Sweet Nothing by Taylor Swift
Tess Lee, the protagonist, is a world-famous author. She’s been on the covers of magazines and on morning and late-night shows. People recognize her all the time. Her books tap into people’s pain and offer hope and inspiration. Because Tess’s books mean so much to her fans, they have huge emotional reactions to meeting her, often sharing their own stories of trauma. Tess is generous to a fault, so she feels obligated to make each person feel seen. But Tess has never been comfortable with fame and feels the weight of others’ pain. She longs to be safe and alone with her beloved Jack, in their private little bubble. “Sweet Nothing” captures this perfectly and was an inspiration while I was writing the novel, especially the chapter that begins with Tess and Jack cuddling in bed, then overwhelmed by Tess’s fans in a store parking lot, concluding with them back at home and Tess just wishing they could be alone and normal.
Harleys in Hawaii by Katy Perry
TWINKLE OF DOUBT opens with Tess and Jack getting back from a sexy vacation in Hawaii in celebration of their second anniversary. Tess tells her bestie, Omar, all about riding on a Harley with Jack and breathing the boundless air. To her, it represents a kind of freedom she has longed for all her life. Hawaii becomes a special place for the couple and reappears later in the book and series, but I don’t want to spoil anything. “Harleys in Hawaii” gave me the idea to include Hawaii and motorcycles in the book.
All of Me by John Legend
This is Tess and Jack’s song. In the first book in the series, SHOOTING STARS ABOVE, they decide it’s their song because the lyrics of loving, seeing, and accepting all of someone—in their case the scars along with the beauty—captures their relationship. The song will come up in other books in the series down the line.
Your Song (the Moulin Rouge version) by Ewen McGregor & Alessandro Safina (originally by Elton John)
This song plays a critical role in TWINKLE OF DOUBT and throughout the Celestial Bodies Romances. This is Tess’s special song with Omar, her best friend (chosen family). I don’t want to spoil anything, but to catch readers up, in SHOOTING STARS ABOVE Tess and Omar reveal that this is their song, and they always dance the Moulin Rouge routine when it’s on. It comes up again in TWINKLE OF DOUBT. Omar is the friend everyone should have. He and Tess share a deep bond. They bring each other joy and comfort in a world that is often dark. I love what the song means to them and how they always dance to it as if life were a movie, sometimes happy, sometimes tragic, but always better with our person.
Daylight by Taylor Swift
I know there are two Taylor Swift songs, but this one just feels like the perfect closer to my list. TWINKLE OF DOUBT and the whole series are about moving through darkness to light. This song encapsulates Tess doing just that with the love of Jack and their close friends. Jack’s love makes Tess feel love. It feels like daylight.
A Celestial Bodies Romance
For fans of Colleen Hoover, this inspirational follow-up to Shooting Stars Above continues the love story between internationally best-selling novelist Tess and counterterrorism agent Jack as they both fight to overcome their deepest fears.
Tess Lee is a wildly successful and world-famous novelist whose inspirational books explore our innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Jack Miller is a federal agent who has spent decades working in counterterrorism—a violent world that has left an inevitable residue on his psyche.
Two years into their marriage, as Tess and Jack both heal from past trauma, their epic love, fostered by their ability to truly see one another, has brought them profound happiness. When an anonymous threat is made against Tess’s life, however, everything changes. Will they learn to lean on each other, or will they fall apart into the darkness?
In Twinkle of Doubt, the second Celestial Bodies Romance, Tess, Jack, and their chosen family explore the nature of doubt and the struggle to feel worthy of love.
Romance Contemporary [ She Writes Press, On Sale: March 24, 2026, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9798896361329 / eISBN: 9798896361336 ]
Patricia Leavy is a best-selling author. She has published more than fifty books, and her books have been translated into many languages. She has received over 100 book awards. She has also received career awards from the National Art Education Association, the American Creativity Association, the New England Sociological Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the American Educational Research Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” In 2024, the London Arts-Based Research Centre established “The Patricia Leavy Award for Arts-Based Research.” In addition to writing, Patricia loves traveling, reading, and going to the movies. She lives in Kennebunk, Maine.
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