Katherine's Book Backyard: December 2022

I you've been with me for awhile, you know that I love, love, love mysteries and have been devoted to them since I was a child. Yes, Nancy Drew, but also Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and more. I started out writing noir-ish stories and was lucky enough to fall into a wonderfully supportive community that encouraged and nurtured me. But a lot of my stories were dark. Sooooo dark.

And then one day I wrote a Christmas romance. A clean, sweet, cozy, feel-good romance full of quirky characters and food and good things happening to people. And I loved it. I wrote a few more. Then I wrote a Thanksgiving story. Then I wrote a couple of Valentine's Day stories. (If you want to hear my

real-life Valentine's Day story, I recount it in What Was I Thinking? a collection of bad boyfriend stories that was traditionally published.)

I also have a Mother's Day story, a couple of Halloween stories, and a graduation day story. Most of them are set in my fictional city of Silver Birch, Washington, which is a lot like Bellingham, WA, a city I lived in for four years.

Right now I'm writing a St. Patrick's Day story, and in the next few months I'm writing another "harvest time" story, an Election Day story, a Fourth of July story, and an August story. I plan to collect them all in a book called Seasons of Silver Birch.

I'm hoping to hit up one of my friends to do the cover for it because I got a little carried away buying covers this year and I am going to try not to buy ANYTHING next year that's not vital. Even buy-ins to boxed sets. I got carried away with those as well.

I wrote 350K words last year, all of it for boxed sets. So that will give you an idea. But a lot of those stories were gentle, sweet, holiday romance. And I enjoyed myself immensely. I hope my readers did too.

Until a few years ago, 2Hot2Handle seemed to be the best-kept secret in K-pop, but that all changed after a famous Asian award show performance. Now, 2H2H is suddenly the hottest thing in music, not only in Asia but the world. For Seok Seung, this period should be the most important of his career. This is when he’ll be recognized for his work in the group alongside his bandmates. However, his mind is not on the comeback or the world tour. His mind is in Paris, the city of his birth and the place where Louise Le Pere de Graveron lives. While he tries to keep his eyes on the goal, life has other plans for him and an outcome he never envisioned. Louise Le Pere de Graveron has always known that she should be a part of the Seok family. The problem is that she can’t decide which brother she wants to date. Should she pick the older brother, with the steady job as an ER doctor, or go all in with Seung, who doesn’t get close to anyone in his life? Once Louise’s mind is made up, will Seung and his brother Sebastien be able to live with her request?

Come meet your next obsession…

2 Hot 2 Handle are a K-pop group whose career hasn’t always been easy, but the sextet has worked hard to solidify their presence in the Korean music scene.

But when their eldest member has to leave the band to fulfill his mandatory military service, their career takes a turn for the worst.

After two flopped albums, their management decides to make a lineup change: making their youngest member the main vocalist, even after the band is complete.

With one stunning performance at a prestigious award show, suddenly 2H2H are back in high demand, all around the world.

How will the group handle their newfound fame while finding love at the same time?

Now meet the members…

Ye-Jun by Samantha Calcott

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09XY193WH

2 Hot 2 Handle’s new main vocalist, Ye-Jun hops a plane from Seoul to Chicago in order to train his voice and ensure he's prepared for this new, daunting position.

He just never expected to meet the girl of his dreams there.

Yvie is a plus-sized tattoo artist and avid heavy metal fan. She absolutely wants nothing whatsoever to do with K-pop.

Until Ye-Jun walks into her shop, and it seems like time stops. This sweet, gorgeous, soulful-voiced man turns her life — and her heart — upside down in an instant, and she has no idea how to handle it.

But it's widely known that K-pop stars don't date, lest they alienate their predominantly female fanbase. And even if Ye-Jun would give Yvie the time of day, there's no way they can be together ... right?

Yvie takes drastic action to see what might happen, but will her bravery be rewarded, or will her heart get broken?

And how can Ye-Jun handle his new duties in the band when it seems like every woman he encounters is trying to drive him insane?

Kwan by Amelia Hayden

https://www.amazon.com/Kwan-Contemporary-Rockstar-Romance-Handle-ebook/dp/B0BMPFC4LZ

After living the life he's always wanted in the US during 2 Hot 2 Handle's break from the spotlight. Kwan has to shove it back into the closet now that they were working on their comeback tour. Only he didn't count on his management pairing him with an up-and-coming music producer to work on the group's album. One who frustrated him so much that all he wanted to do was...kiss him.

Clint wasn't the type of bisexual to wave a pride flag everywhere he went, but he refused to hide it, which took closeted pop stars off the list of boyfriend material. Yet, when it came to the music he'd never been more in tune with another person.

Except, when his musical soulmate refuses to acknowledge what they have his only choice is to walk away. If only he'd done it before he fell for one of the hottest k-pop stars on the planet.

Ashlynn In two months I lost everything: my boyfriend cheated with my best friend, my other friends took their side, and now I’ve been kicked out of my flat because I can’t make the rent alone.

I end up collapsed on the side of the road near an arena, the thumps of bass covering my cries. The music is a comfort to my broken heart, so I stay until the show ends … and a Korean man with kind eyes and a warm smile finds me.

Geon by Leigh Kelsey

https://www.amazon.com/Geon-Contemporary-Rockstar-Romance-Handle-ebook/dp/B0BCZLLBVK/

A broken woman. A K-pop idol. A love worthy of a song.

Fresh off stage and pumped on adrenaline, the last thing I expect to find is a beautiful woman crying her heart out. The way she looks at me calls up all my protective instincts and makes me want to take care of her. So I act on impulse and take her back to the tour bus with me.

The more we spend time together, the more the hopeless romantic in me is in danger of falling for her. Hard. But the next tour date is in four days, and even if I somehow get Ash her apartment back and solve all her problems, I don’t know how I’ll ever get on a plane and leave her behind.

This love could heal her … or shatter me completely.

Seung by Marilyn Jeulin

https://www.amazon.com/Seung-Contemporary-Rockstar-Romance-Handle-ebook/dp/B0BC3JQWWR

Hyun by Amber Draeger

https://www.amazon.com/Hyun-Contemporary-Rockstar-Romance-Handle-ebook/dp/B0BJT8S26J

As one sixth of the Korean worldwide sensation, 2 Hot 2 Handle, Hyun has it all. He owes his now comfortable lifestyle to self-discipline and two rules: one, work hard to breed success, and two, never fall in love. Devoted to his Kpop idol life, Hyun leaves himself free for his fans.

However, he’s watching his lifelong friends and fellow group members pair up with the loves of their lives. All he senses is trouble….and a newfound pain in his heart.

Scheduled for a small break but driven to keep himself busy, he’s been presented with an offer he can’t refuse – a global ambassadorship for the young couture label Wild X Hunter. This job comes with a price, as he’ll be working daily with one of their lead stylists to create content for their social media campaigns.

And their stylist happens to be the most intoxicating woman he’s ever met.

MK doesn’t believe in second chances. Three years a widow, she believes love is waiting for her in the next life, not this one. Ambitious, MK pours herself into her work as a stylist for Wild X Hunter. She’s used to spoiled celebrities and atrocious aristocrats in measured doses, but when her boss is hospitalized, MK finds herself flying halfway around the world for a month-long job that she’s completely unprepared for: babysitting Wild X Hunter’s newest ambassador, a Korean pop idol that she’s never heard of.

Fighting against epic odds, in a foreign country with a language she doesn’t speak, MK is determined to succeed at all costs. This idol is nothing more than an assignment to help the company climb in their global standing.

But despite his cold appearance, there’s something gentle about this gorgeous man.

And between the two of them, there’s an attraction neither is prepared for…and a small glimmer of hope that maybe–just maybe–love can grow out of their shadows.

Chul by AR DeClerk

https://www.amazon.com/Chul-Contemporary-Rockstar-Romance-Handle-ebook/dp/B0BJFNJ8WX

Drained physically and mentally after a long tour, Kang Chul only wanted to kick back and relax, not realizing that accepting one drink from a hot girl would almost end his career. Rumors fly that Chul was driving drunk, causing the accident that injured his knee, and the company can't take so much heat right before the Grammys. In order to let the fervor die down, the company decides Chul should complete his rehab in the US. Unfortunately for him, they won't be sending him alone.

Kim Nari is known at Starboard Entertainment as the only staffer who can't and won't be swayed by the good looks of their idols. Offering Nari a fully funded course at a prestigious school, the company only asks one thing in return. Nari is to travel to LA with Chul and keep him out of the limelight as he heals. Determined to make her way in the male-dominated entertainment industry, Nari needs the course to move up. She's not happy about babysitting a nearly-disgraced idol but she has no other options.

Despite their differences, Chul and Nari must learn to live together and lean on one another when a snoopy reporter comes knocking, looking for the real story about the injured idol. They can only save Chul's reputation and Nari's job if they learn to work together, even as unanticipated sparks fly between them.