ‘workout’is over, so I’m gonna go, but I fully expect us to be texting tonight.”

“I’m done too. I can’t wait until tonight. Bye Cassidy.”

“Bye Lucas.”

I gathered my towel from the sit-up bench and turned around to find Lucas gone. I looked towards the exit, expecting to see him leaving. Instead I saw a now shirt covered Lucas make a right. The only things that way were the daycare and the ladies’ locker room. Curious, I walked over to the exit to see where he was going. I watched him open the daycare door and not five seconds later, a bundle of curls and tutu came bounding towards him. He barely had time to kneel before she jumped into his arms. They hugged each other so tightly I felt like I was invading their privacy just by watching. With that thought, I pushed the exit door open and left the gym, all the while thinking, “Holy shit, he has a kid.”