Four Hearts: Coming soon

After many years in the making (technically), Four Hearts is finally out for preorder on Amazon. The publication date through Luminesce Publishing is December 16, 2025.

My sixth novel

I’m so excited to share Four Hearts with everyone. I love these characters, Noelle, Austin, and Ashton (as well as all the supporting ones). Here’s the blurb:

With Y2K one month away, everyone’s on edge…

High school guidance counselor Ashton Spriggs wants nothing more than to support her students. From the overachiever, Noelle, who’s hiding a problem at home, to Austin, the smart, yet failing, boy with a shiner, Ashton is torn between being their friend and the adult they need. Hoping to help both, Ashton pairs the teens together for tutoring.

Seniors Noelle and Austin have grown apart in recent years, but now, thanks to Ms. Spriggs, they’ll spend more time together than ever. Can their budding romance survive the scars of their pasts?

How it came to be

I wrote the original draft of Four Hearts from November 1995 through January 1996 when I was only 14 years old. While the general concept of the story is intact, and the two lead character names are the same, almost everything else has changed. I pulled in a little of my real-life experience, as I do in most of my novels.

Having experienced people’s different reactions to Y2K and the preparations for the year 2000, it felt like the perfect setting for my rewrite and re-imagining of the novel. In addition to changing the original timing of the novel (originally mid-90s), I also decided the characters of Noelle and Austin needed to be older. So now, they’re 17 instead of 14. Ashton Spriggs, their HS guidance counselor is a new character.

Many of the situations in the novel are brand new story lines not taken from the original draft.

Struggles to write it

I started off strong in early 2024 with a loose outline and chapter listing. As always, a few things changed along the way. Due to some personal things, I had to put the book aside for most of 2024 and picked it back up in early 2025. I finished the draft in June and sent it off to beta readers. In July and August, I added several chapters to the middle of the story where it felt weak. Last night (November 18, 2025) the book became available for preorder once I finished my final editing and formatting sessions.

The upcoming struggle: Indie Author Marketing

The biggest struggle for me as an indie author is marketing. My time is limited, and my budget is non-existent. Word-of-mouth, my websites (including Luminesce Publishing), and social media are my only forms of advertising. I hope to come up with more creative ways to get the word out in the new year.

Until then, thank you for reading!
-Brandi Easterling Collins