"The Love Variations" (working title)
Including a super secret synopsis, excerpt, and character intros!
AS PROMISED here to tell you all about my next upcoming adult romance (tentatively to publish spring 2025)!
My editor asked for a title and I panicked and said “The Love Variations” but who knows if that’ll stick.
They asked for my pitch, and this is what I sent:
Goldie Gensler has always wanted to be a concert musician like her parents - but after a devastating multiple sclerosis diagnosis, that dream feels more urgent than ever. That’s why she hopes to win gold at the world’s most prestigious international piano competition, coming up in two months. But her competition will be stiff: Jamie Larsen, with his perfect technique and derisive glare and gorgeous ocean blue eyes, is competing too.
Jamie has always resented Goldie for her easy road to professional musicianship, given her wealthy parents who were both first chair in the New York Philharmonic. Despite Jamie’s rigorous study to make it from small-town Iowa to the best music school in New York City, all his technical precision is no match for the way Goldie’s imperfect but emotionally resonant music makes audiences swoon. He’s determined to prove that skill and dedication are what makes for a good musician. But after his brother’s suicide three years ago, Jamie just doesn’t love music like he used to.
Goldie and Jamie have their own reasons to win, but when an unexpected hurricane forces them to practice—and live—together, they discover their passion for more than just music.
I’m so excited to write my first book with a disabled character — especially since I myself have lupus, another type of autoimmune disease. In the book, Goldie’s mother died from lupus, so the weight of her own autoimmune diagnosis feels extra heavy.
The book is about grief (of losing a brother, of losing ability, of losing dreams) and finding love and support in the most unexpected places.
For paid subscribers, below the cut you can find an excerpt from the rough draft, plus info about the characters themselves!