Winning His War

Bonus!

Hey everyone! I just wanted a bit of a bonus chapter as well as a reason to clarify everything so here it is.

First off a lot of people have been asking so here it is, yes, there will be a book 2 along with a prequel. The prequel is only happening first to explain a bit of Jem's life and for the sake of story telling. People need to see the reason Jem chooses the gang over people he loves and why he is so reluctant to love and the prequel is the best way to explain all of that and honestly I think the plot is going to be fun so I hope you all give it a try.

Also as a fact of trivia, let's break down the titles.

Winning his War is pretty self explanatory on the surface level. The characters are in a gang war of sorts and they win it together but it goes deeper. All of them are fighting wars of their own in this story and others are the ones winning them for them.

Jem obviously is fighting his war with OCD, anxiety, PTSD, and his own feelings. Patrick and Andrew try their hardest and battle it. They accept his quirks, help stick to a schedule they've never had before, and refuse to let him push them away when he has a panic attack or nightmare but in the end they loose the war because they pushed too hard too quickly.

Patrick is fighting to come to terms with his divorce and his gay awakening. Jem wins that war by going at his pace and showing him the love that he hasn't had his entire life while Andrew is there to level out his emotional state.

Andrew fights with his feeling of self worth and a gay awakening of his own as well as dealing with the weight of his first love. Jem and Patrick help by just being there and taking him on dates, and give him the affection he has always wanted but never received.

Barrett struggles with his impulsive thoughts and pyromanic tendencies. Jem helps battle it by buying buildings and trying to contain it rather than stop it. Andrew wins the war by helping him get the meds he's needed this whole time.

Dev fights with his own emotions. He's had feelings for Jem since they were kids and though the whole story he feels the pain of Jem rejecting him and choosing others right in front of him while also knowing the reason why he and Jem will never be together. Dev helps himself by trying to help Patrick and Andrew have the best relationship with Jem because he just wants Jem to be happy with someone even if it's not him.

So yea I thought it was a cool title and just wanted to share the complexness of it.

The prequel's title is going to be A Hero's Scars, and yes I know it sounds a bit cringe and like a story about a soldier but still, stick with me on this.

So A Hero's Scars is going to be about Jem's life before he was the big scary gang leader. Before he had the man power, before he had the training, before he made a name for himself and the scars he got in the process of it.

I mentioned it briefly in the WHW intro but before Jem took over the gang they were in some pretty nasty shit so when Jem forced his way into being the leader he was the hero, the savior, of the gang who had been oppressed and abused by someone who couldn't care less about them. The second Jem took over the gang he was a hero but that didn't make his own trauma go away and that's also so important to remember.

In a way it can also repentant Dev with him always being the one to save Jem when he gets in stupid situations and how he still sticks with him despite the way Jem pushes him and how rejection cuts deep and leaves scars in the sense of commitment issues.

I also just wanted to confirm a few things int he up coming prequel. First off yes, Barrett will be in it and he will be more chaotic than he was in this book because this will be peak ADHD problems for him so that will cause some issues.

Second, no I don't expect this book to be nearly as long as any of my other books but we all know how that goes. I have a decent bit of ground to cover but I also want get to the sequel quickly so I'll just have to play around with the plot a bit.

Third, the sequel should be the last book for Jem unless I decide a plot twist is needed and after it's completed I will be rewriting Becoming his Fix and that will be my next series which I'm really excited about btw.

Becoming his Fix will have two books as well like LTF. It will have the first book with them stuck at camp and then the second book will be when they get reintroduced to the rest of society.

I think that's all I have as far as announcements but make sure you keep your eyes open for AHS because it should be out shortly. I am still looking for covers if anyone wants to help out. Even those that don't get selected for the actual cover will be posted on my insta (with permission and credits of course) so that everyone can see all of the beautiful art. So if you're interested let me know one insta or discord and I'll give you more details!

I can't wait to see you all in the next book! Thank you for all of the love and support, it literally means the world to me.

Just a reminder I stream my writing session on twitch if anyone is interested in that. I use the same display name here as I do there. The link is in my bio!

- Emma Rose