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THE FINAL BOSS BOOK! Title change, cover reveal, and release date!

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READERS! IT’S HAPPENING! IT’S REALLY HAPPENING!

While I had planned to announce The Daughter‘s release date and reveal the cover last week, it just felt…wrong. And I didn’t know why. This is going to be the very last time I’m with Sophie. While I’ve been writing other books, as well, Sophie has been my main focus, my work wife, since I started writing the serialized version of The Boss in…was it 2013? I can’t remember. Either way, for the better part of a decade.

It was difficult to decide on a cover. I kept staring at it, going, “the title just doesn’t look right. None of this looks right. Is that even how ‘daughter’ is spelled? It looks so…wrong.”

I realized that out of all the titles in the series, none of them, not a single one, had referred to Sophie. For example:

  • The Boss referred to Neil.
  • The Girlfriend referred to Valerie.
  • The Bride was Emma.
  • The Ex was Stephen.
  • Obviously, Olivia is The Baby.
  • The Sister referred to Molly
  • The Boyfriend was El-Mudad

Sophie has never had top billing. When you read The Daughter, it’ll be clear who it refers to. But that person isn’t Sophie.

So, without further ado, the title and the cover for the final book in The Boss series will be (already ruined for you by the social media preview):

Black and white photo of a brunette with long hair, shown from just under the eyes, down to her cleavage. She's wiping the corner of her mouth with her fingertips in a suggestive manner. SOPHIE is printed across the bottom in huge letters.

I can hear the shrieks of a thousand completists. Why, why, why have I broken the theme? WHY?! And also, the covers used to be only black and white and now you’ve got this lipstick-red going on? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY KINDLE?!

You may also notice that my pen name ain’t anywhere on that cover. All of the changes, the title, the red, no author name? It’s all because Sophie is the star. I’m giving her the spotlight.

If you weren’t here in the dark times of the Fifty Shades of Grey recaps, you might not be aware that though at the height of the madness I was receiving a hundred thousand or more hits per day, but I wasn’t making any money. I didn’t believe I deserved to get paid for my writing, that I was lucky enough to have people want to read it. After all, I’d lost my New York publishing contracts, my family was on food stamps, I was making about $200 a month editing for a small publisher and getting royalty checks for new novellas that never broke two figures. When I started writing this series, my goal was to write the anti-Fifty Shades and maybe someone would want to download it if I distributed it as an ebook. I had high hopes that the sequel, The Girlfriend, might actually sell a few copies.

It sold 20,000 copies its first week.

Today, The Boss and its sequels have sold over a million copies in the United States. It’s been a bestseller internationally, having hit shelves in Brazil, Portugal, Italy, France, and I’m sure other places I can’t think of without opening the folder on my computer labeled “foreign rights contracts.” This series changed my life, gave me a whole new career, and I couldn’t have done it without Sophie. I have no idea where she came from. I don’t know anyone like her. She just appeared in my head fully formed and I got the joy of watching her navigate everything I threw at her. This is her finale, so I’m giving her the send-off she deserves.

I mentioned before that I wouldn’t be releasing this book until after the inauguration in January. So, the official release date for Sophie is January 21st, 2021, or 1/21/2021 which has to be good luck somehow, right? It will hit Radish the same day as a new “season” of The Boss there. I’ll have pre-order information as soon as it’s available; in the meantime, keep on rockin’ in the free world.

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Here for the first time because you’re in quarantine and someone on Reddit recommended my Fifty Shades of Grey recaps? Welcome! Consider checking out my own take on the Billionaire BDSM genre, The Boss. Find it on AmazonB&NSmashwords, iBooks, and Radish!

20 Comments

  1. European anxiously watching the USA
    European anxiously watching the USA

    OMG, when I started reading the introduction in this post, I somehow suddenly KNEW what the title of the book was going to be. I LOVE it, Jen, and I am so looking forward to reading the book! <3 Thank you for opening up Sophie's life for us and taking us on this ride (hihi *is twelve*).

    December 9, 2020
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    • Jenny Trout
      Jenny Trout

      I can’t believe it’s over!!!

      December 9, 2020
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      • Pearl Anne Gosling
        Pearl Anne Gosling

        This is a bitter-sweet moment for me. I’m kinda in a daze. I kind of feel really really sad and really really excited. After reading this book, I’ll have a hell of a book hangover. And I’ll probably cry out Sophie’s name over and over (in my head, in reality, I’m just staring off into the distance playinh everything out in my head again and again.) So kudos to you Jen, for creating this amazing series.

        December 12, 2020
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  2. Helen
    Helen

    Love the title and can’t wait to read the book!

    Just as a small warning, Amazon KDP sometimes pitches a fit if the cover doesn’t have the author name on it. It’s against their (stupid) metadata requirements. A friend of mine inadvertently got their KDP account suspended because they published an anthology that didn’t have the main contributors listed on the cover (they got their account restored, but only after two weeks of intense stress!).

    So you may need to put your penname on the cover just for Amazon.

    December 9, 2020
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    • Jenny Trout
      Jenny Trout

      Yeah, I’ve heard that you can trick the algorithm by putting the author name in the meta data. But thanks for the heads up about what happens if it doesn’t work!

      December 9, 2020
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  3. Barb
    Barb

    This is so exciting! I can’t wait to see how you send off Sophie; she, obviously, deserves the world. Thank you for this series, it is brilliant and fun and I’ve loved every bit of it!

    December 9, 2020
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  4. Casey
    Casey

    I feel like I should know who “the daughter” is but tbh I have no idea . . . anyway, I’ve been feeling weirdly emotional about this series ending as well; obviously it’s not as important to a random fan as it is to the author, but Sophie’s been hugely important over the past few years and I came to terms with my sexuality (sort of. It’s a work in progress), and your writing has been a massive inspiration in general. Don’t me wrong, I love everything Abigail Barnette’s ever written, but this series is something special. Maybe it’s just because it’s the first erotic romance I picked up, or because the years it’s come out have been some of the best and worst of my life (also I was — am? — Sophie’s age) so I have some strong associations . . . or maybe it’s just because you’re really talented and wrote a really captivating story. I don’t know.

    This is pretty incoherent, but thank you so much for an incredible ride. I’m so excited to see how this story ends, and even more excited to see what else you have in store for your readers. Also: the title is perfect.

    December 9, 2020
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  5. Emerald
    Emerald

    I’m so excited! I can’t believe it’s been so long, I remember reading the fifty shades recaps when you started talking about writing The Boss.

    December 9, 2020
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  6. Monica
    Monica

    Congratulations! This ending is so bittersweet – while I love endings, I can’t help wishing for more of Sophie and Neil’s world (Penny! I miss Penny!).

    I’ve been reading romance since I was too young to (we didn’t have a lot of money and thrift stores are ripe full of romance novels for an avid reader with parents who didn’t care what I read) and I find that now as an adult these books are the books I measure romance by. They’re funny, and sweet, and hot.

    They may have changed your life but like all good gifts they’ve made a difference to the receiver as well. I don’t want to get to maudlin but when my mom died it was The Girlfriend that distracted me between tasks (and the only thing that could), when we moved back to Texas it was The Ex that I read in the car to distract me from the drive away from home. And in happier times I saved The Sister so it would be the first book I read out by our new pool.

    You ask where Sophie came from? I hear her voice in your humor and in how you try so hard to do the right thing.

    So all this over sharing to say thank you – I came for the 50 Shades recaps and stayed because you’re just awesome – I can’t really express how much these books have meant to me, how much I have loved going on this journey with you.

    Thank you! And I can’t wait to see what’s next.

    December 9, 2020
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  7. Saya H
    Saya H

    I have been following you since the anti-FSoG era and has been a silent supporter, but I did follow your daily updates and your Jealous Hater Book Club which are fun to read, not to mention they are well-written and carefully thought out instead of fully bashing the book, on how the story could be improved in some parts. I’m happy for your success and hope that you will keep on writing amazing stories for many years to come. I also want to thank you for taking some of your time to occasionally reply some of my messages which helped me out. Again, I wish you many success in your life, both personal and writing. Thank you.

    December 9, 2020
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  8. Tara
    Tara

    I cannot believe it’s all coming to an end! I just can’t!

    I remember checking your blog for a new chapter of The Boss every week (it was late 2012, if I’m not mistaken) and squealed when a new book would be released!

    Thank you for these books. Thank you for these characters. I go back and revisit both series from time to time and it’s like visiting old friends.

    Well done!

    December 9, 2020
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  9. jaime
    jaime

    just to let you know, I actually got a literal, legitimate shiver when I saw and read the title. that is PERFECT.

    December 9, 2020
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  10. *Really* looking forward to it. And I love the idea of it coming out after Inauguration Day.

    Meant to tell you; helped someone find ‘The Boss’ on the Goodreads ‘what is the name of this book’ forum. (For those who don’t know it, it’s one of the fora where you can try to track down a book when you’ve forgotten the author and title, by posting the details you remember & seeing whether anyone can track them down. This poster had lost her Kindle list and said she really wanted to read the book again; I was so pleased when I was right about it being ‘The Boss’!)

    December 9, 2020
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  11. Jenny Fan
    Jenny Fan

    I’M NOT READY! I love this series and your books and I’m not ready for them to be over!

    Thank you for explaining how each of the previous titles worked. Admittedly, I always thought the beauty of them was that the female ones referred to more than one character at a time. I got a friend of mine hooked on them and she said while reading the first one: “Well, isn’t it obvious they’ll get married? It’s the title of Book 3”. My response was “No, that’s the beauty of it! These titles can refer to more than one character and sometimes more than 2!” Is it spoilers to include why I feel that way?

    The Boss referred to Neil (agreed 200%)
    The Girlfriend referred to Valerie (and to Sophie, who wrote the book about being Neil’s girlfriend and how she felt navigating his health issues and feeling powerless)
    The Bride was Emma (and Sophie and Holli and Deja)
    The Ex was Stephen (yep)
    Obviously, Olivia is The Baby (and Emma as Neil’s lost baby girl)
    The Sister referred to Molly (and Sophie as she navigates her newfound family – suddenly, she’s actually someone’s sister, and the older one who first comes to Sophie – forgive me, I can’t remember her name)
    The Boyfriend was El-Mudad (This one could kind of also be Neil from El=Mudad’s perspective)

    Anyway, still not ready for Sophie’s journey to end! But you can bet I’ll be on the preorder list ASAP! <3 🙂

    December 9, 2020
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  12. FarrahKaya
    FarrahKaya

    I am so stoked to read, and so sad it’s ending!

    Thank you for such a wonderful story and heroine for us to follow along with <3

    December 10, 2020
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  13. Shea
    Shea

    Can I just say that I legit started crying looking at this cover and reading your rationale… We’ve come a long way, baby. I was one of the beta readers with access to your Pinterest boards with the pictures all your inspo for The Boss (Hellooooo, Tony Head…), and I just can’t believe the cycle is coming to a close.

    Thank you, Jenny. I started with the 50SoG hate, but I stayed because I truly admire you and your work. <3 <3

    Well done.

    December 17, 2020
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  14. Love-sick-for-more-sophie
    Love-sick-for-more-sophie

    I had been putting off finishing “the boyfriend” with just about 50 pages left because I couldn’t handle the idea of that being “the end”. I was late to the party and just now have discovered the divine alternate universe that is The Boss series. After many late-or early- nights glued to my phone submerging myself into Sophie and Neil’s relationship with an unhealthy amount of enthusiasm, I couldn’t let go of that new part of my life. I am not sure if I am more or less distraught now that I know there is another chapter, but I do know that I cannot wait to devour this! You rock, Jenny!!

    January 1, 2021
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  15. Suzanne
    Suzanne

    I truly love this series. I go back to it regularly as an audiobook while I work. I really hope you publish a new series in the same genre. The characters are so well developed and even the spin-off characters like Ian and Penny are so well developed.

    Just really excited to get my hands on this last installment of Sophie’s story, I hope you also release it as an audiobook. (Outside to see that the final installment in Penny and Ian’s story is not available in that).

    January 9, 2021
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  16. Cleah
    Cleah

    Love! I cannot wait for the final story, though I will be sad to say goodbye. Listening to The Boss has helped with anxiety and stress this last year. I listen on repeat.
    And you are releasing on my birthday! I cant wait to read this book over and over again.

    January 17, 2021
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  17. Robyn
    Robyn

    I absolutely love The Boss series. I have read and re-read this series as I do not want it to end. I have read the last book Sophie and it is incredible, but I am so sad this is the end. I want to read more!

    Just wondering if there is any possible way you might continue Sophie and Neil’s journey? I think there is so much more that can happen.

    February 16, 2021
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