Hiiii everyone!

I'm linaxwrites (some of you might know me as Lina or Lina Laurine and some of you might not know me at all but hopefully you will after this post) and I'm sooo excited and lucky to be a part of this! Thank you Kelly for giving me the opportunity :)

Let's get to the point already because that's why we're all here, isn't it: THE CORTEZ BOYS. Some of you might have read my book "How To Survive A Reckless Boy" (if you haven't don't worry, the books presented here will be standalones with no previous reading required) and if you did, you might also have read one of the author's notes where I said I would be writing a spin-off about Faye and Miles' twins boys.

This is it.

I have already made the three (yes 3 books!!!) covers, planned out most of the plots and even started writing the first book: "Jack".

Unfortunately, I won't be able to publish and start updating "Jack" until later this year because I want to finish my ongoing books first. Believe me when I say it's a struggle to have several ongoing works published. But I thought I'd at least give you a small sneak peek of the prologue! It might not say much about the book but I still hope you'll get excited.

But first! THE COVER!

Ahhh there it is. Jack Cortez. One of the twins. Face claims are already sorted ;) He's kinda cute with a badass vibe to him. Just like his father lol. (If you haven't read HTSARB, just... ignore the last sentence).

And without further ado, here's the -first draft- prologue:

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JACK | PAST

"Why are you sad, Nat?" I asked, trying with all my might to understand why the girl in front of me was crying. The girl with the prettiest eyes and longest hair I had ever seen. She had come running from up the street a few minutes ago, unable to speak from the tears flowing down her cheeks and her shortage of breath. I gulped and tried to remember what I possibly could have done to make her upset. The thought of hurting her hurt me. "Is it because I ate the last pancake yesterday without asking if you wanted it?"

"No, Jack." Nat shook her head with a sob, tears continuing to spill freely down her puffy, blotchy cheeks. "I'm sad because we're leaving."

"Who's leaving?" I frowned, looking around the neighborhood, as if trying to find an answer to her words.

"My family! Mom and Dad just told me we're moving this afternoon!" Natalya frustratedly kicked at the ground, her small hands balling into fists. "And it's many, many hours away from here. I'll never see you or Henry or Leo again. They told me I couldn't go here to say goodbye but I went anyway."

I suddenly felt my own lip quiver at the thought of losing my best friend that sudden, still not wanting to believe what she said. "But why? Can't you stay with us?"

"I don't know," she sniffed and wiped at her eyes. "They wouldn't say. I even locked myself in my room and refused to come out but they said I had no choice."

My throat felt tight and I was unsure of what to make of her words, having a hard time grasping what she was saying. Natalya looked about as devastated as I felt. "We'll never read scary stories in the treehouse again or laugh when Leo falls into the pond? What about sugary buttery popcorn and cartoons every Friday? Who's going to bring me my Monday treats to school lunch if you're not here?"

Nat shook her head again and hugged her arms around herself. "I wish I was a grown up. Then I could decide for myself what to do."

"I'm telling Mom and Dad. They will for sure help." I stood up quickly from the curb I'd been sitting at when she came running and pointed at the house. "And I have to get Henry and Leo. You need to tell to them too."

Her throat moved when she swallowed, her posture slouched with either hurt or defeat. Or both. "Okay," she said in her sweet tone and glanced to the ground. "Hurry."

"I'll be right back." I rushed towards the house, already halfway across the lawn when I turned to take a good look at her flushed face. The face I would remember for a long, long time ahead. Our eyes locked as I whispered, "Promise you'll stay?"

The corners of her lips turned up in a sad smile. "I can't promise that."

"I meant while I get the others." I suddenly felt desperate to keep her with me, almost begging her to come with me inside.

"Just hurry," Nat whined, waving me off.

I tore through the house to find my brothers and parents, eager to get them out front to help me save Natalya. To make her stay. I knew they would be as heartbroken as I felt, but deep down I knew I felt the worst. Because I kind of, sort of, were in love with her. The girl with the stunning caramel brown eyes, charming small gap between her two front teeth and the biggest, kindest heart.

Once I'd finally located my brothers and herded them outside, Natalya was gone.

Years later I would come to learn that you know jack — pun intended — shit about love when you're nine years old but that day, her leaving, was the worst thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.

Up until that point, at least.

Today is a whole different story.

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So what do you make of that? Just to give you a small hint what the story will actually be about, I'm giving you the temporary blurb. I WILL MAKE IT BETTER BEFORE I ACTUALLY POST THE STORY, OKAY. This is a rough first draft:

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Natalya Fedorova never imagined she would return to the town she grew up in, the small town she remembers with a bittersweet feeling for a variety of reasons. But ten years after she and her family moved, a compilation of mishaps, circumstances and a sprinkle of bad luck puts her right back to where some of her best — and worst — memories were created.

She already knows starting college won't be easy but when she runs into her former best friend/crush Jack Cortez and realizes what he has become while she was gone, things are bound to turn more than a little messy.

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Do you have any special expectations of this book? Anything in particular you'd want to read about or is there anything you wish I did not include?

The genre is going to be somewhere between/a mixture of young and new adult and romance. Natalya is 18 while Jack is 19 so it's going to lean slightly to the more mature side meaning there won't be as much of a teen fiction feel to it as there was to HTSARB. I already know what the plot going to be about and how it will end, but I thought I'd let you have your say as well. Sometimes I get great ideas from you lot and it's much appreciated!

ANTICIPATED PUBLISHING DATE: late 2018 or early 2019. Honestly, it all depends on how fast I'll finish my ongoing book.

I think it's time to start wrapping this post up but first, as a small bonus, I want to show you the covers for the other two books in the series: "Henry" and "Leonardo":

Like I said before: these three books will be standalones. You can definitely read them without reading HTSARB before. You don't even need to read "Jack" before reading "Henry" or "Leonardo" BUUUUT I recommend you do because there will be references to the other books and naturally all of the brothers will be mentioned in all three books :)

Okay guys, that's it. Thanks for letting me steal a bit of your time and don't hesitate to ask me any questions! I'll answer every single one of them.

love, lina