Monday, June 15, 2026
I'm a recommended read at Teresa Crowe!
Thursday, June 4, 2026
Fair Winds and Foul Play Cover Reveal
Coming Soon!
Fair Winds & Foul Play: an Amity Landing Mystery
The Blurb:
What do a government official, a loony environmentalist, and
a batty old lady have in common?
Zoe’s run-in with the newcomer in Albion Cottage is hardly
promising, but his gunmetal gray eyes and air of mystery stick with her. Why is
he hiding? Who is he? His prickly attitude grates on the neighborly—well, to be
honest, nosey—folks of the village of Amity Landing, but when he confesses to
Zoe that he is the witness to a gruesome murder, she jumps at the chance to
help the handsome stranger.
Two more corpses make their appearance in quick succession,
but their connection to the first body is murky at best. Is it simply a series
of unfortunate incidents? Has Amity Landing become a hotbed of homicide? Or is
there a pattern to the madness? Do more have to die before Zoe and the stranger
can fit the puzzle pieces together?
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Welcome Chelsey Ortega & Bondwitch: Hybrid
Please welcome the inimitable Chelsey Ortega. She’s going to tell us about her new release, book 2 in the Bondwitch series: Bondwitch: Hybrid.
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Bondwitch: Hybrid is the sequel to Bondwitch. In book 1, Annamaria learns that she is a witch on prom night by getting her powers unlocked by the very person who locked them sixteen years prior. She goes on an adventure to learn how to use them, and picks up new friends and love interest along the way.
In book 2,
Annamaria is well-versed in the use of magic, but is still a baby in the larger
magical world that she belongs to. She has responsibilities she does not want,
has to fight to keep her boyfriend in her life, and must choose between forming
her own found family or staying within her controlling grandmother’s clutches.
Meanwhile, her sister, Marianna has been elevated from side character in book 1
to secondary main character in book 2. She will need to confront her past in
order to become the witch her grandmother expects of her.
The larger Bondwitch
world was inspired by a single conversation with my brother: Witches would have
been great in Twilight. What started out as verbal fanfiction for
another series, turned into its own world, story, and characters. As I veered
into my own story, I discovered that I really like writing from the underlying
theme of family dynamics. Annamaria fights with her grandmother in almost every
chapter, works out deep emotions with her aunt, and constantly focuses on
protecting her sister. Marianna yearns to win her grandmother’s approval while
also protecting her sister. The families in Bondwitch are messy, but
real and relatable.
Blurb
Annamaria Lyons is
finally with her grandma, but Libby holds unyielding control of her coven and
granddaughters. Betrothed to a male witch, Annamaria’s heart secretly belongs
to her vampire boyfriend. When Libby threatens deadly consequences if she refuses
the arranged marriage, Annamaria faces an impossible choice: obey or risk
everything to follow her heart?
Marianna Lyons is a big disappointment. Stripped of her magic when she was
forcefully turned into a vampire, she is now an outcast, desperate for Libby’s
approval. When Marianna is tricked into breaking coven rules, she faces a
difficult decision: endure brutal rehabilitation, or leave her new home. As
Marianna struggles to rediscover herself, will she accept her new identity, or
conform to Libby’s impossible demands?
Excerpt:
“Open
the gate.” Annamaria stood as tall as she could in front of the two inside
guards.
“I’m sorry, Miss. Madam Libby’s orders. No one
goes in or out tonight.” His face was a mask of neutrality.
“But
tonight’s the night Anthony returns.” The guard’s eyes softened, pity swirling
in their chocolate brown depths. She pinched her brows. Was this why Libby
snooped through her phone this morning? Annamaria looked to her left. The other
guard was talking to Zeke, who bobbed his head with folded arms. She looked to
her right. No one. She ran along the perimeter, calling on the air to give her
a boost. Annamaria leaped upward, a strong wind from her palms catching and
guiding her.
“Miss!”
The
guard ran right behind her. His fingers grazed her ankles. Annamaria’s control
of the air flickered and she wobbled. She kicked at him, planted her foot
against his head, and used his sturdy form to thrust herself upward. She called
on a final boost of air, landing on top of the wall. The guard cried out as he
landed flat on his back on the ground below. Annamaria looked over the wall.
Four figures stood near a vehicle in the dark.
She
jumped and used the air to slow her fall. As soon as her feet touched the
ground, she ran toward the group. The figures became clearer. Two shifter
guards, Marianna, and Anthony. Annamaria made a beeline to Anthony and threw
herself into his arms. He caught her without changing his stance or breath. She
wrapped her legs around his waist, and he wrapped his arms around hers,
nuzzling his nose into her hair.
She
kissed him in front of their small audience, and anyone else who might be
watching. Anthony kissed her back, parting her lips with his tongue and lightly
sucking on her bottom lip. Though they had been “dating” for the past month,
their last kiss had been before she fled Will’s over a month ago. She kissed
him until she ran out of breath, then inhaled and rested her forehead against
his.
“Welcome
home,” she whispered, gazing into his dark brown eyes and dropping her feet to
the ground.
Anthony
chuckled, and his black skater hair fell forward as he looked down to meet her
gaze. “I’ll go away more often if this is how you’ll greet me.”
The Wild Rose Press: 5/11/26
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
392 pages
Heat level: Warm
Buy Links
Amazon Barnes & Noble The Wild Rose Press Walmart
Other buy options:
https://chelseymortega.com/bondwitch-2/
About the Author
Chelsey M. Ortega
is a teacher by day and award-winning author by night. History is her first
love, and any story involving magic and romance, her second love. She
especially loves witches and is still awaiting her acceptance letter to a
well-known school. Chelsey received her Bachelor's in History Teaching from
Brigham Young University. In addition to writing, Chelsey teaches high school
U.S. History and ELD. She lives in Utah with her husband, three children, and
two cats. Follow Chelsey at www.chelseymortega.com
Socials:
Facebook: Chelsey
M. Ortega -Author https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086032045677#
Instagram:
@chelsey_mae_o https://www.instagram.com/chelsey_mae_o/
TikTok:
@chelseym.ortega https://www.tiktok.com/@chelseym.ortega
Bluesky:
@chelseymortega.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/chelseymortega.bsky.social
Thursday, March 26, 2026
The World of Amity Landing
The World of Amity Landing
My mysteries, The Penhallow Train
Incident and Mrs.
Spinney’s Secret, take place in midcoast Maine, in the fictional towns
of Penhallow and Amity Landing. My upcoming release, Fair Winds and Foul
Play, is set there.
Midcoast Maine is not perhaps as well known as the southern
beaches or the Down East sites such as Bar Harbor, but it has its own special
charm. Towns like Bath, Camden, Rockland, and Belfast showcase the Maine of
lobstermen, shipbuilders, and farmers, while towns such as Thomaston on the
many small peninsulas that jut into Penobscot Bay offer gorgeous views and
pleasant cottages.
Amity Landing is a small village almost ready to tumble into
Penobscot Bay. Established as a Methodist revival camp, people would come from
the many small towns in central Maine. At first they pitched tents, then built
platforms for the tents, and finally erected walls and roofs. The narrow dirt
roads are lined with gingerbread cottages stuck cheek by jowl next to each
other.
The city of Penhallow lies four miles from Amity Landing,
nestled in the curve of Penobscot Bay, just below the point where Maine begins
its journey Down East. Here, the Passamaquoddy River debouches into the bay,
splitting Penhallow into east and west halves. The nineteenth-century red brick
buildings of an old factory town line Main Street and High Street on the west
side. The east side is mostly businesses catering to sightseers heading toward
Ellsworth and Acadia National Park.
In the Penhallow Train Incident an ancient mystery comes to a small Maine town and brings with it murder, romance, suspense, and treasure.
In Mrs.
Spinney’s Secret Amity Landing is being invaded by Hollywood and
Cassidy Beauvoir, chairman of the board of overseers, doesn’t like it. That is,
until she meets Jasper MacEwan, the director of American Waterloo: the Rout
of the Penobscot Expedition. Their budding romance is interrupted by a
series of deadly incidents, sending them on a quest for long-lost English gold.
Soon to be released is Fair Winds and Foul Play. It’s about a man in the witness protection program whose boss was dropped from the sky to his death on a wind turbine. The question isn't so much who murdered him as who wanted him dead. Suspects include developers, environmentalists, NIMBY protesters, and even lovers.
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