It’s been years since I’ve done one of these, and it’s weird, I had all the time in the world to prepare for this book to end, at some points I wanted nothing more than to finish it, but now that it’s here, I feel like I’m barely ready to let go of these two.

Nikola and Hagen, where do I even start with these two.

I think everyone who didn’t join into the series here would agree that this was my most anticipated book. People, me included, were desperate for their story from the moment we were first introduced to Hagen’s madness and Nikola’s muted personality in Rogue and so when it came time to finally write this book, I was sooooo excited.

I never never imagined it’d turn out like this or get the response it did.

I knew certain things I wanted to happen, but I never know the full story so even I was shocked at points at what I was making my keyboard do.

We started off HOT with Nikola’s sexy ass POVs and Hagen’s terrified drowning one, then they were dating, and those first few chapters before they met their first bump were sooooo lovely. I think that was the last time we were at peace in these comments lmfaoooo.

The split came with people loving Nikola and hating Hagen, and vice-versa, and it was so crazy that for the first time, I had to step in to make some clarifications. It was MADNESS – but I wouldn’t give it up for a thing cause it was fun too. 

I loved seeing how animated people could get, how happy or angry these characters and their lives could make us. That’s when I know I’m doing a good job with making these characters and their stories feel real.

Anyway, as I continued the story, I thought it was going to go in the direction of ‘Hagen goes on a date’ that I wrote yearssssss ago, but I kind of tied myself up in knots (ha) trying to direct them to that point. It admittedly took too long for me to realise that trying to conform them to what I thought they would be when I was randomly writing a glimpse into their relationship was doing them an injustice for their actual story.

So I stopped thinking about that and all other extras, and just let them get to work, and shitttttt… things got out of hand lmfaoooooo.

Writing Control, in ways, was, at times, some of the most difficult work I had to do, and others, some of the most exhilarating. 

Writing specifically from Nikola’s POV was a challenge because he was a bit of an unreliable narrator, plus he didn’t see fault in certain actions, and as an autistic character, I wanted to make sure I was expressing his thought process in the right way. And I really think he’s unreliable cause he always thinks ahead, so even when he’s angry, I’m like… did you think about this happening and plan around this too?

To this day I don’t know, but he’s fine so I don’t mind.

Hagen was far easier to write from. My chaotic, bundle of life that was a bit droopy when we started his story. I have always loved Hagen in a way I don’t the others because he always feels so real to me.

At the start of Control, Hagen is flawed, he changes his mind at a flip of a hat, he cares what others think, and he’s lost, and that is real. Maybe it’s cause I’m the same age as him and I know how fucking crazy things can feel at times in life, and while I feel on track with my life, hardly any of my friends are the same. 

At this age, some people are getting married and have their dream job, while others are stuck in the job they had in university, living with 3 roommates and can’t get a job with their degree for anything. 

Life is hardddddd and Hagen has always reflected that to me, even as someone supernatural in this crazy universe of ours. Some may argue he doesn’t have anything to stress about but with these great siblings to look up to that all have their shit together, trying to live up to something even close to that is terrifying.

At first, I was scared that no external plot here, like the other books have had, would make this boring quickly, but Nikola and Hagen quickly showed me that they had more than enough issues between them to keep us entertained.

Writing their story was one thing, writing them fall in love was something else. 

I mean the tension, the history, the back and forth, the hatred!!! Man, even the BDSM (I really never saw myself going this deep into it at the start of the book, but I’m really glad that I did because it adds another layer to their relationship). 

There were themes in here I’ve never touched before, and as a dark romance, it gave me some grey areas to play in that I am soooo glad I didn’t shy away with this book. I liked Nikola doing things that were unjustifiable and wrong at times and Hagen being horribly selfish at others.

I could’ve gone further like we could’ve had Nikola being a much darker character, but the memory chapters proved that was not who he was at his core. All Nikola ever wanted was his best friend back, and all Hagen wanted was some space.

It led them and us down some truly twisted roads like the castle era. That was insane, but I loved it because that’s where we saw Hagen’s obsession growing to match Nikola’s, and then once that passed, it was really about tying this all into a nice bow and giving them the ending they worked for.

I did. 

I can say that I did without worrying if that’s true because I’ve never felt so at peace ending a book as I do now. Writing that last chapter gave me everything I needed to know that these two were going to be okay.

And they really will be. 

Hagen was right when he said that maybe they were put together so young because he needed Nik. He did. He has and will always need Nik in ways far deeper than most would need their mate, and it’s perfect because Nikola is there for him. And Hagen is there for Nik, showing him all the joys of life he wouldn’t see outside of his Hagen blinders.

So here we are at the end of their story. It hurts more than usual because there was so much anticipation, and it’s a project that’s been going on for years, so writing updates was always comforting even while everything around changed, but we couldn’t keep them forever.

I started writing Control in Dec 2021, had a 5-month pause in 2022, but we are finally done in March 2025. 

That was a lottttttt longer than I planned to work on this book, I mean Malcolm has been asleep for years waiting for this to end lmfaoooo, but I don’t regret a thing.

I got to see this world of ours grow, and our community draw closer. It reminded me of AM at the start at some points. I loved sharing the joy and pain with you guys, and I can not thank you enough for joining me on this journey.

Thank you for reading, thank you for checking for updates, and staying loyal and waiting when they took particularly long.

Thank you for putting up with me when updates were slow and I rewrote certain chapters. 

Thank you for supporting me so that I could finish this book after all these years and build a career doing what I love.

THANK YOU!

Thank you to my commenters – you know I love you guys with all my heart, and I can’t reply to each one like I used to, but I read every single one.

Thank you to my voters – you silent angels keep me afloat and help trap others in our little corner of the universe.

Thank you to my silent readers – you guys hide, but I know that you are here! I see you, and I appreciate and love you for supporting me in all the silent (ha) ways you do.

Thank you all, my beautiful and wonderful humans. 

Thanks for joining me on yet another crazy story in this universe and I can’t wait for the next one.

Love Tippy❤️

P.S. I’m not doing epilogues, BUT 2 bonus chapters will be released right here for all soon!!