Walk of Shame (Love Unexpectedly 4)

While I can say without a doubt that I love every single book that I write, it’s also safe to say that some books are trickier than others. Some make me sweat to get them just right.

Others simply…are.

Walk of Shame was in the latter category—one of those stories where the biggest struggle was getting my fingers to type fast enough to get the story out of my head and onto the page. If you enjoyed reading it even half as well as I enjoyed writing it, I will be one happy author.

I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise that this book is very much a love letter to love. Aside from the most obvious shout-out to the movie Enchanted (which I’ve seen approximately two million times), there are several other nods to some of my favorite over-the-top love stories in this book. I don’t know that I set out to write a book that was a celebration of the HEA, but that’s what I ended up with, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Of course, as with all my books, it’s absolutely not a solo effort. There’s a whole LL team behind every book, starting with my husband, who’s always very kind to lend me to my fictional heroes as I’m in the writing zone, letting me fall in love with someone else, just for a short time.

From there, I put Walk of Shame in the oh-so-capable hands of Sue Grimshaw, my fabulous editor, who’s a genius at seeing how to take the messy first draft and turn it into an actual book.

And thanks to Kristi Yanta, who reads (almost) all my books in their fugliest stage and always seems to understand my vision for the story and know what tweaks need to be made in order to make it sparkle.

A big thank-you to Janet Wygal and the rest of the production team who polished the book into reader-ready prettiness, and to my ladies Erika Seyfried and Madeleine Kenney for their amazing organization and marketing vision for getting my books discovered by readers.

To Gina Wachtel and Matt Schwartz for all the vision and support, and for taking care of all the “stuff” so I don’t have to.

A long, dramatic slow clap, please, for Lynn Andreozzi and her amazing design team, because this cover…it’s everything.

Hugs to my amazing agent for being ever patient with the fact that I go weeks ignoring her calls while in the writing cave, only to bombard her with a dozen calls on the two days when I come up for air.

Same goes for Lisa Filipe, who des

erves all the chocolate on the planet for dealing with my shenanigans, and for holding down the fort while I disappear into my head for days (weeks? months?) at a time.

And, lastly, to my street team and all the loyal LL fans whose enthusiasm for books sustains me when I get overwhelmed or discouraged. I just…love you guys. (*awkward hug, because I’m bad at hugging*)

If you guys have gotten this far, THANK YOU. Thank you for reading Walk of Shame and for supporting all of us authors in our passion projects.

For the latest Lauren Layne news, and all Lauren Layne books, please be sure to check out my website!

BY LAUREN LAYNE

Love Unexpectedly

Blurred Lines

Good Girl

Love Story

Walk of Shame

I Do, I Don’t

Ready to Run (August 2017)

Runaway Groom (September 2017)

Just Run with It (October 2017)

Oxford Series

Irresistibly Yours

I Wish You Were Mine

Someone Like You