Bossy Brothers: Jesse

by JA Huss

  She’s one-hundred percent allowed to have personal opinions. But when these negative opinions on other people’s art become her public persona… that’s where the mean girl comes in. When you have to tear someone down to feel good about yourself and be validated for your own shortcomings, that’s a good indication that you’re trying to spread your unhappiness around because you don’t know what to do with it. You need to unpack that unhappiness and put it somewhere you can’t see it.

  Some authors really do know what they’re doing. And in her defense, sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. You only have opinions about it. Because you’ve never actually fucking done it before. I’ve done this about 70 times now. I actually do know what I’m doing. Some people might not LIKE what I’m doing—that’s totally cool. That’s an opinion and they’re allowed to have it. But I know what the fuck I’m doing. And that “dark author” knows what she’s doing too. This isn’t her first rodeo. So when that reader says things like “childish” and “juvenile” and “not even worth reading if free” in this woman’s review? Just go away, dude. Just go the fuck away.

  I saw another review about a year ago about a book a very well-respected YA author wrote. His books have been made into movies, he’s that good at his job. This particular book was very non-traditional. It breaks a lot of rules because it was meant to. The rule-breaking makes this book better. This book, in my professional opinion, is amazing. It’s a solid five stars. I have listened to the audiobook at least a dozen times, it’s that good. (Remember me? The girl who never finishes books? Yeah, a dozen times). And this review was on a very prominent YA blog. This reviewer had declared herself a “YA fiction expert” because in real life she’s a YA librarian. So she’s got cred.

  But she lost all her cred with me when she wrote a “mean-girl” review about this book and in that review she admitted she didn’t even finish it. She didn’t even get one-quarter of the way through the book.

  Look. I’m not saying she should’ve finished the book. I’m saying don’t pretend like you’re an expert on this book when you didn’t read it. And don’t tell people it’s trash and they should not read it based on your DNF opinion.

  She complained about things that never actually happened, she got it all wrong. (Obviously that happens sometimes when you don’t, you know. READ the book before you review it). And while I don’t typically leave comments on things, I did leave a comment on this review. And I used my real name. Because this “self-declared expert on YA fiction” used her public position in the literary world to tear down this author and his art. And I had had enough. I have no clue if she saw my response or took it to heart because I never want back to that website. But I hope she did. Because I told her something she needed to hear.

  Shame on her for trying to influence YA readers with her biased (probably unhappy) opinion. Because this was a great book with an amazing message and it was filled with so many wonderful, imaginative things. Shame on her.

  Back when I first started writing fiction in 2012 everyone had an opinion about indie writers. Who were we? What right do we have to tell stories? Where were our qualifications? Who did we think we were?

  Who did we think we were? That’s what everyone with a fucking MFA, or a job in publishing, or a book blog that read “serious fiction” wanted to know about us back then.

  Who did we think we were?

  (Answer: We’re women with stories in our heads, motherfucker. That’s who we are. And we’re gonna write them down, OK? And you can just piss off and go read something else if you don’t like it.)

  I mean, that was the “tone” in so many reviews when I first started. Things have calmed down a lot since then. Probably because those of us who are still around really do know what we’re doing. You don’t write and publish the number of books like I have without learning a thing or two in the process.

  But this mentality has been creeping back. I see it a lot more now than I did last year. And it’s starting to piss me off.

  There was another review that said, “No feelings for these characters.” That was for that same book the “I hate dark shit” reader one-starred. I mean, OK. That’s valid. But again, not really the author’s fault. She wrote her book, her loyal fans all loved it to death, and so you know. Probably that was the reader. And that review would’ve been just fine if this reader didn’t go on and on about how everyone needed to click over to such and such website to read her “full review” of how much she hated this book because she couldn’t swear on Amazon.

  Here’s the bottom line for me. I just don’t get mean people. I don’t understand the “mean-girl mentality”. There were no “mean girls” in my schools growing up. Every once in a while we got into arguments but there was no troop of cheerleaders walking around like they owned the place. And I went to five different high schools so I had a decent sample size compared to most people.

  My daughter and I were talking about this recently. She’s twenty-eight this year and I asked her if there were mean girls at her schools. She said no. So I’m not sure when this “mean girls” stuff became a “thing”. Because it wasn’t like that for me or her.

  And that’s why I made this particular team of women in Jesse’s book act like adults. (Sort of - no one is perfect, right? So yeah—the kidnapping was way over the top, but it’s fiction and it was a fun set up.) But these ladies could’ve very easily went in a different direction once they found out they were crushing on the same guy during spring break. But they didn’t. They bonded over it and lifted each other up.

  So I just don’t understand mean people. Especially mean people in the age of social media. Facebook didn’t turn us into a “global community” BTW. It turned us against each other. That’s the truth. It might not be written yet, but a hundred years from now there will be a slew of academic papers on the negative impact of social media on the personalities of anonymous people.

  And I probably lean a little bit mean myself. I’m definitely on the anti-social side. But I don’t bash people in public. Almost never. I have to be really riled up to call someone out in public. Like that #cockygate shit? Remember that? I did say something in public because that was outrageous and people were getting threatening letters for something that wasn’t even legal.

  And three were a few incidents a couple months back where readers would message authors after a book signing to complain that they “weren’t what they expected” and “didn’t fulfill their in-person expectations” and “how about you make yourself look good next time?”

  I did make a public post about that on Facebook because are you fucking kidding me? What is wrong with people?

  I leave pretty much everyone alone until I’m confronted. I mostly just ignore everything and everyone and move on. Life is too short.

  So I just want to make it crystal clear that:

  This is book one.

  This is a series.

  This series has a mystery.

  And by the time I’m done with the series all the pieces of said mystery will fall into place. And if anyone thinks I owe them all the mysterious answers at the end of book one they should probably check their expectations. That’s not how mysteries work.

  BTW – this is the first time I’ve ranted in an EOBS in YEARS. It’s been years since I had an opinion like this at the end of a book. Probably goes all the way back to summer 2014. Most of the time I just want to talk about my book. But this shit has been piling up for some time now and so there you go.

  Julie writes a “classic EOBS” and puts it all out there.

  Be nice to each other. That’s my real message here. Especially if you’re having a bad day. Don’t put someone down to make yourself feel better because that never works. Never, ever, ever. Build someone up for once. You never know. That person just might turn into your best friend and you might become super-rich, independent-cosmetic-sales bosses together one day.

  Rant over. Back to the Bossy Brothers.

  These guys went th
rough quite the evolution since I came up with the idea back in January 2019. It started out pretty typical JA Huss. And by that I just mean – I started with one thing in mind and it came out the other end completely different!

  It was gonna be more office-romance-y. Kinda like Mr. Perfect. The father was there. I knew he was dead and I knew the boys had some bone of contention, but beyond that, I had no clue. And I knew this first book about Jesse had a bachelor-auction trope. I just really had no idea these crazy ladies were gonna kidnap him until I got done with chapter one.

  And then I was like… well… that wasn’t in the plan. Almost none of it was in my original basic outline. I didn’t even have Bright Berry Beach Cosmetics when I sat down to write that first paragraph – it just popped up out of nowhere when Emma started making her speech. Writing is weird like that. And this is just my most favorite part about the whole process.

  In fact, thinking back on it, I had almost none of this book down in my outline. Why do I outline again? There was no pink jet, there was no trip to Key West, there was no dive shop, no three Dumas brothers. All of it just came out of nowhere.

  I should know better by now. Of course there was going to be something creepy at the end. Of course there’s gonna be secrets. Of course this mystery will only get bigger as we go. I just like that stuff and that’s why they all end up like this.

  But I tell you what, this book was fun to write.

  Jesse Boston is the charmer of the three brothers. Joey is the tortured middle boy. I just finished book two. Today, actually. And Johnny, who will have the starring role in book three, is the real dark, broody one.

  What I really like exploring in Jesse’s book was the idea of this “reverse dream date” thing. Emma and her friends got dumped and they were hurt, and sad, and mad, and all those emotions we’re all familiar with when we’re more invested in a relationship than the other party.

  Three of them managed to move on. Their idea of revenge is “success”.

  (That’s mine too. Now. I will admit I did enact a pretty fucking amazing revenge plan back in my thirties. I mean… yeah, bitches. I got even so hard. I should write that book! Haha But I digress…).

  But Emma didn’t move on. Probably because she was the only who truly fell in love with Jesse. She truly felt that connection with him when they met and she spent all those years in between wondering if her “one” got away. She probably asked herself over and over again if she would ever feel that way about someone again.

  Thus, her crazy revenge plan was born. And because these ladies are a team (not to mention super rich and powerful now) this almost felt like a good idea. *Almost*.

  I loved their crazy revenge plan from the start, but what I really loved most was the way Emma took charge after she knew she was falling for him again, but he wasn’t gonna let her off the hook for the kidnapping.

  And that car scene in front of her building just came out of nowhere and from that point on Emma drove the show right up to the very end.

  She didn’t need him. She wanted him.

  In fact, it was really Jesse who needed rescuing. So Emma stepped in to be his knight. She gave him the happily ever after. And OK, I’ll just be honest with you right now, there’s a whole lot more to this story coming in the next few books. So this is more of a HEA for now kind of ending.

  Joey’s book—releasing in late July—also started out with a basic trope. Surprise baby! I’ve never really written a surprise baby before. I’m thinking back right now… trying to find a story where there was a surprise baby in my backlist… some of them are pregnant at the end, but I’ve never based a story on a baby before (and Kate in Ford’s book doesn’t count, because she wasn’t his baby.)

  Also, it’s funny that I’m writing this EOBS and book two is already done. Because that’s not usually how I release books. But I’m ahead this year. And now that Joey’s book is done it’s so NOT your typical “surprise baby” trope. At all. For one, it’s a ménage… lol

  Didn’t plan that either. Like AT ALL. But you know, when the guy comes home from fucking off in Tokyo with his two best friends and he’s got no steady girl, what did I really think THAT was gonna turn in to?

  Anyway, no one is pregnant in that book. Just warning you now. I don’t seem to be able to follow the trope rules very well. So is it really a surprise baby? Yes. JA Huss style. And there’s another trope in there too. Fake fiancée. This one I actually planned and does *kinda* follow the rules. If said trope involved a MMFM reverse harem… which… I dunno… not sure I’ve seen these two together before. :)

  And Johnny’s book was originally planned as another very familiar trope, which I’m not gonna reveal just yet, because I might find a way to twist this one all up and still use it, but I’m not sure yet. But of course, now Johnny’s is gonna be darker and more dangerous. But he’s a dark and dangerous guy, anyway. Can’t wait to meet the woman who can tame his antisocial ass.

  So… welcome to the Bossy Brothers series.

  At least three books, probably four (Zach might need to tie up some loose ends) and then *maybe maybe* there’s a few more bothers down in Key West who would like a super sexy HEA when I’m done with these guys. We’ll see about those Dumas boys.

  I might not have time because I have a VERY DARK story brewing in my head that I am aching to write. And I will. I’m planning a January release for book one. This one is a little Meet Me In The Dark… just a little. Maybe a little more than a little. It’s dark, for sure. But the dynamics are different than they were with Merc and Sydney. I am in to the girls driving the story right now and this girl for this book definitely drives the story. She will not be kidnapped, she will not be captive, she will not be submissive. And neither will he.

  So if you’re up for something emotionally dark, erotically sexy, and has all the feels—look for that. I’ll announce a pre-order in October and this one will release wide. (at first). Then probably go into KU after release.

  I haven’t written one of these “genuinely dark books” in a long time. The Dirty Ones is the only thing that comes close. And I’d call that book more twisted than dark.

  OK, well, it’s nine-thirty now and I gotta go get this paperback uploaded. I hope you had fun on Emma’s dream date. I hope you fell for Jesse. I hope you’ll come back and read Joey’s story too. Because believe me, it’s dirty, and heart-melty, and the mystery continues!

  Thank you for reading, thank you for reviewing, and I’ll see you in the next book. BTW - if you want to get an email alert when Bossy Brother’s: Joey goes live - Just FOLLOW ME on Bookbub. They send those emails out straight away for every release. You’ll never miss a book!

  Julie

  AKA JA Huss

  June 12, 2019

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Find Julie at her website

  www.JAHuss.com

  See all her books in KINDLE UNLIMITED HERE

  CLICK HER FOLLOW BUTTON

  to get notices of all new releases and pre-orders.

  Chat with Julie

  On Facebook

  On Twitter

  On Instagram

  Follow Julie

  On BOOKBUB

  DO YOU LIKE TO WIN BOOK PRIZES?

  Join her Facebook Fan Group to enter to win!

  JA Huss is the New York Times Bestselling author of 321 and has been on the USA Today Bestseller's list 21 times in the past five years. She wri
tes characters with heart, plots with twists, and perfect endings.

  Her new sexy sci-fi romance and paranormal romance pen name is KC Cross and she writes novels and teleplays collaboratively with actor and screenwriter, Johnathan McClain.

  Her books have sold millions of copies all over the world, the audio version of her semi-autobiographical book, Eighteen, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award and an Audie Award in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Her audiobook, Mr. Perfect, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award in 2017. Her audiobook, Taking Turns, was nominated for an Audie Award in 2018. Five of her book were optioned for a TV series by MGM television in 2018. And her book, Total Exposure, was nominated for a RITA Award in 2019.

  She lives on a ranch in Central Colorado with her family.

  ALL KINDLE UNLIMITED BOOKS BY JA HUSS

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  Three, Two, One

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  Rock

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