Nicole Pyland's Blog, page 2

2024 Bracket Challenge Results

After 6 rounds, the votes are in, and we have a winning book as well as 4 giveaway winners!

 

This year, favorite books did battle instead of favorite couples from those books, and we had 6 rounds that included 64 novels, novellas, and shorts. There was also unlimited voting allowed until the Elite 8 round, which was a departure from last year.

 

And the result of those changes was a surprising bracket winner!

 

I will admit that last year, there was really only one main surprise. You can read m...

Vote in Round of Final 4

Voting for the Round of Final 4 in the Bracket Challenge is now open!

As usual, one entry per round will be counted toward the giveaway.

Head over to the link below to see which books made it through the Elite 8 and save your faves! This round closes 9 p.m. PST, FRIDAY, April 19.

Vote in Round of Elite 8

Voting for the Round of Elite 8 in the Bracket Challenge is now open!

Now that we’re down to the wire, with only 8 books remaining in the bracket, I’m switching off the unlimited voting, and each person gets 1 vote per round!

As usual, one entry per round will be counted toward the giveaway.

Head over to the link below to see which books made it through the Sweet 16 and save your faves! This round closes 9 p.m. PST, FRIDAY, April 12.

Vote in Round of 32

Voting for the Round of 32 in the Bracket Challenge is now open!

Head over to the link below to see which books made it through the 1st round and save your faves!

Coming Soon: Crashing into Love

The next book in the Sports Series is now on pre-order!

 

I remember watching the last Winter Olympics and the story of the US boarder, Lindsey Jacobellis, who had missed out on a gold medal previously and who finally won in 2022. I decided to write my own little story of redemption, after my wife requested a snowboarding book, and added in that the boarder lost her chance at a medal due to another racer crashing into her.

 

Four years later, Drew is coming off an injury and looking for redempti...

Coming Soon: Side by Side

The next book in the Sports Series is now on pre-order!

 

Out on March 8th, Side By Side tells the story of two women who met as teenagers as part of a top figure skating academy run by US Figure Skating. They’re, at first, competitors for the coveted Team US spots, but they are also just two girls trying to figure out some feelings that run beyond friendship.

 

After an interrupted first kiss, one of them is forced to leave the academy while the other continues her figure skating career, never ...

Coming Soon: Making It Count

Back in 2023, I put a poll in my Facebook group and on Twitter asking everyone to pick a series they would like me to return to between the Fire Universe (The Fire & The Disappeared) and the Sports Series (Always More, A Shot at Gold, The Unexpected Dream, and Finding a Keeper). The results were mixed. The Fire Universe won on one platform, and the Sports Series won on the other.

 

I decided that since I was in a bit of a sporty mood (as in, watching sports because I can no longer play them with...

Royalty Series Wrap-Up

I didn’t plan on writing a Royalty Series "What Happened After," and, technically, I still haven’t, so don’t get too excited...

But after many - and I mean MANY - requests for more stories from these characters (even after I wrote a few scenes from prompts), I decided to wrap up this year in scenes with not one, not two, not even three, but all four Royalty Series extended scenes.

NOTE: These scenes take place after the conclusion of all four of the Royalty Series books, so if you haven’t fin...

Wrapped

In honor of my Spotify Wrapped this week, here’s a story for you...

Many moons ago, I set out to get tickets to the tour of the century. I should start by saying that I’m not a big concertgoer, usually. I hadn’t been to one in years prior to this one, and I can maybe say that I’ve been to a dozen or fewer concerts in my life. I had a sense that this one would be different from all of those, though, and it would be one of those experiences that I’d regret not trying to make happen. So, when I he...

Flashback: Path Forward

If you’ve read MIDNIGHT TRADITION or my blog about it (here), you know how Jessica and Val came to me. Quick summary: I introduced them in that book as Maddox’s cheating ex-girlfriend and as a woman at the party who was interested in Avery briefly.

Midnight Tradition was supposed to be the 3rd and final book in what would become the Celebrities Series, but for some reason, I kept going back to Jessica’s story. I felt like she had a truth to tell that we didn’t get to hear in Midnight. I rememb...