{"id":168,"date":"2026-05-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/?p=168"},"modified":"2026-06-09T23:53:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T06:53:03","slug":"now-live-thomas-shess-unveils-tough-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/?p=168","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Shess Unveils\u00a0Tough Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Masterclass in Modern Noir<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Buckle up. The fog is rolling in, the neon is flickering, and the line between a heartbeat and a heist has never been thinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Award-winning journalist and &#8220;multilectual&#8221; storyteller&nbsp;<strong>Thomas Shess<\/strong>&nbsp;officially invites you into the shadows with the launch of his latest literary work,&nbsp;<strong><em>Tough Love: Modern Noir Romances<\/em><\/strong>. Known for his sharp eye for architecture and his deep roots in California culture, Shess turns his lens toward the architecture of the human heart\u2014specifically the parts that are under construction, broken, or boarded up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is&nbsp;<em>Tough Love<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Forget the clich\u00e9s of damsels in distress and detectives in trench coats.&nbsp;<em>Tough Love<\/em>&nbsp;is a collection of short stories that redefines the noir genre for the 21st century. These are tales of high stakes and low light, where romance isn&#8217;t a fairy tale\u2014it\u2019s a gamble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the grit of San Francisco\u2019s back alleys to the sun-drenched (but soul-heavy) streets of San Diego, Shess delivers a series of &#8220;Modern Noir Romances&#8221; that are as atmospheric as they are addictive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Inside the pages, you\u2019ll find:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Calculated Risks:<\/strong>&nbsp;Characters who know exactly what they\u2019re doing\u2014and do it anyway.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The &#8220;Shess&#8221; Style:<\/strong>&nbsp;A blend of journalistic precision and cinematic flair.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Vivid Settings:<\/strong>&nbsp;Stories that treat the city landscape as a character in its own right.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Message from the Author<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Noir has always been about the consequences of desire. With&nbsp;<em>Tough Love<\/em>, I wanted to explore what happens when love meets the &#8216;real world&#8217;\u2014the one with shadows, secrets, and no easy exits.&#8221; \u2014&nbsp;<strong>Thomas Shess<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Get Your Copy Today<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether you\u2019re a long-time reader of Thomas\u2019s work at&nbsp;<em>Pillar to Post<\/em>&nbsp;or a newcomer looking for a read that bites back,&nbsp;<em>Tough Love<\/em>&nbsp;is the perfect addition to your nightstand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Now Available At:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Tough-Love-Modern-Noir-Romances-ebook\/dp\/B0GHN4D6TS\">Amazon<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/store.bookbaby.com\/book\/tough-love\">BookBaby<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\"><strong>Special Edition Details:<\/strong>&nbsp;Keep an eye on&nbsp;<strong>thomasshess.com<\/strong>&nbsp;for announcements regarding signed copies and upcoming reading events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Join the Conversation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We want to hear from you! Once you\u2019ve taken the plunge into the world of&nbsp;<em>Tough Love<\/em>, share your favorite story or your most &#8220;noir&#8221; reading nook on social media using the hashtag&nbsp;<strong>#ToughLoveNoir<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The lights are low. The drink is poured. It\u2019s time to fall in love&#8230; the hard way.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>For more updates on Thomas Shess\u2019s work, architecture reviews, and literary musings, visit&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pillartopost.org\/\">PillarToPost.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_3567-1024x559.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_3567-1024x559.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_3567-300x164.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_3567-768x419.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_3567-1536x838.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_3567-2048x1117.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Masterclass in Modern Noir Buckle up. The fog is rolling in, the neon is flickering, and the line between a heartbeat and a heist has never been thinner. Award-winning journalist and &#8220;multilectual&#8221; storyteller&nbsp;Thomas Shess&nbsp;officially invites you into the shadows with the launch of his latest literary work,&nbsp;Tough Love: Modern Noir Romances. Known for his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[12,10,13,14,8,9,11],"class_list":["post-168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-launch","tag-booklaunch","tag-crimefiction","tag-hardboiled","tag-literarynoir","tag-modernnnoir","tag-noirfiction","tag-shortstories"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224,"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions\/224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasshess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}