I’m really excited to welcome Amber Daulton back to the blog today. Her latest book, Dark Hearts Aflame, is available right now. Check out Amber’s journey to giving life to a side character’s story.

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Dark Hearts Aflame follows Bristol Rieger and Carmen Lozano as they go off the grid to escape the criminals hunting them. Bristol himself is a retired drug lord who’s trying to go straight. Carmen is a cartel princess who has forsaken her crown and now lives under an assumed name while working as a medic with an anti-cartel resistance group. After her enemies discover her secret, Bristol gets roped into her problems. Danger, violence, and hot romance follows.

Originally, Dark Hearts Aflame was the final book in my romantic suspense series, Arresting Onyx, but it didn’t quite fit. Since it was so much darker than the Onyx books, I decided to create a spin-off series, the Lozano Cartel, and fully immerse myself in the dark romance genre. As for what inspired this story, I’m not sure. Bristol was a minor character in the Arresting Onyx series and quickly became one of my favorites. I knew from early on that I wanted to give him his own book, so when I sat down to plot out his story, the ideas just flowed out of me. I wrote the first draft back in 2018 and kept revising it off and on over the years while I multi-tasked in writing, editing, and publishing other books.

I’m a plotter, though I’ve been known to hand over the reins to my characters when they want to change something. I like to outline each scene either on paper or on my laptop, so I can see what works or move ideas around when needed. Sometimes, I get story ideas from my dreams; other times, I have to think about it for days on end. I never know when my muse will fire up, so I usually keep a pad of paper and a pen around for when I need them. I typically write every day, usually when I wake up in the morning until dinner time with a few short breaks in between. After dinner, I either relax or keep writing if my muse is fired up. I don’t have a day job at the moment, so I’m writing more often than not.

Outside of writing, I enjoy binge-watching TV shows, playing with my cats, hiking in the woods behind my house, and cultivating my herb beds. This year, my hubby and I have planted onions and potatoes in our garden, so that upkeep is going to keep me busy throughout the summer and fall.

Dark Hearts Aflame is now available at all online retailers. I’m currently revising book 2, Lost in His Spiderwebs, which will be released in October 2025. The Lozano Cartel series will span several novels and novellas, all of which are standalone stories, so please subscribe to my newsletter or follow my social media to keep tabs on when these books will be out. Enjoy the ride!

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Amber Daulton is the author of the Lozano Cartel, the Arresting Onyx, and the Ramseys in Time series, as well as several standalone novellas. Her books are published through Daulton Publishing, The Wild Rose Press, and Books to Go Now, and are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.

She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats.

Follow Amber: https://linktr.ee/AmberDaulton
Check out her website (Daulton Publishing): https://amberdaulton.com
Sign up for her Exclusive Newsletter (free ebook to new subscribers):
https://amberdaulton.com/newsletter-signup/

He gets more than he bargained for with his runaway cartel princess.

A drug lord on the run. A cartel princess in hiding. All it takes is a spark to set their world ablaze.

Bristol Rieger left his criminal life behind for a fresh start in Mexico. Flying under the radar of the government and the cartels alike, his best-laid plans go awry when a woman from his narco days discovers his whereabouts. Carmen Lozano, however, is no longer the innocent girl he remembers.

Carmen escaped the chains of her tiara and her abusive marriage to join a group of resistance fighters. The last thing she expected was the now-retired capo setting out to seduce her with his wicked touch. Embracing the blood on his hands is easy, but his secrets wear on her patience.

When their enemies close in, Bristol will have to summon his inner monster to protect her. But can that monster be tamed again?

– Book one is an Interracial (Hispanic woman/white man) dark romance novel in the Lozano Cartel series. All the books can be read as a standalone, but are part of an interconnected series.

– Scenes featuring torture/violence, kidnapping, attempted assault, infertility issues, child abuse (discussed), and suicide (discussed) may be uncomfortable for some readers.

– No cheating and HEA guaranteed!