BEFORE HER Is Almost Here 🖤

It’s officially happening.

Before Her is in its final read-through.

This weekend, I’m going through the manuscript one last time, checking every chapter, catching those last tiny things that somehow manage to survive a ridiculous number of rereads, and making sure everything is exactly where I want it before I officially call it finished.

My goal is to have the final manuscript submitted by Sunday night, which means we are officially on track for Before Her to release on August 15th!

And I genuinely cannot explain how excited I am for you guys to finally read this one.

Before Mae, There Was a Promise

If you’ve read Tethered, you already know Jonathan Cross.

You know the man Mae meets.

You know how protective he becomes. You know the lengths he is willing to go to keep her alive. You know there are pieces of his past that shaped the man standing beside her.

But you don’t know all of them.

Before Her takes us back.

Before Hollow Pages. Before Mae knew Jonathan’s name. Before everything that happens in Tethered.

This is Jonathan and Damien’s story.

It takes us back to their military years and into the events that would eventually connect Jonathan to a woman he hadn’t even met yet.

Because long before Mae Carter ever knew Jonathan Cross existed, a promise had already been made.

And Jonathan Cross is very, very good at keeping his promises.

The Final Read-Through

There is something completely different about reading a manuscript when you know it’s the last time you can change it before publication.

Suddenly I’m questioning everything.

Did I use that word too many times?

Was that comma always there?

Have I read this sentence seventeen times, or am I officially losing my mind?

Probably both.

But underneath all of that is this overwhelming excitement because Before Her is almost out of my hands and into yours.

This story adds another layer to the Hollow Crown Universe, especially to Jonathan and Damien, and there are moments that hit completely differently when you already know what comes later in Tethered.

Some things you thought you understood might look a little different after this one.

And some things?

Well…

You’ll just have to read it.

August 15th 🖤

One more read-through.

One final submission.

Then Before Her officially belongs to you.

BEFORE HER

A Hollow Crown Universe Prequel Novella

Releasing August 15, 2026

If you haven’t read Tethered yet, now is the perfect time to catch up before Before Her arrives.

And if you have read Tethered…

Get ready to meet the Jonathan Cross who existed before her.

🖤 J.D. Petty