Stockpile your tissues and buckle up your emotions: bestselling author JoJo Moyes has announced exclusively to Stylist.co.uk that a third Lou Clarke book is coming next spring.

Five years after the first novel in the trilogy, Me Before You, left us sobbing uncontrollably with its tragic ending, and two years after we were left heartbroken yet again by its sequel, After You, we’re just about emotionally ready to revisit Lou’s life.

The third book in the trilogy, as yet untitled, will see everyone’s favourite heroine travel to New York where Moyes says she “finds herself torn between her old life and her new”.

Me Before You, published in 2012, has so far sold a whopping 12 million copies worldwide, and topped the New York Times bestseller list last year when the film adaptation starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin became a box office hit across the globe. 

This made Moyes one of the very few authors to have ever had three novels on the list at the same time, a moment she told Stylist.co.uk she celebrated by buying a “bling-y ring” in LA.

“I wear it everyday and now the platinum has started chipping off,” she admitted.

“But someone once said to me, always wear and use your best stuff every day and I absolutely hold with that: after all, you don’t know where you’re going to be tomorrow.”

Read more: The daily writing routine of best-selling author JoJo Moyes

The story of Me Before You follows 26-year-old Lou as she takes on the role of caring for Will, a frighteningly successful business man whose life was turned upside down when he was paralysed in a motorbike accident. Although initially struggling to make a connection, the pair go on to form a close friendship until Will tragically takes his own life, leaving Lou bereft.

The second book, After You, which has sold over five million copies so far, follows Lou’s struggles to come to terms with her loss and forge a new life in London, and is every bit as weepy as the third.

Speaking about the upcoming book, Moyes said, ”I always knew that once I committed to write the sequel to Me Before You I would also write a third book; I saw it quite clearly as a trilogy.  Revisiting Lou has been a joy, as I push her into a completely new country, a brand new world, and a house full of secrets.

“With her usual blend of humour and emotion she has to ask herself some pretty fundamental questions - not least which side of the Atlantic does she really belong? I hope readers enjoy this new adventure as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.”

Read more: Watch author Jojo Moyes respond to controversy over the portrayal of disability in Me Before You

And Maxine Hitchcock, Publishing Director at Michael Joseph, added, “In Lou Clark, Jojo Moyes has created a character who we can’t forget, a protagonist who we have seen grow and evolve and who we’re not quite ready to leave behind. We are delighted and excited to be reunited with her again and know Jojo’s legions of fans will be too.”

Bring on Spring 2018.