I don’t always get to write a Dear Reader letter, but I invariably have something I wish I could say to you about each book. Here it is.
Even short stories require a lot of research. Some of the topics I read up on for Make a Scene were:
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Even short stories require a lot of research. Some of the topics I read up on for The Paddle, Pretty Please were:
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Even short stories require a lot of research. Some of the topics I read up on for How Stimulating were:
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Even short stories require a lot of research. Some of the topics I read up on for How Do You Do Your Do were:
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Even short stories require a lot of research. Some of the topics I read up on for Horsing Around were:
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Even short stories require a lot of research. Some of the topics I read up on for The Point of No Return were:
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Even short stories require a lot of research. Some of the posts, articles, and topics I read up on while writing A Neighboring Hand were:
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Some stories have a long story…
I started this one back in 2018. Remember those days of innocence?
I pitched it to my agent at the time. She said it had legs, but for many reasons, I didn’t finish writing it until the middle of 2024. By then, the whole world had changed, including publishing. I was no longer working with an agent and submitted it to a few publishers with some warm responses, but they’re all looking for authors who are already viral on TikTok.
So I self-published it and I’m so glad I did! I love this book and enjoyed having more creative control as well as the ability to keep the process moving.
It’s a fish-out-of-water romcom. Meg is out of her depth selling adult toys, but mostly because she’s trying to find her way post-divorce while inching toward forty and an empty nest. Zak is sarcastic and quietly overwhelmed, but wonderfully sweet–and highly curious about the store’s merchandise.
They lean on each other in a way that I utterly adore and yes, there is more than one happy ending. 😉
Wild stuff happens when you follow your intuition.
In the spring of 2025, before I gave up social media, wine, and potato chips, I was sitting on the deck indulging in all three. I saw a post on Threads for the Romance, Eh? book signing in Edmonton.
I hadn’t done a book signing in years, but one of my goals was to do more in-person events to network with other authors, build my indie career, and get more involved in the Canadian romance scene. I applied and they kindly invited me to attend.
Everything about that trip was a win, especially when I met the lovely, Genevieve Loughlin, founder and publisher of Pownal Street Press, a Canadian publisher in PEI. They were starting a romance imprint called Sugar Shack and inviting submissions. She kindly bought a copy of Afternoon Delight and I promised to send her a proposal for something new.
Guess what?! She read the book. She liked it. She made me an offer and Pownal Street Press have acquired Afternoon Delight! It will reissue it October 2026.
Peeps, listen to your gut. And read Afternoon Delight. It’s a freaking delight. I promise you.
I had a very different premise in mind for this book. Initially, the hero was going to find the heroine in a diner. Then I thought, What if she’s an exotic dancer?
Once I had thunk it, I had to go through with it. Joy turned out to be such a joy. She’s spicy and sparky and is a wonderful contrast to Axel’s buttoned-down stern and controlled demeanour.
I hope you love their meet-cute as much as I do!
Then be sure to check out the second half of the duet where Mira, the woman Axel thought he was going to marry, finds her own happily ever after.
I was getting ready to write a secret baby Christmas romance for Harlequin when a fan, Allie, reached out. She asked if I’d ever thought of revisiting my Sauveterre Siblings quartet.
I hadn’t.
Almost ten years have passed since I wrote them. They came out in 2017. Allie felt their mother had been overlooked as a potential heroine who deserved an HEA. She wasn’t wrong, but a story about a senior finding love doesn’t fit the typical Harlequin Presents.
Rather than pitch that departure to my editor, I looked back on the series and realized that Cinnia had a younger sister, Dorry, who was precocious and intelligent and went to live with her sister when Cinnia had her twins.
Suddenly, I was very excited to revisit the Sauveterres, so much so that the early drafts were all about them. This book needed so much rewriting to make it about Dorry, now using the name Siobhan, and Joaquin, a delightfully brooding hero who doesn’t believe in the fate that keeps throwing them together.
I hope you adore them and this little peek into the lives of the Sauveterre siblings who are living their own HEAs.
p.s. while it’s not in the pages of this book, their mother is married to a Greek tycoon who spoils her mercilessly.
