Sneak peek into a new genre

This year has taken my writing in an exciting new direction. After spending so much time in the world of Ardenti Terra, I decided to explore something completely different — my first romance novel. Writing it has been a refreshing challenge, letting me dive into emotion, connection, and the softer moments that shape a love story. It’s a new side of my voice, and I’m genuinely thrilled to share it with you.

For everyone who’s been waiting on the final Ardenti Terra book, I have good news. The manuscript is finished and currently in its final review. I’m polishing the last details, and I can promise it will be published before the end of the summer. This series means so much to me, and delivering a finale worthy of the journey has been my top priority.

Thank you for being here as I close one chapter and open another.

Below is a small sample of the new book The Secret Life of Sonia Davey

Michelle confided in Andrew that she was now officially separated. Of course, he was supportive and told her to take all the time she needed. But she assured him she didn’t need any more time off because of Randal. Andrew had been kind throughout the entire process and more patient than he needed to be.

Michelle was grabbing her morning coffee in the office kitchen when she almost dropped her mug. Something caught her eye — a book was left on one of the tables. It was her story! A copy of Desert Desires was right in front of her. She slowly moved to retrieve it, intending to throw it out, but then she realized that would be odd and irrational behavior. 

“Good morning,” Andrew said as he entered the kitchen. Michelle almost jumped out of her skin. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you again,” he said with a smirk.

“Good morning,” she replied aggressively. Then she noticed him looking at her curiously. She thought she should cover up her odd behavior, but instead she said, “Someone forgot their book. It’s a silly romance.” She cursed herself silently; she had no idea why she would draw attention to the book.

Andrew walked over to the table, picked up the book and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Michelle asked, suddenly terrified he knew she had written it, even though that was impossible.

“I, um,” he said, growing shy as he walked back to stand closer to her. “I got into an argument with my girlfriend, and she suggested I read this book so I would know how a perfect man should behave.”

Michelle thought she was having a stroke. So much was revealed in that one statement that she couldn’t process it. Her coffee mug slipped from her hands and crashed to the floor, shattering and spraying coffee everywhere.

“Oh my god,” she said, now completely humiliated. Then she noticed that a fair amount of coffee had splashed onto Andrew as well. “Oh my god!” she repeated.

She grabbed a towel from the cabinet and started dabbing the coffee stains off Andrew's shirt. She suddenly stopped, realizing what she was doing, and looked up at him, her face completely flushed. Her hand was still resting on his chest. Even with the towel in her hand, she could feel his muscular build. He was looking at her, not at the mess or his ruined shirt, a slight grin on his lips. She quickly pulled her hand away. He looked at her for a moment longer, then burst out laughing.

“I ruined your shirt. Why are you laughing?” Michelle said, appalled.

“It’s fine,” he replied. “Fortunately, I’ve started keeping a change of clothes in my office for just such occasions.”

“I’m so sorry!” Michelle said, turning to grab more towels to clean the mess, while Andrew kept laughing.

“This isn’t funny,” Michelle replied, embarrassed.

“It kind of is,” Andrew said. “I’m going to change.” He left, still grinning.

Michelle sighed and looked down at the mess. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. Andrew was holding her book, and his girlfriend was telling him he needed to be more like Andres. But Michelle had based Andres on Andrew. A younger staff member entered the kitchen and looked at the book on the table.

“Oh, that’s where I left it,” she said, taking the book and looking at Michelle. “You should read this. It’s really good.”

***********************

When Miguel arrived, Andrew went to meet him in the boardroom. He had asked Michelle to print some additional documents and bring them along. As a result, when she entered the boardroom, they were already in conversation. She had her arms full of papers and was about to set them on the table when she heard their conversation.

“No one knows,” Miguel was saying. “And the website won’t release the author's real name or contact information.”

Michelle was about to extend her hand to Miguel and introduce herself when she noticed what was on the table and what Miguel was talking about. Desert Desires was there, haunting her from between Andrew and Miguel. The papers Michelle was holding slipped from her grasp, scattering across the table and floor. 

“I’m so sorry,” she said quickly, diving under the table to collect the documents. She tried to calm herself, but Andrew bent down to help.

“Relax,” he whispered when Miguel couldn’t see them. “He’s just a man.” He offered her an encouraging smile, and Michelle realized he thought she was nervous about meeting a celebrity. She was fine with Andrew’s misunderstanding.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated as she began to sort the papers back into order.

“You were saying,” Andrew encouraged Miguel to continue.

“It’s almost as if the author is doing this on purpose,” Miguel said, and Michelle’s hands began to shake. “Taking the book off the market at its height of popularity has created a craze for the scarce copies out there. It was genius.”

Michelle thought she would vomit; she was certain her secret would be exposed in moments, as if she had “I’m Sonia Davey” written across her forehead. She sat quietly, wishing she could leave the room or just drop dead. But Andrew had asked her to walk Miguel through the quarterly financials, and she was waiting to be called upon to do so.

“Michelle, have you read this?” Miguel asked.

“NO!” she responded, much more forcefully than necessary. She tried to calm down and continued. "Romance novels aren’t my thing.”

“You might be the last woman in the city who hasn’t read it,” Miguel said with a laugh.

"Well, I can blame the book for my most recent breakup,” Andrew added, and Michelle looked at him, mortified. “Let’s just say Andres is hard to compete with.”

“I’m not sure you can solely blame Andres for your relationship failures,” Miguel accused. Andrew laughed, though this time nervously.

“She was just using me to get to you, buddy,” Andrew replied, and Miguel nodded knowingly. Michelle wasn’t comfortable being a witness to the casual conversation between her boss and his friend.

"Well, if either of you ever finds out who the author is,” Miguel said. “Send her my way. I’d love to turn this into a movie.”

Michelle started to choke on her coffee, which she was sipping to hide her discomfort, but it only drew attention to her as Andrew gave her another concerned look.

“I may have to hire a private investigator to hunt her down,” Miguel continued. Michelle choked harder, but he didn’t seem to notice Michelle’s latest nervous fit.

“Shall we look at the statements?” Michelle suggested quickly, with far too much enthusiasm.

It brought the conversation back to the meeting’s purpose. Michelle began to calm, and her presentation and responses to Miguel’s questions gave him confidence in her abilities. He started to overlook her odd behavior from the start of the meeting. That was until the end, when he slid the copy of Desert Desires toward her.

“Take this,” he said. “You should read it. It’s not your typical trashy romance.”

He thanked them again, and Andrew walked him to the elevator. Michelle looked at the book on the table, stepping away from it as if it were infected with the next pandemic. She knew she couldn’t just leave it there, but she was afraid to touch it, feeling like she was Satan and the book was the Bible. 

“What is it with you and that book?” Andrew asked as he returned to the boardroom, and Michelle jumped again. “And since when don’t you like romances? I’ve seen you reading that stuff on your lunch break plenty of times.”

Michelle was stunned. She never thought anyone paid much attention to her, especially someone as important as Andrew was.

“Since my divorce,” she blurted out sharply, then felt bad as Andrew’s expression suddenly shifted to remorse.

“Of course,” he said. “I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me.”

“No, it’s fine, really,” Michelle replied quickly, feeling guilty about her lie.

“I guess we both have a reason to dislike that book,” Andrew joked.