December Recap/January Update: (Patreon)

Hi All!

I hope you're all enjoying your holidays! I'm sorry I didn't post snippets throughout the month. I got caught up in the end of the year frenzy. I've had a restful, yet productive few weeks and was able to catch up on so many things I've been putting off.

I am still working on the first draft. I wasn't able to write as much as I'd hoped in December and what I did write, I didn't like. I think because I wasn't emotionally in tune with the characters (and distracted by the festivities), the work I did this month was haphazard and confusing and went off in a direction I didn't care for. Once I'm back from my trip, I'll backtrack and see where I went wrong.

I paused the billing cycle for January so no one should be charged. If you are, you can email me at mia@miaknight.com or message me here on Patreon, and I'll make sure you get a refund. I do plan to share snippets in January, but they won't be on a schedule, just little lines or passages that won't give too much away.

I don’t have a release date for book 4. I was hoping to release in the first quarter of the year, but I thought I’d be done with the first draft by now and going into edits. Instead, I’m still trying to figure out chunks of the book since some of my ideas didn’t pan out.

The fourth installment will be the longest and has the most world and character development. I’ve been kind of sidetracked by her family since some of their secrets are exposed and impact the plot. There are a lot of scenes with other characters as well, like Grayson, her childhood friends, Johnny and Aleixo, and more. I go back and forth about these scenes since they aren’t necessary, but I can’t help myself. It makes their world more tangible and real, and I tell myself that if the scenes interrupt the flow in the future, I can always cut it out. In the first draft, I indulge my whims (perhaps more than I should), but coloring outside the lines in the development stage is so fun! During edits, I rein myself in and then start snipping and molding.

This book has been a lot more… pliable (?) than the other books. The urge to write in multiple POV’s has been super strong. Not just Roth’s perspective, but her sisters or even Grayson’s perspective. A lot of times, I want to share what someone observing them sees, which may be more telling than Jasmine’s view since it’s happening to her. I did write a scene from Ariana’s POV, which will be a bonus scene at the end of the book.

I'm so excited for 2026! I hope you all are too. I just wanted to give an update and share some belated snippets for those who are having withdrawals:

Roth rubbed his thumb over Jasmine’s knuckles, reminding her of his presence. She disentangled her hand from his and set it on her lap. The fingers of his abandoned hand twitched as it rested on the table between them. He didn’t draw back despite her rejection. He left it there, a statement she didn’t acknowledge.

“I didn’t mean it, princess. About getting my money’s worth out of you. I was angry. Not at you, but myself. I let you think the only thing I value you for is business, but that’s not true.”

***** 

“I didn’t have you wear Daiyu’s dress to humiliate you,” Roth said.

As her mind processed his words, her breath stalled in her chest.

“You took my breath away. I couldn’t think straight when I first laid eyes on you. I should have told you that when I stepped into the bathroom and saw you trying to cover up your tattoo. Instead, I said nothing, giving Warren the opportunity to put his twisted interpretation onto something I only saw as beautiful.”

As she sat motionless on his lap, his lips moved along her hairline.

“At the cabin, you said you got your tattoos as a reminder that you didn’t belong in society. I wanted them on display so you’d know you make the rules, not them.” His voice roughened as he growled, “You have nothing to be ashamed of. No one who laid eyes on you thought what Warren did. Every man coveted you and every woman wanted to be you. You were pure class. I was proud to have you on my arm.”

When she tensed, his fingers dug into her hip and he pressed his lips against her ear as he spoke quickly.

“I wish I could take back what I said in the library. I wouldn’t want you if you were like your sisters. If you weren’t headstrong, impulsive, and lead with emotion, we never would have met. As for what he said about your mother and Maximus—”

(Expansion on discussion in the “Jasmine loses it” snippet)

***** 

“I’ll never forgive myself for hurting you. For making you believe I don’t care about you when I can’t breathe without you.”