1. ARC Sign-Ups for FORGIVEN BY A FARMER are now live! You can apply for an ARC in the form of an .epub here.

2. I’m signing at Heartbound Book Shop in Anaheim, California on Saturday, August 15th for Indie Bookstore Day! I’ll only be there for an hour from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm, but please arrive early or linger longer to meet other amazing romance authors signing there throughout the day!

Thank you all for your love and support! <3

~ Andrea

HYMN OF ASHES (and the other books in the series) are going to be produced into audiobooks by Podium Entertainment! This is the first time any of my books have been picked up for audio, and while I’m lowkey horrified that someone is going to read my books aloud, I’m excited to reach more readers with this inclusive format!

As soon as I have release dates, ALC details, and casting announcements, I’ll share to social media ASAP!

I’d also like to shout out my agent, Eric, for getting this done for me. I’m so grateful to be working with someone who has such a vast knowledge of the publishing industry, but also someone who is genuinely so kind and supportive. He’s the only reason this was able to happen as smoothly as it did.

(Additionally, I just want to say that if you’re an indie author, and [hypothetically] someone reaches out to you wanting to buy the rights to any of your self-published works, get yourself an agent before you sign anything! You don’t have to go trad, but you should not handle those kinds of contracts on your own unless you have the experience doing so.)

That being said, I do have some mixed feelings about this milestone.

I’m going to do my best to try to explain it all.

When my agent let me know that this was a done deal, my first reaction was pure excitement. I was in my at-home office, and I immediately stopped what I was working on to quietly celebrate. I then checked the time and realized I needed to pick up my child from her SPED summer school program soon.

I shot off a text to my partner, who responded immediately (while out of state on his own work trip) with, “Woohoo!!!! That’s awesome! So cool!” I share this not just to flex how supportive my husband is of my career, but also to illustrate that no one is trying to hold me back from this. Everyone in my life has been so encouraging of me and my writing.

My mind was racing with so many exciting next steps: waiting on my agent to send me my first Publishers Marketplace announcement. Announcing the deal on social media. Brainstorming which snippets from the manuscript would be best for narrator auditions. Etc.

But when I went to school to pick up my daughter, after saying goodbye to her teachers and paraprofessionals for the summer break, I was hit hard with a wave of guilt. As soon as my daughter grabbed my hand so we could walk to the car, my mind stopped focusing on everything I needed to get done for work, and instead focused on how selfish I was being by indulging in a career of my own, instead of putting 100% of myself into my only child.

Now, logically, I know I’m not being selfish (in a negative context, that is). I know that it’s important, as a parent, to have hobbies and interests outside of parenting, for the sake of my mental health. My husband and I both know that I do much better emotionally as a parent when I have my writing to work on, too.

But I was raised not to want a career. I was raised to love being a mom. I was raised to believe that nothing would compete with the fulfillment of being a mom. Now, if you ask my parents, they’d argue that they never taught me such a thing. But they did send me to a community multiple times a week that separated kids by gender when they reached age 12. While boys got to go white water rafting, hiking, and camping, girls were learning how to sew, cook, and babysit for families in the community. We were given lesson after lesson after lesson on the importance of child-rearing and how to raise our future children in the church. Men and women had specific roles in the community, and it was made very clear that a woman’s role was “in the home.”

My religious trauma is a whole other thing I don’t need to get into the nitty-gritty details of. Maybe that’ll be a Substack post for another time. But my point is, it’s incredibly difficult to unlearn roughly 20+ years of that specific flavor of indoctrination.

While my partner and I have deconstructed and been out of that misogynistic environment for many years, guilt will still find ways to sneak up on me.

So the following day, when my husband was back from his work trip and my agent sent me the Publishers Marketplace announcement, I didn’t want to look at it. I had to force myself to create a social media post. I had to force myself to make posts about celebrating such a feat. But the reality was, for many hours, that Publishers Marketplace announcement just felt like a big glaring sign that said, “Look at all this time you’re spending not focused on your kid. She needs you. Now everyone can see what a neglectful parent you are.”

When I explained this to my husband, he was surprised I felt this way. Partly because, for him, having a career never meant he was sacrificing time in the home. In fact, he was indoctrinated with the opposite flavor of guilt. That if he didn’t have a successful career, then he wasn’t being a good father or husband. (Because patriarchal values are harmful for men and women. Anyway.)

He reassured me that our child was thriving even with both of her parents working. That he loved being in a relationship and having a child with a person who had a career. That he and I had a small village of people who support us both working, and are willing to lend a hand whenever we need. My mother-in-law often takes our daughter and plays with her for the day, so that my husband and I can catch up on our work uninterrupted. It’s not like we’re struggling a ton to balance it all, though sometime sit is more difficult than we’d like. But we’ve found a groove for this busy season of our lives, and even with both of us working on our careers, our daughter is flourishing.

We live in a state that has phenomenal social benefits and support systems for families with disabled children, and we’ve been able to utilize most of them. Our daughter is going to a fun summer camp for disabled and neurodiverse kiddos next week, which is basically a full week packed with fun activities like the beach, Knott's Berry Farm, and Dave & Buster's. I’m researching things like Surf Therapy for next summer because she got to go surfing with professionals a few weeks ago and loved it. She’s reached so many milestones this year. She is a very happy, curious kid with a desire to experience things.

And yet, I still often feel like I need to be doing more. Mom guilt is inescapable. A painful shadow that will sink its claws into me whenever I have an accomplishment to celebrate that’s unrelated to being a parent. Especially in the age of social media, where every day I see parents sacrifice their own identities and careers for the sake of being with their children one hundred percent of the time.

But again, logically I know that that can’t be me. That my mental health will take an immediate nosedive if I don’t have anything in my life that’s mine. Writing romance novels for the past few years has liberated me and helped me gain a confidence I never knew I could experience while being a primary parent to the best kiddo in the world.

So I have spent the last couple of days actively choosing to try to be excited. To talk about this audiobook announcement with friends and family. To discuss plans for future books and series with colleagues. How awesome it feels to pitch an idea to my agent, and have him respond with, “Yes. Big yes.”

Yesterday I received my first piece of fan art! Not character art that I commissioned an artist to draw, but artwork of my characters that someone felt inspired to draw for no other reason than the love of the game. I’m sorry, but as an author, that’s SO cool!

I have so many goals and dreams to fulfill and stories to tell. I’m only 31 years old, and already checking off so many things that I never dreamed I’d be able to when I was a kid.

If you’ve read this far, thank you. Sorry for my ramblings. I know that it’s 2026 and that women have rights now (I mean, until Republicans take those away, too. God, the US government is such a fucking embarrassment right now.)

Today, I’m choosing to celebrate more. To give the mom guilt a firm middle finger. To play with my kiddo. To allow nuance to exist.

FORGIVEN BY A FARMER is releasing September 15th on Kindle, KU, and anywhere you buy paperbacks! Preorder a signed copy from Heartbound Book Shop or Chapter and Coast bookstore!

“Andrea, what can you tell us about HYMN 2?”

Well, I received a draft of the cover art for HYMN OF [SECRET] yesterday, and let me tell ya, I think it’s beautiful, and I cannot wait to see it in print next to HYMN OF ASHES! I’ll be sharing more about part 2 of Vanessa and Drustan’s story after FBAF releases in September!

“Is HYMN OF ASHES going to be a duet narration? Dual? Single?”

I don’t know yet, but trust me, I’m advocating hard for duet narration already. It’s a BIG ask, but I’m asking! However it ends up getting narrated, I’m sure it’ll be a phenomenal production!

“Wait—hold up, the PM announcement says that the SIRENS OF HYVENMERE series is a 3-book deal, but you’ve been referring to Vanessa and Drustan’s story as a duology. What’s up with that?”

Yes. Correct. Vanessa and Drustan’s story is a duology. However, Drustan is not the only siren in Hyvenmere. There’s another love story I’ve been excited to write since drafting HYMN OF ASHES. I even left some teasers in there for those who are curious. That’s all I’ll say about that for now!

As always, thank you all for your love and support! <3

Preorder here, while supplies last!

📚 FORGIVEN BY A FARMER is an adult small-town workplace romance that includes:

💙 single-parent MC’s

🌱 opposites attract

💙 a quiet, reserved farmer

🌱 a loud, energetic systems engineer

💙 “it takes a village” community

🌱 h*rny wood chopping

💙 he falls first and so much harder

🌱 slow burn

💙 open doors

🌱 he yearns, he pines

If you plan to preorder from another retailer, like Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Bookshop.org, please be patient! I’m hoping to have all the files uploaded and available for preorder near the beginning of August.

For those who might have missed the announcement on Instagram, the release date for Violet & Graham’s story has been pushed back to September 15th, 2026. This was the first time I’ve ever needed to push a release date back, so I’m shocked it’s with my 8th release.

Life happens. Parenting full-time and writing all the extra time seems to be catching up to me. Writing while burnt-out is not fun, and really affects the quality of my work. Going forward, I might be releasing stories at a slightly slower pace than expected.

Some other fun news to catch everyone up!

Last month I signed with a literary agent! I’m now represented by Eric Smith at Neighborhood Literary Agency, and I am so excited and honored to be working with someone as kind and knowledgeable as him!

Once FBAF is released, that means I can finally revisit the world of Hyvenmere. The second part of Vanessa and Drustan’s story, HYMN OF [REDACTED], is set to release during the first half of 2027! McKenzie is already starting on the cover, and I’m already scouting out additional artists for more character art (because I have a problem, but it’s fine).

I hit 10,000 followers on Instagram. That’s incredibly difficult to do on that god-forsaken app, so thank you all for following along with my author journey!

A quick Q&A because I’ve received these questions almost daily:

1. “Andrea, are your books coming to audio?”

   1. That is the goal—stay tuned!

2. “Is FORGIVEN BY A FARMER the last in the SUN STEER TECH series?”

   1. Yes. Violet & Graham’s story will conclude the SUN STEER TECH series, but I am not done writing contemporary romances.

3. “How many books are you planning in the SIRENS OF HYVENMERE series?”

   1. 3 books! Vanessa & Drustan’s duology, and 1 standalone for [SPOILER] & [SPOILER]’s story lololol.

   2. That does not necessarily mean I’m done writing fantasy afterwords. I built an entire realm, after all.

4. “What’s next for your contemporary stuff, after the SST series is wrapped up?”

   1. IDK, probably this.

That’s all for now!

Thank you all for your love and support!

PREORDER EBOOK

Stay tuned for paperback preorder announcements in the next month or two!

About FORGIVEN BY A FARMER:

SHE’S USED TO DOING IT ALONE.
HE’S DONE LETTING HER.

Violet Thompson is a single mom with goals. Accepting a new Systems Engineer position, she moves her small family to a quiet Northern California town called Redwood Springs. Determined to build a future there, she must win over skeptical locals, prove herself in a male-dominated field (again), and hopefully earn a long-awaited promotion. One complication: her boss’s brother (who also happens to be her new next-door neighbor) and the prank that started them off on the wrong foot.

Graham Moore’s routine is thrown off when his brother’s employee moves in next door. After an embarrassing misunderstanding, he can’t stop thinking about the blue-haired, tattooed woman who turns his orderly world upside down. They may be opposites, but the more he learns about Violet, the harder she is to ignore.

Violet can’t deny her attraction to the quiet farmer either—especially when he’s chopping wood shirtless at dawn. But professionalism matters.

Will Violet be able to resist the rugged farmer next door, or will unexpected attraction in Redwood Springs jeopardize everything she’s worked for?

FORGIVEN BY A FARMER is an adult contemporary romance novel that includes:

💙 a single mom & a single dad

💙 a workplace & small town romance

💙 she’s IT support, he’s a farmer

💙 a slow burn

💙 a blonde man (Andrea’s first blonde MMC 🤯)

💙 open doors

💙 sweet, cozy vibes

💙 “It takes a village.”

FORGIVEN BY A FARMER is coming to Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and anywhere you buy paperbacks!

I have had a lot of feelings while writing this story.

It’s the first time I’ve written an MC that is a parent, let alone two MC’s that are parents. My goal as an author has always been for a variety of readers to be able to connect with the choices my characters make, whether that be to stay intentionally child-free like Jacqueline and Nicole, or to start a family like Signe (if this feels like a spoiler to you, it’s not. Signe announces her pregnancy in Nicole & Taylor’s book, TAILORED FOR THEM, which released July, 2025). I also went out of my way to drop several glaringly obvious hints in WRITTEN BY A WOMAN that Signe and Zaid would eventually become parents.

But I digress, because today we’re talking about Violet and her daughter, Gracie.

Though this won’t be discussed very much as I begin to seriously advertise the book, I wanted to mention some choices that I have made for Violet and Gracie way back when I was drafting MELTED BY A MAN, and introducing Violet’s story.

Her daughter, Gracie, is a five-year-old girl with autism and is non-speaking.

I went back and forth a lot while deciding if I should write Gracie in such a way, but whenever I drafted scenes illustrating Violet interacting with a neurotypical, able-bodied five-year-old, it felt off. Almost inauthentic. I wrote neurotypical kids in TFT, but those scenes were oners. Fleeting. The kids weren’t a huge part of the story. Beta readers and sensitivity readers even pointed out in the early drafts of TFT how inaccurate some of the children I wrote felt (one child sounded too mature, while others sounded not mature enough for their age).

Gracie, however, is Violet’s entire world, and thus, a very significant part of Violet and Graham’s story. Graham’s growing relationship with Violet and her child is also a very significant part of this story.

The reality is, I don’t know how to write a neurotypical child. I have very little experience with neurotypical children.

I have a child with autism, who is non-speaking and considered disabled. She has never uttered a single word. She communicates strictly via her AAC device, gestures, and whatever sounds and squawks she can manage to make. So when it comes to writing the parenting experience, that’s the experience I have to go on.

While Gracie is her own character and will not have identical challenges to my own child, it would be disingenuous to claim that my own amazing, brilliant, and hilarious child didn’t heavily impact Gracie’s character and the decisions the sneaky little five-year-old makes.

I have already drafted an author’s note to put in front of Violet and Graham’s novel, explaining the importance of understanding that SPED parents may or may not fully identify with Violet’s parenting experience, or Gracie’s behaviors and high needs, because Gracie might not behave or act like their neurodivergent/autistic/non-speaking/disabled child.

They say, “If you meet one person with autism, then congratulations, you’ve met one person with autism.”

It’s called a spectrum for a reason.

So while I am excited to share Violet and Graham’s love story taking place in the fictional small town of my dreams, I want to be considerate of how readers might feel seeing a neurodiverse, but able-bodied author writing a disabled character like Gracie.

Please know that I would never make a decision to write a disabled character like this without heavily considering the impact my words can have. I’ve seen the horror stories of authors writing disabled characters in books riddled with ableist terminology and harmful stereotypes, because they refused to do their research and hire sensitivity readers.

My research has been going on for 6.5 years at this point, so I think I have an idea of how to portray Violet and Gracie’s mother-daughter relationship.

While it would be irresponsible for me to claim to understand everything Gracie’s character is thinking and feeling, I can with absolute certainty write everything Violet is thinking while navigating this specific parenting journey.

If you’ve read all of this, thank you. I’m sorry for rambling in my newsletter. I’ve been having conversations with several friends and colleagues about the experience of writing Violet and Gracie, so it’s pretty much at the forefront of my mind.

All this to say, thank you all for your love and support <3 I can’t wait to get the final novel of the SUN STEER TECH series in your hands soon!

Unrelated, the amount of research I’ve had to do regarding strawberry and almond farming would blow your mind.

Instead of apologizing for not sending out a newsletter often, I’m going to say “you’re welcome” for not spamming your inboxes on the regular. Maybe one day I’ll become a consistent newsletter-sender-outer, but today is not that day!

First things first, it’s finally release day for HYMN OF ASHES! That means you can read Vanessa’s story on Kindle, KU, or order a paperback anywhere! (including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, or my favorite indie bookstore, Heartbound Book Shop!)

This story was so fun to write, even though it’s so different from my usual stuff. As a writer, it was refreshing to step outside of my comfort zone and write the first story in a new series (SIRENS OF HYVENMERE), even though my contemporary series (SUN STEER TECH) is not quite finished. Thank you all for your patience while I pivot for a beat.

HYMN OF ASHES is an adult fantasy romance, the first in a duology, about a 30-year-old woman who discovers a secret magical realm and an evil siren who immediately becomes obsessed with her.

She wants to help her friend save the realm.

He wants her.

HYMN OF ASHES is the horny fantasy romance of my dreams, and I am excited for you all to meet Vanessa, Audrey, Liam, Drustan, Fergus, Hush, and everyone else in the fictional realm of Hyvenmere.

Have you read HYMN OF ASHES already? Please post a review! Reviews (wonderful, good, bad, ugly) are so important for indie authors like me. I have no marketing team. No publicist. Everything you see online about me and my books is created and posted by yours truly. Word-of-mouth is the best way to help indies like me introduce readers to our books!

What’s next?

As I write this, I genuinely have no idea. My original plan was to flip-flop between my contemporary and fantasy series, but every day, inspirations strike in a different direction. One day I’ll hyper-fixate on FORGIVEN BY A FARMER, the next full-length novel in the SUN STEER TECH series. The next day, I’m drafting the second part of Vanessa and Drustan’s story.

However, readers have waited for the next SUN STEER TECH novel long enough, so I am going to try to discipline my brain to get this out for everyone who has been eager for Violet and Graham’s story. (Plus, Sam from Ink and Laurel has been working on their cover art, and I am SO excited to reveal what she’s done with you all).

Who knows, maybe I’ll keep drafting both manuscripts simultaneously, and I’ll release two more books in 2026 instead of just one. Don’t hold your breath, though. But the beauty of being an indie author like me is that I can pretty much do whatever I want. So, we will let the chips fall where they may!

Where can you find me?

As you’re reading this, my partner and I are celebrating our 11th anniversary in South Island, New Zealand. We just attended A Romantic Adventure in Christchurch, where we met lots of lovely readers and authors, and now we are completely in vacation mode! If I’m not that responsive on socials, that’s why. This is the first time I have ever left the American continent, and I am thrilled that my job has allowed us to explore the world and experience new cultures.

When I’m back in the US, however, you’ll be able to find me in at least two more places this year!

First, there is the Irwindale Spring Book Festival in Irwindale, California, on Saturday, March 28th. This event is completely free to the public, and lots of wonderful authors will be tabling there. Come say hi!

Next is Book Con in NYC on Saturday, April 18th & Sunday, April 19th! This is the first year Book Con has run since before the COVID pandemic, and I am thrilled to be tabling in Indie Ally (similar to Artists Ally at Comic Con) with hundreds of other indie authors! Tickets are sold out, but follow their Instagram for more information!

Thank you all for your love and support!

~Andrea

Perks of being an indie author means that when it comes to deadlines, I can be as wishy washy as I need to be, in order to produce the best work I can.

All that to say, ARC sign ups are now live! You can fill out the application to read an early copy of Hymn of Ashes for review, here.

This is also a reminder that you can preorder your signed paperback from Heartbound Book Shop here, and it will come with not only a signed copy, but character art prints as well!

Thank you all for your love and support!

~ Andrea

If you have been waiting oh so patiently to preorder a signed paperback of Hymn of Ashes, you can do so through Heartbound Book Shop, here. Unfortunately, I will not be doing an in-person event with my favorite book shop in the entire world, because I will be in New Zealand when Hymn of Ashes releases.

If you prefer ebooks, you can preorder the Kindle version here.

If you’re attending A Romantic Adventure in Christchurch NZ, on March 14th, stay tuned, because I am doing my very best to get early paperback copies of Hymn of Ashes into my hands by then, which means readers attending A Romantic Adventure could be the first ones to get a signed paperback of Hymn of Ashes! (If I pull this off 🤞)

Supporting indie bookstores is more and more important every day that passes in the US, so to motivate readers to purchase paperbacks from Heartbound Book Shop, here are some exclusive goodies that you’ll receive with your order:

1. A map of the magical realm, in a 4x6 print, made by yours truly:

2. Character Art, in a 4x6 print, by Carlotta Achille: The Villain, the Sidekick, and the Chosen One

3. Character Art, in 4x6 prints, by Eda Zuri: The Villain and the Sidekick

4. That’s not all—there’s also going to be a secret commission sketched by Mary (@thesleepingfoxy) that I will not be revealing online at all. That means that the only way to see the secret artwork is to read the story (muwahaha).

   The secret artwork will be available in both the ebook and paperback versions of Hymn of Ashes.

Don’t forget! I’ll be attending LoveLit Con February 13th-15th in San Diego as well! Grab your ticket before it’s too late!

Thank you all for your love and support!

This was a very unexpected year, but very wonderful at the same time.

Here are the numbers for the nerds who want to know what I consider successful; otherwise, scroll past this section to see what’s to come in 2026!

On Kindle Unlimited (KU), readers consumed 5.8 million pages of my ebooks. 3.8 million were for Written by a Woman, and 1.3 million were for Melted by a Man.

Additionally (separate from KU), 2,704 ebooks were sold. 2,135 of which were ebooks for Written by a Woman, and 411 ebooks were for Melted by a Man.

In comparison, 638 paperbacks were sold from bookstores and at in-person events!

These are crazy numbers, and they’re only possible because of all of you!

2026 Events I’ll be signing at—come say hi!

Feb. 13-15th LoveLit Con, San Diego, California: Grab your ticket while supplies last, at www.lovelit.com. There will be 100+ authors, panels, parties, and more!

March 14th A Romantic Adventure, Christchurch, New Zealand: Grab your ticket while supplies last at www.aromanticadventure.com. There will be 100+ authors in attendance!

March 28th Irwindale Spring Book Festival, Irwindale, California: Free to attend! Follow @springbookfestival for more information on the author lineup!

Hymn of Ashes is releasing March 17th, 2026, and you can preorder the ebook here! I’ve already received the largest number of ebook preorders for this book than I have for any other, so thank you all again for being interested in my first fantasy romance!

Paperback preorders will be announced at the beginning of 2026 through Heartbound Bookshop. Be sure to follow them to see when paperback preorders for my books are available!

I’m excited for you all to meet Vanessa, the 30-year-old woman who just discovered that her best friend is the Chosen One in a secret magical realm (and the evil siren who is immediately obsessed with her).

There is no release date or preorder link available yet, but I am also planning to release the 3rd Sun Steer Tech novel in 2026, titled Forgiven by a Farmer. Add Violet and Graham’s story to your Goodreads TBR! For now, enjoy this character art of the two single parents forced to be next-door neighbors at Moore Farms, illustrated by none other than Carlotta Achille:

That’s all for now, be sure to follow me on Instagram to stay up to date!

Thank you all for your love and support!

HELLO AND HI, IT’S BEAUTIFUL AND I’M OBSESSED!

McKenzie Green has done it again! HYMN OF ASHES is my first fantasy romance novel, and I really wanted the cover to be completely different from anything I’ve commissioned before. She nailed it. It’s perfect!

I love the colors, the design, and the memories of the hilarious text messages between McKenzie and me, constantly referring to the green and gold vines as fallopian tubes—all of it.

I’m so excited to see how this prints 🤩

Here’s the synopsis:

Vanessa Wilson cherishes her quiet life running her coffee shop in a cozy beach town and sharing a condo with her somewhat absent best friend, Audrey. Things get complicated when Vanessa is attacked by otherworldly creatures, and Audrey shows up out of nowhere to save her.

All the secrets Audrey has been keeping from Vanessa over the years come to light, including the powers Audrey harnesses and the magical realm she discovered.

But Vanessa has no business in the magical realm; she’s only human.

While Audrey is focused on fulfilling a prophecy and bringing peace between the realms, Vanessa will do anything to keep her best friend alive. This includes trekking through the mystical land of Hyvenmere, encountering creatures she’s only read about.

Creatures like fae, nereids, and a seven-foot-tall murderous siren who seems to have one thing on his mind: Vanessa.

But men are the same no matter what realm they are from, and Vanessa has no desire to team up with someone who is known for leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake.

Yet here she is, determined to protect the person she loves the most.

Can an ordinary woman with nothing but a death glare and supportive pats on the back keep her best friend safe? Or will she fall victim to Hyvenmere—and its most notorious killer?

There will be a fun preorder incentive for paperbacks, but I have to iron out a few of those details before I announce where to preorder specifically to get them! So as of right now, HYMN OF ASHES is set to publish everywhere that sells paperbacks on March 17th, 2026.

But guess what! You can preorder the ebook here!

If you preorder the paperback, it’ll come with some yummy preorder incentives, like these character art prints, illustrated by the talented and beautiful @poshotta and @edazuri. I’ll be sure to announce when paperback preorders are available, both on social media and via this newsletter!

(Plus, I’m commissioning a surprise illustration printed into the paperback of HYMN OF ASHES that won’t be revealed [spoiled] online unless you order the book and look for yourself 😈)

Originally, I wanted to publish HYMN OF ASHES either in January or February 2026, but because of parenting full-time and other personal things going on, I fell behind. I kept DMing my editor to ask for more time before I sent her the manuscript. I didn’t get this to beta readers until a few weeks after I planned to send it to them. I’m telling myself that pushing the release date for HYMN OF ASHES to March 17th is totally fine, but my tummy is stressed that things aren’t going as I originally planned.

And that’s on neurodivergence. Thank you, genetics.

This means that the next book in the SUN STEER TECH series, FORGIVEN BY A FARMER, is also getting pushed back to perhaps late summer 2026. I’m so sorry for everyone waiting for Violet and Graham’s story, but hopefully you can forgive me and stay in touch until I can finally release these love stories.

All that being said, I am so excited to introduce you all to the magical realm of Hyvenmere soon 🫶

Thank you all for your love and support!

~Andrea

Romance Con only has roughly 35 authors left attending their event in September. I, along with over 200 other authors, have decided to no longer attend Romance Con for a myriad of reasons. All of us have Instagram or Threads posts explaining why we believe the Mischief Management team has done harm towards the trans community, and how they haven’t appropriately apologized or taken accountability for their actions. If you’re just hearing about this for the first time, feel free to look those statements up for more information about our decision making process.

As of right now Mischief Management is refusing to discuss the controversy online, going as far as to disable comments on their posts, pretending that everything is fine, and still selling tickets at their original price point to readers who have no idea that their $300-$400 purchase is no longer going to include 2 full days of signings and panels, but will instead include a signing hall that can be walked in an hour.

There are an estimated 2,100-3,000 tickets sold for Romance Con, meaning thousands of readers are scheduled to fly into Milwaukee that weekend. Mischief Management has told everyone repeatedly that they refuse to refund author table fees and reader ticket fees. Right now, they’re desperately asking anyone to fill all the empty tables.

However, I will still be in Milwaukee that weekend! The Well Red Damsel, a romance bookstore roughly 10 minutes away from the convention center, is hosting an alternative event for authors and readers who have nonrefundable plane tickets for that weekend, but do not feel comfortable supporting Mischief Management.

The event includes a book crawl on Saturday, September 6th, so if you’re in the area, it’ll be a wonderful way to support local businesses and authors who backed out of the con! Be sure to follow the Well Red Damsel bookstore here. You can also find the author lineup on their website!

If you’re in the southern California area, I will be attending Fall Into Books Fest!

There are over 100 other authors scheduled to attend, which is crazy, because it was still a blast last year with less of a lineup. So come say hi and get some books signed September 20th!

What am I up to?

Also, hi, hello, I am writing the horny fantasy novel of my dreams and I have about 90k/120k drafted so far. I’m loving it. I’ve had this story playing around in my head for a couple years now, and I’m finally piecing all the plot holes together. I am excited to get back into the SUN STEER TECH series, and write Violet and Graham’s hilariously horny love story, but it is SO fun and lowkey therapeutic to write something completely different from what I have been.

I hope you all don’t hate me too much for publishing HYMN OF ASHES first, because I’m excited (and terrified) to share this story with readers.

However, because you’re all newsletter subscribers, you get to see things first.

So I’m going to share the first piece of character art I commissioned for HYMN OF ASHES. This was commissioned when I just wanted to see my characters illustrated. For me to get hyped for drafting the story, and it got me so excited to commission more from other artists! I’ll randomly be dropping character art for HYMN OF ASHES on Instagram in the future, but for now, you all get to see some first.

Remember, she’s 6 feet tall. Anyway.

Here’s this piece of “the Villain” and the “Hero’s Human BFF” getting all horny in a corner the first time she visits the magical realm, illustrated by @rubixx.art.

I love this scene so much, I might get it illustrated again in a different style. I just love art. I’m addicted. Fantasy stories just need all the art, you know?

… You know what?

Here’s this other commission I just got back from Carlotta, who has done all the character art for the SUN STEER TECH series so far. I was just feeling needy, and wanted art in the same style my last 3 published books have gotten.

Do you like the man-cleavage Carlotta gave him? I don’t remember specifically asking her for that. She just understood the assignment, and I love her for it.

(Please don’t mistake this for a why-choose. HYMN OF ASHES is not a why-choose.)

HYMN OF ASHES is a story about a 30 year old woman finding out that her best friend of 15 years has been secretly running off to a magical realm for the past two. A magical realm with a lot going on, and a lot for our human FMC to wrap her head around.

She just wants to run her cute little coffee shop in her cute little southern California beach town, and lay in the sun, okay? She doesn’t have the mental capacity to also deal with magical realms and fae and nereids and sirens…even if they’re seven feet tall and loaded with abs that they’re willing to weaponize.

The human definitely isn’t going to entertain her best friend’s siren enemy whenever he flirts with her, right? He’s just making advances to irritate her best friend, right? They’re enemies, and he may be a powerful siren, but he’s also just a guy.

… And a killer.

Call her crazy, but being a killer is for sure a deal-breaker.

AbsoLUTELY not… right?

RIGHT?

HYMN OF ASHES is coming soon!

Thank you all for your love and support!

<3

1. Details on Sun Steer Tech books 4 & 5

2. The start of a brand new series

3. Romance Con Preorder deadline reminder! (7/15)

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1. A number of you have been asking me what I am working on and what is getting published next, and the answer is: several things.

The next book in the Sun Steer Tech series is—you probably guessed it—Violet and Graham!

Their book is titled FORGIVEN BY A FARMER, and I am already obsessed with these two. In TAILORED FOR THEM, you get a sneak peek of what is going on up in Northern California on Moore Farms. Violet FaceTimes Taylor, and shows them what she’s been, um, *struggling* with.

The 5th book in the Sun Steer Tech series isn’t officially titled yet, BUT we know who the couple is—Brandon and Nora.

You meet Nora briefly in TAILORED FOR THEM, and I’m so excited to write their story as well. I’ve been trying to figure out Brandon’s love story ever since Signe and Zaid’s story in WRITTEN BY A WOMAN. It’s finally coming to me!

As of right now, FORGIVEN BY A FARMER will probably not release until Spring 2026.

You might be wondering why that release date is SO far away, and that would be because I will be releasing something else beforehand…

2. I will be releasing the first in a new fantasy romance series near the beginning of 2026.

As I write this email, I am currently over the halfway point on the first draft of my new book, HYMN OF ASHES.

The cover art is currently being sketched out, and we will see how it goes, because I was VERY unhelpful to the artist when they asked me what I wanted. I mostly replied with, “this vibe and this vibe and this—but not exactly, more like the ‘vibe’ of this” so, obviously, it’s going to take some time! But I’m excited, because they’re the best at what they do.

Some fun details about HYMN OF ASHES: it’s single POV. The FMC isn’t the hero; instead, she’s the hero’s best friend. She’s a regular ol’ human who, frankly, is very annoyed that there are magical realms filled with fae and sirens and nereids. I mean, the human realm has enough going on as is.

But her best friend is a significant part of the chaos and drama taking place there, and she’s a supportive queen.

This is contemporary, meaning it takes place in the modern world as we know it.

(At least, the human realm does. My world-building has its limits, okay?)

While this is still a story written by yours truly, which means it’ll have comedic relief and cozy moments and women supporting women, it will also tackle some darker themes. The content notes will be a little lengthier and will include warnings for topics such as death, political tension, battles and war, blood, gore, obsession, mating rituals, etc.

But again, please remember it’s still written by me. So even though darker themes and topics will be present, verbal and physical consent will always be represented. I wouldn’t call this a dark fantasy romance. But it’s not a romcom fantasy romance, either.

Basically, I don’t know how to market this quite yet. Stay tuned for that.

Also, yes. I do have some character art commissioned already.

And I have more scheduled.

So I leave you with this teaser for the piece I commissioned from Eda Zuri.

I just feel like it’s important to note that the FMC in HYMN OF ASHES is a 6-foot-tall woman.

…and that he’s leaning down toward her.

So, yeah.

HYMN OF ASHES is coming Winter 2026, hopefully followed by FORGIVEN BY A FARMER in Spring 2026.

3. Romance Con Preorder deadline is coming up!

If you’re attending Romance Con in Milwaukee in September and plan on preordering any signed copies from me, the deadline to place your preorder is approaching! You only have a few more days to place and pay for your pre-orders. Any preorders not paid for by 7/15 will result in preorder cancellation, and it will be up to you to visit my table during Romance Con to snag a paperback before I sell out of stock!

I will be bringing limited stock, because flying with paperbacks is an experience.

You can preorder your paperbacks from me for Romance Con here.

That’s all for now, thank you all for your love and support!

🌼TAILORED FOR THEM is finally here! I hope readers fall in love with Taylor, Nicole, and their safe, gentle, warm, and low-angst love.

This is the novella to read if you’re looking for something that's easy, breezy, and beautiful. A read where it’s heavy on the warm fuzzy feelings, with very little standing in their way.

🌼Cover Art by the brilliant McKenzie Green!

“Tailored for Them” is a contemporary romance novella on KU that includes:

💛 they/them MC

🌼 she/her MC

💛 fake dating (briefly)

🌼 found family

💛 low stakes and angst

🌼 open door content

💛 one hook up that accidentally leads to more

Synopsis:

Not everyone feels like they are living their best life in their late thirties, but Taylor Desmond does. Taylor is a successful Occupational Therapist. They work with their best friends every day. They don’t need a soulmate; they have found peace.
Then they meet Nicole.
Taylor’s heart starts racing as soon as Nicole is nearby.

Nicole Young is the Chief Financial Officer at Sun Steer Technologies, an up-and-coming tech startup in Orange County. Professionally, she’s successful; romantically, she’s a mess. After being cheated on by her girlfriend, she is about to give up hope. Perhaps she can’t find what she wants: monogamy, commitment.
Someone who loves her as much as she loves them.
Unfortunately, the only person who creates butterflies in her stomach is Taylor Desmond. The person who has never felt the need to settle down. The person with more confidence and charm than Nicole knows what to do with.

One casual hookup turns into more. It doesn’t feel casual anymore.
Is Taylor willing to settle down?
Can Nicole learn to trust so soon after being burned? Or will her insecurities keep her from experiencing the love she’s sought?

TAILORED FOR THEM is a queer novella, featuring characters from both the WHAT IT MEANS and the SUN STEER TECH series.

🌼Also, check out this lovely character art of Taylor & Nicole by Carlotta Achille! (Follow her on Instagram)

🌼You can pick up the above character art print at in-person signings!

I want to thank the sensitivity readers who helped me craft Taylor and Nicole’s story. I wouldn’t have had the ability to write this story at all if it weren’t for sensitivity readers. In fact, I would have refused to write it entirely.

I had a lot of hesitation writing Taylor and Nicole’s story. I kept going back and forth about it while I wrote WBAW and MBAM. I kept asking myself, am I really the person who should be writing a queer romance? Would publishing a queer romance unintentionally pull readers away from queer authors writing queer romance better (and more authentically) than I’ll ever be able to?

On the other hand, what does it say about me if I actively avoid writing a queer romance? I didn’t want readers to mistake the diverse characters in my stories as nothing more than tokens. A checkbox on a diversity list. Each one of my characters is created with a purpose. They have a distinct personality and goals.

A life.

Something to say.

I write diverse characters because it’s weird (and unrealistic) to depict a world without diversity. Diversity exists everywhere else in the world. So, why wouldn’t it be everywhere in fiction, too? Regardless of what the author identifies as.

To avoid further straight-splaining the need for diversity in literature, I’ll end with this.

Thank you to the readers who fell in love with Taylor’s character early on. To the readers who constantly checked in with me about when Taylor would finally get their own story. To the readers who have been here since day one, and to the readers who will read this story before any of my others.

Thank you to my editors, proofreaders, friends, and family who have supported me in big and small ways.

I cannot say it enough, but I’ll try.

So, thank you.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Happy reading <3

1. Celebrating 1 month of Jacqueline and Leo!

2. What’s releasing next? (Surprise Cover Reveal!)

3. Super secret exciting project incoming!

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1. Celebrating 1 month of MELTED BY A MAN being out in the world!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has read Jacqueline and Leo’s horny office romance so far! I appreciate all the love and support you’ve given these two neurodivergent sweethearts.

You can snag signed copies of MELTED BY A MAN from Heartbound Bookshop, and they might even have some preorder incentive goodies left over to throw in too!

Writing Jacqueline and Leo’s story took a lot out of me. Specifically, writing Jacqueline’s character made me feel vulnerable in a way I hadn’t experienced as an author before. I mentioned this at the release day party, and again to anyone who has asked me about it, but Jacqueline’s brain is my brain. Her therapy sessions are inspired by my own (shoutout to my girl, Shaw). Her internal monologue, trying to sabotage any possible relationship she could have out of a false sense of preservation, is one I fight myself every single day.

Jacqueline is the most self-insert character I have ever written, and I have written pieces of myself into almost all of my characters so far.

I have had readers reach out to me, thanking me for the representation Jacqueline gave them. I also had LOTS of help from sensitivity readers, and readers who identify as neurodivergent, who haven’t sought out a formal diagnosis either. I also received help from those who do have a formal diagnosis. It’s a weird (ie. scary) time to be neurodivergent in the US, diagnosed or not.

Part of me was worried about facing backlash for writing Jacqueline as undiagnosed. That maybe readers would hate that she didn’t have the validity of a medical diagnosis to “back up her claims.”

“Claims” that are just her lived experiences.

I, too, like to categorize things in a neat little box tied off with a ribbon. But that’s not a reality for a lot of women. Especially the adult women who masked too close to the sun as children, and now have to survive in a world that doesn’t want to believe in their neurodivergence at all. (ASD, ADHD, BPD, OCD, etc.)

I mean, we’ve made it this far, right? Why bother with neurodivergent labels and identities at this point in the game? (She said sarcastically…)

I am so grateful that so many readers found representation and validation in Jacqueline’s story. Her story is one that I largely wrote for myself, because it can be so, so hard to complete day-to-day expectations with a brain designed to fight you every step of the way.

Perhaps that’s why I made sure she got an exciting sex life with Leo, because girls who stress just want to be properly railed while being told they’re doing a good job, just like any other girl.

I’m sad to take a break from Jacqueline and Leo, but this is not goodbye forever. In fact, you’ll be seeing more of Jacqueline in Leo in my next release.

Speaking of which… *drumroll*

2. What’s releasing next?

You lucky newsletter subscriber, you.

Behold, the cover reveal for my summer novella: TAILORED FOR THEM, a WHAT IT MEANS and SUN STEER TECH interconnected novella!

Does the cover art look familiar? That’s because it is! McKenzie is the freakin’ best and designed the perfect cover art for Taylor’s novella. While the title matches the SUN STEER TECH series titles, the cover art matches the WHAT IT MEANS series covers (which are much more to Taylor’s personal preference).

TAILORED FOR THEM will be (ignore the graphic) available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and anywhere you get paperbacks!

Nicole Young and Taylor Desmond’s love story is still being edited as I write this newsletter. I am hoping to release their sweet, comfy, cozy summer novella in the month of July. When in July, you may ask? I don’t know yet! I don’t want to limit myself by setting a strict release date, because I want to make sure I craft their story with care and intention. While you wait, feel free to add their story to your Goodreads TBR.

You may be asking yourself, “Why is there no preorder campaign? Why is Andrea not talking about this on social media until release day? Why is there not a lot of hype going into this story?”

The short answer: Timing.

The long answer: I’m a straight cis white woman dropping a queer love story right after pride month. I believe that it’s inappropriate of me to market this story at all as an author in a position as privileged as mine. I’m starting on 2nd or 3rd base as a straight cis white woman in this industry. So, I’d rather take a step back and allow other queer authors and their queer stories to shine in the spotlight they deserve. I can mentally picture Taylor grabbing the collar of my shirt and pulling me out of the frame of whatever TikTok I’d make about their novella. Then they’d steal my phone and run away to talk about other queer romances by queer authors.

Then, they’d pass the phone to Nicole, who would say “pass” and give it back to them to continue their rec list.

Want to support queer authors? Here’s some authors of brilliant queer love stories you should follow!

Estelle Grant: Contemporary adult romance with trans representation

Katie Duggan: Contemporary adult romance with bi/sapphic representation

Mikayla Hornedo: Fantasy adult romance with queer/sapphic why-choose representation

Harley LaRoux: Fantasy/Contemporary/Dark Adult romance with queer/why-choose/sapphic representation

Matthew Hubbard: Contemporary YA romance with queer coming-of-age representation

Emily Antoinette: Alien & Monster adult romance with queer/why-choose/sapphic representation

3. Super secret exciting project incoming!

Once TAILORED FOR THEM is released, I will be taking a step back from contemporary romance and taking time to finish up the first draft of my very first fantasy romance.

This story has been cooking in my big fat brain for a few years now, and a select few of you are already aware of some fun nitty-gritty details.

I don’t want to share too much too early, so here are some things you’ll find in my upcoming fantasy romance, titled HYMN OF ASHES:

1. Single POV (FMC’s)

2. 5’11” FMC

3. 7’0” MMC (god, I love fantasy)

4. Sirens, Nereids, and Fae—oh my!

5. Magical realms.

6. Modern setting.

7. Horniness. So. Much. Horniness.

8. Glaringly obvious feminism.

The premise?

She’s the hero’s best friend (the sidekick, if you will), who just discovered the magical realm, as well as her best friend’s magical powers, at the ripe age of 29.

He’s the 7-foot-tall villainous siren from the magical realm.

Did I mention he was 7 feet tall?

Tall women deserved to get dicked down by big men, too.

Anyway.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading this far, and I look forward to keeping you all updated on some in-person events I’ll be attending in a couple of months!

<3

Thank you all for your love and support!

MELTED BY A MAN is available on Kindle Unlimited (KU), Kindle, and paperback. I am SO excited to finally release this story into the world. I feel like I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, and I am thrilled that you all can finally read about these complex characters.

Jacqueline will always hold a special place in my heart. She’s someone I want to wrap up in a fuzzy blanket and tuck into a sensory swing.

And Leo, the sweet, 6’5” golden retriever who can become a rotweiler real quick, is one of my favorite MMCs to date.

I hope you love their love as much as I do.

What You’ll Find in MELTED BY A MAN:

💜 neurodivergent MC’s

🎧 a secret workplace romance

💜 grumpy/sunshine

🎧 black cat/golden retriever

💜 “Speak to me how you spoke to her” 🔥

🎧 office, um…moments 👉🏻👌🏼💥

💜 she melts only for him 🫠

🎧 opposites attract

(Character art of Jacqueline & Leo by Carlotta Achille, follow her on Instagram at @poshotta)

Tonight I’ll be celebrating Jacqueline & Leo’s horny workplace romance at Heartbound Book Shop at 7:00 pm! I’ll be joined by Falon Ballard and Nellie Wilson, and I hope to see you there!

Happy reading!

What’s in this newsletter?

• Where can you find me in 2025 & 2026?

  • including MBAM release day details

• Ramblings?

• A horny snippet from Leo’s POV

Where can you find me?

I come bearing an updated list of events I’m going to be at for 2025 and (some of) 2026! Listed in chronological order:

1. Indie Bookstore Day: April 26th from 3:00-4:00 pm I’ll be at Heartbound Book Shop signing copies of Written by a Woman (I might also have some character art and bookmarks for readers to pick up with their copies). Dozens of other authors will be rotating in and out of the bookstore that day to sign books, so be sure to follow Heartbound to see who is going to be there that day!

2. Melted by a Man Release Day: Tuesday, April 29th, 2025, at 7:00 pm I’ll be at Heartbound again to celebrate the release of Jacqueline and Leo’s story! I’ll be joined by Nellie Wilson and Falon Ballard. We will be having a brief discussion about all things romance (and maybe a Q&A) followed by a signing. Be sure to preorder your copy of Melted by a Man from Heartbound here. (There will be cute little cookies, too.)

1. Romance Con: September 5th and 6th, 2025 I’ll be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with tons of other authors, signing books and meeting readers! After attending their inaugural event in 2024, I am so excited to go back. Check out their author lineup on their website, and follow them on Instagram. Be sure to buy your tickets ASAP, because they go fast!

2. Fall Into Books Fest: September 20th, 2025, in Anaheim, California, I’ll be signing books, listening to panels with fantastic authors, and meeting local readers.

3. Love Lit Con: February 13th-15th, 2026, in San Diego, California, I’ll be signing books at the Sheraton San Diego Resort. Check out the author lineup, and be sure to snag your tickets to this inaugural event!

4. A Romantic Adventure: March 14th, 2026, I’ll be signing books with tons of other authors in Christchurch, New Zealand! If you’re in that hemisphere, be sure to follow them on Instagram to stay up to date on event details and ticket pricing!

5. Spicy Reads Event: June 26th & 27th, 2026, in Chula Vista, California, I’ll be signing books at the Gaylord Pacific Resort. Details to come!

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Ramblings?

Drafting is hard.

It’s even harder when your brain likes to skip ahead and plot out stories that, realistically, are 2-3 books down the timeline. I’m planning a small-town series in a small town that readers don’t even know exists in these fictional universes yet.

As I draft this email, I’m still just barely over 50% through drafting my summer novella. But I have sensitivity readers scheduled to review it for me at the end of the month, so I need to pull another 20k words out of my dump truck of an ass to have that first draft ready for them to critique.

The covert art (illustrated by McKenzie Green) is also almost done.

It’s the prettiest cover art I have ever seen. I cannot WAIT to show it off to you all.

I don’t want to talk too much about future books because Jacqueline and Leo’s book hasn’t even been released yet, and a lot of my plans will only make sense to readers after they read Melted by a Man.

So instead of diving too much into future plans, I leave you with a horny snippet. One of many horny snippets in Melted by a Man. Because, as I’ve said again and again, this is the horniest book I have ever written.

A quote from Leo’s POV:

“…Then I helped her with the helmet. She truly hadn’t worn one before, because she struggled to tighten the strap under her chin. My helmet was already on, so I gently patted her hands out of the way to tighten it for her. Safety first.

Jacqueline nudged my hands out of her way and struggled with the strap again. After watching her for about ten seconds, I shook my head and replaced her hands with mine. She tried to fight me, but I gripped the jaw of her helmet and pulled her close. Making eye contact with her through the visors, silently telling her to stop. She made a frustrated, muffled noise under her helmet before her hands dropped, crossing them over her chest. I immediately tightened the strap under her chin.”

Excerpt From Melted by a Man by Andrea Andersen

…you friggin’ like that?

Books to add to your TBR!

Fire Fight, book 1 in Dusk Valley

Link: books2read.com/acff

Tropes:

firefighter MMC x private investigator FMC

hurt / comfort

slow burn

reformed bad boy

trauma & secrets

forced proximity / roommates

touch her/him &

a serial arsonist antagonist

open door spice

BLURB

Crew Lawless was just doing his job when he saved Aspen McKay from that fire. The call should’ve been routine: get the vic out, pass her off to the paramedics, and forget about her. But there’s nothing routine about the feelings Aspen stirs in him, and there’s definitely no forgetting her. Especially not when, down on her luck after her ordeal, he offers her a place to stay—with him.

Private investigator Aspen McKay came to Dusk Valley looking into a serial killer, but she never anticipated becoming a victim herself. After nearly dying, everyone she meets in the small town treats her with pity—except Crew Lawless. And now that she’s staying with him, she can’t deny how alive being around him makes her feel.

As things heat up between Crew and Aspen, so does the hunt for the killer who continues to taunt them from the shadows. Now, they’re coming under fire, and they’re about to take on the fight of their lives.

CONTENT WARNINGS

Please be aware that Fire Fight contains the following material that may be triggering for some readers: mentions of murder/death by fire, attempted murder, semi-graphic descriptions of burns, drug and alcohol abuse by a main character (off-page but discussed), main character dealing with recovering from addiction, on page physical violence, on page abduction, graphic sexual content (bondage, edging, toy play, light breath play), and explicit language.

Thank you all for your love and support <3

What comes with these preorders?

1. a bookmark of Jacqueline & Leo snogging:

   

2. these stickers!

   

   

   

3. a signed paperback!

Just a friendly reminder that the ebook for “Melted by a Man” is releasing on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

Details about the pub day event happening at Heartbound (on Tuesday, April 29th) are to come! If you want to pick up your preorder while attending the “Melted by a Man” release day event with me and other authors and readers, be sure to select “pick up in store” at checkout on Heartbound’s website.

Thank you all so much for your love and support <3

Let’s talk Advanced Reader Copies!

It’s time for me to open up e-ARC applications for Jacqueline and Leo’s spicy workplace romance.

Here’s the thing: I need to be pickier. And I hate it.

In the past, I have pretty much given anyone who signed up an e-Arc of my stories. I am an indie, and word of mouth is all I have going for me in regards to marketing. I threw spaghetti on the wall to see what stuck, and each time I release a new book, I’m noticing that less and less sticks.

All the readers who aren’t interesting in reading and reviewing books somehow seem to find me, and though I’m honored that they want to read my stories, my feelings are a little hurt.

e-ARCS are free ebooks that I send to readers with an understanding that at some point, preferably near the release date, a review of some kind will be posted about that book.

I don’t look at the content of these reviews. I don’t read these reviews. I just keep track of numbers. I see how many people open the file from BookFunnel and correlate that with the number of reviews posted across various platforms on release day.

So I am being a bit more strict this go around. I’m not giving every single person who applies an e-ARC of Jacqueline and Leo’s story. Readers who have a history of posting reviews on any platform of their choosing will be prioritized first.

There is also a cap on e-ARC recipients. Once I reach that cap, I will be closing the ARC application.

Jacqueline and Leo’s story will be releasing on Kindle Unlimited, which makes me feel less guilty about this decision. If you do not receive an e-ARC this go around, just know that you can download their spicy and tender love story through your KU subscription on release day.

Reviews and Respecting an Author’s Boundaries.

Not everyone will love Jacqueline and Leo’s story, and that’s okay!

As always, please, for the love of god, do not tag me in any review whatsoever if it is less than 4 stars.

This is not to discourage you from posting a review if you’re rating their story less than 4 stars. Please, post your review! Even negative reviews can help indies like me. Algorithms are crazy like that.

I’m just asking that you don’t force me to read all the reasons why you didn’t like Melted by a Man. It’s as simple as that.

…Now that I think about it, if you rate a my books 4-stars and the entirety of your review is a wall of text explaining all the reasons why you “just couldn’t give it 5-stars”, please don’t tag me in that either. Save that wall of text for your fellow readers, not me.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

How do I apply for an e-ARC?

You can apply here.

When can I preorder signed paperbacks and goodies from Heartbound Bookshop?

I’m working on that right now. That is literally next on my Jacqueline and Leo to-do list. I’m polishing the manuscript, formatting in Vellum, and finalizing preorder goodies. Once everything is uploaded and Heartbound can place orders, we’ll announce preorders. I’m hoping to do this in the month of February.

Thank you for your patience!

1. Jacqueline & Leo update 💜

2. Upcoming event for Jeannie Choe

3. Written by a Woman sale 2/13-2/14

4. What am I working on? ✍️

5. How and why I got suspended from Nextdoor ✌️😘

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Jacqueline & Leo’s story (Melted by a Man) is going through a round of proofreading and I’m trying not to think too hard about the fact that my mother-in-law is currently reading all the things that these 2 horny coworkers do to each other.

(But also, she’s literally the best because, thanks to her, everyone else will be able to read what Jacqueline and Leo do to each other with ✨fewer grammatical errors✨)

Jacqueline and Leo’s story has six full spicy scenes. It's the most I’ve ever written in a single novel. And that’s on feminism💅

I am hoping to be able to announce preorders for signed paperbacks through Heartbound Bookshop in February. Here is a peek at some of the goodies that will come with a signed paperback of Jacqueline and Leo’s book.

Please do not share this image yet. This preorder goodies reveal is scheduled to be posted on Instagram on 2/8, but I might need to push the post back. (There are perks of being an indie author who creates my own timeline and can change things without any higher powers punishing me.)

Regardless, you all get to see the goodies first.

This next thing is not a preorder goodie, because it’s not good enough to be considered an art print to throw in with preorders (but maybe in a year or so my drawing will improve enough for me to illustrate my own prints 🤷‍♀️) but here is a doodle I pulled out of my booty the other day that I’d like to show off, for no other reason than because I think all of our brains are desperate for things that make us smile in this hellscape of a political climate right now.

This is from the prologue of Melted by a Man. That’s all I’ll say about that for now!

Celebrating Jeannie Choe’s re-release of Best I Never Had at Heartbound Bookshop in Anaheim, California on February 8th at 6:00pm!

Be sure to RSVP to this event because seating is limited!

Best I Never Had has all the tropes you’ll love:

💖 Friends to strangers to friends again to lovers

💖 He falls first

💖 It’s always been you vibes

💖 Cinnamon roll hero with a spicy side

💖 Dual POV and timeline

💖 Slow burn

Be sure to follow Jeannie on Instagram at @not_choe.typicalwriter and sign up for her newsletter to stay up to date with her events and upcoming novels.

Free ebook of Written by a Woman on Kindle coming soon!

In honor of Galentine’s day, Written by a Woman will be free on Amazon February 13th and 14th! Be sure to mark your calendars if you’ve been waiting to read Signe and Zaid’s story and don’t have a KU subscription. You’ll be able to download their ebook to your Kindles for $free.99 on those 2 days only.

What am I working on?

Tailored for Them (the novella officially connecting the What It Means universe with Sun Steer Tech’s) currently has 10k/40k words drafted. Taylor is SO fun to write. I’m honored to finally be inside of their head.

The next full-length novel in the Sun Steer Tech universe is currently TBD on a title BUT has about 14k/100k words drafted. I’ve done a lot of research on farming because of this thing. Did you know that California is the “leading producer” for almonds in the United States? Perhaps even the world. I have recently learned more about almond farming than I ever thought writing romance novels would need me to.

This full-length novel might kickstart a spin-off small-town series. And no, it won’t be realistic to how small towns in NorCal are. This will be a complete fantasy. It’s giving Stars Hallow, but if Luke Dains was the mayor and was able to get everyone on board with his anti-capitalist, leftist-hippy leaning ways. A small town that has everyone inside of its back, a small town that has a big-ass community garden and a history of bullying missionaries of organized religion out of their town. A small town that turned the old church into a community center.

I need this fantasy right now. Perhaps others do too.

Unrelated, I might rewrite my fantasy romance (that I only dabble in when I’m feeling truly unhinged) so that an army of women dismantle a hateful patriarchy and behead an evil king. Can you pick up on how I’m feeling about the current state of the US right now?

How and why I got suspended from the Nextdoor app

I downloaded the app. The app I opened once about seven years ago and went NOPE. ABSOLUTELY NOT. and deleted.

Because I live in a red dot in a blue state. And that app seems like a safe haven for bigots to theorize about chemtrails and the illuminati and lizard shapeshifters. I’ve never felt more unsafe in my area than I did opening the Nextdoor app.

However, change starts local.

So I downloaded it again. I started a group called “Safe Space in (my town)” complete with a big ol’ pride flag as the group’s picture.

I posted very controversial takes about the state of the world in an attempt to find others like me. And even though the bigots in my neighborhood mass report my posts for discrimination (which, really told on themselves), I managed to add about 100 neighbors to my safe space group in a handful of days, before I stirred the pot too close to the sun and got my account suspended for two weeks.

And yet, even though I can’t access the app, my Safe Space group is alive and well. I have admins running things while I’m gone.

This way, my neighbors can discuss what is going on in the community, world, schools, etc without bigots and MAGA’s screaming over our heads. It was a difficult process to get here, but worth it. We aren’t on a Meta owned app, AND we are connecting with our actual neighbors!

This way, we can be a little more organized.

We can feel a little more empowered in an area where MAGA’s and bigots and fascists feel way too comfortable preaching their hate.

I’m not saying you should do this exact thing too for your red neighborhoods. But I’m not saying you shouldn’t do nothing either. It doesn’t have to be organizing a march or protest. It can be as simple as carving out spaces for us on the internet.

As I type this newsletter, I currently have a mass total of 153,742 page reads on KU.

Written by a Woman holds 68,371 of those page reads.

I CANNOT thank you all enough. As someone who has also been escaping into romance novels most evenings than not, I appreciate you for taking a chance on Signe & Zaid’s cute little workplace romcom.

As always, please please please take a moment to leave a rating or review on whatever platform you prefer. Your word of mouth is 99% of indie marketing, and one post or rating or review could change an indie author’s life.

Thank you all for your love and support.

<3

First of all, thank you SO much. It’s only 4 days into 2025, and you all have burned through 18k+ page reads of my books on Kindle Unlimited—15k of those being for Written by a Woman, specifically!

18k+ page reads in 4 days!! I’m so grateful. Without you readers, I wouldn’t be able to keep doing this. I’m only 7k away from hitting 100k total page reads within the first 2 months of having my books on KU, and that’s because of readers like you.

I am truly nothing without you all 🫶

What to Expect from Andrea in 2025?

Melted by a Man is releasing on Tuesday, April 29th. Jacqueline and Leo are currently with the editor, and I am hoping to have them back in my hands in a couple of weeks! I will be doing a preorder campaign for signed paperbacks with Heartbound Bookshop, so stay tuned for when those details are announced.

I will also be doing a release day event at Heartbound! So, if you’re near Anaheim, California, and have nothing better to do the evening of Tuesday, April 29th, mark your calendar and celebrate Jacqueline & Leo’s release with me! I’m hoping to have a discussion, maybe a Q&A, followed by a signing. The event itself won’t be more than maybe 2 hours long.

I also asked my cousin to bake cookies for this, so if you need cute bookish cookies to be convinced to come out to my first release day event, I’m not above using treats to bribe you.

What else is coming?

I am drafting two different manuscripts. One is a novella titled Tailored for Them (IYKYK) that I would love to release during the summer. You run into Taylor and meet their love interest, Nicole, in Jacqueline & Leo’s book, Melted by a Man. The cover art for this novella will be done by McKenzie Green, the same artist who illustrated the What It Means series covers (even though the novella will link both of these series together).

You will also get a sneak peak into the lives of Courtney & Josh, Eloise & Logan, and even Beck & Adam in Taylor’s novella.

The second manuscript I am drafting is still TBD on the title (Falling for a Farmer? Felled by a Farmer? Fertilized? Anyway). You also meet Violet and Graham in Melted by a Man. I hope you love these single parents (and potheads).

I am hoping to release Violet and Graham’s story in the fall of 2025, but I have never released 3 books in 1 year before, so we will see how this goes! It’s going to be a busy year for me.

Sam from Ink and Laurel will be illustrating this cover, to match Written by a Woman and Melted by a Man.

2025 Bookish Events

I have two events this year where we can meet up!

The first is the release day event mentioned above, in Anaheim, California on April 29th. More details to come.

The second is Romance Con in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 5th & 6th! I had such a blast attending last year, and I’m excited to hang out with my favorite romance readers and authors again!

Personal Goals for 2025

Saying, “No.” 😃👍

On paper, it doesn’t seem like a hard goal to achieve. But when you’re raised to constantly prioritize other people’s desires and expectations over your own, it’s much more difficult to simply say, “No.”

This last month has been hard, for a myriad of reasons. It’s a combination of the holidays, seasonal depression, parenting, spousing, and trying to be there for all my friends and family. It became draining and I felt like a shell of a person.

I’m an introvert, and I don’t say that lightly. My mental health does not thrive by being busy and social all the time. In fact, my mental health seems to take a significant hit if I feel like I can’t catch my breath. Unfortunately, what I consider an appropriate amount of space and time from social commitments does not always seem appropriate to others.

After discussing things with my husband and close friends, I realized that I am not a villain if my answer is simply, “No.”

This is why I only have 2 bookish events on my calendar for the 2025 year. I will be spending the next 4 months managing my anxiety for a single event that will last maybe 2 hours in April. Some might call that ridiculous, but it’s what I need and I stand by that.

Then I will have another 5 months to manage my anxiety again before flying to the midwest in September for another bookish event.

I have left a lot of people on read in the last month, which is another version of my ability to say, “no” or even, “not right now.”

No one needs to be completely accessible 100% of the time. I don’t expect any of my friends or colleagues to be accessible to me 24/7, and after looking inward, I am finally realizing that I don’t need to be accessible 24/7 either.

All of this to say, *cue Lady Whistledown Voice* dearest gentle readers, I encourage you all to also say, “no” when you need to.

It’s quite freeing, 10/10 recommend.

You’re invited out for the 2nd time in a month and the invite causes you more anxiety than excitement? Thank them for the invite, but don’t feel obligated to go.

You’re friends are randomly FaceTiming you but the enemies just became lovers in the book you’re reading? Let them leave a message until you have the space to respond.

We are all just humans existing on a spec in the middle of a galaxy, surrounded by other galaxies, floating in endless space.

It’s not that deep.

And if someone gets upset because you’re unable to carve out enough time in your life for them? Let them go. Surround yourself with people who refill your cup, not people who drain you.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

This is a friendly reminder to please rate and/or review books you read by indie authors. We don’t all have publishing houses or agencies helping us advertise our books. Instead, we are reliant on the word-of-mouth from romance readers like you.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Jacqueline & Leo’s book, Melted by a Man is releasing on April 29th, 2025 on Kindle, KU, and paperback! You can preorder the ebook on Amazon!

I will be revealing this cover tomorrow, 12/28 (on my 30th birthday, woot woot), so please be cool and don’t share this until then! It’s scheduled to post at 6:00 am PST.

Here it is again, but bigger.

Sam from Ink & Laurel did an excellent job and I’m obsessed with everything about it. Her grip on his jacket. The way he’s holding her head. The headphones. The helmet. The snake plant from Zaid she keeps on her desk from Written by a Woman. UGHHHHH.

Heartbound Bookshop is doing a preorder campaign, which they will be announcing more details about soon! There will be special goodies to go with each signed paperback if you preorder from them. I’ll be announcing when the preorder campaign is open on Instagram and in a future newsletter. Be sure to follow Heartbound Book Shop on Instagram to stay tuned!

I will not be fulfilling my own signed paperback preorders for Melted by a Man. If you want a signed paperback, you gotta support small businesses and order through Heartbound!

Okay, but also look at this spread:

Here is what the back cover synopsis says:

She’s cold and reserved.

He’s warm and approachable.

It was only supposed to be one night.

Romance wasn’t on Jacqueline Williams’ to-do list. The buttoned-up Human Resources manager likes rules; they help her feel safe. After meeting a handsome stranger, she tossed away the rulebook for one night. One amazing night. At least she thought, until he walked into the conference room at the tech startup where she works.

Needing a change, Leo Turner packed up his life in London and moved to Southern California. Relocating offered everything he wanted: a new job, being closer to his family, and unexpectedly, an unforgettable night with a beautiful woman—a woman who turned out to be the Director of Human Resources at his new job.

She’s tough. She’s inflexible. She haunts his dreams.

He’s frustrating. He’s foolish. He melts her defenses.

It was only supposed to be one night.

Don’t forget to preorder, and thank you all for your love and support!