And we don’t get them back until the morning… if you catch my drift.
I’m going to spoil you even more than usual today, my little surfer girl, and worship every inch of that body of yours. But first, I want you to read my side of our crazy, stupid, perfect story.
I want you to understand how madly in love with you I am, and have been — since the first moment I laid eyes on you.
You were wrong, by the way.
It was you I saw first.
Love,
Whiskey
Letter written for True Story Book Blog in 2017:
Just B,
This is our first Valentine’s Day together. Like, actually together. But it’s not our first Valentine’s Day.
Our first one was when I was 18 and you were 17. I gave your best friend a box of chocolates and a huge stuffed bear, but I gave you my heart, and just like I suspected, you never gave it back.
Then there was the time you were Ethan’s Valentine. He bought you a tennis bracelet, one I saw you wear only twice, but what I remember most was when you took it off that next morning to go surfing with me.
Let’s not forget the three years we both spent alone, because even when you didn’t answer, my heart only called to you.
When I was Angel’s, when you were Bradley’s, when we were young and stupid and fought so hard not to give in. When it was nothing we needed and everything we wanted. When it was right, and when it was wrong. All those years, every February 14th, you were my Valentine.
You wrote me the best love letter that’s ever existed, but I have a lifetime to pay you back, letter by letter, note by note.
This is number one.
Love,
Whiskey
• • •
Letter to readers, originally made for Bookified Designs:
August 9th, 2019
Newport Beach, California
Hey Whiskey Girl,
It’s been so long since we last corresponded — almost three years, to be exact. I hope all is well on your side of the world, and that you’ve been reading a mountain of five-star romances since we last met.
I’m sending you a wet hug from the sunny shores of Newport, California. B is out in the water, floating on top of her surfboard and waiting for the next wave to roll in. I always love to see her like this — hair wild and curly, freckles dotting her cheeks, lips a little chapped from the sun. If you can believe it, she’s gotten even more beautiful with age — and somehow, more skillful in the waves, too.
So, just in case the ending of her book left you wondering... yes, that beautiful, stubborn, impossible woman is my wife.
As for me, I’m on the shore, soaking up the afternoon rays and watching Zoe build a sandcastle.
Oh, did we not tell you about Zoe?
She was born just two years after that book you read — the one that told the tortorous love story B and I made together. Zoe has her mother’s hair, and those adorable freckles, and she’s even got a hint of her smile — though, B would argue that Zoe’s smile favores mine. And that little girl also has my eyes — the honey whiskey ones, as B would say.
We moved out here to Newport when we decided we couldn’t be farther than a thirty-minute drive to the surf. And if I thought catching waves with the woman I loved was the best thing in the world, I never could have imagined what it would feel like to build a life with her.
It’s the most addicting thing.
I know we put you through hell. I know reading our storyw as hard, that it made you scream, and cry, and throw your Kindle... which is why I wanted to update you, to let you know that all that pain, all that burn... well, it was worth it.
We’re all doing just fine.
And we can’t wait to tell you more.
Until next time, stay golden — just like whiskey.
Jamie Shaw
• • •
A Note From Lauren Sweet, narrator of the A Love Letter to Whiskey audiobook:
I've narrated more than 225 romance audiobooks. I've narrated amazing stories of love of all kinds, all ages, and all body sizes. There've been harems and werewolves and second chances, and I have lost my virginity more times than I can count. Even with all that, I can honestly say that A Love Letter to Whiskey stood out.
I remember leaving the booth every day feeling totally gutted in the best way possible. It was an experience of putting all my emotions on the table, because that's what Whiskey asked of me. Some books reach deep inside you and demand you pay attention. They grab hold of you and don't let you go. Not until you've consumed every last drop.
As an audiobook narrator, I love books that challenge me to use all of myself. I love books that delve deep into the human experience, that make your gut churn because you know they're talking about something so real that it scares you. I love a good happy ending, but I also love the dark, underside of things. Whiskey does all that.
It reminds me of my favorite Shakespeare sonnet, number 147:
My love is as a fever longing still,
For that which longer nurseth the disease
There was something deeply poetic and darkly rich about Whiskey, with writing that got past the barriers of your head and straight to your heart. I'm honored to have been able to lend my voice to it.
I hope you love it as much as I did.
Lauren Sweet
• • •
Fun Facts from the Author:
The yellow house on Scenic Drive that B lives in during high school was based on the house I lived in when I was in high school. And yes, it was bright yellow with red shutters on the windows, and it was right on Scenic Drive.
Pittsburgh became a star in this book after I visited for the Black & Gold Author Event hosted by Southern Belle Book Blog. I fell in love with the city and knew I wanted to set a story there.
B’s love of taking baths is inspired by my own, and how much comfort I find in them when I’m going through a particularly tough time in my life.
While most of my novels take months to write and edit, A Love Letter to Whiskey flew out of me in nine short weeks. And this was while I was still working a full-time job 45 hours a week. It completely consumed me, and I couldn’t sleep until I’d written for these two crazy characters.
When I first wrote the scene of Jamie and B surfing in California, I had them both in swimsuits. It was one of my beta readers who informed me (someone who had never been to Cali
ornia at the time) that the Pacific ocean is a lot colder than the Atlantic over here in Florida. Turns out, surfing in a skimpy bikini isn’t the best choice, and so I re-wrote the scene with B discovering how different the surf was on the other coast.
Jamie and B’s love for The Piano Guys stemmed from my own obsession with them in college. They were my favorite to study to, and it opened my eyes to how much I actually really love classical music. Since then, I’ve expanded my knowledge of the genre and still write to it to this day!
There were two scenes that I physically cried during writing: the scene when Jamie and B fight in her apartment after hooking up when she’s engaged, and the scene where they fight in the parking lot after B tries to surprise Jamie and finds him with Angel. Those scenes just played out so viscerally in my mind and I couldn’t help but get swept up in the emotion.