My Inspo for Deuce and Ayani's characters

Guess what! My book actually made it to the top 100 in Second Chance Romance category for a couple hours! Lol. I know that sounds crazy, but there are millions fo books and just as many readers on KU at any given moment that rankings literally change multiple times in one day. Just seeing that achievement made my release feel special.

I wanted to share a little of my reality and inspiration for Interlude With A Billionaire.

The identifying "birthmark mole" - I know this one might seem strange or unbelievable to some, but my husband and daughter share a birthmark on their legs in the same position. My husband's own in like a raised mole while my daughter's is more like a birthmark. Weird but it's the same spot on their legs. So when I needed something beyond the timeline to make Deuce pay special attention to Corey, I chose the shared mole.

Brother and Sister bonding - I’m a big forehead girlie who got teased a lot in school, like Donte teased Ayani. (We still fine though!)

The Mother-Daughter trauma drama - Unfortunately, there are mothers like Bambi all over the world and my neighbor certainly is one of them. The stories i could tell about how she behaves make me so mad!

I also had a father who was no sweetbread, as we say in Barbados. He died when I was a teenager, and throughout my life, whenever I would go to stay at his house, I usually came home crying. Him and his wife weren't nice people. He was the kind of parent who would call me names and make me feel like crap whenever I was at his house, and I believe that instilled a suffer-in-silence/take-what-you-get personality trait in me, much like Ayani. Parental abuse, whether verbal or physical, has long-lasting results and often determines what we allow others to do and say to us as we become adults.

That’s why I love Deuce for Ayani so much, because he was the opposite, and stood up for her when she kept telling herself that she couldn't for the sake of having a roof over her head. Deuce ensured that she break the cycle, be free of the past and find her strength in a healthy environment. Yes she would have gotten there on her own, but after how many more months or years of Bambi's bullshit? Corey wouldn't have deserved that upbringing.

Isaiah also represents relationships I’ve endured and currently endure. Sometimes you think someone is your friend, and you have years under the belt, but you realize as time goes on that they secretly don’t like you and resent the relationships, knowledge or things you have, and it comes out in their passive aggressive actions and things they say.

Those are the types of people we must learn to let go, even if it is not cold turkey, our job is to remove their relevance at a pace that suits us.

Deuce's mother, Avia is like my aunties who moved to America but still break out the Bajan at any given moment when you piss them off. Plus, as a mother of one son, I don't play about mine and will be very straight up with any young lady who dares to call herself his woman in the future lol. They need to come correct for my baby. So yeah, Avia is me in the future lol.

That's all for now, but I do hope that you'll enjoy reading Interlude With a Billionaire. It's a book

that truly came from the heart.

Oh! One more thing: If you read Virtual Voices, I know the AI voices aren't great, but I can't afford the $5000 it takes to record an audiobook! So please consider than in your evaluation of the story. I appreciate you! Personally, I think my Kindle Fire voice reads better lol.

See you soon!

xo

Elani