Hello, sweet reader! If you follow me on social media, you’ve probably seen the amazing news:
ALL WE WANT is LIVE!
Book SIX in my Alabama Summer series belongs to Luke & Tessa! This is their sequel, and the story I was asked to write more than I am ever asked to write another book ( aside from Nolan). Luke and Tessa have been a fan favorite since 2014 when I first published All I Want. You wanted more of them, and even though I gave you bonus scenes and their part in So Much More, you still wanted more of them. And I did too. But God, was I terrified to write their sequel. For two reasons:
I didn’t want to let anyone down.
And I have been Tessa. I was Tessa, and I knew writing this story would bring up all the emotions I felt sixteen years ago.
I was nineteen when my husband and I got married. Young and healthy, and like Tessa, I couldn’t get pregnant. After trying for a year with no luck, we sought out fertility treatments and began the exhausting, emotional, and heartbreaking journey to have a baby.
Bloodwork. Tests. Ultrasounds. More tests. I couldn’t get any answers as to why I wasn’t getting pregnant, and that was the most frustrating, agonizing time of my life. I kept thinking my husband would be better off with a wife who “wasn’t broken.” I felt like I was letting him down on top of letting myself down, because it just wasn’t happening for us. And when you’ve wanted kids of your own since you were a little girl, it fucking sucks going through something like that. I can’t tell you how many times I was close to giving up.
But I didn’t.
I somehow held onto hope (I credit Mr. Daniels here. He was truly incredible during all of this.) and three years later when I was twenty-two, I gave birth to twins through IVF.
Now, the experience I had with IVF wasn’t easy. Every complication that could’ve happened, happened, but I won’t get into that here. To be honest, I don’t even think about any of that anymore when I look at my kids. I knew then, I would’ve done anything to have them, and I did.
Writing Tessa’s journey and having it mirror my own in so many ways tested me as a writer. I’ve never written something this personal before, and it was impossible keeping my own emotions out of this and only feeling what Tessa and Luke were feeling. When they would argue, I would think ‘maybe I should pull this back a little’ but then I would immediately silence that thought, because it was so, very real. I could picture my husband and I squaring off and taking our anger and sadness out on each other. I could hear Tessa’s dialogue coming out of my own mouth because I’ve said it all.
So, I didn’t change a thing. I wanted Luke & Tessa’s journey to be as authentic as possible, and I wanted you to feel it as much as they did. And I much as I did.
I hope you enjoy this story. God, do I hope that. It would mean so much to me for you to check it out. Settle back into #BamaBoy world with me. It’s so good here.
To everyone who has been waiting for Luke & Tessa to finally get everything they’ve always wanted, I wrote this story for you.
To everyone who was touched by Luke & Tessa’s journey, who saw moments of their own life in the pages, I wrote this story for you.
To everyone who is going through something similar, I wrote this story for you.
To nineteen year old Jessica, I wrote this story for you.
Amy Anderson says
Your story is almost my story…only it was the stress of wanting to be pregnant, having irregular periods, knowing I was ovulating, timing sex…man…it got so old…and stressful. And then we stopped. We stopped worrying, we stopped “trying” and we relaxed. And then it happened. We got our gorgeous man child. He is an only becausevtten my body decided enough was enough and one was it. After three miscarriages we gave up.
I’m an adoptee so one was plenty. I am pleased with our little family. My family who adopted me also had trouble getting pregnant…then I came along and so did my natural sister.
It was an awesome childhood. The best of friends and the fights…whew! But Tessa’s and your story resonated with me. Thank you.
Kay Steele says
I could NOT have loved this story more! I too went through struggles with infertility… the endless shots every month ( needles the size of a ice pick), constant blood tests! Month after month….still with no results until my husband and I decided ok just STOP! We then looked to adoption and became the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy. So this story of Tessa and Luke’s struggles and knowing it mirrors your own… just touches my heart! So, Thank you for writing such a beautiful story! It will stay with me for a long time!