Take A Sneak Peak At My Upcoming Contemporary Romance Trilogy

It’s going to be steamy :).

During the summer of 2016, I found myself alone in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Dublin. I felt lonely and heartbroken. Having spent a month basking under the warm Southern California sun with a man whom I had fallen deeply in love with, the sudden shift to the dense grey clouds and the isolation of my small bedroom was unbearable.

Sadly, going back to the US was impossible – essentially, there was nobody to go back to. Returning to Bucharest, Romania, my hometown, was the last thing I wanted.

My soul asked me to take a leap of faith

My soul had asked me to take a leap of faith earlier that year and begin a new life that would have allowed me to pursue my childhood dream on a grander scale than I ever could have in a small Eastern-European country. It wasn’t even on the map for most Americans. 

The aspiration of becoming a published author had been instilled in me by my parents since I was 8. An accomplished one who could deeply move people. Ideally, at a global scale.

Despite the greatness of their works, Romanian authors, including Mircea Eliade, have never achieved the level of recognition and success of English-speaking authors. Their novels are yet to be discovered, but they are as valuable and skillfully crafted as the masterpieces of the classics. 

I guess they got lost in translation. However, as a Foreign Languages and Literatures graduate holding a BA, which includes English among them, this was not going to happen to me. I resolved to harness the extensive time I spent in class since elementary school to write fluently in English.

 At least, that was the plan (still is).

If you ever tried to learn a foreign language as a teenager or adult, you know it can be an uphill battle. No professor or manual can teach you the subtleties of a language the way the street does. 

I was ready to settle down

In Dublin, I began anew, fully immersing myself in a new environment and culture and a language I was fluent in but still foreign to me. In hindsight, I miss the cozy condo on Adelaide Street and my daily strolls in Saint Stephen’s Green; the shrill calls of seagulls and the liveliness of Grafton Street, boasting its historic constructions and lit store displays at dusk; the sun’s rays piercing through the clouds, arriving just in time for the sunset. No other place can replicate the extraordinary and enchanting essence of Dublin and Ireland.

Yet, in July 2016, none of those things were of any importance. I spent my life avoiding marriage and commitment. But now, I was ready to settle down, and I believed I had found the perfect partner. Tall, dark-haired, and handsome, he had piercing black eyes and an exquisite talent for playing the guitar. Like me, he was born and raised in Romania, but he won the Diversity Visa Lottery, got his Greencard, and moved to the United States.

However, our timing was bad. In order to have a healthy relationship, I needed to do more inner work and healing. Fresh off the boat, he was facing an immense financial burden, struggling to make ends meet. An ex-partner, quite possibly his soulmate, continued to linger in his thoughts and dreams. 

After I reached Dublin, there was a long period of silence from him. Despite his clear disinterest in a relationship with me, I’d compulsively check my phone, hoping for a message that my heart yearned for. To figure out where he might be and what he might do, I would subtract the 8-hour time zone difference. 

Get back to writing!

My friends in Romania tried to keep my spirits up. We had long conversations on WhatsApp. I talked about what went wrong and they patiently listened and advised me. 

Get back to writing was one piece of advice.

A friend and mentor suggested I wrote a book about I Choose Love: A Journey from Fear to Love, but the idea didn’t speak to me. On the flip side, crafting fiction, and especially a novel, enticed the storyteller within me.

So I took his advice, and my upcoming contemporary romance trilogy was born. I will name it Arina’s Trilogy for now. Later, I will reveal the title and cover.

Here I am, standing on O’Connell Bridge, on my thirty-third birthday, sulking wet. I’ve been in Dublin a while already, and still don’t own an umbrella. My knee-length, white dress glues to my thighs like a second skin. A kid, he must be 6 or 7, stops in front of me. 

“My boyfriend is a Superman,” he reads out loud. How the heck can he see what’s written on my knickers? This stupid rain, of course, that has accompanied me since the moment I have set foot in this city is to blame. Thank God I’m wearing a bra today. 

I take off my denim jacket and wrap it around my waste. For the first time in my life, I wish I were size L, not S. As the raindrops get heavier, my false eyelashes give in. Yet, I can’t leave. My cell phone just died. That fortune telling reading I took three years ago must have put a spell on me.

This is an unedited version of the opening scene, and I intentionally kept it as such.

When I wrote it in long handwriting in my pink notebook, I had no idea where the book would go. I also didn’t know that it would turn into a trilogy.

Arina Gramma is the name of the young woman who is stuck on the bridge. She, like me, was born in Bucharest, owned a red car, and gained expertise in digital marketing early on. We both have an adventurous spirit, an affinity for fashion, a passion for yoga, and a love of dancing. As I did, she had a string of failed romances and longed to be a writer. 

Unlike me, Arina never pursued her literary aspirations until later in life. She didn’t have a father growing up. Her hair is auburn, but it’s dyed blonde.

Arina, like me and maybe you, is searching for true love. She hopes to find true love as a match on a dating app, just like me (and maybe you).

Go out on dates!

This was another piece of advice I took.

As a single woman in a new city, dating apps seemed the easiest way for me to meet men. I know that many women have awful experiences on Tinder. The men I matched were good people, but none of them was the One. They were all nice, though. Perhaps because I wasn’t ready to meet him yet. They took me on nice dates and inspired my book, and I’m grateful to them for it.

As stated earlier, the plan was for this to be a standalone novel taking place in Dublin, Ireland. However, upon finishing the first draft, I found it necessary to document Arina’s romance with the hot rockstar from California. Although it happened before she moved to Dublin, it has nothing to do with my life. Or maybe it does :). Then, I had to follow her all the way to Thailand in the third book. It took me seven years to complete a literary work which was supposed to take only a few months. Seven years of writing, taking breaks, rewriting, and editing. Authors know this process can continue indefinitely.

Arina Gramma Wants to Meet You

But Arina Gramma wants to meet you. “In the name of the God Almighty of Designer of Stilettos, set me free from this laptop prison,” she implored. “Let me out! I’m ready.”

She wants to tell you her story. She wants to make you laugh. She wants to make you dream. She wants to make you cry with joy and feel your heart. And above all, reassure you that true love exists. You can find it when and where you least expect it.

I hesitated and felt scared; thought the manuscripts weren’t polished enough for publishing. Plus, I am not known as a novelist or romance author. 

But I’m letting Arina take me by the hand and lead the way. I hope you will let her take you by your hand as well and will enjoy her company.

Please subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on IG (or these) for updates about the release of the first book in Arina’s Trilogy.