My review of The Book of Luke by Lovell Holder.

I really wanted to like this book, because in the blurb I saw similarities to my own The Big Race, an MM romance set against a reality TV background.

But sadly, it disappointed me.

Holder does a great job of  sending up reality TV, but unfortunately the episodic nature of the book and the huge cast of characters make it a tough read. 

We are following at least three distinct timelines-- season 1, season 2 (or maybe 3) and season 20, the present. Many of the chapters end in a cliffhanger-- something like "that was why X was dead." And then the author jumps back in time to when that happened. Often those earlier seasons have lots of characters who never recur, so knowing who to keep track of is difficult. 

The main characters are clearly drawn if sometimes unattractive or unappealing, and the ending is disappointing. The author clearly felt that by leaving a "lady or the tiger ending" -- Luke has to choose between two outcomes-- he was crafting a more "literary" work. Instead it left this reader feeling unsatisfied. 

 Writing the book is the creative act.

Launching it is the business act.

This week, I’ve been testing how far AI can push the business side without diluting the art.

When my formatter, Silvia Mihalcea, delivered the interior files, the creative work was technically finished. But publishing isn’t finished until the files meet the specifications of IngramSpark and Amazon. So I had Ingram generate a template, opened Photoshop, and built compliant print covers myself.

It’s not glamorous work. But it’s part of the modern author skill set.

The next layer was social media.

Each platform speaks a different language: Facebook rewards conversation, Instagram rewards visuals and emotion, and Pinterest rewards search intent and evergreen imagery.

Instead of staring at a blank screen trying to invent six variations of “preorder now,” I used AI to pressure-test angles, generate character visuals, and refine captions with SEO-rich phrasing tailored to each platform.

The result wasn’t automation. It was acceleration. Using the same images and text in different combinations and different formats.

I could test ideas faster, discard weak ones, and schedule posts in advance so marketing didn’t steal writing time. For Pinterest, for example, I found images online of each of the six European racetracks in Driven Together. Then Chat helped me create captions for each that tied the image to the book.

“From above, Silverstone looks open and expansive. Wide run-offs. Sweeping curves. Endless sky. But when the whole world is watching, even wide spaces can feel suffocating. Insider Formula 1 romance — Driven Together”

I recognized that I can’t do everything. I tried my hand at using Canva to create an Instagram reel, but everything I did looked amateurish. So I hired a guy on Fiverr, and gave him images and text that Chat generated. He came up with a 20-second reel. I had neglected to tell him about music, so he added a rap track, which I hated, and which made the video load slowly. He easily removed the music, and I like the final result.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DU_IGFvioJK/

It isn’t ethical to pay reviewers, but good reviews are essential to continued book sales. I hired a promotions company that has a list of over 500 readers who are eager to read new books, and willing to write reviews in exchange for the book. This company will also post social media and YouTube for me.

I deleted a chapter early in the book because I wanted to get to Formula 1 faster. But this chapter shows the growth of their relationship, so I created a separate epub for it as a “lead magnet,” a teaser that will encourage readers to buy the book. That’s a small project in itself—convert the chapter to epub format, create a cover and a brief marketing blurb, then upload it to the hosting platform for free downloads.

https://BookHip.com/FGRHHRN (for New York Interlude)

Preparing the upload requires many steps, too. I kept editing the copy that the reader sees after choosing to download. "Start Your Engine! After you read New York Interlude, get your copy of Driven Together. Full book available at Amazon.com"

What’s important here is that every step of the path toward a sale, a reader can experience friction. It’s up to me to minimize that friction, to make sure that every action is clear.

Final step of this particular process: to document this for you, dear readers, so you can get a glimpse of how business and creativity work together to bring you my new book.

Order Driven Together now and you're off to the races!
https://amzn.to/4rGtzqy

 Driven Together: From Idea to Finish Line

Driven Together releases February 23 and is available now for preorder.

Preorder at Amazon

Some books arrive quietly.

Others feel like they’ve been racing toward you for years.

I came up with the idea for Driven Together in August 2025: an MM second-chance romance set in the high-pressure world of Formula 1. Two men who were each other’s first love. A championship season. A journalist who must remain objective while covering the man he never stopped loving.

From the beginning, I knew this book had to feel authentic.

I immersed myself in race footage, fan discussions, strategy breakdowns, and team politics. I wrote two full drafts before sending the manuscript to my editor. After his feedback, I wrote two more. Then I spent an intense week refining every sentence—tightening prose, checking terminology, making sure the emotional arc and the technical details were equally precise.

An early beta reader who follows Formula 1 closely helped me correct my biggest blind spots. If you love the sport, I wanted you to feel at home in this world.

The cover required just as much attention.

At thumbnail size, a cover has seconds to communicate genre. My early versions skewed too dark—more sports thriller than romance. Through multiple rounds of refinement, I adjusted warmth, lighting, and composition to signal what this story truly is: a romance built on mutuality, tension, and earned reconnection. You can see from these three versions how the cover changed step by step.

Because that’s what Driven Together is at its core.

Two men.

Ten years apart.

One season that forces them to confront what they lost—and what they might still claim.

To support readers new to the sport, I also developed a glossary of Formula 1 terms and added sidebars to make the racing world accessible without slowing the story.

This book represents months of research, revision, and deliberate craft. Now it’s ready to meet readers.

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Driven Together

They were each other’s first love—and the one that got away.

When journalist Wally Pulaski reunites with his college sweetheart Jonathan Hirsch, now a Formula 1 driver, old feelings ignite with dangerous speed. Jonathan is fighting for the championship of his life. Wally is assigned to cover the season, reporting every triumph and failure to a global audience that demands objectivity. Falling in love again could cost them everything they’ve built.

As the Formula 1 circus sweeps from Monaco’s glittering streets to historic European circuits and roaring modern tracks, Wally is pulled deeper into a world of precision engineering, split-second decisions, and relentless scrutiny. Behind the glamour lies a sport where careers are made and broken in fractions of a second, where every personal choice is magnified under the spotlight.

Balancing professional integrity with unresolved passion becomes a high-wire act. Media pressure mounts. Rivalries intensify. And the closer Jonathan comes to his dream, the harder it is for either man to pretend their hearts aren’t still in the race.

Driven Together is a second-chance MM romance set against the adrenaline and international spectacle of Formula 1—an intimate story of ambition, identity, and the courage to choose love in a world that never slows down.

Ten years after losing each other, they have one chance to get it right.

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Readers can expect:

• Second-chance MM romance

• High-stakes professional tension

• Formula 1 glamour and strategy

• International settings

• Mature protagonists

• Slow-burn emotional intensity

• Found family

• A hard-won, satisfying HEA

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Driven Together releases February 23 and is available now for preorder.

Pre-order at Amazon