I like that your book will be long. I wish hers was longer, perhaps future books will be. It was long enough and extremely well written with humor and drama, very touching in places. I also liked that she finally armed our little heroine, it really scared me all the danger around her, I kept thinking, she needs a gun! She inherited a lighthouse from her parents and it gets dangerous. I was also happy, though it was romantic, it wasn't explicit at all, no more than kisses and hugs. I'm not sure I could go back to work and look her in the face if all I could think of is "Ingrid, shame on you, I know what goes on in that mind of yours!"
Hey, don't give your book away, even to friends. They cost money to print. I'm sure you must enjoy writing or you wouldn't do it but you need to make money on it too!
I am making mine long for the same reason. It is no fun when a good story is short. You just want it to go on forever. So 400 to 600 is my aim because of that. Longer allows for more details too.
You have a good point. And I do enjoy writing. A lot.
Someone gave me the book The Flying Cavalier by Gilbert Morris, and it's the same way. The story is set in 1908, and a lieutenant in the British Royal Flying Corps goes to France to train.
On Christmas Eve, he meets a young woman, Noelle, by accident (literally). It's a great story filled with romance, heartbreak, and redemption. Nothing vulgar, which is what makes it a great story in my eyes.