O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

Yes, my lovelies, it’s Wayward Heart’s release day. A time when you have the joy of learning secret things about this gorgeous book, and its characters and setting, and where much fizz is drunk and naughty things eaten in the Hein house.

I am so thrilled to have this book out. It was always my goal to tell the individual stories of the three female friends from Rocking Horse Hill. Emily Wallace-Jones had hers told in that book, while Teagan Bliss’s was revealed in The Falls. Now it’s Jasmine Thomas’s turn and while all three books are special, I think this one has nailed it.

Wayward Heart is a friends-to-lovers story and I don’t know about you, but I reckon that trope is one of the most delicious there is in the romance world, probably because it’s so believable. Jas and Digby have never considered each other to be more than mates, but when circumstances bring them close, they discover unexpected strengths and wonders in each another. What happens next is totally sighworthy, if I do say so myself!

Anyway, as has become tradition on release day, here are some secret things about Wayward Heart. Enjoy!

6 SECRET THINGS ABOUT WAYWARD HEART

1/. Wayward Heart contains the most sex I’ve written in a book since Callie and Matt wouldn’t stop going at it like rabbits in Heartland.

2/. Usually (but not always) I have a theme song for my books. In the case of Wayward Heart, I had a whole theme playlist. On it were songs like Hurt by Johnny Cash, Chances by Athlete (made famous in Doctor Who’s Vincent and the Doctor episode) and Run by Snow Patrol.

But the song I played the most and put me very much in Digby’s head is a weird one. I’m not sure that you know but I’ve been a Eurovision Song Contest tragic for well over 25 years. I just adore it. Anyway, the Norwegian entry from the 2015 contest in Vienna was a song called A Monster Like Me by Mørland & Debrah Scarlett, and it fitted Digby perfectly.

At least I thought it did until I saw the film clip and realised it wasn’t about a man giving up the girl he loves, but was instead about a couple of freaky serial killer types…

Ah well.

3/. Wayward Heart was always going to be called Admella Beach after the beach behind Jasmine’s house but for marketing reasons the decision was made to change it. After MUCH brainstorming, we settled on Wayward Heart.

4/. Admella Beach is fictional but it derives its name from the steamship Admella, which was wrecked off the coast of Carpenter Rocks on August 6th 1859. The maritime disaster claimed eighty-nine lives, including 14 children, and has gone down in history as one of Australia’s worst. Only 24 people survived and the story of how they clung to the wreckage for over a week is incredible.

You can find more about the SS Admella at admella.org.au or, if you’re ever visiting South Australia’s Limestone Coast, why not take a trip to Port MacDonnell and visit the Port MacDonnell and District Maritime Museum. Well worth the trip. The Portland Maritime Discovery Centre across the border in Victoria also has a permanent Admella display, including the lifeboat used in the rescue.

A view of the coastline looking west from Port MacDonnell, South Australia, not far from where the SS Admella was tragically wrecked.

5/. The 2 opening paragraphs of Wayward Heart came to me in August 2014. I wrote them down and simply carried on with the other books I was working on, and didn’t pick up the story again until May 2015. This happens a lot, but as a career author with contracts to fulfil and readers to satisfy you can’t let yourself get distracted by the bright new shiny things or you’ll never finish anything.

6/. I think Wayward Heart’s cover is the best I’ve had yet. It’s so sexy and romantic I wish I could dive into it and join them. Actually I’d probably elbow Jas out the way and demand Digby hold me all sexily like that.

Yeah, yeah, so that’s weird, but a girl’s allowed her little fantasies!

Watch out for a really cool Q&A on the blog this coming Friday with cover model Kate Swan, who reveals how the shoot came about, our hero and the details of that clinch.

So there you have it, six secret things about Wayward Heart. I hope you enjoyed this bit of  behind the scenes fun.

Wayward Heart is available from today in paperback and ebook from good book retailers and chain stores.

Or you can purchase copies with just a clickety-click right now from:

Booktopia

Angus & Robertson Bookworld

Fishpond.com.au

Amazon.com | Amazon.au | Amazon.uk

iBooks

Kobo

Google Play

For an excerpt and more, including the The Story Behind Wayward Heart, please visit its book page. You can also download samples from your favourite ebook retailer.

As usual, I’ll be celebrating release day with champagne and good things. It might not seem it, but writing a book is bloody hard work. But it’s not just the writing. There’s a whole process to be gone through before a book reaches a reader’s hands and each step involves not just my input but a lot of expert help, from editors to cover designers, marketers and digital people, and others in between. They all deserve a toast for their hard work. So later today I’ll be doing just that, and enjoying it hugely!