Did you miss the last Goodreads giveaway of Witch You Would advance print copies? Good news! There’s another one happening until July 27th! It’s US only, alas, sorry international folks.

As always, if you’re a book blogger who wants a copy, or you want to interview me about this book (or any of my others), feel free to reach out!

I’ve been working hard on the sequel to this, which is kind of a weird way to live whenever I stop to think about it. As people are reading this book that hasn’t even come out yet, I’m off in a whole other story that tangentially involves the same characters, but isn’t about them anymore. It’s like I’m driving, and I’m way ahead of everyone else, but I keep trying to watch what’s happening in the rear view mirror, too.

Only six more weeks to go!

If you’ve been waiting for a sale so you can grab a pre-order for Witch You Would, good news! Barnes & Noble is once again having a pre-order sale.

Until Friday, July 11th, Rewards program members get 25% off all pre-orders, and Premium members get another 10% off. You have to order online and use the code PREORDER25 for this magical discount to take effect.

It’s been exciting and scary to see reviews coming in for this. I try not to read them as a rule, but I am weak and this is a new genre for me. I want everyone to love my goofy nerds as much as I do! But not every book is for every reader, and that’s okay, too.

On that note, Witch You Would isn’t the only book on sale, so this is a good time to get any other upcoming releases you’re excited to read. Drop any recommendations in the comments!

Two posts from me in a single week? Inconceivable!

It’s true. First it was the Goodreads giveaway, and now I’m here to give you a heads up about the Barnes & Noble preorder sale. Starting today and ending Friday, April 25th, members of the super secret elite rewards program can get 25% off all preorders using the magic spell word: PREORDER25. If you have been initiated into the inner circle of Premium membership, you get another 10% off. Math tells me that’s a 35% total discount! Inconceivable!

(I keep using that word… I do not think it means what I think it means.)

So go forth and get yourself a preorder for Witch You Would! And grab any other awesome upcoming books in the BN.com store, while you’re there. Future you will be super hyped to get some presents.

Witch You Would has been available on NetGalley and Edelweiss for a while, but last week I got an exciting package in the mail: galley copies, aka advance reader copies!

This is my fifth book, but it’s my first one writing as Lia Amador, and my first romance novel, which means I’m debuting all over again. That makes these galleys even more special to me, because they’re a tangible symbol of this new start.

The last time I got physical advance copies of a book of mine was for Chilling Effect in 2019. Then the pandemic started, everything went down the proverbial toilet along with hoarded toilet paper, and none of my other books ended up having ARCs.

I wasn’t sure whether I’d get any for this book, either. Without delving too deeply into politics, which are deeply exhausting at the best of times, many companies in different industries are dealing with import issues. Publishing seems okay for now, but who knows where we’ll be tomorrow, or next week, or next month.

But! I’m celebrating this win, because I try to celebrate all of them. I got a Costco membership and treated myself to a bottle of margarita wine cooler, then baked some vegan maple oatmeal muffins. It’s the little things.

If you want to win your very own advance print copy of Witch You Would, there’s a Goodreads giveaway happening until May 5th! Avon is giving away 100 copies, so your odds are pretty good. It’s US only, alas, sorry international folks.

If you’re a book blogger who wants a copy, or you want to interview me about this book (or any of my others), feel free to reach out!

If you’re a reviewer, you can now request Witch You Would on NetGalley! Go forth and obtain a copy, and may the odds be ever in your favor. I do not have any power over who gets approved or denied, but if you have trouble, maybe I can put in a good word for you? Let me know!

I find it adorable that there’s a trope list included on the page. My book tropes are:

• fake dating
• secret admirers
• enemies to lovers
• mistaken identity
• grumpy sunshine

It’s funny because I wouldn’t have thought “enemies to lovers” and “grumpy sunshine” applied… I feel like it’s more “reluctant allies to lovers” or at least one-sided enemies? But I can see it. The grumpy sunshine totally works, though. I can’t think of many examples where the woman is the grumpy one in the pair, and I think that unconscious bias kept me from noticing what was obvious to my editor. Hopefully folks who love these tropes will enjoy how they’ve manifested here.

I have no idea when reviews are going to start happening, but since we still have a bit over eight months before the book appears on store shelves, I imagine we’re in for a long wait. Stuff that’s coming out sooner takes priority, and for good reason.

And speaking of waiting, I keep waiting for the point in my career at which the idea of people reading my book won’t hammer on my nerves like a button masher playing Street Fighter. That point has not yet arrived, and I suspect it never will. As the wise ones say, your problems don’t go away as you level up, they level up with you.

Stay tuned for more updates as they become available!

One of the challenges of being a traditionally published author is that sometimes you have to sit on things for a while and wait until you can share them. The cover for Witch You Would is one of those things.

When cover talks started with my editor, I did SO much research. My friends (and maybe some of my enemies) can tell you I had color-coded collections of other contemporary fantasy romance books to use as visual aids. No, seriously, behold:

This is just one example. I had… several.

The more art you see, the more you notice the clear trends. I offered my editor a few different ideas for potential cover designs based on all this research, and the artist, Jess Miller, totally delivered with an extremely cute initial sketch.

I requested some tweaks, which is not always a thing authors can do—and if they do, it may not actually happen. In this case, Gil didn’t have his signature fake mustache, and Penelope was missing her also-signature space buns, so I asked to pretty please have those included if possible. It also didn’t feel like the reality TV show elements were strong enough, so I asked for a slate to be included to get more of that vibe up front. Finally, I asked if their clothes could match, because that’s a thing that keeps happening to the characters throughout the book, so it would be nice to also have on the art.

Would the cover have been bad or wrong without these changes? Nope! It still rocked. But having them integrated really made this feel like the cover for THIS book, if that makes sense. Sometimes it’s those little details that tie the room together.

And then, the title got changed. Ack! So the art had to be updated yet again. Artists: they get the job done. Pay them. It’s worth it.

But now, at long last, everything is finished and ready and I can finally, FINALLY share the cover! Without further ado, here it is!

I keep looking at this and smiling! It’s such a delight. Gil’s awful shirt and safety goggles, Penelope’s apron and confrontational crossed arms, the smooching outline in the cauldron smoke… The vibes, they are immaculate.

You can preorder the book now at the store of your choosing, and have a happy surprise waiting for you when it comes out on September 2nd. If you’re a reviewer, stay tuned for ARC information as it becomes available.