romance

New Release: Twice in a Lifetime Series by Jana Richards

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Today’s guest author has not one, but three new books to talk about. Her Twice in a Lifetime series released in March of this year. Please welcome Jana Richards.

Hi, I’m romance writer Jana Richards, and my latest releases are the three books in the Twice in a Lifetime time-travel romance series. Gabriel Daniels finds himself in a waiting room next door to Heaven after being involved in a car wreck. In order to earn his wings and a place in Heaven he must help three mortals get a second chance at love. Senior angel Thomas will act as Gabriel’s guide and mentor on this journey. And if he’s successful, he’ll be allowed to watch over the people he loved back on Earth.

There’s a catch: Gabriel must examine events of his own life before reaching Heaven. Thomas argues he won’t be ready to accept the perfection of his angelic life until he recognizes and accepts the mistakes he made in his mortal life, especially his mistakes with love. Gabriel isn’t happy about having to relive painful events, but since it’s the only way he can help his family, he agrees. 

And then they’re off. In I’LL BE SEEING YOU, Thomas and Gabriel’s first challenge is to take World War Two veteran Frank back to 1944 to help him correct the biggest mistake he made with love. In NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE, Gabriel takes Joanna back to the 1970s and convinces her to help the fiancé she broke up with when she became paraplegic. In the final book, WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN, Gabriel takes his client Sam back in time ten years to convince him to marry the woman he jilted at the altar. As his clients learn and grow and make new decisions, Gabriel faces his own past and begins to see his mortal life differently. 

What Inspired the Series

I’ve been inspired by World War Two stories most of my life, since my father was a WW2 veteran. I am drawn to stories of romances hastened by the danger of war. I’m especially fascinated by romances between men and women from different countries who never would have met if they hadn’t been thrown together by war.

When I first began writing what eventually became I’LL BE SEEING YOU, I never thought of the book as part of a series. I wrote Frank, the World War Two veteran, as the main character and everything was told from his point of view. But then I began to think that a more interesting perspective might come from Gabriel, the angel. What was his story? How did he end up becoming an angel? Writing from Gabriel’s point of view also gave me the opportunity to create a series in different time periods. So, I sketched out a very brief outline of what a series of three books would look like. And then I set those ideas aside till I could get back to them. I didn’t know it would take almost ten years to do so. In between I wrote several other books, but I always had the Twice in a Lifetime series in the back of my mind, waiting patiently for its time to shine.

Bringing the Series to Life

Finally in early 2024, I had the opportunity to delve back into this series. I started with an unfinished manuscript that I had to rework, and two paragraphs outlining the next two books. It took a lot of work, but finally in March 2026, the Twice in a Lifetime series was released. 

Since I self-published this series, I had several additional tasks, aside from the writing. Of course, every writer needs to work with a good editor. There were two rounds of professional editing for each book. Then I consulted with a cover artist to get the feeling I wanted to achieve with these books. After that I formatted the interior of the books for both paperback and ebook formats, and finally uploaded them to retailers. 

Self-publishing is definitely not for the faint of heart. It’s a lot of work. But it is also very rewarding, especially for someone like me who’s a bit of a control freak when it comes to my work. 

My Writing Process

I admit my writing process can be somewhat chaotic. My desk ends up littered with multiple pieces of scrap paper with scribbled notes about plot points and character traits. I’m sort of organized in that I always begin by writing an outline of the main plot of a story so that I have a place to start, and something to refer back to when I get stuck. It’s my way of telling myself the story. But the outline isn’t written in stone. If some new, better ideas occur to me as I’m writing, I’ll follow them if they make the story better. I consider myself a cross between a plotter and a pantster. 

When I’m in the thick of a writing project, I try to work at it consistently, at least five days a week. It’s the only way I know to get the work done and to stay in the flow of the story.

Outside of Writing

I retired from my day job as bookkeeper/admin assistant in December 2021 so now I can write almost full-time. But I leave time for other things, like family, especially my three-year-old granddaughter. I also spend summers volunteering at my local zoo, which I enjoy very much. And somewhere in between I try to make time for exercise and a social life!

Thanks for having me on your blog, Chelsey!

As a former history teacher, this series sounds intriguing! I also love a good WWII story as that’s the era of my great-grandparents romance as well. Here is some more information about Jana and her writing:

Jana Richards has tried her hand at many writing projects over the years, from magazine articles and short stories to full-length contemporary romance, paranormal suspense and romantic comedy. She loves to create characters with a sense of humor, but also a serious side. She believes there’s nothing more interesting than peeling back the layers of a character to see what makes them tick.

When not writing up a storm or dealing with dust bunnies, Jana can be found pursuing hobbies such as golf (which she plays very badly) or reading (which she does much better). 

Jana lives in Western Canada with her husband Warren and a senior cat named Layla. You can reach her through her website at https://www.janarichards.com

My Top 5 Reads of 2025

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Okay, it’s technically my top 8 reads of 2025, but 4 of them are in the same series, so I’m reviewing them together. 

I read 41 books this year – 2 more than my goodreads goal! 5 (8) of them I loved so much, I need to share them with you.

Remember When We by Khardine Gray. 

Khardine Gray also writes under the name Faith Summers. Whether she’s writing as Khardine or Faith, her series are all mafia romances. Remember When We is my absolute favorite of hers. It’s the third installment of her Gangster and Dolls series. It’s a second chance romance with the older brother’s best friend and secret baby tropes weaved into the plot. Lyssa and Gio haven’t seen each other in almost a decade. The death of Lyssa’s brother, Gio’s best friend tore them apart. Now they’re back in each other’s lives, and Lyssa owes money to the wrong man. Gio must not only win back her heart, but also save her from dangerous men who want to harm her.

Khardine/Faith write very spicy love scenes, and most of her MMCs are morally grey and very alpha-like. Several of her stories cross the line for me; but knowing that she has stories like Remember When We keeps me reading her stuff.

Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes

Unlike the other Bridgerton stories, Queen Charlotte the book was released after Queen Charlotte the limited Netflix series. But like most film-book comparisons, the book is better! What I love about reading is that we get to experience the characters’ emotions in their heads. On screen, we guess what they’re feeling by their body language and tone of voice. Like the mini-series, Queen Charlotte follows Charlotte and George’s early days as newlyweds, Brimsley and Reynolds’ relationship, and Lady Danbury’s fight to keep her children’s rightful status after her husband dies. The book also gets a couple of scenes that aren’t in the show. My guess is they are scenes that either got deleted from final edits, or were never filmed due to time. And finally, Brimsley and Reynolds’ love story is so much better in the book. I didn’t like their story in the show. I thought Reynolds was toxic and verbally abusive. In the book, Brimsley calls Reynsolds out on this unequal behavior, and Reynolds changes for the better by the end of the book.

I’m all for Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes continuing to give side characters their own story. 

The Rokesby Series by Julia Quinn

  • Because of Miss Bridgerton
  • The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband
  • The Other Miss Bridgerton
  • First Comes Scandal

These four books are considered the Bridgerton Prequels. The MMCs of each book are a son in the Rokesby family – the family whose countryside property is next to the Bridgerton’s Aubrey Hall. And three of the FMCs are a Bridgerton girl; either a sister or cousin to Edmund Bridgerton (Violet’s husband and father to the eight main Bridgertons). I argue that these four books are better than the original eight Bridgerton books. But I’m sure it’s because Julia Quinn started with the Bridgerton books, and simply improved her plot creativity and writing skills as she wrote and published more. Let’s dive in to a brief summary of each:

Because of Miss Bridgerton is about the oldest Rokesby, George, and the oldest Bridgerton Billie (Sibylla). They think they hate each other, but their mothers know better and hook them up with an elaborate scheme of dinner parties and visiting London.

The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband takes us to the colonies on the North American continent during the American Revolution. Edward, the second oldest Rokesby is serving the King in his Majesty’s army. Cecilia has traveled to the colonies to find her injured brother, who happens to be Edward’s best friend. In order to get the answers she seeks, Cecilia needs the Rokesby name, and pretends to be married to Edward.

The Other Miss Bridgerton is about the third Rokesby, Andrew, and a Bridgerton cousin, Poppy. Andrew is a ship captain. His ship participates in some legit business and some pirate-level business. Poppy gets kidnapped by some of his crew, and he has to take care of her while they make an important and deadline-driven journey to Portugal. 

First Comes Scandal is about the youngest Rokesby, Nicholas, and the youngest Bridgerton Georgie (Georgiana). Georgie’s reputation has been compromised by a malicious young man who wanted to force her to marry him. Nicholas’ father asks him to marry her in order to save her from a life of spinsterhood and a soiled reputation. Their love story begins after their marriage. 

In usual Julia Quinn fashion, these four stories are full of witty women, temperamental men, and comedy. I love her writing, and this is my favorite series of hers (so far).    

Romney: A Reckoning by McKay Coppins

I didn’t know who Mitt Romney was before he became a real contender in the 2012 Republican primaries. Part of that is because I was too young to vote or care before then, and part because I took a political science class during that time, so of course my professor used class time to closely follow the campaigns. Over the years, I have grown to greatly respect Mitt Romney, especially during his time as a Senator representing Utah. Reading this biography that covers both his personal and political life was very enlightening, and I like him even more now. Mitt Romney always tries to do what he thinks is right, even when others disagree with and disparage him. I think he’s a great role model for future politicians. 

Zalis by Nancey Cummings

Nancey Cummings writes science fiction romances, and her longest running series is the Warlord Brides/Warriors of Sangrin series. Zalis is the 13th installment in that series (16th, if you count the three side stories, which I do). It popped up on my “Because you read…” recommendations on my kindle, and I bought it right away and started reading immediately. Zalis is an alien warrior, his species is called Mahdfel, and he is of the Sangrin line. He meets his human mate when he rescues her in a group of kidnapped human women to be sold on the sentient being trafficking market. Gemma does not want to go back to earth, so she accepts a match with Zalis in order to stay near her twin sister. What will start as a marriage of convenience, has the chance to bud into love. I love Nancy Cummings’ writing. She is creative in her world building. She develops humorous and witty characters. Most authors cannot continue a series for this long and keep it entertaining with readers still wanting more. But I do want more, and her acknowledgements at the end of Zalis do promise more in due time!

What were your favorite books that you read in 2025? Share them in the comments!

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?

Romance Tropes in Iron Flame

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Iron Flame is the second installment of The Empyreon series, and it starts right where Fourth Wing left off. This sequel also ends on a major cliffhanger, and Onyx Storm picks off right where Iron Flame left off. Because of that, Iron Flame doesn’t feel like a complete singular story. Now that I’m almost done with Onyx Storm, it’s clear this series is one larger story instead of multiple parts that are connected. So, because of that, I did thoroughly enjoy reading Iron Flame and rate it 5 stars. And I have three main takeaways to discuss. 

What flaws are okay in a love interest?

Something I’ve noticed among online forums where favorite romance couples are discussed: each individual reader has their own lines in the sand on what is and isn’t forgivable among the flaws and mistakes that characters make. I had an experience with my own writing where in a set of beta readers one vehemently did not like the male love interest and was disappointed my female main character ended up with him. I did take his comments seriously, and made one tiny adjustment in one scene based on what he didn’t like. But it made me realize that not every reader is going to be okay with the choices the love interest makes, which will affect whether they root for that love interest to get their HEA or not. And that’s okay. 

For me, I had a similar issue with Xaden for a good chunk of Iron Flame. At the end of Fourth Wing he accidentally shares with Violet a pretty big secret. Violet is understandably furious that he kept something like that from her, and is even more angry that the only reason she now knows is because Xaden’s original plan went awry. At the beginning of Iron Flame, Xaden agrees to no more secrets under the caveat that Violet has to ask questions, and he’ll answer them honestly. But Violet can’t ask questions if she doesn’t know what information she’s missing. Xaden also won’t be intimate with Violet again until she says she loves him, which she won’t do until she can trust him. The two are at an impasse of Xaden’s own making. 

I have read so many romances with similar tensions where the female character gives in and the male gets his way. It creates an unequal dynamic that doesn’t sit well with me. And I was so fearful Violet was going to do the same thing. And if she did, would I still love this story? Would I enjoy reading their relationship scenes? Luckily, I was not forced to answer those questions. Both Violet and Xaden were able to compromise in a way that I found valid, and I’m back on Team Xaden. 

A new take on the jealous ex

The jealous ex causing tension and problems is my least favorite trope in a romance. So when Cat was introduced as Xaden’s ex who is still hung up on him, I was none too pleased. I was ready to throw the book across the room if Violet walked in on them and “it’s not what it looks like!” 

Lucky for me, and my copy of the book, that did not happen. Rebecca Yarros takes the jealous ex trope in a different direction that I ended up enjoying. Cat admits to Violet that she doesn’t love Xaden, she just wants what a marriage to him would provide: a crown. Xaden is the heir of Tyrrendor. Depending on how far back historians go, that makes him a duke at the lowest and a king at the highest. Cat is of royal blood from another kingdom, and Violet has no nobility in her lineage (that we know of so far in the series). The fact that Cat has no qualms with admitting her ambitions in front of an audience shines light on the culture these characters live in. Status and titles are more important than love. But like all characters like Xaden, he doesn’t care, and openly keeps Violet as his girlfriend.  

Correct representation of twenty-year-olds

Oftentimes, younger characters are depicted as much more mature than is realistic. While there are people in this world who are more intelligent and mature than is typical for their age group, the staggering number of such people as fictional characters probably doesn’t match reality. Rebecca Yarros does an amazing job of depicting people in their early twenties correctly. 

Violet is your typical brainiac main character who “isn’t like other girls.” But she also is like other girls in the fact that she falls in love quickly, overthinks Xaden’s words and actions in their relationship, and gets insanely jealous.

Xaden is the begrudging aristocrat who is thrust into leadership much too young. But he also has a temper that would get weaker characters into trouble and is willing to sacrifice the world for Violet.  

Rhiannon is a natural leader who still enjoys hookups, drinking, and partying.

Ridoc is the comedic relief who still has talent and grit that come in handy during battle. 

Garrick is the best friend who isn’t afraid to put Xaden in his place, but enjoys hook ups and flings. (Though I’m really hoping he and Imogen will end up together in the end.)

Imogen holds nasty grudges and talks back, but is fiercely loyal to her people. 

Sloan allows trauma and heartbreak to guide her emotions and choices, but shows incredible growth by the end.

Brhodi also provides comic relief and wisdom as he gives advice to Violet and Xaden.

There are many more characters to discuss, but the above are the ones I wanted to highlight for this post.

Overall, Iron Flame took me on an emotional journey that I’m still not quite recovered from. I love the world Rebecca Yarros has created, and her characters are the perfect cherry on top.

Have you read Iron Flame? What are your thoughts on it?