It’s so wonderful to be welcoming Rachel Debrave to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Too Much to Hope For.

Scarlett Hope has found a surprising rhythm at Haddon House. Just months into life with Laird Edward Cameron-Reid, their chemistry is electric, and the future feels full of promise – but something inside her is stirring. She’s traded city charm for estate calm yet still feels caught between worlds.

Then Harry shows up. A famous music producer – and a blast from Scarlett’s past – he’s in town to film with a renowned band. His arrival is magnetic, disruptive, and the last thing she ever expected. Scarlett loves Edward, but Harry’s presence reawakens the version of herself she thought she’d left behind.

When Edward’s daughter announces she’s pregnant and moves in full-time, the pressure only grows. And when Scarlett meets Sophie, a young woman struggling to make a home for her unborn child, one small act of kindness turns into something far bigger – a project that might just change everything. But as tragedy strikes, Scarlett faces a deeper choice – not between two men, but between who she was and who she’s becoming.

Too Much to Hope For is a high spice, emotionally layered story of love, legacy, and identity – about staying rooted in love while growing into something more. Perfect for readers who loved the emotional fire of A New Hope in the Highlands, the small-town heart of Things We Never Got Over, and the soul-deep reckoning of After I Do.

Without further ado, it’s over to Rachel. 

When Chemistry Isn’t Enough – Writing Spice Without Losing The Story. 

Readers and writers talk a lot about “spice” at the moment. How much is too much. Whether it’s necessary. Whether it adds anything at all. As both a reader and a writer of romance, I find the conversation fascinating – and occasionally a little heated.

Because for me, the question isn’t really about how explicit something is. It’s about whether it matters.

I love chemistry. There’s nothing quite like that first charged exchange between two characters who just click. The dialogue sharpens. The air shifts. You can feel the pull before either of them admits it.

But chemistry on its own is easy.

What’s harder – and far more interesting – is asking what that chemistry is doing.

There’s a lot of conversation about ‘spice’ versus ‘smut’. I find it fascinating – and sometimes a little puritanical and/or judgemental – on either side of the fence. Some readers want closed-door romance. Others want very explicit, on-the-page intimacy. Neither is wrong, and let’s not yuk someone’s yum (as the cool kids are calling it!). But for me, the real question isn’t how graphic something is – it’s whether it means something.

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