I don’t automatically expect my books to get great reviews. Some of that is me being realistic; all books have issues of one kind or another, and not every story is every reader or reviewer’s cup of tea. But some of my lack of expectation of good reviews is due to imposter syndrome: “I suck, my books suck, I screwed up this part, I must have missed something in the edits,” and so on and so forth.
Being an author is hard enough. When anxiety starts telling you you’re a piece of crap and so are your books, it’s even harder.
I released Ebb and Flow on Thursday the 10th. I felt good about the book. When I did the multiple rounds of editing, every time I reached the end of the story, I felt sad that I’d reached the end. I love the main characters, Quinn Boucher and Malachi Powers. But that didn’t mean I completely believed that readers and reviewers would also love it.
As it turned out… they did. Or at least one reviewer did. Linda Tonis of Paranormal Romance Guild gave Ebb and Flow 5 stars! What made me even happier about the review was that the reviewer clearly understood the characters, saying that it’s a “beautiful story” about crafting a new life after trauma and loss, and that Quinn believes he isn’t brave and apologizes for everything, while Malachi recognizes Quinn’s strength and tries to help Quinn see it.
Ebb and Flow isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. There’s an extreme age gap; Quinn is 22, while Malachi is 130. They’re werewolves; werewolves live longer than humans. They’re also fated mates, and whatever “fate” puts mates together apparently doesn’t care about age as long as everyone’s an adult. (In my universe, nearly all werewolves are adults; changing someone who’s under 18 is against werewolf law–with a death penalty imposed on those who violate the restriction. Only two were known to have been changed while they were still under 18; both were changed by a sexual predator, and one of them, Tobias Rogan, killed said predator to keep him from victimizing anyone else.) In addition to the age gap between Quinn and Malachi, they pretty quickly develop a Dominant/submissive dynamic, with Malachi being the dominant partner; that dynamic will appeal to some readers, but others will find it against their tastes, particularly on top of the age gap.
But I know at least one reviewer loved the book, and that feels really good.