A little tease from Abbi Steele 💜

Apr 04, 2026 11:31 am

G'day, ,

If you celebrate Easter, Happy Easter. If you don't, I hope you enjoy the extra time off work to do whatever makes you happy while eating allllll the chocolate your heart desires. 🤣

For the past four weeks, I've been walking for 45 minutes every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. While I walk, I listen to Nix and Abbi's playlist to remind myself of the vibe I'm going for, and then when I sit down to write, it's easier for me to get into the right frame of mind. I'm proud of myself for sticking with it for four weeks. It's a major effort for me because I've been finding it difficult to "stick" with anything these days. I swear I never used to be like this. 🤷

Our eldest son is currently away on his third 'swing' and loving his new job. While our youngest son can see the light at the end of the tunnel with his university studies. Hubby's settling into retirement and beginning to find his own rhythm. So, I would say we've all had a reasonably productive month!

I wrote almost 22,000 words this month. It felt amazing to get back behind the keys and get a significant number of words down.

I reached a major milestone with Nix and Abbi's story this week, and I'm so excited to share it with you because I know you must be wondering what's happening. It's been such a long time in the making. I started writing this book on May 20, 2025, but I've had so many personal things arise over the year that it's been challenging to be creative.

But as of Wednesday, I've hit ...

🥁🥁🥁

🎊🎊🎊

I always find it gets so much easier to get words down as I draw towards the finish line, so I'm hoping to have the first draft finished within the next couple of weeks.

Here's a little snippet to celebrate ...

It seems like a lifetime ago things were great between us. Even though he spent a lot of time overseas on deployments, we made our relationship work. We made up for lost time when he was home. Effort was put in on both sides.

When did it stop?

I can’t place a moment or think of an event that signaled the beginning of the end. It’s not like we had a huge argument—hell, we don’t even fight anymore—we’d have to communicate in some capacity to argue. The distance between us grew in small, quiet, incremental ways over time. It occurred during moments when we didn’t reach for each other. He didn’t kiss me when he arrived home. And all those nights I fell asleep alone in our bed while he chose to sleep in the guest room. It was missed dinners and lost opportunities to enjoy a glass of wine and watch the sunset on the back porch. It was skipping movie marathons together in lieu of overnight security jobs. It was not being swept into his arms and dancing in the kitchen to our own music. There were no secret smiles or quickies in the bathroom when the kids were occupied. No sweet text messages throughout the day and certainly no meaningful conversation. Small and big gestures of affection disappeared. I can’t remember the last time he wrapped me up in his arms and kissed my neck.

God, I miss him. Miss us. ~~ Abbi Steele

Where do I even begin with what I've been reading this month? I've been all over the place.

Two books really stood out for me:

The first was In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde. Loved, loved, loved this. The dynamic between the two main characters was perfect, and the quiet evolution from dislike to love happened at the perfect pace. He's older than her, but she's his boss in a field that doesn't see women hold such high-level positions. I highly recommend picking up this series.

The second book was Hall Pass Fridays by Amber Warden. Amber has a knack for writing books that are outside the norm while being exactly what I want. Hailey is in an abusive relationship, though I don't think she fully realises this at first. Then she meets Jack and Sean, who show her what a good man should be. This book had open and honest communication between Hailey, Jack, and Sean, no third-act breakup, and my favourite ... cinnamon roll book boyfriends! Yay!

Quiet, Please by Sara Hazel is worth mentioning too. Mona is autistic and prefers her space to be quiet until Alex moves in next door with his gigantic drum kit. Yikes! I recommend reading this one, if only to meet Alex, an incredible cinnamon roll book boyfriend.

When She Loves by Gabrielle Sands is your usual mafia hate to love romance. He's a complete arsehole to her, but over the course of the story, learns what she's already endured and falls for her.

And finally, the Saint View High trilogy is not my usual read (high school kids acting like adults), but I'm reading it for research purposes. Elle Thorpe knows how to write a cliffhanger, and I was interested to see how she does it. Hence, I'm on book three because I HAVE to find out what happens. 🤣🤣🤣 So, obviously she's amazing at what she does.

And here's your template for this month!

I hope you find all the best book boyfriends!

I've worked with my friends to curate a selection of books we think you'll love. Check them out!

Each month I'll be sharing a book that features our favourite book boyfriends ... cinnamon roll book boyfriends. Click the link to learn more!

F1 Romance | Vegas Unexpected Wedding | Forced Proximity | Fish out of Water | Slow Burn

Grab it here!

Your contemporary romance read for this month! Click the link to learn more!

Enemies to Lovers | Forced Proximity | Billionaire | Angsty | Touch Her and Die

Grab it here!

A freebie just for you! Click the link to learn more!

Enemies to Lovers | Forbidden Romance | Fated Mates | Morally Gray

**I will always highly recommend you pick up one of Alexis Maree's books**

Grab it here!

Check out this month's new release! Click the link to learn more!

Billionaire | Romantic Suspense

Grab it here!

If you'd like somewhere to hang out and talk about my books, come and join my Facebook Group, Deb's Bibliomaniacs. Be sure to answer all the questions because I'd love to see you there. Just click on the image below. ⤵️

If you'd like to join a reader group that focuses solely on Cinnamon Roll Heroes, come and join Cinnamon Roll Book Boyfriends. Be sure to answer all the questions. Just click on the image below. ⤵️