Author’s Note
Hiiii. Hello!! You made it!
We survived.
You, me, Penny, and our grumpy–but–hot Navy SEAL with a marshmallow center. Barely, but we
made it.
Writing this book was… everything.
It was late–night plotting and aggressive playlist–making. It was creating a love story that felt both dark and safe, intense and tender, and wildly romantic with just enough feral chaos sprinkled in. (And I think we can all agree that Mila provided 92% of said chaos.)
I fell completely in love with Asher and Penny–maybe because they saved each other in ways neither of them were expecting. Penny didn’t need a knight in shining armor. She needed someone who would see her, truly see her, even when she was quiet, anxious, tired, or scared. And Asher needed someone who could be soft with him without making him feel weak for needing that softness. Someone to sit with him in the dark and remind him it was okay to step into the light.
Let’s talk about Tyler for a second.
Yes, him.
We all knew a Tyler. Some of us dated one.
Tyler is that guy who makes you feel like you’re asking too much when you’re asking for the bare minimum. He’s charming. He’s magnetic. But he’s not the one. And I wrote him because sometimes we need to be reminded that the one who gives you butterflies isn’t always the one who gives you peace.
if you are in a Tyler situation… let this book be your sign. (
You deserve better.
You deserve someone who doesn’t just look at you, but sees you. Who makes you feel safe, and wanted, and adored.
Who carries you inside when you fall asleep in the car.
(I’m just saying.)
1/5
Author’s Note
Asher is morally grey. He is 100% the guy who would commit several light felonies for his girl. But he also carries her ballet shoes in his jacket pocket and brings her food and washes her
hair when she’s too tired to stand.
And yeah. He’s hot.
And yeah. He might growl.
And yeah. You and I both fell in love with him a little.
I wanted Penny’s journey to reflect what growth can look like when it’s quiet. It’s not always a
loud scream into the void. Sometimes it’s learning to say no. To cry and still show up. To let
yourself lean on people and know that asking for help is a kind of strength too.
If this book made you laugh, cry, swoon, or whisper “omg” into your pillow at 2 a.m. — thank
you. That means the world to me.
And hey, I’m trying to get better with every story I tell. To write girls who grow and boys who love hard. To craft messy, aching, explosive romances where pain and love and healing tangle together in all the best (and worst) ways.
So thank you, from the bottom of my very dramatic writer heart, for coming on this journey.
I hope you loved it.
I hope you felt seen.
And I hope you always choose the Asher.
Not the Tyler. Never the Tyler.
(I will personally fight Tyler.)
Writing this book has been… a journey. A therapy session. A fever dream. A love letter to softness, to rage, to finding your voice, and maybe–hopefully–to falling head over heels for someone who would burn down the world to protect it with you.
I loved writing Penny. I loved watching her find her strength. Watching her learn that asking for help isn’t weakness, it’s courage. That softness doesn’t mean fragility–it means knowing when to roar and when to let someone hold your hand.
And Asher, God, Asher.
What can I say? He’s safe. He’s steady. He’s all quiet devotion and slow–burning love, and he’s
- Thu, 21 Aug 30
Author’s Note
also a little morally grey, okay?? But we love that for us. We love a man who isn’t afraid of tenderness and doesn’t feel threatened by emotions or by a woman’s power. We love a man who shows up. Who stays.
And if you’ve ever found yourself in a relationship that felt like Tyler…
I hope this story reminded you:
That’s not love. That’s control in a costume.
You can leave. You deserve to. There’s more out there for you. Someone kinder. Someone warmer. Someone who looks at you like you invented sunlight.
I wrote Tyler because sometimes the danger doesn’t look like fangs. It looks like charm and charm and more charm, and slowly you’re drowning without realizing you were ever in deep. And I hope you see the difference. I hope you see how Penny clawed her way out, and then let
herself glow.
To those of you who’ve left comments along the way–thank you. Seriously.
Some of you had me cackling at 2 a.m.
Some of you had me crying.
Some of you really got it–every quiet nuance I buried in the pages.
(And yes, some of you were a little too Rebecca–coded in tone, but hey… you kept me spicy.)
Reading your thoughts is what kept me going on the hard writing days. The days when the plot. twisted sideways or when I doubted everything. You reminded me why I write.
So thank you.
For being here.
For reading.
For loving Penny and Asher as much as I do.
For screaming, for swooning, for staying.
See you in the next book.
Come back messy. Come back brave. Come back ready to fall in love all over again.
3/5
Author’s Note
So… what’s next?
Well. I’m currently elbows deep in the fictional lives of two twin CEOs. That’s right–twin. Brothers. Menaces.
One of them is the picture–perfect golden boy: all clean suits and good manners and polite smiles. The other? Let’s just say he doesn’t care much for PR… or, uh, rules. (Or emotional boundaries.)
They run a family empire and inherit a problem. That problem? A conservation project in a tiny windswept coastal town, tied up in funding issues, environmental permits, and one very intelligent, very tired, very reserved marine biologist who wants nothing to do with rich men in suits–or drama of any kind. She has sea turtles to study, fish to track, and zero time for broody billionaires with secret agendas and stupidly sculpted jawlines.
Too bad one of them keeps showing up at her lab at all hours.
And too bad the other one might be even worse.
Small town. Tension for days. Mistaken identities (maybe). Stormy beach walks. Secrets. Chaos. And did I mention a love triangle that may or may not be a trap?
Still untitled. Still messy. Still full of emotional slow burns, sharp banter, and morally grey men who fall very hard.
Want to help shape it?
Drop your name ideas!
Tell me your favorite tropes!
Is there something you’ve been dying to read? Let me know!
Love triangle? Only one bed? Enemies to lovers? Grumpy/sunshine? Twin switcharoo? I’m listening.
Leave your thoughts in the reviews or find me on socials–I’ll be lurking and reading every comment like it’s a love letter. Because it is, kind of.
Get ready to scream.
I already am.
See you in the next book.
4/5
Author’s Note
With all the love and none of the emotional manipulation,
Harper Rivers
P.S. Tell me what you think. I love reading your comments! Remember to keep it kind, it’s a human behind the chapters that you read with very real sleepless nights and very real
emotions!
P.P.S. If you imagined Asher shirtless while reading… same. You’re valid.
Chapter Comments
Tara Clites
loved this book so much!
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POST COMMENT
I was so absolutely in love with this book. I could see Penny & Asher so clearly. Their story was so relevant and heart felt. Loved every chapter!
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