Book Lover,

First, I want to thank everyone who beta tested my direct sales platform earlier this week, by downloading A White Hot Christmas. A special shoutout to everyone who let me know how easy the process was, your feedback is invaluable!

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I get this question a lot: Where do I start?

Fair question. I've written eight books across four series, and they all share a universe. Characters cross over. Locations repeat. There are Easter eggs I planted that some of you caught while others missed them. So today I'm laying it all out.

THE MAP

I dug out this map of Pinetree I had created when I wrote A White Hot Christmas, it was in the deepest darkest corners of my harddrive, 😆

Pinetree, Vermont — This is home base. Small-town Vermont. The ski resort restaurant where everyone ends up on Wednesday nights. The pub. The college. Main Street in the snow.

🎄 A White Hot Christmas — June Evans & Tom Allen. An ER nurse from Orlando chasing her first white Christmas. A cop on medical leave who didn't ask for company. A snowstorm that trapped them both. The book that built Pinetree, and where the characters (and readers) got their first glimpse of the town.

📸 Finding Sunshine (Pinetree Romance, #1) — Aaron Masters & Nina King. Ex-con meets photographer. The characters may live in Boston, but that doesn't mean they can't take a road trip to Vermont!

💝 Love Found (Pinetree Romance, #1.5) — Aaron & Nina again. Their first Valentine's Day as a married couple. A snowstorm. Nothing going according to plan.

🎓 Professor Daddy (Cocktails and Coloring, #1) — Same Pinetree. Different corner of it. Etienne Martin & Violet Davis. A Daddy/little romance I was terrified to write.

👀 Easter egg: Nina Masters — yes, that Nina — is mentioned more than once! Same Nina. Same Pinetree.

💥 Shock and Awe (Pride Security, #1) — Same universe, different zip code. Derek Lion & Bethany Colombo. Falls Church, Virginia. An Army vet running a private security company and the assistant who he can't stop dreaming about.

👀 Easter egg: The epilogue of Shock and Awe connects directly to The Saving Lily Trilogy.

🌏 Uncovering Lily (The Saving Lily Trilogy, #1) — Begins the darker side of the universe. Xavier "Finn" Finch & Lily MacKay. A kidnapped college student and the billionaire who recognizes her in a brothel.

⚡ Claiming Lily (The Saving Lily Trilogy, #2) — The relationship deepens between Finn and Lily, as they unravel who was behind the kidnapping. hunt for the people behind the kidnapping.

💜 Freeing Lily (The Saving Lily Trilogy, #3) — The end of the suspense, but the beginning for Finn and Lily's love story.

READING ORDER

There's no single right way, but here are three:

The light-first reader: Finding Sunshine → Love Found → A White Hot Christmas → Professor Daddy → Shock and Awe → Uncovering Lily → Claiming Lily → Freeing Lily

The dark-first reader: Uncovering Lily → Claiming Lily → Freeing Lily → Shock and Awe → Finding Sunshine → Love Found → A White Hot Christmas → Professor Daddy

The chronologist: Shock and Awe → Finding Sunshine → Love Found → A White Hot Christmas → Uncovering Lily → Claiming Lily → Freeing Lily → Professor Daddy

What reading order do you prefer?

THE CONNECTIONS

Every book I write takes place inside the same world/universe. Pinetree, Vermont is the center, but the threads stretch out — to Washington DC, Boston, Florida and back again.

I didn't plan it that way at first. A White Hot Christmas was just a steamy holiday book, but then Tom kept mentioning Pinetree and his friends who live there. And suddenly, I wanted to tell their stories too.

That's the fun of a shared universe. You think you're reading one love story, and then someone from three books ago walks through the bar.

Have you caught the other Easter eggs I didn't mention? Hit reply. I want to know which ones you found.

Happy reading,
​~ Rene

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