Novels - Available Now
Available as an eBook, Kindle Unlimited, and Paperback at Amazon and at your public library (eBook only)
Emily’s father expects obedience. And that means marrying the man he’s chosen for her. But Jonathan is coarse, over-confident, and controlling. And he doesn’t love her any more than she loves him.
Emily, who works in her family’s flower shop, is as hopeful as she is resilient. She decides to get to know two interesting customers: Edmund, a handsome artist who asks her to sit for his next portrait, and a suffragist who invites her to a meeting. As Emily begins to forge a close and romantic friendship with the portrait painter and hears new perspectives from the suffragist about the rights she is denied, she becomes determined to take charge of her life.
Then angry threats, an unspoken ultimatum, and a shocking sexual assault force Emily to make an unthinkable escape. With no choice but to make her own way in the world, Emily finds more autonomy than she’s ever known. While she is safe, her new life is not what she would have wished for herself.
When she is given a new option, Emily must discover if she has the courage to eschew social expectations and set her own terms for her future. Sometimes, the darkest, most daunting path is the one that leads to the brightest possibilities.
“I loved the intrigue, longing, and tension between the two main characters. …there’s an important journey of resilience and reclaiming of power that ultimately triumphs.”
This second-chance historical romance, which touches on themes such as society’s expectations, self-determination, and women’s rights, is set in San Francisco in the late 19th century. Book club discussion prompts included.
Find out more about this book (and my writing philosophy) on this podcast, Coffee Time with Author Michael Sanchez
Read an interview I did with SouthWest Writers about The Green Silk Gown here.
Available as an eBook, Kindle Unlimited, and Paperback at Amazon and at your public library (eBook only)
Kate could learn to love her new job as a schoolmarm. If she could learn to tolerate her new boss.
Thomas, a stone-cold widower, is condescending. He’s also the father of two of her students. And he suspects she has ulterior motives for coming to town.
But Kate’s determination—not just to be a schoolmarm but a published poet—is as endless as the restless sea of prairie grass around her.
Vicious small-town gossip, a drunken beau bent on assault, and a tornado twist their lives together.
Then Thomas begins to realize that Kate’s stubbornness is strength. Her intransigence independence.
But love is the last battle Kate ever imagines she’ll have to fight.
Can Kate trade determined independence for unimaginable fulfillment? You can choose your own path, but life may still blow you off course.
“The romance is a slow, subtle burn—but the tension between the characters keeps the pages swiftly turning. By the time I reached the conclusion, I was smiling from ear to ear.”
This clean/sweet/proper (no sex) enemies-to-lovers romance, which touches on themes such as independence, grief, and women’s rights, is set in the American West in the late 19th century. Book club discussion prompts included.
Find out more about this book (and my writing philosophy) on this podcast, Coffee Time with Author Michael Sanchez
Novels - Still In the Works
Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash
Lily doesn’t know her husband Peter at all anymore. Literally.
Just eight months into her marriage, a horse-riding accident has left Lily with partial amnesia—she has no recollection of the past two years, which includes all of the time she’d known Peter.
Lily is no shrinking violet, but immediately after the accident she only wants to go home to her parents, rather than stay with the stranger who claims to be her husband and lives on a cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere.
But her parents insist that her place is with the man she married, even if he is an enigma to her now. Her only clue to her lost feelings for him is the thrumming she gets at her core every time he touches her.
Lily wants desperately to fall in love with Peter again, and that need becomes even more crucial when she discovers she’s carrying his child—even though she can’t remember the act that planted it within her.
Peter is a quiet man and courting Lily was difficult enough the first time. But he’ll do whatever it takes to win her heart again. Running his ranch can’t just stop for a second courtship, though, and when he loses one of his cattle to a wolf attack, Peter finds he has other matters—and dangers—to face.
Is love as ethereal as a piece of half-remembered music or is it made of sturdier stuff?
This spicy, slow-burn, second-chance historical romance is set in 1898 Colorado against the backdrop of the rugged West. Coming November 2025!
Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash
Crown Prince Tagert is a putz. At least that’s what his father, King Ripley, thinks of him. The young man simply lacks passion. Drive. Zip. Luckily, a noble quest has arisen—the need to rescue a lovely maiden from an old crone and her dragon. Prince Tagert, who certainly has passion for playing his lute and writing songs, is busy inventing musical theatre. Still, wanting very much to win his father’s approval, Tagert takes on the quest.
Lovely Aria, the kidnapped maiden, also loves music and has a stunning singing voice. A candlemaker’s daughter, she has no greater goal in life than to marry for love. But the young man who has asked for her hand—Bernard the woodcutter—neither makes her heart soar nor her maiden parts quiver.
When Bernard and Tagert meet up at the old crone’s cave, only one man will prevail to win beautiful Aria’s heart (not to mention, have the opportunity to make her maiden parts quiver). And while the quest changes Tagert—just as the King hoped—everyone may end up getting more than they bargained for.
Prince Laird, second in line for the throne, is an unapologetic womanizer. Or at least he was until he saw lovely Plié dancing with all the alure of a seductive sea siren's song.
His desire for Plié has pushed thoughts of all other women from his mind. For her part, Plié wants nothing to do with a man who will surely break her heart, but she allows him to court her so long as he keeps his hands—and other body parts—to himself. Unless he can change and prove that he is worthy of her, Laird is destined to love Plié in vain.
When a foolhardy plan to dose Plié with a love potion backfires, Laird believes he has lost his chance with her. Then, bad news of a former conquest is brought to him by an angry brother bent on revenge and, suddenly, Laird stands to lose much more than just his heart.