Writing a story a week during the pandemic was a fine use of quarantine/lockdown, and what better escapism than some romances?
Yes, I know. Romance. You’re probably thinking of those ridiculously sappy sweet Hallmark Channel stories that make your teeth ache, or the swaths of Debbie Macomber and Nora Roberts novels at the grocery store, or even the Fabio-gracing bodice rippers of the 1980’s.
These stories aren’t those.
In no way, shape, or form.
These short stories feature non-traditional romance characters (physicists, retired little old church ladies, OCD list-makers) in non-traditional romance settings (tattoo parlors, sports pubs, whale watching tours). Despite that, they are romances in that they find the good in people and have hopeful and happy endings.
(Finding the good in people and hopeful and happy endings—exactly what romance readers expect from the genre.)
Check them out for yourself. All five stories are available individually as e-books, and as a collection in Out of the Blue (available in e-book and paperback).
If you’re looking for some comfort and escape (and science fiction references, karaoke bars, and Harley Davidsons), give these stories a shot.