Why I Wrote “The Lost Lovers Club”

There were so many reasons to hate Sasha. So I wrote a whole book about her…

When I was writing The Jilted Lovers Club, I kept writing about this unseen villain named Sasha Felix. Jordy was getting her love story with Ashton, but his back story included picking up the pieces after his ex took off. Sasha not only abandoned their kid in his care, but she also stole a bunch of money from her parents — enough that they had to sell their store, and it almost led to a domino effect of losing the whole town.

There were so many reasons to hate Sasha. But everyone who knew her also reserved a thread of empathy for her. It became apparent too late that Sasha was suffering from severe postpartum depression. So even though her family and friends were hurt and angry over what she did, they also loved her.

This was especially true of her best friend, Griffin Lahoma, who had quietly loved her through all of it, even when she had a baby with someone else.

When I ended Jilted, it was so apparent that Sasha was getting the next book. It was almost funny how people reacted. Readers HATED Sasha. But I saw something in her that was so human and completely raw. She wasn’t perfect by any means. She made some pretty big mistakes. And when she came back, she had so much to make up for.

But also, she was fighting this internal battle of depression that no one quite understood, especially her. She was overwhelmed by this debhilitating sadness she couldn’t shake, and she was afraid of infecting everyone around her. And she still came back to answer for her mistakes.

When I wrote The Lost Lovers Club, I wanted to write the human experience of being a woman who has a kid and her body completely rejects the experience. And I wanted to write about the bravery it takes to come back home and face the people you hurt the most.

I wanted to write a lifelong friendship that had always been love in the truest sense. I wanted to write about loving someone who kept breaking your heart, but you can’t give up on them because they’re really just scared. I wanted to write about bravery in being human.

Because this book is 100% about bravery — to say sorry, to find love, to forgive, and to try again.

The Lost Lovers Club is a deeply human story, and writing about Sasha felt like writing a lover letter to the most human parts of myself.

I’m so honored I got to write this book.

The Lost Lovers Club releases on May 29. Find it here.