Hard Truths comes out Monday, 3/15!
Enemies to lovers? Check. A cocky adventure racer? Check. Real-world roadblocks to romance? Check. Here it is!
Why is time fast as a cheetah when things are fun, but slow as a turtle when one waits?
That reminds me: this one contains a turtle or two, and I found out some fascinating facts during my novel research. Sea turtles migrate thousands of miles, exhibiting a degree of philopatry, returning to the same beach from which they hatched, though it takes decades for them to reach sexual maturity. The females dig nests in the sand at night to lay between 50 and 350 eggs, then cover the nests and camouflage them with vegetation, sometimes digging decoy nests.
The sex of the babies is temperature-dependent: the warmer it is, the more females are hatched. A ratio of 80 females to 20 males has been common for millennia, but more recent hatches are 99% females, leading to concerns for survivability. On the plus side, the near-vacant beaches worldwide since the pandemic has led to an increase in nests, the highest numbers seen in twenty years in some places.
Sea turtles are bioluminescent—who knew? They’re the first bioluminescent marine reptiles discovered. It’s theorized it helps them blend in with the reefs and avoid predation from sharks.
Though they are air-breathing, sleeping sea turtles can remain submerged for 4-7 hours, but if turtles are trapped in nets, they can still drown. They are poikilothermic, with internal temperatures that vary according to their environment, but they exhibit cold-stunning in temperatures of 50 degrees F or less, which cause them to bob along, unable to swim.
Jason’s turtle is a tortoise, however: a Greek thigh-spurred tortoise, which lives on land. These can live up to 125 years, and exhibit sexual dimorphism, with the male’s undershell, or plastron, concave. Though smaller than the females, they are every bit the alpha male: as soon as they awaken from hibernation, they attack other males, ramming into them and trying to flip them over, and follow the females, trying to get them alone, bumping into them, and even biting at their legs. When he mounts one, he opens his mouth, showing his red tongue and making squeaking noises—not quite the erotic show as mating camels, but close!
There’s no turtle sex in Hard Truths, but it does contain some non-cookie-cutter sex scenes. Can’t wait? Me, neither! I hope you enjoy it!
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