by Lyra Parish
“Hmmm?” I asked, not understanding.
“I’ve found buyers who are interested in purchasing the Elite. I’m done, Jennifer. It’s time for me to focus on us, on our family,” Finnley said.
I had no words. He had been married to his job since I’d met him, and now, now he would only be married to me. I couldn’t be happier.
“I support whatever decision you make, babe. You know that,” I said.
“And I choose you. I will always choose you.”
I just smiled as I rested my head on the pillow and allowed him to rub his fingers over my skin. Finnley completed me in every way possible. He’d given me a reason to live when I’d had no one to live for. Without him, I wouldn’t be the person I was today: Mrs. Jennifer Felton, wife, mother, sister, best friend, and lover. I owed him so much, and I intended to pay him with my love for the rest of my life. That’s all he wanted, anyway.
Love. It didn’t seem as foreign as it once had. Love was precious and kind. Love was a long lost friend who had no intention of ever leaving, and I was okay with that. At one point in my life, it was an emotion that was filled with a void—a blackness that I thought would never subside. When I used to think of love, I only thought of my parents then I would go blank, lost in an abyss of mourning. But because of love, the memories of them stayed in my heart forever, and I was grateful for those previous moments that would creep in at random times—little memories that my heart replayed so I would never forget them. I knew they would have loved baby Finnley with everything they were, and I planned to tell him all about his grandparents and how wonderful they were.
Love had saved me; it had rescued me from my darkest days. Love had given me a reason to breathe when I had thought I had no breath. It had molded me and pushed me in directions that it wanted, no matter how much I fought. Love was powerful, and no matter the war that waged inside me, I was never supposed to win because love always won. Finnley was the definition of love, the giver and taker of love, the man who continued to win me over with one simple look. We no longer needed words to convey our feelings; we had kisses and hugs, and Little Finnley.
Love molded me from a broken girl into a woman, and made me whole again.
Because of love, I was finally living.
Because of love, I was no longer weak.
The End
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Note to the Reader
No Longer Weak was one of the hardest books I have ever written. It took me exactly 67 days to finish the first draft and there were points when I didn’t know if I could. They say once you know your characters, the writing comes easy, but that’s a lie. It’s never easy saying goodbye and it’s sure as hell not easy writing the end. One year ago, I published Weak for Him. I introduced Finnley Felton and Jennifer Downs, two characters that stole my heart and refused to give it back. Their love for one another and passion was so strong that I had to write their story.
When I started this literary journey, I thought I would be a young adult novelist who wrote about magic and fantasy. As I reflect on this series, I realize that romance is magical and though I left out the wizards and witches, romance can be fantasy as well. If you would have asked me years ago I would have said that writing romance wasn’t for me. But I am the hopeless romantic who randomly looks up Shakespearian sonnets just like Abbot.
Love drives my characters. It’s an ongoing theme in every story I construct and I feel like it will always be this way. Five days before I published, I rewrote the ending. I couldn’t let it sit how it was. It was crazy and insane and I’ve never done something so last minute in my short career, but it was the right thing to do. It felt right and I knew the ending had to happen exactly the way it did.
I hope as you read No Longer Weak, you were able to fall in love with the characters all over again. I hope you are able to find that light in your life that takes away the darkness and replaces it with love.
Thank you for giving me a chance x3 and following me to the end. I hope it’s everything you imagined it would be and more.
P.S. Though the Weakness Trilogy is finished, you will get Luke’s love story in the near future. Eep!
P.S.S. You will see more of the Southern Devils Motorcycle Club too!
More by Lyra
Weak for Him (Weakness #1)
Weak Without Him (Weakness #2)
No Longer Weak (Weakness #3)
Eluded (Abbot’s Story)
**Luck in the Stars (Luke’s Story)
Single: Vol. 1
**Single: Vol. 2
**Single: Vol. 3
**Allegiance (Southern Devil’s MC #1)
**Denotes coming soon
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About the Author
Lyra Parish loves to write, glamp, and sing obnoxiously loud at the top of her lungs in the shower. Sweet love stories (along with the dirty ones) make her gush. She is a firm believer that a person can never have too many cups of coffee, cats, or happily ever afters. When she isn’t busy writing, she can be found sipping various beverages from her non-alcoholic drink buffet, pimp slapping excel spreadsheets, or riding her bike. Lyra lives in Texas with her glassblowing, guitar-playing hubby and black cat named Nibbler.
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Acknowledgements
Oh man, this is hard. I usually sit here and let the blinking curser taunt me but this time I’m going to go for it. Please forgive me if I forget someone, it’s an inevitable part of writing these.
Thanks Hubs for allowing me the time, as always, to dive head first into the Weakness world and allowing me to bounce ideas off of you. It’s so hard to ask people about plot points because I don’t want to ruin the story. You made that easy. Thank you so much, I love you!
Thanks Tab for going through No Longer Weak without me this time and sending over your notes. It was helpful and helped make it better.
Special thanks goes to Heather Carver for rereading book 1 and 2 then 3 so quickly. You helped me more than you’ll ever know. You are the bomb(dot)com and I appreciate you so much!
Rachel Brookes, your insight was on point. Thank you for all of your help and bringing it when it came to critiquing. The story is much stronger with your insight. I couldn’t have done it without you. #2015 #LTOB #WWAGD
Pepper Winters: Thank you for being a true friend. When I wanted to give up on this one, you listened. You’re one-of-a-kind and I appreciate you always being there. It means a lot.
To the ladies in Lyra’s Lounge: YOU ROCKKKKK!!! You pump me up when I’m deflated and inspire me so much. Thank you for being that constant stream of support and for all of the amazing messages and keeping me honest with my deadlines. <3
To my TGNAFN ladies: Thank you so much for everything you do. Writing is a lonesome profession but it’s so much more fun when you have people to make you laugh in the process. So happy I’ve met you all! <3
To Jennifer Sell: You are amazing. You make my word shine and are such a pleasure to work with. Thank you so much for being so accommodating with my last minute changes, bookings, and for being so pleasant and good at what you do! I really couldn’t do this without you!
Elizabeth Darkley: This is the first time I’ve worked with you and I’m so pleased! Thank you for all of your hard work and transforming my words into flowers. I’ve learned so much already. You are a Godsend! Can’t wait to work with you again in the future.
Love Between the Sheets: Thank you so m
uch! Natalie I love how you’re on my brain wave! You’ve been such a huge help for the past year and I couldn’t imagine doing this without LBTS help! You ladies are diamonds! Thank you so much!!
To the blogs that helped with the Weakness Trilogy, YOU ARE AMAZING!!! I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you for all of your support, tags, and messages. It really does mean the world to me.
To my readers: THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! If you’ve been with me since the beginning, I cannot even put to words how much it means to me. If you’re new, Hi! You gave me a chance and doing that has completely changed my life. Weakness may be over but there is more to come! THANK YOU TIMES A MILLION! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
