by anjwrites

Image by Kamille Sampaio on Pexels. (All photos and videos on Pexels can be downloaded and used for free).

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Rise and shine, mon petit chou! It is a brand new day, filled with adventure. I can’t wait to spend it with you so please open your eyes and wake up… 

Two conflicting, relatively loud noises coming from two separate objects woke Lex up from her slumber. Without opening her eyes, she reached out for the alarm on the bedside table and turned off the incessant ringing set at 7 a.m., every day. All that was left was the love note-slash-alarm her boyfriend Pat recorded. She, then, reached for her phone and swiped on the screen to silence the alarm.

After opening the curtains to let the sunlight in, Lex got out of bed and began doing her daily morning stretches. Slowly, her awareness of her surroundings also awakened. “Where’s Pat?”

Katt Briones loves to read (and occasionally writes) romance stories. She graduated with degrees in Business Economics and Information Technology and is currently working in systems. When not busy with work, she spends her free time reading, cooking, and playing Stardew Valley. She currently resides in Melbourne, Australia.

by Katt Briones

Image by Teddy Yang on Pexels. (All photos and videos on Pexels can be downloaded and used for free).

1 You Think

MICHI

This was a bad idea.

I was one flight of stairs away from the classroom that the Era of Maidens-Dresden University Fan Club chose for the anniversary potluck. There was time to change my mind.

Since the event was announced a month ago, I’d debated with myself about going. There would be food, people to yap with about Era of Maidens, and I’d been talking to these friends for more than a year now.

Online, though. I’d never actually met them in person.

Carla de Guzman is a contemporary romance author based in Quezon City. She is the author of 13 titles, including Manila Takes Manhattan and The Last Guy You Kiss published by Harlequin’s Afterglow and Mills and Boon UK, Sweet on You and Match Made in Lipa with Carina Press (same publisher as Heated Rivalry) internationally, and Blooming Love with Vibal Publishing locally. Anvil Publishing is the former publisher of Midnights in Bali, now Some Bali to Love independently. Audiobook editions of If The Dress Fits, The Queen’s Game, and How She Likes It were published by Everand. 

She continues to self publish her books, enjoys being a part of Romanceclass and was a delegate for the Frankfurt Buchmesse in 2024. Her book, Sweet on You, was recently released as a movie retitled to Recipe for Romance and aired on the CW and Crave Canada. 

She also designs book covers, has appeared on talks and panels as a romance writer and reader, creates hand lettering titles, and has written articles for Esquire, Spot.ph, When in Manila, and Philstar Life. She also recently worked on the English translation for the online webcomic Duty Ka Ba? by Tepai Pascual, published by Avenida Press.

She is a Capricorn Sun and a Virgo moon, and runs Magdamag Market Cafe with her siblings. Her usual coffee order is an iced latte, and she’s currently using a Hobonichi A6 as ring planner to keep it all together. 

by Carla de Guzman

Image by Valeriia Miller on Pexels. (All photos and videos on Pexels can be downloaded and used for free).

1. INT. SATURDAY MORNING. A CAFE IN LEGAZPI VILLAGE, MAKATI. 

JAIME is sitting alone at one of the tables by the window at the corner of the cafe. It’s relatively early so there are not a lot of people, but there’s the sound of coffee grinding in the background, steam coming off of the espresso machine, and music playing low in the background. This is the kind of cafe that would be labeled a “hidden gem,” even if it is on the streets of Legazpi Village. Not a single bossa nova cover can be heard, and the beans are from A Roaster You’ve Definitely Heard Of. Occasionally, you can hear the muffled sound of a car passing by.

JAIME is in his thirties. Handsome, casual and cool, he exudes a mabango rich boy elegance. Yung tipong maginoo pero medyo fuckboy parin. Definitely wore chino shorts and boat shoes in college, naka Uniqlo pants and Onitzuka Tigers na ngayon. He enters the cafe after parking his car on the street, and takes off his sunglasses.  

Staff is dazzled.