Interview

New Release: Lost in His Spiderwebs

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

I’m excited to have Amber Daulton back on the blog. Her latest book, Lost in His Spiderwebs released today. And the title is perfect for an October release. Here’s Amber.

Lost in His Spiderwebs is the second book in the Lozano Cartel series, where we dive into the lives of Rubén Lozano and Drina Cabrera in a dark, second-chance romance neither one of them saw coming.

Rubén is not someone you want to cross. A cold, calculating cartel kingpin, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. Flip the coin and you got Drina—a widowed mother who’s raising her daughter alone while struggling to keep the darkness of her own mother’s anti-cartel resistance group out of their lives. These two couldn’t be more different. But when Drina’s world falls apart, she finds herself entangled in a dangerous cartel web, with none other than Rubén as her unlikely savior. The twist? He’s the man she’d loved and left long ago.

As for my inspiration… Well, that’s a bit of a story in itself.

Rubén and Drina were introduced as secondary characters in book 1, Dark Hearts Aflame. From the moment Rubén showed up on the page, I knew he deserved his own story, but at first, I couldn’t figure out who his heroine would be. After playing around with a few ideas and scrapping them, inspiration finally struck—Drina! She was the perfect fit for him. I’ve always loved the “opposites attract” trope, so I started plotting their story with her as his love interest. But something just didn’t feel right. At this point, Rubén and Drina were complete strangers when they meet in Chapter One, and that bothered me. There wasn’t enough depth or chemistry between them to make the story truly compelling.

I spent weeks, literally weeks, brainstorming how to make this connection feel real. And then, it hit me. Second-chance romance! Another favorite trope. What if Rubén and Drina had a past? What if they were once lovers, and he’s the father of her daughter, though he doesn’t know it? Once that idea clicked into place, I had everything I needed to take the story in a fresh direction.

I’m a plotter, and I like to outline chapter by chapter. I use pen, paper, and colored pencils, but sometimes I plot in a Word doc. I try to follow my notes exactly, but more often than not, the characters take control and steer my story in another direction. Beyond the initial plot issues, Rubén and Drina were pretty well-behaved. I didn’t have to get into a lot of arguments with them or force them to follow my painstakingly plotted outline, as I’ve had to do with other characters in other stories. It’s always a relief when my H/h play ball.

Who am I outside of writing, you might ask? I’m not sure I know. Writing is my life. As soon as I wake up in the morning, I’m on my laptop, researching, editing, or writing something fresh. When I’m brain dead from that, I like reading, hiking, binge watching my favorite TV shows, digging in my herb beds, and playing with my cats. Though, usually, I’m writing with a cat snuggled up beside me, so I’m always spending time with the furballs. I’m married to a supportive man who loves cooking (lucky me!), though I can’t get him to sweep the floor to save my life. Haha!

Today is the release day for Lost in His Spiderwebs, and I’m super excited. It’s my 20th published work to date. That’s right. The big 2-0! I’m already working on the next book, Corrupting His Wife, which is currently in the draft phase. The Lozano Cartel series will span several standalone novels, so be sure to subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on social media to stay updated. In the meantime, add Lost in His Spiderwebs to your reading list. You don’t want to miss it!

Amber Daulton is the author of the Lozano Cartel, the Arresting Onyx, the Embracing You, and the
Ramseys in Time series, as well as several standalone novellas. Her books 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 at https://linktr.ee/AmberDaulton

Kidnapped by the enemy. Bought by the jefe. Will his smoldering touch thaw her frozen heart?
Rubén Lozano, the new leader of the Lozano Cartel, craves peace amidst a legacy of bloodshed and
death. He never expected to find his ex-lover, Drina Cabrera, in the clutches of his vicious rivals. Her
haunted eyes compel him to rescue her, but freeing her is another matter.
After five months of captivity, Drina trades one captor for another. Though she succumbs to Rubén’s
masterful touch, the bittersweet memory of her daughter and the life she was stolen from is a constant
wedge between them.
When Rubén’s darkest secret comes out, he will have to wash his hands in crimson. Will Drina let her
king face the danger alone, or stand at his side as his cartel queen?

New Release: Dark Hearts Aflame by Amber Daulton

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

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.

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!

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!

New Release: The Passenger by Joie Lesin

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Joi Lesin’s debut novel The Passenger came out last month, and I am excited to introduce her and her Paranormal Historical Romance to you.

Let’s start with what is The Passenger about?

Elizabeth Reilly is twice haunted. She not only keeps the memories of her late husband, a casualty of World War II, close to her heart but she also inherited the ability to communicate with the spirits of the dead from her mother. 

When she aids a dying man, Paolo Clemente, in his last moments of life, she launches on a journey that will forever change her life and the life of the family Paolo left behind. After befriending Paolo’s ghost, Elizabeth travels to California to help him find peace. There she meets his son, Giovanni, who has recently returned from the war in Europe. Gio, as he is known by those closest to him, is only just settling back into his post-war life. When Elizabeth arrives, bringing news of the father he never truly knew, Gio is suspicious of both Elizabeth and her story.

The Passenger is a historical paranormal romance that explores the themes of love, grief and discovering who we truly are. These things are set against the backdrop of paranormal historical and picturesque settings that transports the reader to another time and place. Add to that, the characters are forced navigate the challenges of long hidden family secrets, matters of the heart, and the supernatural.

For me, the setting is as much of a character as the people who populate the story. The Passenger takes place in Cana, a fictional town nestled somewhere in California’s wine country. It’s a town where there’s so much more than meets the eye. 

To visit Cana, you must travel over winding roads bordered on both sides by green, rolling foothills and tall, sun filtering conifers surrounded by native plants. Along the way, the ancient trees part to reveal estates of all sizes. Here, a vineyard displays rows of grapes ripe for the picking. There, a ranch complete with cattle grazing the hillside. This is where you’ll find the vineyard Paolo Clemente bought after immigrating from Foggia, Italy to America. 

History and the paranormal are my two favorite genres. What inspired this story?

The inspiration for Elizabeth, Paolo, and Gio’s story came to me when I was 16 years old. I was on the city bus on the way home from school playing the “What If” game, making up stories for random passengers. 

On this particular day, I noticed a man sitting at the back of the bus who seemed a bit down on his luck. I wondered, what if he were alone in the world? What would happen if this man collapsed there on the bus? Would he die right there on that bus alone? What if I, or someone else, comforted him in his dying moments?

The tale blossomed from there until I finally sat down to write it 16 years later.

That’s amazing that such a seemingly small moment stuck with you for so long. How does that affect your writing schedule?

As a writer, I find I am a combination of a pantser and plotter—I puzzle together rather than plot my stories. For me this means I spend a significant amount of time thinking about the story. I tend to work out the story in my head like a problem that needs to be solved. This also means that part of my writing routine may look like I am just staring into the sky, but I am working hard—honestly.

All of my stories start with a single scene. Most of the time when that scene first comes to me, I don’t yet know the characters, but I see a moment in time. From there I treat it like a puzzle. I discover who the characters are by writing the opening and closing scenes. From there, I write to discover what has to happen to lead them from that opening to the single scene that birthed the story for me—and how to progress forward from that pivotal moment to the closing scene. Any plotting I do happens a scene or two at a time. It may not sound like it but it’s both organic and methodical for me.

I am, and have always been, a night owl. So, when I’ve gathered enough of the story elements together in my head, I sit down to write, usually, at night. Why? Because my creativity is most alive under the moonlight.

Welcome to the night writer’s club! When you aren’t writing, who are you?

Outside of writing, I am many things—a wife, mother, stepmother, daughter, sister, and friend. Until three years ago, I was also a Business Analyst, but now have the opportunity to focus on my writing full-time. 

For grounding myself, I simply love to lose myself in books and always have—both reading and writing them.

For fun, I take pictures and share them on social media. I’m always on the lookout for a view that’s new to me. I’m also a novice ukelele player. By this I mean, I’ve been learning how to play for the last four years. My husband did restring my ukelele for lefthanded playing, so I think I should get the hang of it one day soon—maybe. Which leads me to say, aside from books, one of my biggest interests is music. I have an eclectic taste, but my favorite to listen to by far is indie rock—80s and current.

I think anyone who can play a musical instrument is awesome. What’s next in your writing career?

 I am currently working on two projects at once. 

The first is a story that takes up where The Passenger left off. Like its predecessor, Watch Over Me is a ghost story and answers some questions left open at the end of The Passenger. This paranormal romance takes place in 1968 and tells the continuing story of Elizabeth’s daughter, Bella. What was the inspiration? A scene of Bella running through the vineyard with someone—or something—in pursuit while the earth trembles.

I’m also working on a mermaid novel that explores the relationships between sisters, mothers, and daughters. I’m very excited about this story and cannot wait to share more about it. 

First though, my ghosts are calling and want their stories told.

Minnesota-based author, Joie Lesin is a life-long fiction writer and the author of The Passenger. She has long been fascinated by anything otherworldly including ghosts. She loves to write a good ghost story—especially when it includes a touch of romance.

Originally from Massachusetts, at six years old, Joie moved to her mother’s birthplace, Minnesota. By eight, Joie lost her New England accent, however, it’s gradually returning as the years go by. She grew up in Minneapolis but now resides in St. Paul with her husband and their blended family—which includes a rambunctious grand-corgi.

Joie misses the ocean, but she often finds herself walking by one of Minnesota’s many lakes and travels to one of the coasts as often as she can. In fact, she considers California her home away from home. When she’s not writing, reading, or walking, you can find her listening to music. She absolutely loves music—especially live—and songs have sparked most of her story ideas.

Follow her at her website: https://www.jlesin.com/

She’s a 1940s ghost whisperer. He’s the son of a ghost.

Burdened with her empathic gift, Elizabeth Reilly wants to be free of it and fit in with normal people. Nevertheless, when the spirit of an old man asks for her help, she travels across the country to help him return home. Gio Clemente is still angry with his father who abandoned him as a child. To help the father pass on, Elizabeth must persuade Gio to let go of his anger. Though he resents her intrusion, they are both stunned to find themselves fighting a profound attraction. Elizabeth can accept his headstrong brand of love, but can Gio accept her gift—and believe in her?

The Passenger, a 1940s ghost story set in the California wine country, tells a tale of family connections, life-changing choices, and love—lost and found.

The Passenger is available now: https://www.jlesin.com/thepassenger

New Release: Air & Darkness by AK Nevermore

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

I am honored to introduce AK Nevermore to you. She has three series to her name: The Price of Talent, The Maw of Mayhem, and The Dae Diaries. The second book in The Dae Diaries releases TODAY. And AK Nevermore is here to tell you all about it.

Hey all! AK Nevermore here. I write seat-of-your-pants urban fantasy, paranormal, and steamy dystopian romance. What do I mean by seat-of-your-pants? Whelp, I’m a total pantser and my books are fast-paced with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. They will definitely keep you guessing, so you’re gonna want to buckle in for the ride! And today, I am super excited to be sharing my latest release from The Wild Rose Press, Air & Darkness, with you.

Air & Darknessis the second installment in the Dae Diaries, but don’t let that stop you from taking it for a spin. You can absolutely jump right into this seriously quirky urban fantasy with a sassy take-no-prisoners heroine. The story follows Envy, a half-daemon who accidentally ends up becoming a goddess, much to everyone’s chagrin—including her own. Being a deity is definitely not all it’s cracked up to be, and in Air & Darkness, neither is motherhood. It’s all about baby-daddy drama going to Hell. Check it out:

A week past her due date and not in the mood for anything other than chocolate, the last thing Envy wants to deal with is some fairy demanding she chose a consort. Unfortunately, she can’t exactly tell the Gwinth to piss off without him releasing the wild hunt on humanity, and she’s in enough trouble after the whole sealing-the-veil-and-frying-portions-of-the-planet-thing.

It’s bad enough she’s not exactly on speaking terms with Kyle, Berk, and Morgana. Brennan’s way different since she released his fiend. So is she. Assimilating Lilith’s memories and powers are throwing her for a loop, and her own messy feelings on motherhood aren’t helping. Then, Brennan disappears after a devastating scandal surfaces, and everything Envy thought she knew comes crashing down…

When I wrote Air & Darkness, I definitely pulled on my personal experience and absolute bewilderment as a new mom. Things that were terrifying at the time are pretty funny in retrospect, and I tried to craft the story to highlight their absurdity. 

I hope you’ll check it out, but if you need some more convincing, you can hang out with Envy out in One Night in Bliss, the free prequel. Not for nothin’ but it’s been reviewed as a “Hilarious, seriously f’d up good read…” and I kind of have to agree with them.

Then, if you want more Nevermore, stop by my website at: https://aknevermore.com/ There’s always something going on!

AK Nevermore writes Sci-fi & dark romantasy with spice. She enjoys operating heavy machinery, freebases coffee, and gives up sarcasm for Lent every year. A Jane-of-all-trades, she’s a certified chef, restores antiques, and dabbles in beekeeping when she’s not reading voraciously or running down the dream in her beat-up camo Chucks.

Unable to ignore the voices in her head, and unwilling to become medicated, she writes full time around a nest full of ravens. Her books explore dark worlds, perversely irreverent and profound, and always entertaining. AK belongs to a bunch of industry associations, volunteers for far too many committees, teaches creative writing, and on the rare occasion, sleeps.

I absolutely love hearing about personal stories and experiences that influence writers. I love that Ms. Nevermore used something as vulnerable as motherhood to craft her newest book. What personal experiences would you like turned into a book or a movie? Let us know in the comments!

New Release: Pieces of Blue by Liz Flaherty

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

At the beginning of this month, USA Today’s best selling author Liz Flaherty released Pieces of Blue. Normally a romance author, Liz has dipped her toes into women’s fiction with her latest release, and is here to share her thoughts on her recent writing and publishing journey.

Hi, everybody. Chelsey, thank you so much for having me here today. 

I’m not sure when the term women’s fiction entered my consciousness. I don’t recall whose I read first or even if I liked it. The words Woman’s Journey had been bandied about most of the years I’d been writing romance, and I thought that’s what we should do with romance and women’s fiction—just make them into one huge glorious genre known as The Woman’s Journey. 

The idea didn’t catch on. 

But I read CurtissAnn Matlock’s Lost Highways and Robyn Carr’s Deep in the Valley and Cheryl Reavis’s Blackberry Winter and Elisabeth Ogilvie’s Bennett’s Island series. I kept thinking yes, this! They’re all women’s fiction, but they’re all love stories, too. They’re all women’s journeys and I’ve read most of them more than once. While I love the relationship that grows between the heroine and hero, I also enjoy the ones between girlfriends, between sisters, between work friends who are there for each other. The romance is important, but it’s not always most important. 

Because it’s the story that’s important. The journey. How you feel when you finish reading. To a lesser degree, as a writer, how I feel when I finish writing is important, too. 

Of course, none of that was in my mind at all when I got a two-word start that wouldn’t get off my mind and stay there. Then I had a trip back a skinny, curvy road to a small lake I’d never known existed but made me type Chapter One above those initial two words. Later still, Maggie North invited me on her journey. It took her a while, and writing it took me a while, but…gosh, I loved Maggie. And Sam. And her adoptive parents. And Pastor Cari Newland. Oh, and Ellie and the dachshund named Chloe, too. 

Pieces of Blue has some romance, a setting I never wanted to leave, and, most of all, it has friends and family and community. Their dialogue was so much fun to write. The house—the Burl—is a character unto itself. 

How did I feel when I finished writing it? Oh, good. Sorry it was over and slapping back thoughts that maybe it wasn’t over…maybe there was another story at Harper Loch. Or two.

We’ll see. In the meantime, it’s a story from the “huge glorious genre” I mentioned above. I hope you like it.

For all of her adult life, loner Maggie North has worked for bestselling author Trilby Winterroad, first as his typist, then as his assistant, and finally as his ghost writer. Throughout her first marriage, widowhood, remarriage, and divorce from an abusive husband, Trilby was the constant in her life.

When he dies, she inherits not only his dachshund, Chloe, but a house she didn’t know existed on a lake she’d never heard of. On her first visit, she falls in love with both the house and the lake. Within a few weeks, she’s met most of the 85 inhabitants of Harper Loch and surprisingly, become a part of the tiny community. Her life expands as does a new kind of relationship with her friend Sam Eldridge. She finally feels not only at home, but safe.

Until her ex-husband is released from prison. The fragile threads of her new life begin to fray, and that feeling of safety is about to shatter into a thousand pieces.

The drive took me farther into the country than I’d ever been—at least that I could remember. While the temperature didn’t drop, the wind did increase, blowing snow from the roadsides across in front of me in gusty swirls of white. I was surprised that Gladys, the elegant voice of my GPS, didn’t sound either confused or disdainful even when it took me three tries to see the little green sign that indicated Harper Loch Road.

Canopied by naked February trees and lined with animal-tracked snowbanks, the road was one and a half lanes wide. I hoped it would be wider when there was no snow, but I wouldn’t bet on it. It was hilly, with serpentine curves that reminded me of a Chutes and Ladders game board minus the ladders. Gladys didn’t enlighten me as to how far it was to the lake itself, and two miles in, I was starting to wonder if it was all a bad joke. 

Trilby had been the master of bad jokes.

A barnwood sign at the side of the road encouraged me to Keep Right! I inched over, flinching when the snowbank brushed the side of my car, my pride and joy. Chloe looked my way, wide eyed.

Apparently, it was a popular meeting spot on the road, because I met a pickup immediately, going at least twice as fast as I was. The driver waved cheerfully and missed me by what I was certain was the hair’s breadth Trilby used to insist was purple prose if used in a book. I would have waved back, but my hands, white knuckled, didn’t want to let go of the steering wheel.

“Trilby,” I said, “what in the hell were you thinking?”

Pieces of Blue is available everywhere books are sold online:

https://books2read.com/FlahertyBlue

https://a.co/d/eyEjPDA

Liz Flaherty has spent the past several years enjoying not working a day job, making terrible crafts, and writing stories in which the people aren’t young, brilliant, or even beautiful. She’s decided (and has to re-decide most every day) that the definition of success is having a good time. Along with her husband of lo, these many years, kids, grands, friends, and the occasional cat, she’s doing just that.

She’d love to hear from you at lizkflaherty@gmail.com or please come and see her at  https://linktr.ee/LizFlaherty 

How to Put a Ghost in a Romance: Bound Across Time

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Four years ago, I learned the rules of romance writing. There are two very important requirements for a story to be considered a romance:

  1. The main plot must center around the relationship between the love interests.
  2. It must end with a Happily Ever After or Happy For Now. 

I struggled with rule #2 for about a year (check out how I overcame that in a previous blog post), but once accepted, I had a big question: How do you make this work with ghosts? If one half of the couple is a living person, and the other half is a ghost, how are they going to have an HEA?

Part of my confusion came from reading an incorrectly labeled paranormal romance. First off, the main plot was not the relationship with the (ghost) love interest; that ended up being the side plot. Second, the main character is not reunited with their ghost love interest until decades after the main story ends when they die of old age (think the reunited scene of Jack and Rose in Titanic). That didn’t really feel like an HEA to me. 

So, like the emotional teenager I sometimes act like, I stayed away from ghost stories until Bound Across Time by Annie R. McEwen fell into my lap. This is a paranormal romance worth reading.

Let’s start with our living character, our female main character: Celeste Gowdie (a.k.a. CeCe). CeCe’s mother died when she was young, and she was raised by her aunts in the U.S. state of Georgia. CeCe doesn’t know who her father is (this is important for one of the reveals toward the end). She studied history in college, and is working in St. Rhydian’s castle in Wales when the story begins. CeCe wants to be taken seriously as a real historian, but she ends up being the American tour guide who gets to research and share ghost stories to the patrons. 

Patrick O’Loinsigh is the bastard son of one of the historic Lords of the castle. He was born in Ireland in the 18th Century, educated in Paris, and forced to move to his father’s castle during his early adult years. His father used him to do his dirty work since Patrick wouldn’t be inheriting the title. Patrick is murdered by his half brother, and his spirit spends the next few centuries hanging out in the in-between waiting for the living soul who matches a prophecy meant to free him.

Patrick and CeCe have a meet-cute of epic proportions. Patrick lures CeCe to the top of the tallest tower by turning on a battery operated candle. CeCe can’t lock up the castle and go home until all lights are turned off. So after a literal hike, CeCe comes across a handsome man in 1700s clothing. Patrick scares CeCe so bad that she faints. 

It takes CeCe several days to believe Patrick that he is the ghost of the handsome man in the gallery of the castle’s historic inhabitants. At first she thinks he’s a loiter pretending to be Patrick O’Loinsigh. But when she finally believes him, she falls, and she falls hard. 

The local witch coven gets involved, CeCe’s aunts get involved because… family secrets! (That I’m not going to spoil.) Everyone wants CeCe to stay away from Patrick for her own good. Of course she doesn’t listen, and she embarks on a passionate and steamy love affair with Patrick. 

Well, it turns out that when a living person spends that kind of time with a ghost, their literal being starts to disappear. So now, CeCe and Patrick have a difficult decision to make: go their separate ways to save CeCe’s life, or research if magic can help them. 

And that’s where I’m going to leave you with this story, because you’re just going to have to read it yourself if you want to know how it ends. But the ending is soooooo worth the emotional turmoil that Ms. McEwen is going to put you through. 

These kinds of stories always have to have “rules of magic” and the rules of magic that Annie created were very cool. When Patrick and CeCe meet up, the room they are in reverts back to the way it was when Patrick was alive. When Patrick leaves, the room returns to its modern-day look and feel. When they are together, they are neither in the past nor present – though they are closer to the present, because humans could hear CeCe if they came by the room. 

There also appears to be two different “types” of magic. There’s a traditional witch who can cast spells and make potions and such. Then there are people born with “gifts”. CeCe is born with a gift that allows her to see and hear Patrick in the first place. (For more details on that, read the book!)

And to finish off this review, here is a Q&A with the author herself:

In your planning, what came first: a story about witches? Or a story about ghosts?

Door Number Three: a story about a castle! Because, when I conceived the book, I was living in a small Welsh town that is graced by a very old and beautiful castle. I spent a lot of time thinking about the people who passed through those halls and gardens. Were any of them still there? So, yes, I suppose the ghosts came first and everything else followed. 

What historical people, places and facts are true? What did you embellish or fill in the holes?

The town, the witches, the historian who’s forced to resort to ghost walks since history doesn’t sell, the castle, the stone circle a few miles out of town, the Welsh coast almost within sight of Ireland, the family who kept secrets, the work of people – archivists, admins, docents, conservationists – at an historic site: all those are fact-based, along with the many casually dropped references to and stories about the past as viewed by both a modern historian and a ghost who died in the mid-1700s. Beyond and embracing those is the truth of protagonist CeCe’s life and work; just like her, I’m a career historian who lived in a small Welsh town and met the astoundingly warm and quirky inhabitants, worked in the local castle, visited the stone circle. The things I changed were the ghost (whom I never met, more’s the pity) and the names and actions of both CeCe and the locals. Oh, and the color-changing cat! Always wanted one of those but, alas, mine have all been the single-color variety. 

I’m guessing Aiofe’s story is next? Do you also plan on going back in time and also telling Gabrielle’s story?

Bound to Happen (Book Two of the Bound Series) does indeed follow Aoife/Fee’s story. It involves a radical change in setting, from a tiny Welsh town to London and, specifically, Covent Garden, where Aoife has a grant to research playwrights and poets of the 1600s. She’s lured to an abandoned theater by some urban exploring chums and…Well, you’ll have to read the novel to see what happens then! But in addition to new and very different secondary characters – Aoife’s Ghana-born flatmate and her ancestor priestess Mom, along with some skeptical folks in the National Trust and Museum of London Archeology – characters from Book One re-appear, like Jana Smithbury-Tewkes (and her new color-changing feline, Rumpelstiltskin.) Through them, readers learn more about Fee’s Savannah family (still keeping secrets, as families do) and her life growing up with leathling-souler parents in 18th century Paris. As to Gabrielle Gowdie: while bits of her tale are woven into Bound to Happen, it’s in Boundless (Book Three of the series), that we hear from an aging Helene Gowdie (oldest of the original five sisters who included Gabrielle) about why and how the secret-keeping of Gowdie family began.

What’s next for your writing career?

More writing, more publishing! I’m contracted with four publishers (one in the UK, the rest US-based) for nine books, five of which are written, the rest in progress. I’m eager to push ahead with my series for the UK publisher, Bloodhound Books; it’s Victorian working class romance centered on the lives and loves of four women who work in a London corset workshop. If you liked Peaky Blinders, you’ll love The Corset Girls! I haven’t left paranormal romance behind, though; I’ve got a spine-chilling vampire romance story in Rowan Prose Publishing’s horror anthology coming out later this year. And I’m finishing a time travel historical romance set in 1910 Boston, New Orleans, and Wales. Several other WIPs are nudging me for attention, including a Regency romance comedy about the lengths to which an impoverished heiress will go to avoid an inconvenient marriage, an 1880s romance set in New Orleans’ back streets, and a novel of smuggling and love on the Kent coast in the 1740s. 

Annie R. McEwen has written a beautiful romance that brings past and present together in the most captivating of ways. She kept me guessing until the very end how the problems would get resolved. Very captivating and well-earned five stars. 

Mean Girls in the Paranormal: Out of Body

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

I’m excited to review another ARC (Advance Reader Copy – I get to read it before the official release date).

Out of Body by Kimberly Baer (which publishes TODAY) is a YA Paranormal-SciFi adventure about a 15 year-old girl named Abby who discovers she has the ability to leave her body during sleep time – or travel on the astral plane. Her cousin, and best friend, Logan has the same ability. This is so exciting for Abby because Logan moved away six months ago and she misses him terribly. 

At first, Abby’s out of body experiences (OBE) allow her to help others: finding a lost pet, helping a neighbor call 9-1-1. Then she learns things she would rather not: her parents’ marriage is on the rocks, and the mean girls at school wrote nasty things about her in their yearbook. (I LOVED the Burn Book vibes in that scene.) 

Abby is an introvert, and it turns out her social life was because of Logan. Once he moved away, her “friends” disappeared. Both her and Logan having OBEs gives her hope that she’ll get her best friend back. But Logan has been traveling on the astral plane longer, and already has other friends and adventure plans that don’t involve her. 

She’s mostly fine being alone, but her mother is not okay with a socially inept daughter. Feeling pressure from her mom, Abby uses her OBEs to make drastic and dangerous decisions. These decisions blow up in her face, and the lessons she learned had a very Disney Channel feel that was nostalgic for me.   

As both cousins make youthful mistakes, Abby will have to accept that her reality has some cracks, and she’ll need to trust the two people she (thinks) she hates the most.

Kimberly Baer has such a great imagination for the fantastical elements to this story. The dilemma Logan finds himself in really makes the reader question outside intervention in environmental factors such as evolution, species survival, and the food chain. Overall, a great read for teenagers and fans of YA literature.

And like some of my other reviews, Kimberly Baer agreed to an interview! Check it out below:

I think it’s amazing that you have published in multiple genres. Most writers I have conversed with feel it’s safer to stick with one genre. What has your experience been like?

I agree that it’s safer to stick with one genre; otherwise it’s hard to establish a target audience. My problem is that all of my story ideas come to me out of the blue, and they’re not all in the same genre. When an idea resonates with me, I feel compelled to write that story, regardless of the genre. But most of my recent ideas have fallen within the young adult genre, so that might be the one I “settle down” with.

I know what an out of body experience is, but I haven’t read any fiction involving it. Was there any trope or world building expectations already in place that you felt compelled to follow or not follow?

Nope. Before I started writing Out of Body, I’d never read a book about astral projection, either fiction or nonfiction. I did some research as I was writing, but the world-building comes primarily from my imagination. Assuming astral projection is a real thing, I probably stretched the limits of possibility—but, hey, that’s what fiction is all about, right?

Is this a standalone novel, or do Abby and Logan have more adventures in the works?

I’m not ruling out a sequel. Astral projection is a fascinating subject with endless plot possibilities, so there just might be at least one sequel.

What’s next for your writing career?

I have more story ideas than time to write them, so I’ll just keep tackling them one at a time!


As mentioned above, Out of Body released today. You can follow Kimberly and purchase her books here: https://www.kimberlybaer.com/

Real Life Romance: My Love Story by Maria Imbalzano

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

When I graduated from law school at the age of 28, I was fairly certain I would never get married. I had been on and off with my boyfriend for eight years, my parents had a terrible marriage, and I didn’t want to end up in an unhappy relationship. I had my career ahead of me, I had friends to hang out with, and I was fine by myself. 

A few weeks before I was to start my job at a law firm, I met with the managing partner. He said he had good news and bad news. What did I want to hear first?  I chose the bad news, which was that another new hire was starting two weeks before me and would be on the letterhead above me. The good news was that he was tall and good-looking. 

I laughed that off and began my legal career as anticipated a few weeks later. I did meet the “tall, good-looking attorney” on my first day, since we worked at a small firm (17 lawyers at the time). He was very nice, very handsome, and perfectly tall (6’4” to my 5’9” plus heels). But I had a boyfriend (the on and off guy) and he had a girlfriend (who was very short). 

We became friends, hung out on Friday nights for happy hour with our colleagues, and eventually broke up with our significant others due to relationship issues. We both worked late on week nights and started going out to get something to eat when we were famished—sometimes with others, sometimes on our own. It was all very platonic, but something was happening beneath the surface. 

On a weekend ski trip with our friends, we somehow ended up in the same room together. My roommate had disappeared into someone else’s room, and he didn’t have a bed in the guys’ room. Although there were bunkbeds, we shared some hot kisses and a bed that night. It all became very romantic over the next few weeks, as we kept our attraction hidden at work, and would meet up clandestinely so no one would know. 

Then he got cold feet. He told me we probably shouldn’t continue. We should just go back to being friends. I was devastated. I had fallen for him and didn’t want to be friends. And I told him just that. I said that, of course, I would be friendly at work. I was a professional after all. I told him I respected his decision, but I didn’t want to go back to hanging out. He said he understood and we left the restaurant with heavy hearts. 

The very next night, he asked if I wanted to go get something to eat. Had he not heard me? I said no, and reminded him that I did want to revert to the best friends zone. He accepted it that night, but a few days later we were at a firm function. He kept coming over to me, engaging in small talk, sitting down next to me if I sat, following me if I moved to a different spot. Then he asked why I was being so icy.  

I reminded him of our recent discussion. Sadness shrouded his eyes, but I could not back down. I had my heart to protect.  A few nights later, he asked me to go out to dinner with him. He wanted to talk.  Reluctantly, I agreed, despite my resolve. I was still crazy about him, and was willing to spend a few more hours together, hoping he would change his mind.

Although, he never said that in so many words, we spent that night and every night thereafter  together—either at my place or his. We went on romantic vacations together, most notably Key West and Rio de Janeiro and married eighteen months later. And I’m still crazy about him today.  

*****

I retired from the practice of law a few years ago, and now write full time. In several of my contemporary romance novels, the heroine is a lawyer, and a lawsuit pits the main characters against each other. My new release, “Island Detour,” (on pre-order and out on February 19th) does not follow suit. The main characters are teachers at an environmental school in the Florida Keys. Sunrise Island, a fictional island in the Keys, is based on Key West, which played an important role in my and my husband’s love story. We’ve gone there every year for the past thirty-seven years, and it is definitely one of my happy places. 

Buy Links for Island Detour https://books2read.com/u/4D20y7

Meet Maria and follow her writing journey: https://mariaimbalzano.com/

Powerful Women in Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

“Well behaved women rarely make history.”

Princess Gabrielle is not well behaved. She is a skilled archer, can fight any man with her own sword, and gallops across the French countryside to her heart’s content. The ladies of Paris cannot fathom such a lifestyle, nor do they think it’s acceptable for a princess and future queen to be acting in such a manner. 

But it’s this unladylike behavior that will allow Gabrielle to save her own life, twice. In a time when Gabrielle must obey her father, and then her future husband, she is determined to forge her own destiny, and that destiny lies in the arms of Basiten; the Master of Horse, and her combat trainer turned personal guard. 

“Behind every successful man there stands a woman.”

Bastien has two women other than Gabrielle working behind the scenes to ensure that he wins Gabrielle’s hand in marriage, and the kingdom of Finistere. His mother, Laudine, uses her Winter Solstice wish for her son rather than herself. Then we have Beatrice, Gabrielle’s great aunt, and a powerful socialite in Paris. Beatrice will play an important role protecting Bastien’s legal right to marry Gabrielle.

If I’m going to read historical fiction, I want to read about powerful women – or at least women who created their own power in a world trying to stop them. Jennifer Ivy Walker does this masterfully with her female characters, particularly with Gabrielle and Beatrice in Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle. 

Gabrielle is the only child of the King of Finistere. But since this is medieval France, she can’t inherit her father’s throne on her own. The king’s health is failing, and he needs to choose his daughter’s husband, who will also be his successor. One particularly unsavory nobleman wants Gabrielle for nefarious reasons, and in order to stop him, King Guillemin plans a tournament; where the winner will be given Gabrielle’s hand and Guillemin’s kingdom. But Gabrielle can only imagine marrying one person: Bastien, her father’s master of horse. Bastien has trained Gabrielle in archery and hand-to-hand combat; and the only thing keeping them apart is Bastien’s lack of a noble title. Luckily, a moment of foul play from another contender provides Bastien with the opportunity to be ennobled, and eligible for Gabrielle’s hand. But will the official documents arrive in time?  

And for the second half of this review, I’m pleased to announce that the author herself, Jennifer Ivy Walker agreed to an interview!

What time period is this supposed to take place in?

This trilogy is set in the HIgh Middle Ages in medieval France.

And can you explain how the politics and culture worked in multiple smaller kingdoms dotting the area that is now modern-day France? How does that fit into your story?

During the Middle Ages, there were many separate kingdoms and duchies in France.  The region of Brittany was separate from the rest of France until 1532, well after my trilogy takes place.

Lancelot makes an appearance in the first chapter. He is the only character I am familiar with. Who else is based on European mythology? Are there any characters that are based on historical figures?

Nearly all of the characters in my trilogy come from the original medieval French legend of Tristan et Yseult (Tristan and Isolde in English). The characters of King Marke of Cornwall, King Hoël of France, Prince Kaherdin, Lady Gargeolaine, and the Morholt all come from that French legend as well. Some of the characters, such asViviane (the Lady of the Lake) and Morgane la Fée come from French versions of Arthurian legend.

I know that you are a French teacher. Is the French used in the book modern-day or medieval?

I used modern French with medieval phrases and terminology, for authentic medieval French would be even more difficult to understand than medieval English. (Imagine reading Shakespeare, but in French!) 

The second book in your Wild Rose and the Sea Raven series is titled The Lady of the Mirrored Lake. Is Viviane that lady? And if so, should your books be read in a specific order?

No, Viviane is the Lady of the Lake–le Lac de Diane in the enchanted Forest of Brocéliande. My protagonist and heroine Issylte becomes the Lady of the Mirrored Lake (Le Miroir aux Fées–the lake known as the Fairy Mirror) when she becomes a Priestess of the Tribe of Dana (the Goddess of the Earth). Yes, the books should be read in chronological order since they are a continuing trilogy and not stand alone novels.

What are you currently working on? And what’s next to be released from you?

I have three new releases:  Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle–a stand alone novel that involves many of the characters introduced in my trilogy. It’s a medieval romance between a fiery French princess descended from Viking Valkyrie and the chivalrous knight who suffers an impossible love for her.

I also have two contemporary novellas which are steamy romances set in modern-day France. Amour in Avignon (releasing November 29th!)  is a Cyrano de Bergerac inspired love story set in the south of France during the world-famous Festival of Theater in Avignon. 

Flames of Flamenco (releasing December 27th) is a fiery romance set in Montmartre– the bohemian heart of Paris–between a skilled artist who melts the frozen heart of the American heroine with the flames of his passionate flamenco dance. 

I have also written a World War II historical romance,The Witch of the Breton Woods, which will be published in early 2024. It’s the story of a reclusive, traumatized young woman who heals and shelters a wounded American paratrooper, keeping him hidden from the Gestapo and la Milice–the local French paramilitary organization that collaborates with the Nazis. She introduces her soldier to the underground French Resistance (of which she is a member) and together, they join forces with the Allies to fight in the Battle of Saint-Malo.

I have just completed another stand alone spinoff of my trilogy, entitled A Celtic Yuletide Carol, which I hope will be published for the holiday season in 2024. And I am currently working on a Viking trilogy set in Normandy during the tenth century–the ancestors of my French Viking princess from Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle. I have also outlined another three book series introducing the next generation of characters from The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven trilogy. I hope to write those three books in 2024.

I rate Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle 5 stars. If you like medieval folklore and romance check out not only Winter Solstice, but Jennifer’s other books as well.