How Rachel Brooks Pitched THEN, NOW, ALWAYS by Mona Shroff

Happy pub day to debut romance THEN, NOW, ALWAYS!

Sometimes a book’s back cover copy doesn’t change much from start to finish, but other times it can look quite different than the agent’s pitch or the author’s original query letter. In Mona’s case, while the heart of the message is the same, you’ll notice there were a lot of changes.

First, the meat of my pitch:

Indian girls don’t have babies out of wedlock. Maya did. Now she has to tell Sam his daughter is fifteen and in trouble with the law.

When Sam Hutcherson finds out that Maya had his child fifteen years ago– without telling him– he begins to question everything about his life. He was finally living ‘the dream’; a congressional bid in his sights, engaged to a smart woman – not to mention the big break in his case at the firm. Or so he thought. Being a father brings out long suppressed dreams he had once nurtured, forcing Sam to face his feelings for Maya as well. 

Bakery owner Maya Rao never intended on telling Sam he was a father. Certainly not fifteen years after the fact. But Maya is desperate. Their daughter, Samantha, is being wrongly accused of drug possession as well as assault – again.  Maya can’t allow her daughter to serve jail time, so the charges must be wiped clean. The only person in a position to help her out is Sam.  Her conservative Indian mother would not approve of Maya approaching Sam. But Maya’s real problem is what to do now that he knows.

Second, the final back cover copy: 

Sometimes first love is better the second time around.

Maya Rao has made her own dreams come true: she’s the owner of a bustling café and bakery in New York and the mother of a beautiful teenage daughter, Samantha. But when Samantha lands in legal trouble over a misdemeanor she didn’t commit, Maya is desperate. Desperate enough to call Samantha’s dad, Sam Hutcherson, whom Maya left abruptly many years ago, and who is now a successful lawyer. The problem? Sam doesn’t know he has a daughter.

Sam has put Maya firmly in his past, despite how shattered he was when she broke his heart. So he’s both dumbfounded and furious to find Maya outside his office asking for his help—with a picture of a girl who looks just like him. But as Sam reconnects with Maya, those old sparks begin to fly. Can he even picture a future with the woman who wrecked his past?

Conclusion: The final focuses on our heroine first, and slightly more, rather than an even split of information about what our hero has been up to as well. It also reveals a bit less about what their daughter’s misdemeanor is, so that readers (except ones reading this blog post!) will have to pick up the book to find out.

If you’d like to read THEN, NOW, ALWAYS for yourself, you can pick it up at retailers like Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon or add it to your TBR on Bookshop!