CHRISTINA SOL – Featured Author

Christina Sol is an award-winning author who writes what she loves to read—romance books filled with heart, heat, and suspense.

An avid reader from the get-go, Christina was obsessed with The Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High, Christopher Pike, and all things V. C. Andrews. Her love for romance started with the Sunfire books, a YA historical romance series. Caroline by Willo Davis Roberts was her favorite of the series, and a copy of the 1984 novel is one of her most treasured possessions. Then she discovered Danielle Steele and Nora Roberts. And never looked back. She’s still a voracious reader and enjoys all genres of romance but leans toward romantic suspense and dark romance.

She lives in the inland Pacific Northwest with her husband and two kids. When she’s not writing, reading, or knitting, she’s watching football or fueling her planner, sticker, and washi-tape obsession.

For two Type A workaholics, navigating a three-month fake relationship should be no problem. But as they blur the line between pretend and real, deadly violence erupts around them. Someone is out to destroy them…

As co-owner of The Spotted Dog, Jake Alvarez is an admitted workaholic. Along with his duties at the Seattle Irish pub, he runs Alvarez Technologies, a wildly successful mobile gaming company. With the ghosts of his past lingering, his hectic schedule is the perfect excuse to keep romantic relationships at the very bottom of his priority list.

After a three-year absence, Carmen Cunningham has returned to Seattle to lead her family’s nonprofit organization. With her polished facade in place, she’s determined to focus on work, and not the matchmaking busy bodies constantly reminding her of her age. And her three failed marriages.

A fake relationship between the two friends is the perfect solution. Until their playful flirting becomes more. As the secrets they’ve been hiding begin to surface, someone is watching. Someone intent on destroying them…

Buy Link:

Amazon – https://mybook.to/Returning

I always enjoy meeting new-to-me romance authors when I attend book signing events. It’s extra special when the author is a fellow Filipina American like Christina.

The continued growth of our writing community brings me great happiness. Stories of Filipino love and joy need to be told. The more of us sharing aspirational and uplifting tales, the better.

I’m hoping to see Christina again in future book events and read more of her stories that highlight Filipino lead characters.

LYGIA DAY PEÑAFLOR – AANHPIHM Featured Author

Lygia Day Peñaflor is the author of Creep: A Love Story, All of This Is True, and Unscripted Joss Byrd. She also teaches young Hollywood stars on television and movie sets. Her students have included cast members of Gossip Girl, Boardwalk Empire, Spielberg’s West Side Story, and others. She lives on Long Island, NY, where she rides horses and flies from a trapeze. Follow her on Instagram @lygiaday and learn more about her work on her website.

CREEP: A LOVE STORY

This twisted, tragic love story follows Holy Family High School’s cutest couple — as told through the eyes of the classmate who’s stalking them.

Laney Villanueva and Nico Fiore are the perfect couple: beautiful, popular, talented, and hopelessly in love. Everyone looks up to them at Holy Family High School.

But Rafi doesn’t just admire them. She watches them. She’s drawn to them.

Intent on becoming their closest friend, Rafi weaves her way into their lives. She starts small: taking photos of the senior class for the yearbook, joining Laney’s club, and babysitting Nico’s little sister. And it works—soon they invite her to parties, take her on joyrides, and ask her for favors. Rafi’s actions quickly turn invasive, delving deeper and deeper until she’s consumed by their most intimate secrets.

When tragedy strikes the young lovers, Rafi’s obsession spirals, and she will do anything to keep the perfect couple together.

Anything . . .

A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD GOLD STANDARD SELECTION

“[A] fast-paced psychological thriller” — Kirkus Reviews

“Rafi’s matter-of-fact narration efficiently encapsulates her self-deception, boundless obsession, and increasingly delusional stalking, making for a compulsive read.” — Publishers Weekly

“Both heart-pounding and troubling, this story is hard to put down and hard to shake.” — Booklist

“Quick-paced and suspenseful.” — School Library Journal

“An interesting, thought-provoking character case study à la The Talented Mr. Ripley…This is a book that will haunt [readers] for some time.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

BUY LINKS FOR ALL BOOKS:

harpercollins.com/creep

harpercollins.com/all-of-this-is-true

macmillan.com/unscriptedjossbyrd

ANA KIRK SHAW – Featured Author

Ana Kirk Shaw wrote her first romance at eight years old. It was a shifter romance starring Scar from The Lion King and Amelia Bedelia. It was weird.

She is now a public school special education teacher by day and romance author by night (plus weekends and summer break). Ana loves writing silly, swoony, steamy stories about strong heroines and the heroes that love them. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, kids, and cats.

Website: anakirkshaw.com

Instagram: @anakirkshaw.author

Facebook: Ana Kirk Shaw

Threads: @anakirkshaw.author

My boss is the stiff, surly, suited city bureaucrat… and I’m the new teacher of his nightmares.

I’m desperate for a fresh start at a new school. Lucky for me, Oliver Flores, the infuriatingly hot principal of PS 2, is desperate for a new teacher.

He’s forced to hire the Sweaty Albeit Beautiful Trash Siren he found amongst the dumpsters (I had a morning, okay?). I’m forced to take the job.

He’s all label makers and lists. I’m all creativity and chaos.

He needs to loosen up. I need to tighten up.

He demands control. I need freedom.

For right now, I have no choice but to follow my boss’s every explicit directive and not make any waves. No drama llamas. Because he needs his promotion. And I need to keep this job.

But what happens when Mr. Flores’s orders go from “send me your lesson plans” to “see me after school”? What happens when they go from “take it out” to “let me in”?

For the sake of both of our jobs, we’ll need to keep this a secret. It’s a terrible idea … but I might just love it when Oliver orders me around.

Beyond the Bell is the first book in the Lessons in Love series and can be read as a total standalone. It’s for fans of high heat romantic comedies, and features a grumpy boss and his sunshine employee, a fresh start, a secret relationship, BIPOC representation, found family, and tons of spice.

Buy Link: Amazon

She’s my roommate and my best friend’s forbidden little sister. And now she wants me to teach her how to date.

Me. The himbo who’s messed with half the women in the city. The guy whose nuts her brother will feed to the squirrels if he finds out.

I should’ve said no. But it’s Mia—my Mia. She’s tired of being a wallflower, and I’m the perfect guy to give her advice.

I shouldn’t teach her how to kiss. We shouldn’t practice in my bed.

I shouldn’t know how many freckles she has on her stomach, or love the way she fits in my arms.

But what definitely shouldn’t happen? The dude she’s known her whole life—the one who was just supposed to help—should not want to spend the rest of his life doing it.

Mia’s brother might break my face, but Mia? She might break my heart.

The PS 2 staff room shenanigans continue in Teach Me a Lesson …a super spicy romantic comedy about a brother’s best friend who’s a childhood-friend-to-lover, roommate, and coworker all in one. You’ll laugh, cry, swoon, and find forced proximity, golden retriever energy, a secret relationship, and lots of spice lessons.

Buy link: Amazon

ELLA LEON – Featured Author

Ella Leon writes historical romantasy with intrigue and suspense. Her debut historical romantasy series will be released in 2025 with Dragonblade Publishing.

During her 9-5 career, she has delved into many different styles of writing: journalism, public relations and marketing. Fiction, however, is where she finds the most freedom to transform the page. Like the Victorians she writes about, she loves all things gothic and supernatural. Unlike the Victorians, she is a feminist who enjoys exploring the precolonial past.

When she’s not writing, you can find her spending time with her family or tending to her rose garden. She lives in the Chicago area.

Substack: ellaleon.substack.com
Tiktok: @ella_leon
Facebook: @EllaLeon
Instagram: @author.ellaleon
Threads: @e.k.toth

THE SAPPHIRE HEIRESS

A pirate who walks amongst the highest circles of society.
A governess desperate to escape servitude.

“Exciting, dramatic, romantic; infused with magic, danger and mystery, The Sapphire Heiress reinvents the historical romance. Wondering what Historical Romantasy looks like? This is it.”
– New York Times Bestselling Author Amanda Quick

In Victorian England, the Silver Order has kept its supernatural discoveries hidden for centuries. Those who seek its secrets must always pay a price …

Mae Blackthorne, the daughter of an English shipbuilder and a Filipina immigrant, has been taught to ride sidesaddle, embroider pillows, and dance the waltz. So when her brother disappears at sea, she hasn’t a clue what to do when the family’s shipbuilding business falls into bankruptcy.

It isn’t long before Mae is penniless. Or so she believes. Forced to accept a post as governess in the very home she was raised in, Mae takes on the challenge in good spirits. Yet she is restless and yearns for the life of adventure her daredevil father and brother once had. That is, until she meets Ethan Locke, a pirate who offers her an enticing opportunity to recover her secret inheritance.

Unbeknownst to Mae, her family used their shipbuilding business to shroud generations of successful piracy. Locke, who was once partners with her father, has an old score to settle. He claims that her father stole from him an object of great value: a sapphire that can stop its wearer from growing old. As her father’s last surviving heir, Mae is Locke’s only hope of finding this supernatural jewel hidden amidst her family’s secret fortune.

Agreeing to work together and split the fortune amongst themselves, they share an instant spark of attraction. But they’re not alone in their search. The original owners of the sapphire, who operate an elite secret society, are far more powerful than Mae and Locke could have ever imagined. As danger closes in and the supernatural proves real, Mae fears she has much more to lose than just a second chance at a new life.

Summarized best as Pirates of the Caribbean meets Jane Eyre, The Sapphire Heiress is a suspense-filled historical romance perfect for fans of Amanda Quick.

Buy Link: Amazon

THE CRYSTAL ALCHEMIST

She wanted nothing to do with the supernatural … until him.

In Victorian England, the Silver Order has kept its supernatural discoveries hidden for centuries. Those who seek its secrets must always pay a price…

When her father’s death puts his estate in her hands, Hazel Grey must return to the home she ran away from as a child. Tucked away in the mystical landscape of the Malvern Hills, notorious for its ancient pagan past, Whitestone Manor is the headquarters of the Silver Order, the enigmatic secret society Hazel has both hated and feared. She’s never believed the Silver Order’s claim to power: an ability to see into the future. But when the property becomes so sought-after that a young stranger, Theo Pierce, offers a small fortune and a lifelong friend offers her his hand, all to obtain it, Hazel begins to reconsider…

Years ago, Theo Pierce’s family was forced to sell Whitestone Manor to Miss Grey’s father. Ever since, he’s dedicated his life to winning it back and redeeming his family’s honor—no matter the cost. When a snowstorm traps him and Miss Grey within the manor, it becomes the perfect opportunity to win her trust and, more importantly, the estate. But the deeper Theo pulls her into his world of secret laboratories, botanical mysteries, and crystal alchemy, the more he begins to want something other than redemption.

Soon, everything Hazel once believed is called into question. A crude and shocking vision reveals that a romantic tryst with Mr. Pierce is inevitable. Rather than fight it, she finally decides to put aside her cynicism and give into fate. But as she starts to uncover the truth behind her father’s death and the secret society’s darkest secrets, secrets about herself unravel too, secrets that threaten to keep her a prisoner of the Silver Order for good.

The Crystal Alchemist is a Gothic romance perfect for fans of Amanda Quick and Adalyn Grace.

Preorder Link: Amazon

FOREVER WITH YOU by Kaye Rockwell – Featured New Release

FOREVER WITH YOU

Kaye Rockwell

BLURB

A billionaire and his sister’s best friend.
They can’t stand one another but kept each other’s secrets over the years.
Now she’s in trouble and the only way to protect her is a marriage of convenience.
The only thing is… that has to be a secret too.

This book is an enemies to lovers, best friend’s older brother, billionaire romance featuring the eldest of the Torres siblings, Stephen and his sister’s best friend, Vanessa who he has a hate-hate relationship with. In this book they are forced to enter a secret marriage of convenience.

Buy Links:

Amazon Kindle

ABOUT KAYE

Kaye is a Romance Author who spent the majority of her childhood falling in love with fictional characters, swooning over romcoms and teen dramas, singing and dancing to musicals AND daydreaming about her own Happily-Ever-After that lead to her writing her own love stories.

Social Media Links:

Website ➜ kayerockwell.com
Instagram ➜ @thenomaddreamer
TikTok ➜ @thenomaddreamer
Facebook ➜ @authorkayerockwell
Twitter ➜ @authorkrockwell
Goodreads ➜ goodreads.com/kayerockwell

IT STARTED WITH A SECRET by Tif Marcelo – Featured New Release

IT STARTED WITH A SECRET

Spirit of the Shenandoah Book 1

by

Tif Marcelo

BLURB

When one unforgettable night…
Leads to a whole new life…

When Jared Sotheby arrives in Peak, Virginia, to search for his identity—and his Filipino roots—he doesn’t anticipate an instant connection with a stunning woman he meets on his first night in town. And he certainly doesn’t expect her to be managing the B & B owned by the biological family he’s searching for!

One passionate night aside, Matilda Matthews needs a cook, and Jared, a chef, needs a way in. She’ll give him the job if he keeps his identity a secret—for now. Their subterfuge quickly grows complicated as Jared yearns for a connection—not only with his family, but also with the once-bitten Matilda. But first he’ll have to convince her to let a younger man into her heart…

Buy links:

Tif’s Website
Amazon
Harlequin

ABOUT TIF

Tif Marcelo is a veteran US Army nurse and holds a BS in Nursing and a Master’s in public administration. She believes and writes about the strength of families, the endurance of friendship, heartfelt romances, and is inspired daily by her own military hero husband and four children. She hosts The Stories to Love Podcast, and is the USA Today bestselling author of In a Book Club Far Away, Once Upon a Sunset, The Key to Happily Ever After, and the Journey to the Heart series.

Follow her here:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

EVERY OUNCE OF COURAGE by Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino – FAHM Spotlight

EVERY OUNCE OF COURAGE

A Daughter’s Reflections On Her Mother’s Bravery

Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino

BLURB

It began with an unexpected phone call and a startling statement: “You don’t know me, but your mother saved my life.”

The late-night conversation with an American World War II veteran revealed to Elizabeth Ann Besa Quirino the untold stories of her mother’s remarkable wartime heroism and sparked a twenty-year journey of discovery about her lifelong acts of bravery and compassion.

Lourdes “Lulu” Reyes Besa channeled the heartbreak of a childhood tragedy into a profound sense of compassion and service. She helped raise three brothers while still a child herself in the early years of the 20th century. Then, as a young socialite in the heydays of 1930s Manila, she focused on meaningful philanthropy and charity work. During the merciless Japanese occupation of the Philippines, Lulu embarked unflinchingly on dangerous missions to bring aid and comfort that meant the difference between life and death to countless Filipino and American prisoners of war. She continued to face personal grief and adversity in the later decades of her life but met each challenge as before – with every ounce of courage, fortitude, and grace.

Elizabeth Ann delved into a trove of old letters, photographs, and recipes in search of the source of her mother’s courageous spirit. In Lulu’s story, she found a complex life full of joy, sorrow, selflessness, and survival, and learned precious lessons about how the timeless bonds of family, the steadfast strength of faith, and the power of an indomitable will can provide solace and sense in a world of uncertainty. Every Ounce of Courage by Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino is Now Available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble online bookstores.

ABOUT BETTY ANN

Betty Ann Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino is a cookbook author, an award-winning journalist, a food writer, a correspondent, a previous college professor, and a former ad agency copywriter/creative director. She blogs and develops recipes about Filipino home cooking on her popular website The Quirino Kitchen (thequirinokitchen.com)

She is a multi-award winner of the Plaridel Writing Awards for excellence in journalism, given by the Philippine-American Press Club in San Francisco, California, and is the recipient of a Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award for her essay, “A HundredMangoes in A Bottle.” She was named one of the FWN Filipina Women’s Network 100 Most Influential Women of the World.

Follow her on:

Website – The Quirino Kitchen
Facebook – Asian In America Filipino Food
Twitter – @BettyAnnQuirino
Instagram – @bettyannquirino

REVIEW

When a book educates you, makes you cry, and provides you valuable resources you can apply to daily life, you have yourself one for the keeper shelf. Every Ounce of Courage is a one-of-a-kind book that defies genre definitions. Part memoir, part historical drama, and part cookbook, it’s a totally engaging read.

Lulu Reyes Besa was never mentioned in any Filipino history books I ever read when I was a student in the Philippines. It was a terrible injustice for her and thousands of women who were never recognized for their heroic deeds. I am immensely grateful to Betty Ann Quirino for bringing her mother’s story to light. This book should be in libraries and schools in the Philippines to introduce an inspiring historical figure to the youth, especially young women, and to stir their emotions about the ravages of war that no textbook could ever accomplish.

For me, the aspects of this book that touched me the most were the food memories. Reading Betty Ann’s reminiscing about her mom’s, sister’s, and godmother’s cooking made me remember my own experiences of watching my Nanay Maring and my dad and titos cook during fiestas and special occasions. Those chapters made me smile most often and cry the hardest.

With its celebration of history, food, and family, Every Ounce of Courage is the perfect read during Filipino American History Month and every month.

5 stars

WHEN I MET YOU by Kaye Rockwell – Featured New Release

WHEN I MET YOU

Kaye Rockwell

BLURB

College proves to be tougher than Kim expected it to be and with the rising popularity of her new online boutique, she leans on her friends and Kyle to support her.

But when Kyle’s cover of a song goes viral on social media, it catches the eye of the original talent and the most sought out music label in the world, leaving them with a tough choice.

What happens when your dreams come true
but it means leaving the one you love behind?

Buy Links:

Kindle Unlimited
Paperback

ABOUT KAYE

Social Media Links:

Website ➜ kayerockwell.com

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/thenomaddreamer/

TikTok ➜ https://www.tiktok.com/@thenomaddreamer

Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/authorkayerockwell/

Twitter ➜ https://twitter.com/authorkrockwell

Goodreads ➜ https://www.goodreads.com/kayerockwell

WHEN JASMINE BLOOMS by Tif Marcelo – Featured New Release

WHEN JASMINE BLOOMS

by

Tif Marcelo

BLURB

From USA Today bestselling author Tif Marcelo comes a timeless tale of motherhood inspired by Little Women about one woman’s grief, hope, and second chance with the daughter she lost.

It’s been two years since Celine lost her daughter Libby. Desperate to escape her grief, Celine throws herself into her work, determined to be the strong, capable woman the world believes her to be. But there’s no fooling her family.

A shocking intervention brings an impossible choice: confront her grief or risk losing the family she still has. Reeling, Celine wonders what her life would have been like if she’d chosen her first love instead of her husband and avoided this pain altogether.

Celine wakes the following day and is shocked to realize that what-if has become reality. She’s with her high school sweetheart, her daughters aren’t quite her daughters, and her home is being rented by the daughter she thought she’d lost forever.

As she reconnects with Libby in this parallel world, Celine is forced to face the problems in her real life: her unwillingness to move forward, the tension that’s always rocked her family, and the hard truth that not everything can be fixed by a mother’s love.

Buy links:

Tif’s Website
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

ABOUT TIF

Follow her here:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

SPRING BOOK SIGNING EVENTS

After two and a half years of not seeing readers, I’m excited to announce three book signing events that I will be participating in this spring.

Meet authors representing a variety of genres at Royal Book Bash at the Hilton Garden Inn, 2500 Neabsco Common Place, Woodbridge, VA 22191.

General admission tickets are available on our website and are $5 each: http://royalbookbash.weebly.com.

Veterans, Military, and First Responders can get free tickets by emailing royalbookbash@gmail.com.

Lucky Mountains Events is hosting this book signing for the fifth year, featuring authors from Virginia, Maryland, and the Washington DC area and beyond.

Join us on Saturday, April 30th at one or both of our sessions: 10AM-12PM or 1-3PM.

A VIP ticket for $45 includes a special luncheon with the authors, and will take place from 12-1PM. Stay caught up on all details of the event and interact with the authors virtually in the attendees’ group on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/200252220473847/

Like our Royal Book Bash facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/RoyalBookBash/

For more information on the location and accommodations, visit our website at http://royalbookbash.weebly.com

I will be joining my fellow Filipino-American Romantic Fiction authors Mia Hopkins, Preslaysa Williams, Tif Marcelo, and Maan Gabriel for KWENTO where we will share stories of love, friendship, and family in Chicago and New York City.

On Friday, May 6th from 6:00 pm Central, we will be at Love’s Sweet Arrow — 17024 Oak Park Ave, Tinley Park, IL 60477

On Sunday, May 8th from 1 pm Eastern, we will be signing with WORD Bookstore at Threes Brewing Greenpoint 113 Franklin St, Brooklyn, NY 11222. Tickets are required for entry – can be purchased online in advance here or at the door day of the event.

I hope to see old friends there and meet new ones too. Those who will purchase my books Boracay Vows, New York Engagement, and Singapore Fling will receive a special gift from me including these beautiful handcrafted book ribbons.