Review + Author Interview: Dylan and Austin (From the Inside Out series) by S.L. Scott

My Thoughts

A stirring, sexy conclusion to a turbulent love story.

• Related Posts: My review of Scorned | My review of Jealousy

Dylan

Four years ago, I was tempted with money, prestige, and power by a woman who offered to give me the world. That lifestyle came with a price. I had to leave the love of my life—the one person who had already given me everything I would ever need.

Today I watch Jules Weston in another man’s arms. Wanting… needing her back in my life again. But there are obstacles that keep us apart. Her boyfriend. Her best friend. Her anger that has raged inside her over the years.

Despite those, I’ve returned to take back what’s mine. The one thing I regret leaving behind—her heart.

✦ ✦ ✦

Austin

Ever since that fateful day, I became an expert at avoidance.

Avoiding attachments. Avoiding relationships. Avoiding love. 

My company became my constant, the only companion I needed… until a chance encounter with Jules Weston. I met her at a most vulnerable moment. Despite the tears that streaked her face, I fell in love the first time I ever laid eyes on her. I needed her in my life.

She was broken, but I knew I could heal her. I would wait until she let me into her heart, allowing me to love her. And maybe, just maybe, one day she could heal me too.

My Review

“Everything is moving too fast. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, my life is spinning out of control.”

In the much-awaited conclusion, we discover what the future holds for Dylan, Jules and Austin. Despite your team of choice, each volume delivers a conclusion to a story, each different and unique to those two characters. The story picks up after the confrontation between Dylan and Austin and we see Jules process her feelings for each man, weighing the pros and cons, her heart’s inclinations, her gut feeling towards who would be the one to ultimately make her happy.

“I lost more than Dylan when he walked out on me. It makes me wonder with all that’s left to resolve, if it’s possible to overcome the past to have a future together.”

With Dylan, she must determine whether he is an anchor to a past full of pain and heartache, or a unfailing connection to a man who always knew the way to her heart. He reminds her of so many good things, but so many bad things as well… yet when she’s around him, her heart jumps to life, her body responds.

Was it love? Should mistakes govern our future? Or do they simply cloud the truth she struggles to see?

“I want to be with you. I love you, but… I might still love him too.”

With Austin, Jules must unscramble her feelings and figure out whether she really loves Austin, in the soul mate and forever kind of way. She must sever the ties with Dylan to open her heart fully for Austin’s taking, but the questions continue to plague her.

Could she? Could she forget Dylan and let herself be loved completely with Austin? Could she build a future with him and never look back, knowing that this man that gave her everything, was truly her everything?

“She deserves happiness, even if it’s not with me.”

Dylan held her past… years, memories — good and bad. He knew her like no other. On the other hand, her relationship with Austin progressed quickly and passionately, but was is the stuff that forever was made of? I won’t spoil anything of how the books are structured and with whom she lives out her happily ever after, but I’ll say that I understood the approach each book took and was happy with both endings, although I definitely preferred one ending over the other.

Fans of the series will enjoy seeing Jules happy, her heart finally at peace.

“Our souls are bound together… We are forever.”

Interview

What’s the story behind the From the Inside Out serial? What inspired you to write both the story and impart it in a serial format?

This story has been a long time coming. Years in development, writing, rewriting, and editing, but I’m so thrilled that I finally got here. From the Inside Out started with a normal drive to Target. Don’t all good stories happen this way? Lol So the song ‘Something’ by The Beatles originally, but the Jim Sturgess version from Across the Universe soundtrack came on my iPod.

Suddenly, I had a vision of a woman sitting in a restaurant alone and seeing the man who broke her heart and basically destroyed her 3 years earlier. It’s the first time she’s seen him since he walked out on her. He’s with a gorgeous redhead who is wearing all red. The heroine stares at him, taken aback from the encounter that she wants to escape, practically jump out of her skin. But yet, she’s so fascinated by seeing him again that she struggles not to stare.

Voila – the opening scene in Scorned. I played the song on repeat and as soon as I got to Target, I parked and typed out the restaurant scene on my phone notes. It grew from there. As of last February I was still going to put it out as a novel named From the Inside Out, but I was rewriting it all into first person (because it was written in 2^nd) and cutting it down from over 150,000 words to a reasonable amount of words. This was completely overwhelming. I wanted to do it and would put in the hard work but it was really tedious. Then I also had The Resistance release coming up, so I had to put it on hold for a brief time.

As soon as that book was published, I was right back to thinking about From the Inside Out again. With the high angst, the love triangle, and some of the other components, I thought that it might work better as a serial and it would be something different for me to try. So I jumped right into the serial. I don’t mind cliffies, so this seemed like something new for me that would also be fun. I’ve really enjoyed the serial format and the interaction between releases a lot.

Soon all four parts of the serial will be put into one paperback, which I’m really looking forward to getting.

✦ ✦ ✦

There are two men in the book that are determined to win Jules’ heart. Tell us about each of them. How would you describe Dylan? Austin?

Dylan, Austin, and Brandon (her best friend) all give Jules something that the other one doesn’t. She finds security in Brandon. He’s seen her at her worst, so she never has to hide any of her emotions or thoughts from him, but like she says, he was always only meant to be her friend.

So let’s get to the two main men:

Dylan – he’s around 27 when the story starts. He’s charismatic which has worked well for him in his profession. Very handsome and charming. He was popular in school and the kind of guy that a girl takes notice of. Smart and clever with a good sense of humor.

He also emotionally left Juliette for dead, which is his biggest regret. She was in love. They were in love. But he has a slight cocky side and sometimes other factors (including people) bring division when there was none before. Dylan got swayed away by the charms of opportunity.

But what I can say about Dylan is that he loved Juliette, deeply. She loved him. They thought they would spend the rest of their lives together when they moved to NYC.

As for him in present day, yes, he thought about her a lot over the years and he’ll go a little more into his thoughts about that in his book. But when he saw her at the restaurant, it hit him harder, bringing up all those emotions he’d been torturing himself with. He gave into them and decided he had to try to make amends, to try to win her back.

Austin – Austin is someone who is self made from the time he was a kid. In school he worked part time jobs to pay his way through college and worked hard to learn everything he could. He applied all he learned toward his own startup business which is multi-million dollar company. He has no worries for money and never will. He was always handsome but grew into his looks in his twenties. Now, he’s stunning like take a woman’s breath away good looking.

Because of his upbringing he values people, hard work, creativity, but isn’t frivolous. He’s become an art collector, which is how he met Jules. He’s caring and listens more than he speaks, finding other’s much more interesting. He’s not arrogant, but he is confident. He’s patient and charming, slightly reserved, and fine letting others be in the spotlight. He saw through Jules, saw the beauty in who she was when she had lost touch with that side of herself. He prefers time alone with the one he cares about than hitting nightclubs. He’s much more down to earth though he has the world at his fingertips.

He works too much and travels more. He speaks four languages and enjoys finances. He’s in the gossip papers every so often because not only is he wealthy, but he’s also very handsome, and an eligible bachelor.

✦ ✦ ✦

We of course have fans devoted to each of the guys. Give us a “pro” argument for both!

Austin is amazing and genuine in his feelings for Jules. He truly loves her. Their relationship is easy with no baggage. He met her at her worst and waited patiently in the wings for her to be ready to date. He never gave up hope that one day she might finally say yes. Lucky for her, he didn’t meet anyone else in the meantime that worked out.

Dylan is in her veins because of their unfinished business. He has the ability to give her the closure she needs (whether that happens or not remains to be seen). He’s charming and madly in love with her. Their history adds to the people they are today. He knows what he lost and now he’s willing to fight to win her heart back.

✦ ✦ ✦

So you’re doing something really interesting with the ending. It’s not necessarily one winner take all. We have two books, each titled after one of our male protagonists, but the reader can choose to read one book, or the other… or both. Can you talk more about the concept and what you intended?

Like what so many readers are experiencing now, I was experiencing when I was writing. My team was also divided on who they wanted. At the end of Jealousy we’re left at a fork in the road. That’s how I envision it. When the team and I were talking, it just came that what if she was given a Sliding Doors life – she makes one decision and it takes her on this course. She makes a different decision and she’s sent on a different path. It just seemed like a natural progression to not only explore the What-Ifs posed, but to see where they lead. I make no guarantees of HEAs, non-HEAs, etc… with either path (book). I’m kind of evil like that. So now, just like Jules, the reader will get to choose what path to follow or take the scenic route and read them both.

✦ ✦ ✦

After the serial is out, we’ll be going back to rock star romance world… The Redemption will be next! Can you give us any hints on what to expect?

The Redemption- I have fallen in love with this story, their story. It’s been hard on the heart to write since I’m writing characters who have experienced a lot of pain in their lives. Unlike The Resistance which had a playful undertone to it, this story has some light moments, but also deeper issues like death and drugs. There’s hurt that can’t be ignored though the characters would really like to do just that sometimes. It’s always there bubbling under the surface waiting to be dealt with. It comes out in explosive ways or drives them to make decisions that can reward them or destroy them. Because with pain comes passion and these two have that in spades. Good and bad. Lol

I’m so excited to share this companion sequel with the readers. We will have also have appearances from our faves Holliday and Dalton. It was fun being with them again even though they aren’t the stars in The Redemption.

✦ ✦ ✦

Thank you so much for having me here today, Vilma. I’m honored and truly enjoyed the interview.

XO,
Suzie (S. L.)

Thank you Suzie!

Reading Order and Purchase Links

Available Now

Available Now

Sep-29

Sep-29

Scorned (FREE): Amazon | B&N | iTunes | My Review
Jealousy (99¢):  Amazon | B&N | iTunes | My Review
Dylan (99¢): Amazon|  iTunes
Austin (99¢): Amazon| iTunes

About S.L. Scott

Facebook | Twitter

✦✦✦✦

Follow Vilma’s Book Blog: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Subscribe by Email

Subscribe for Updates: