# Ana Tejano > Romance author ## Posts - [Happy book birthday, Meah <3](https://anatejano.com/2026/happy-book-birthday-meah/): Win Meah Over is out today! It’s out in the wild, and I am terrified at the thought of people reading my words again, but I am also so, so, so happy that we’re here! It’s not lost on me that I released this book on Ash Wednesday (and on BTS j-hope’s birthday). Did you know that I was supposed to release this on December 30? Then it moved to January 30, then February 11, until I settled on this day. It’s kind of funny how I am caught in this tension between joy and solemnity on the Catholic day, […] - [Cover (re)reveal: Win Meah Over](https://anatejano.com/2026/cover-rereveal-win-meah-over/): I really meant to post this before January ended, but things have been moving quite fast in the past few days that I hardly had the time to breathe. This is figuratively and literally, because I also caught a bug and have been doing my best to fight the cold and sore throat. Whew. So if you’ve been around for a while — like, 2019 — what I’m about to show isn’t new to you anymore since it was posted on the #RomanceClass Patreon (which is up again, by the way, have you seen the latest cool stuff that’s there???), […] - [New book coming soon](https://anatejano.com/2025/new-book-in-2026/): We’re at the end of 2025 — how surreal is that? I had some things planned for the end of the year, but life happened, and I had to adjust some of them, then adjust them again because…well, life keeps happening, and we all have to roll with it! But I do want to share something at the end of the year, and I realized that it doesn’t need to be grand, I just have to say it. Or write it, rather, just so it’s more real. Before I get to it (but you can scroll down later and skip this, anyway, haha), […] - [Smashwords 2025 End-of-Year Sale](https://anatejano.com/2025/smashwords-2025-end-of-year-sale/): My books are part of the Smashwords End-of-Year sale! Get them for 50% off/free until January 1, 2026! - [My novel sucks - a pep talk](https://anatejano.com/2025/my-novel-sucks-a-pep-talk/): A little walk down memory lane remembering my NaNoWriMo days, and a pep talk that still feels relevant to this day. - [All These Things # 1](https://anatejano.com/2025/all-these-things-1/): How is it the last week of October already? I used to do this random series in another blog called All These Things, taken from a Stephen Speaks (the 2002-2003 version of the group) song that I liked. The series usually covered random updates like how I did it in this post, and since I’m no longer updating my old blog, I’m bringing it over here. So again, hello, how has October been? I feel like I’m living in a very strange time because my senior shih tzu crossed the rainbow bridge exactly 47 days ago, so things still feel a […] - [(Advance) happy birthday, Keep the Faith!](https://anatejano.com/2025/advance-happy-birthday-keep-the-faith/): I’m writing this now because I’ll be on a business trip on the actual book birthday and I might not be able to blog then. It’s July, and my second book, Keep the Faith, is turning nine (!!!) years old! I’m in a little weird place about this because the book feels…well, old, having existed for almost a decade now, and yet it’s still considered my latest novel, because…well, I only had one book that came after that, and it’s a short story collection. So sometimes I feel like maybe I shouldn’t talk about this book anymore because surely, most people who […] - [Free #RomanceClass books and short stories until June 29](https://anatejano.com/2025/kilig-for-free-june/): Wow, another blog post in the same week? Who is she??? I’m in the thick of doing self-edits for Meah’s book right now, but dropping by quickly to share this! If you’re looking for your next romance fix, then don’t worry, we got you. 😉 #RomanceClass is giving away Kilig for Free — yes, FREE! Get these 14 books and short stories from #RomanceClass authors until June 29! Check out these titles: Fake Date Number Three – Mina V. Esguerra (short story) Tame the Kitten – Bianca Mori Love at First Run – Angel C. Aquino Home at Last – Angel C. […] - [On finishing drafts and all that happened before that](https://anatejano.com/2025/on-finishing-drafts/): Hello! I’m back with a substantial writing update! I FINISHED THE DRAFT OF MEAH’S BOOK. *screaming and crying* If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’ve struggled with this book for years. I started working on her story soon after I published Keep the Faith, and checking my files, the earliest file was first created in 2016. That’s almost a whole decade ago. I went through three titles before I settled on the final one, two different love interests, and three love interest names. And while I did finish the whole draft of this in 2018 and thought […] - [2024 in writing](https://anatejano.com/2025/2024-in-writing/): Hello, happy 2025! I hope the first day of the new year has been kind so far. I went to check my Facebook memories earlier today, and I realize that I’ve always been a New Year person, and I’ve always made a big deal out of it with goals and reflections and recaps and lists and whatnot. But we mellow out as we age, so I only had a short essay on my Instagram and a writing update here. So here, let’s talk about my 2024 in writing. Writing for a living I think 2024 is the year I wrote […] - [Happy birthday, Fall Like Rain!](https://anatejano.com/2024/happy-birthday-fall-like-rain/): It's my first book's tenth birthday. :) - [2023 in writing](https://anatejano.com/2023/2023-in-writing/): I’m doing so well with smashing my record for this blog — here’s the third blog post for 2023! 😉 It’s the last day of the year, and I know it’s a cliche to say this, but whew, what a year this was. From starting the year feeling sick to leaning into therapy, from getting diagnosed with an autoimmune thyroid condition to seeing a BTS member in person at a concert, from finally attending events to getting back to writing again after years of using my creative energy to survive in the middle of this pandemonium (among other things). Like I said, whew. Since […] - [Wordplay # 8: The Last Something](https://anatejano.com/2023/wordplay-8-the-last-something/): Oh, look, blog post # 2 for 2023? I’ve broken the record for 2022, weee. I’ve started going on walks again the past week, partly because of mental health and another for physical health because I have some blood tests coming up. It’s kind of nice to be out and about, and because I’ve been recovering from some stuff the past months, it’s also nice to recognize that my body can do something–that it can move, it can go places, even if it’s just a short, 30-minute walk that includes avoiding random falling mangoes in the village. Anyway, for the […] - [Hello, I'm here](https://anatejano.com/2023/hello-im-here/): *Blows away cobwebs* I’m here! We had a total of…one entry for 2022. Would you look at that? Let’s aim for two in 2023, yes? Anyway, hi, hello, I’m back! A lot has happened in the past year+ in my life, which involved mostly being sick, but also two international trips to see my parents, several out-of-town trips with my friends, and making “friends” with my doctors because of the first thing I mentioned. It’s been…interesting, to say the least. So this post is just a check-in/random things for now, but hopefully *crosses my fingers* there will be some writing […] - [NomCom: Now Serving Kilig](https://anatejano.com/2022/nomcom-now-serving-kilig/): Hello, happy 2/22/22! 🙂 I meant to post this at 22:22 too, but well, I missed that window. And since this is my first post for the year, happy new year! I know I’m almost two months late, but with everyone in the family getting sick in different ways since Christmas (including me), it was very hard to feel very New-Year-sy over January. It makes so much sense that February 1 was the Lunar New Year because it felt like a second new year for all of us, right? So after that dreary January, let’s get into February with a […] - [Wordplay # 7: Christmas Break](https://anatejano.com/2021/wordplay-7-christmas-break/): Oh my goodness, it’s finally Christmas break. I used to be able to get a break earlier, but this year’s holidays landed on strange days, and December 24 was declared a working holiday (*shakes fist*) and then I don’t actually have a lot of leaves yet so I decided to just stay working until almost Christmas. Technically, I’m not really working anymore because who has the will to work in the past days? Not me. Anyway, it’s almost Christmas, and I feel like we’re still stuck in a limbo no thanks to the panini, but also…there are some normal things? […] - [Wordplay # 6: Culminating Event](https://anatejano.com/2021/wordplay-6-culminating-event/): I love college romance, or at least, love stories that started during college. I think it’s because my college days were my favorite years, and sometimes I still find myself missing those days I’d walk down hallways to class or hanging out with my org at our designated tambayan. I don’t miss the exams and the despair of being unsure if I would pass a subject or studying all night for calculus exams, but I miss life being less complicated. I think that’s why I like writing about characters who met in college, or have backstories that trace back to […] - [Wordplay # 5: Introductions](https://anatejano.com/2021/wordplay-4-band-agreement-2/): *taps mic* Does this still work? Is anyone still here? Soooo it’s been a while — and not just in this blog, but also on my Instagram (and even longer on Facebook). It’s not that I haven’t been around because if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I am always there, and always talking about BTS. 😀 Life has been a whirlwind in the past months, and maybe I will write about it more in the next few days. Or if I don’t, some of it will probably find its way into the manuscripts I’m working on. That […] - [One year later (aka a birthday check-in)](https://anatejano.com/2021/one-year-later-aka-a-birthday-check-in/): Hello, I’m a year older today! Quarantine started a day before my birthday last year, so a lot of the jokes I made last time was how I almost could’ve celebrated my birthday if the quarantine had started a day or two later. It was funny then because things were just starting and we were all thinking that by June, things would be back to normal and we could pause the celebrations now and wait until things are over. But obviously, that didn’t happen, and it’s far from over. Celebrating a second birthday in the middle of a pandemic with […] - [A New Thing: The Tropetastic Kindness Bundle](https://anatejano.com/2021/new-thing-the-tropetastic-kindness-bundle/): So remember how I mentioned in a previous post that I was invited to join a project and I didn’t know if I would be able to do it because I “didn’t finish” anything in 2020? Well, last Valentine’s Day, the first story I finished writing after a looong time was published in #RomanceClass’s #TropeTastic2021 anthology! 🙂 The last time I wrote “THE END” on any story was in 2018 when I finished the last novel that I’m still working on now. Sure, I wrote some things last year, but it’s been a while since I wrote a brand new story […] - [Life lately](https://anatejano.com/2021/life-lately/): I miss blogging. And no, not the blogging that I do here now, but the online journaling of the early 2000’s–those long posts about our days written in LiveJournals or those self-hosted blogs on Greymatter (who remembers this?). I used to do it in a sort of ~cryptic fashion in my other personal blog before I published my first book, but to be honest, when I read them now, I could see how the blog posts were kind of…performative in some way. I mean, yes, those were the words from my heart and a slice of all my angst and […] - [You've worked hard](https://anatejano.com/2021/youve-worked-hard/): Happy New Year! I was trying to draft a blog post yesterday for a year-ender, but as with every day in 2020, words were difficult to come by. It’s kind of ironic because my word for 2020 was WORDS, and with the “extra” time I got from being on lockdown and working from home, I thought I’d be brimming with words and writing non-stop and finishing all the things I set out to do. However… *gestures wildly into the world and the chaos* But now we are in the new year, and while it is true that January 1 doesn’t magically […] - [Let's Run Away (Faith x Nico)](https://anatejano.com/2020/prompt-faithxnico/): During the watch party of Hello, Ever After episode 8, there was an ongoing chat at one part of the episode that eventually became a fic request. And because I was up for a challenge, and I need some writing exercises to get the creative juices flowing, I wrote it. The idea for the story came to me easily, but what made this extra challenging was setting it in 2020. We all kind of agreed that all of the stories we’re writing are set pre-pandemic, because how can one write a romance set in this strange year? But I tried, […] - [Wordplay # 4: Band Agreement](https://anatejano.com/2020/wordplay-4-band-agreement/): I’ve mentioned several times that I love band books, books with musicians, or just people moving around the music circuit. I think it stems from my own frustration of not being a musical person? When people ask me if I sing because of my low/husky voice (haha), I say no because I really have a hard time carrying a tune unless I am in church, where people don’t care if you are not in tune unless you’re in the choir, or during karaoke sessions, when I’m singing with others and have a few shots of alcohol in my system. During […] - [Hello, Ever After (or, that time when rage writing happened)](https://anatejano.com/2020/hello-ever-after/): That night when Tara was ranting about Love Lockdown in our Twitter chat and she and Mina birthed the idea of Hello, Ever After, I didn’t think I’d be able to write anything. I haven’t finished anything in ages, just work articles here and there. Fiction has felt like pulling teeth in the past months, and not even the extra time I got back from my commute by being stuck at home made me write more. Blame it on the pandemic brain, maybe, because sometimes I would rather lie down and binge on Netflix or play games or scroll endlessly through social media […] - [Prompt & Pairing, Please: Baking Practice](https://anatejano.com/2020/ppp-gabrielxcams/): Friendly warning: I got hungry while I was writing this. Gabriel and Cams were a surprise in my writing “career” — Cams is from Fall Like Rain, but Gabriel came out of nowhere and is probably my most talkative LI. I would often “complain” about him online because he often finds his way in my headspace, and seems to be a very extroverted character that my love for him rivals my love for Nico. Technically, they were my second “book” then I added their story in You Could Be the One because they’re friends who became lovers, thanks to online […] - [Prompt & Pairing, Please: Dream Destination](https://anatejano.com/2020/ppp01-markxrain/): For #RCReadathon2020, some #romanceclass authors have signed up for a little mini-event called Prompt & Pairing, Please where we write some ficlets with our characters. Because I am a person who is in need of writing challenges to get me out of this writer’s block/funk, I signed up! With two pairs because we’re overachievers like that. For Rain and Mark, the prompt was: Roadtrip or Rain and Mark on their first intl travel together as a couple ❤️ Yes, the heart was really included in this prompt, haha, so thank you to whoever submitted it! I meant to post this […] - [Wordplay # 3: Resolutions](https://anatejano.com/2020/wordplay-3-resolutions/): Oh, this is a favorite! I used a prompt for this, from a blog called Write Anything, for their Fiction Friday activity: Take a favorite character you have created. Pick a New Year’s Resolution that they truly intended to keep. Now, why did they break it within 24 hours? Because I started writing the first version of Ruth and Ian’s story in 2008, they were the characters I knew well at that time and the easiest to write. I also maybe relate to Ruth a little too much, and some parts of the premise in this piece were from real-life […] - [Wordplay # 2: Daggers](https://anatejano.com/2020/wordplay-2-daggers/): And it’s time for another Wordplay entry from 2009. And this one is…interesting, haha! So the first incomplete draft of Fall Like Rain was written in November 2006, for NaNoWriMo. A lot has changed from that, of course, but in the first version, Camilla/Cams was Rain’s rival because she was the ex (and by then she still didn’t know that they already broke up), and Francis was still a genuinely nice guy. I can’t remember the prompt I used for this piece except I wanted to write from Camilla’s POV. Also, Rain is way friendlier in this version. That said, […] - [What I've been reading lately](https://anatejano.com/2020/what-ive-been-reading-lately/): I used to be able to read over 100 books a year. Back when I was still book blogging, I was never without a book (or two) in my bag. I’d easily finish a book in three days, two if I stay up too late to finish reading it. And then I’d actually sit down, compose a review on a blog and on Goodreads and then talk about the book with people. Where did I ever find the time to do all of that back then? Anyway, as years passed the total number of books I read every year started going […] - [Wordplay # 1: Fireworks](https://anatejano.com/2020/wordplay-1-fireworks/): Back in 2009, I had this goal of writing a piece of fiction every day for a year. Just short things, to practice writing and all that. I called it Wordplay, and I ended up writing 78 pieces for 2009. I think I knew I wasn’t going to finish the challenge by March because you know, there’s work and I started going to the gym and then Ondoy happened and well, there. It eventually became my dumping ground for pieces that I got to write until 2013 and I never got back to it because in 2014 I took the writing […] - [Some kind of restart](https://anatejano.com/2020/some-kind-of-restart/): It’s officially the middle of 2020, and it seems like a good day to revive this blog! Hello there! I wanted to say that “I meant to blog here” but I realize that’s kind of a lie. I never really meant to blog anything in the past months after my last post. I thought about it, but let’s be honest: it’s easier to write Instagram posts and tweets, and long-form seems like a lost art in some way? *looks at my long-dormant mailing list* The main reason behind this is I have been so busy writing. Unfortunately, it’s not fiction–all […] - [Wednesdays are the new Fry-day - Keep the Faith audio podcast](https://anatejano.com/2019/keep-the-faith-audio-podcast/): I’m writing this as I sit here at home, working and fretting over the typhoon that’s currently moving through our country and I think it’s kind of the right timing to finally blog about this. Because if you’ve read my second book, you’d know how much typhoons and weather watching is part of Keep the Faith. A few months ago, Mina sent me a message about a new #romanceclass project: season 3 of the #romanceclass podcast, which is basically an audiobook project but done in a more ~relaxed way. One chapter a week, recorded at home with podcasting equipment, cake […] - [Hello, 2019](https://anatejano.com/2019/hello-2019/): Happy New Year! I wish I’m blogging this after a slew of posts for last year but as it turned out, I only managed two posts. I don’t have any excuses – I just didn’t really make that much time for this blog because of the usual things: work, life, and maybe a crippling sense of self-doubt with words? D: I did a review of 2018 last night and while I think the year wasn’t bad (my family is in good health, had a great year in my day job and had a great time with my different groups of […] - [St. John Paul II's Letter to Artists](https://anatejano.com/2018/st-john-paul-iis-letter-to-artists/): I think it was from The Crunch podcast where I first heard about St. John Paul II’s Letter to Artists. I searched for it, found the actual text and a video, so of course I clicked the video first: And I started blubbering like a little girl. In the office. So now I went for the full-text, loaded it into my Kindle (along with other Papal letters, exhortations and encyclicals – Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, anyone?), and started reading. For such a short piece, I think it took me weeks to go through it because I have to stop every now and […] - [Hello, 2018!](https://anatejano.com/2018/hello-2018/): Hey look it’s 2018! Hello, how’s the first day of the year treating you so far? 🙂 2017 was very eventful, more in terms of #romanceclass events than the actual writing. We had several events for the community in the past year that I’ve actively participated in the behind-the-scenes (and I only got to recap one, haha) that it feels like I’ve spent most of the year with them. That’s probably true, and I don’t mind. Oh, and I got my books live read twice this year, and nope, the feeling still doesn’t go away. (And I’m getting something read out […] - [That December Night](https://anatejano.com/2017/that-december-night/): In the Keep the Faith universe, Faith returned from her mission trip around the end of November, so she spent her first Christmas as a single person after five years back in Manila. In the first act of the book, she meets Nico, and it was around this time of December where he calls her French Fries for the first time. Now, where did that pet name come from? I honestly had no idea, except it seemed cute when I was writing it. And it still is cute now, but only if you understand the context, maybe? I don’t know. Maybe it’s a […] - [So it's Singles' Day...](https://anatejano.com/2017/so-its-singles-day/): …and I had no idea that this “holiday” existed. I only found out about this through Metrodeals in an email: “11–11 Singles’ Day Supersale Preview” and I thought it was a joke. Like how did Metrodeal know this about me? A little research and Wikipedia gave me this: Chinese Singles’ Day or Guanggun Jie (Chinese: 光棍节; pinyin: Guānggùn Jié; Wade–Giles: Kuang-kun chieh; literally: “bare sticks holiday”) is an entertaining festival widespread among young Mainland Chinese people, to celebrate the fact that they are proud of being single. The date, November 11th (11/11), is chosen because the number “1” resembles an individual that is alone. Huh. Anyway, I thought this was even funnier […] - [New Editions: Fall Like Rain and Keep the Faith](https://anatejano.com/2017/new-editions-fall-like-rain-and-keep-the-faith/): Well, I haven’t blogged for five months, look at that. In the original plan in my head, I’d be blogging now because it’s Meah’s book birthday. But plans don’t always happen, because I still don’t have Meah’s book after several writer’s blocks in the past months. It’s not a fun time, even if sometimes I just laughed it off — most of it was frustrating, until I finally accepted that (1) having a tight deadline is not going to work for me (at least for this project), and (2) I need to take it easy and let the story breathe. […] - [It’s April and we feel Things (Year 2)](https://anatejano.com/2017/aprilfeelsday2017/): It’s been exactly one month since #AprilFeelsDay2017 happened, and how do we recap the feels? Oh, I don’t know. I am pretty coherent now after all the flood of feelings that didn’t end on April 30, so let’s try. But first, a video by Chi Yu Rodriguez! I did a bit more work behind the scenes in this one, since Mina was on a trip early April. I ended up doing logistics for the event again, which was kind of funny. I always said I wasn’t a logistics person when it comes to events because how to deal with ingress […] - [Summer Feels Blog Tour: Playlist by Charlie Dio](https://anatejano.com/2017/summer-feels-blog-tour/): More summer loving on the blog this weekend! I’m happy to welcome Charlie Dio, one of the authors in Summer Feels: A #romanceclass Anthology, here to share a playlist for her short story, Busy Out of the Friendzone. Check it out! * * * It is a fact universally acknowledged that friendship can sometimes be the very barrier that prevents a person from professing his feelings of love to his/her friend. This is the core plot-point of Busy Out of the Friend Zone in #romanceclass’ Summer Feels anthology. To get into the thick of things while I was writing the story, I had […] - [Review: Summer Crush by Six de los Reyes, Tara Frejas, and Jay E. Tria](https://anatejano.com/2017/review-summer-crush-by-six-de-los-reyes-tara-frejas-and-jay-e-tria/): Summer Crush by Six de los Reyes, Tara Frejas, and Jay E. Tria Publish Date: April 9, 2017 Amazon | Goodreads | Paperback (PH Only) When life, love, and rock and roll come together on the sandy beaches of La Union for music festival Summer Crush, expect nothing less than the crashing of lips, bodies, and waves against the shore, against each other, and against your soul. Allow these three tales of love to take you away for an unforgettable weekend. Ana’s life as a corporate warrior, graduate student, and girlfriend to indie rock band boy Miki starts to spin […] - [What I learned from You Could Be the One](https://anatejano.com/2017/you-could-be-the-one-lessons/): This is a long overdue post about You Could Be the One, my latest book, released a little over three weeks ago. Life and feelings happened, and if you follow #romanceclass on Twitter, you know what I mean. But yeah, my latest book, a friends-to-lovers short story collection, is out now! Amazon | Print (PH only) I talked about the backstory why this book came to life in the cover reveal post, so today I’ll just talk about some important lessons I learned with this book, the one that has the shortest production time (so far). Okay, so maybe I cheated, because It’s a […] - [Cover Reveal: Summer Feels](https://anatejano.com/2017/cover-reveal-summer-feels/): The third post in three days, look at that! 😀 Here we have another cover reveal for the latest #romanceclass project. When we made the Christmas anthology last December, Kate Sebastian pitched the idea of doing another one for the summer, because hello, tropical country! I thought it was a great idea, so it was a go, and she took over because I was planning to work on Meah’s book (which eventually became You Could Be the One). And now we have it – Summer Feels: a #romanceclass anthology! Look at the pretty cover here, designed by Miles Tan: Doesn’t it make you […] - [Review: Keeping the Distance by Clarisse David](https://anatejano.com/2017/review-keeping-the-distance-by-clarisse-david/): Keeping the Distance (I Heart Iloilo #1) by Clarisse David I Heart Iloilo # 1 Publish date: February 6, 2017 Amazon | Goodreads No bets. No fake relationships. Just a very real one that has to be kept under wraps. Seventeen-year-old Melissa wants to dye her hair cotton candy pink and focus on her ukulele instead of Physics. But she can’t. As the daughter of a Catholic school principal, living up to her model student image 24/7 is a must. Something’s about to give under all the pressure. She only hopes it isn’t her. Getting involved with a troublemaking basketball […] - [Cover Reveal: You Could Be the One](https://anatejano.com/2017/cover-reveal-you-could-be-the-one/): Happy Easter, everyone! 🙂 This is one of my favorite holidays ever for so many reasons, and I’m adding another reason to celebrate – the cover of my new book, You Could Be the One. But before I let you see it…here’s a backstory. This wasn’t supposed to be the book I wanted to release for April. That was supposed to be Meah, but Meah didn’t want to happen just yet. My characters have that tendency to ask for more time, and I couldn’t force them so I let her be for a while. I really, really wanted to get something out,t hough, […] - [Iloilo-Tripping with Nico](https://anatejano.com/2017/iloilo-tripping-with-nico/): So last February was the 24th Singles for Christ International Conference (SFC ICON) in Iloilo, and as always, I was excited for it in more ways than one. Of course I was always excited about our annual conference, which is always my first vacation for the year, but I was more excited about it because the province was a big thing in Keep the Faith. But here’s the thing: it was my first time in Iloilo. I had planned to go there several years ago – and I even had a ticket! – but I didn’t push through. Then when I was […] - [Things I learned when I ran my own blog tour](https://anatejano.com/2017/things-i-learned-when-i-ran-my-own-blog-tour/): Look at that, I didn’t post anything last month. March, my favorite month, and I hardly wrote anything here! I was busy writing, so forgive me — and I did manage to write a birthday post here. Anyway, this post has been in the works for a while, and since it’s been a little over two months since I had the blog tour for my second book, Keep the Faith. It was the first time that I ran something like that on my own, and it was an interesting experience. Normally, you can get a blog tour site to host […] - [Cover Reveal: Waiting in the Wings by Tara Frejas](https://anatejano.com/2017/cover-reveal-waiting-in-the-wings-by-tara-frejas/): I used to do those most-anticipated books for the following year in my old book blog but I stopped keeping track of them a few years back because most of the things I read were indie books and the release dates weren’t always set in stone. But if I had written a list for 2017, Waiting in the Wings by Tara Frejas would be one of them. Tara is the best person I know to write a romance novel set in the theater because she has so much passion for this art. She’s the one who got most of us in #romanceclass to […] - [Keep the Faith Tour Schedule](https://anatejano.com/2017/blog-tour-week-for-keep-the-faith/): I meant to post this over the weekend, but I was out of town for a wedding and my aging bones won’t let me stay up to write a post. But better late than never, and it’s just the second day! 🙂 So here’s the schedule — I’ll update the links as the posts go up. And if you scroll at the bottom of this post, you can join the giveaway! Win #romanceclass ebooks (international) and a signed print copy of Keep the Faith + swag (PH only). 🙂 February 6 Paula – Review Josephine – Guest Post and Excerpt […] - [Cover Reveal: Keeping the Distance by Clarisse David](https://anatejano.com/2017/cover-reveal-keeping-the-distance-by-clarisse-david/): Today on the blog, I’m excited to share the cover of Clarisse David’s upcoming book, Keeping the Distance. I’ve been following her tweets and updates about this book, and color me curious with all the teasers. I also like the fact that this is set in Iloilo, the hometown of one of my LIs, and where I’m heading to this February. Yes, I’m definitely bringing a copy of Clarisse’s new book when I go there. This cover reveal is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours. This cover is designed by Daniel Tinagan. And here’s the cover: Keeping the Distance (I Heart […] - [Sign up for the Keep the Faith blog tour!](https://anatejano.com/2017/sign-up-for-the-keep-the-faith-blog-tour/): I was planning to do this earlier, like a few weeks after the book was released last July. But, I got bit by one of my dogs on release day, and then everything else was just busy right after that so I parked the idea. I thought of not doing it anymore, but I realized I haven’t really gone out and talked to people about this book as much as I did Rain, and Faith deserved the attention, too. (Or, okay, maybe it’s really for Nico, haha – he’d want it more for sure.) And since one of my goals […] - [Hello, 2017!](https://anatejano.com/2017/hello-2017/): Happy second day of 2017! So, like everyone else, 2016 has been an eventful year for me, too. I wrote a general recap of it in my personal blog, and most of the things I put there were book things and #romanceclass things because there were just so many of them that I want to remember. But if you’re too lazy to click over there for the recap, here’s a quick list: AprilFeelsDay Book # 1.5 – It’s a Match Book # 2 – Keep the Faith FeelsRushIn #romanceclass lectures Manila International Book Fair FeelsFest, this live reading of Keep […] - [Books by Filipino Authors Read in 2016](https://anatejano.com/2016/book-list-2016/): In 2010, when I was still a book blogger, I decided to actively read Filipino-authored books. Back then, it was a bit of a challenge to get up to 20 titles, but I did it, and continued to do it the next years. Six years later, I found it was easier to do it because most of the books I have access to and the ones I actually want to read were written by fellow authors. I know that it’s not always the case for other people, because we are still discovering people who are just discovering us and our books as […] - [Review: Settle the Score/Hustle Play by Tara Frejas](https://anatejano.com/2016/review-settle-the-scorehustle-play-by-tara-frejas/): SETTLE THE SCORE/HUSTLE PLAY by Tara Frejas Published on October 15, 2016 Goodreads | Amazon Settle the Score College senior Garnet Figueroa lives and breathes basketball. A reliable asset to her varsity team, she is equipped with the skills and smarts to get the De La Sierra Lady Hunters closer to this year’s championship title. But Garnet soon finds out that her good friend (and long-time crush), cheerdancer Charles Crisostomo, is being cheated on by his girl, and she lets her emotions get the best of her. Will she be able to come up with a game plan to save herself […] - [Make My Wish Come True: A #romanceclass Christmas Anthology](https://anatejano.com/2016/make-my-wish-come-true-a-romanceclass-christmas-anthology/): It was around ReaderCon last year when I started toying with the idea of having a Christmas anthology. A Christmas romance anthology, because I’m a romance writer and all that. But it was a little too late last year when we talked about it so we shelved it and I thought I really want to do it then, so when the time was right, I volunteered to organize the entire thing. So now…since it seems like 2016 is the year where #romanceclass is nonstop, here’s one more Thing for everyone: Make My Wish Come True: A #romanceclass Christmas Anthology.  Get ready for […] - [Review: If the Dress Fits by Carla de Guzman](https://anatejano.com/2016/review-if-the-dress-fits-by-carla-de-guzman/): If the Dress Fits by Carla de Guzman Published on October 15, 2016 Amazon | Goodreads Martha Aguas kind of has it all–she’s an accountant who loves numbers, an accident-prone puppy that loves her, and the perfect wardrobe. Yes, she wears a dress size 24, her bras don’t fit and she’s never had a boyfriend, but so what? It becomes a big deal when her perfect cousin Regina announces her engagement to Enzo, the only boy she’s ever loved (he doesn’t know, so don’t tell him!) Suddenly Aguases from all corners of the globe are coming for the event, and the […] - [#FeelsFest Recap: Here, have my feelings](https://anatejano.com/2016/feelsfest-recap-here-have-my-feelings/): So it’s been a week and a day since #FeelsFest happened, and I think I’m coherent enough to do a recap. Soon after we finished our super exhausting and successful time at the Manila International Book Fair, it was time to get started preparing for #FeelsFest. No rest for the feelings, as we said. We’ve known about #FeelsFest even before #FeelsRushIn happened, and we figured we can make this bigger, so it was bigger. Unfortunately, work came rushing in as well in the weeks leading to this (busy with a side of crazy, involving a multi-country project launch, haha), but because all things in […] - [Review: Songs to Make You Stay by Jay E. Tria](https://anatejano.com/2016/review-songs-to-make-you-stay-by-jay-e-tria/): SONGS TO MAKE YOU STAY by Jay E. Tria Published on October 9, 2016 Genre: Contemporary Romance Goodreads | Amazon Love isn’t supposed to be this hard. Now that he’s finally won Jill, the girl who’s always rocked his world, you’d think life would be heaven on earth for Shinta Mori. In a way, it is. But maybe he’s underestimated the fact that he’s a hunky movie star in Japan while his girl is ruling the indie music scene all the way in Manila. When he spends a long-awaited vacation with her–through impromptu performances, frenzied flyer distribution, and unhinged radio guestings–he […] - [Blog Tour: Scandalized - Interview with Tara Frejas](https://anatejano.com/2016/blog-tour-scandalized-interview-with-tara-frejas/): I read Scandalized by Tara Frejas a few months back and really enjoyed it despite my lack of knowledge of anything K-Pop. I loved the strong main character and the dashing love interest, and I especially loved one of the band members, Minchan. *pinches cheeks* Scandalized is on a blog tour (just like a real band, yay!), and one of its first stops is here! For this stop, I had the chance to interview author Tara Frejas about her latest book. Check it out: What’s your main inspiration for Scandalized? Back in 2007, I’d written my first piece of KPop fanfiction (published online via […] - [#romanceclass x MIBF 2016 + #AllTheFeels](https://anatejano.com/2016/romanceclass-x-mibf-2016-allthefeels/): Around this month a year ago, I was hanging out with some friends at the Manila International Book Fair, chatting about books and author stuff when we heard some massive screaming from readers (yes, readers!) in the convention hall for some event. We started making jokes about how we want the same thing, too, but how will we get our scream factor? Where do we get our scream factor? Maybe men with abs? (Two weeks later, we figured it out.) Who would have thought it would be possible after a year? 🙂 I never even dreamed of this (until I […] - [Review: When Sparks Fly by Ines Bautista-Yao](https://anatejano.com/2016/review-when-sparks-fly-by-ines-bautista-yao/): When Sparks Fly by Ines Bautista-Yao Published on August 15, 2016 Genre: Sweet Romance Amazon | Goodreads Twenty-four-year-old photographer’s apprentice Regina has always felt like the plain, dull orange next to the shiny red apple that is her best friend Lana. But then she meets Ben—the first guy to ever break Lana’s heart, and the first guy to ever make Regina feel that he only has eyes for her. As Regina finds herself falling hard for Ben, she also finds herself breaking all the rules of best-friendship. Will she give up the love of her life for Lana, or will she finally realize […] - [Where I attempt to encapsulate my feelings in the past weeks](https://anatejano.com/2016/feelings-everywhere/): It’s raining here in Manila now, and I am working from home because I tried heading to work but faced atrocious rainy-day traffic. Thank goodness for remote access, yes? So many things happened in the past few weeks! Let’s recap: 1. #FeelsRushIn I had a blog post for this but I’ll just put it here. #romanceclass was scheduled to have our next feels day on October after we were invited by Ayala Malls, so we were planning for that until Mina told us that we were invited to have one on July 23. We found out about it on July […] - [Review: Crushingly Close by Stella Torres](https://anatejano.com/2016/review-crushingly-close-by-stella-torres/): Crushingly Close by Stella Torres Published July 19, 2016 Amazon | Goodreads At twenty-four years old, Agnes Escueta has risen from the ranks to become a producer for Sports Tonight. No one can touch her, it seems—not even crush-worthy anchorman Daniel Ferrer, who she gets to work with every single day. When a road trip to Indonesia throws Agnes and Daniel together, they find themselves working in close quarters. It doesn’t take long before Agnes finds herself being charmed by Daniel, and her defenses start to melt with his touch. With deadlines looming and a big game coming, Agnes must figure […] - [Cover Reveal: Keep the Faith](https://anatejano.com/2016/cover-reveal-keep-the-faith/): I’m really about to go to bed, but I received the email I’ve been waiting for from Amazon so I have to post this first. I’ve been talking and sharing teasers about the next book, Keep the Faith, that I’ve been working on in the past year and a half. I promised that it would be out within July and here I am delivering on the promise: KEEP THE FAITH will be out on July 31, 2016. Yay! And now, the cover! Here’s the synopsis: As a community development worker, Faith was quite familiar with heartbreak and recovery after all the time she spent on […] - [Book # 2 Update (and then some)](https://anatejano.com/2016/book-2-update-and-then-some/): Before we get to the news, some things that happened in the past weeks: 1. #romanceclass lecture with musicians This used to be a romance book discussion that’s transformed into a lecture, to lessen the pressure of having to read the books before the meet-up. I was excited because I like reading about musicians/bands in books, and Meah’s book will definitely have some musicians in it. It was a fun afternoon, not without some swooning and feels because that’s what always happens when I’m in a #romanceclass meet-up. Haha. Here’s a really demure photo I had with Champ of Hale, […] - [Review: Maybe This Time by C.P. Santi](https://anatejano.com/2016/review-maybe-this-time-by-c-p-santi/): Maybe This Time: Stories of Love and Second Chances by C.P. Santi Published on June 3, 2016 Goodreads | Amazon An accidental reunion . . . a sneaky plot . . . things finally falling into place. Maybe This Time contains three heart-warming stories of love and second chances. Because when fate gives you a break, you grab the chance to finally make things right. In Sweeter by the Second, when paintings conservator Rina David arrives for the Arts Festival in the heritage town of Jimenez, she’s reunited with Tony, the guy she once loved and lost. Now vice-mayor of Jimenez, […] - [Some Social Media Experiments](https://anatejano.com/2016/some-social-media-experiments/): So last week, I realized that my Facebook page just reached 300 likes. While not all 300  people will probably see my posts because of the Facebook algorithm, I realized that hey, 300 is still a pretty nice number and it’s not so easy to get to that especially when you don’t post as much as I do. So thank you, friends and family. As a little gift, Facebook people had the chance to get a free ebook copy of Fall Like Rain via Instafreebie. And because I took up social media marketing a few months ago, I decided to […] - [New short story - It's a Match](https://anatejano.com/2016/new-short-story-its-a-match/): I meant to write about this earlier but I couldn’t find the proper time for it. It could also be that I’m just totally terrified about this – and I forgot how that felt until now. But it’s here, so I’m just going to ride this terror/excitement out. I have a new short story out on Amazon! 🙂 It’s a Match A short story Cams Ronquillo is single and ready to mingle – at least, online. After finally moving on from her last break-up, she decides to try online dating thanks to the encouragement of Gabriel Evangelista, her friend, business partner, […] - [Review: Scandalized by Tara Frejas](https://anatejano.com/2016/review-scandalized-by-tara-frejas/): SCANDALIZED (Roadie Romance # 1) by Tara Frejas Published on May 5, 2016 Genre: NA (New Adult) | Contemporary | Romance Goodreads | Amazon Fi Legaspi is living the dream working in Seoul as a road manager for one of South Korea’s hottest bands, East Genesis Project. Until she isn’t. When she finds herself in the middle of a scandal and a hostile fangirl witch hunt, Fi seeks the comfort of home, and to her surprise, not the person she had been pining for for years. All too suddenly it’s no longer her career on the line, but also her […] - [It's April and we feel Things](https://anatejano.com/2016/its-april-and-we-feel-things/): Who would have thought that it would become this three years ago? When Ron asked that question sometime in the middle of that hot Sunday afternoon while we were in Pegi Waffles, I smiled. I’ve asked the same thing about other things several times (like Filipino ReaderCon, or the book club), but hearing it again for another thing just never gets old. It’s amazing what people with like-minded interests can do. Especially like-minded romance writers and readers with lots of feelings. So, last Sunday, April 17, was the first ever #AprilFEELSday! It’s a celebration of romance books and authors and readers, with various activities […] - [The End](https://anatejano.com/2016/the-end/): So this happened last weekend: https://www.instagram.com/p/BDYOP2lusNZ/   What a relief to finally write THE END. I haven’t finished anything since I finished Fall Like Rain years ago. That makes me feel a little bad because I really wasn’t working hard enough on this, but also not too bad because this was a surprisingly difficult story to finish. Could be a combination of real-life experiences, plus some lack of knowledge on some parts. Thank God for (guy) friends who allowed me to ask them all those relationship questions, haha. So now the draft is with my beta readers while I go through it […] - [Hello, 30.](https://anatejano.com/2016/hello-30/): I turned 30 today! I’ve been out and about all day, and it’s only now that I got to wind down from being out and about. Now I’m curled up in a chair looking out Ortigas with a glass of wine as I try to cram all the blogging and replying before midnight strikes. I’m obviously not going to finish, but at least I get one done. Also, I decided to go ahead and post this: It’s the first chapter of novel #2. Revised, not yet edited, so I don’t know if it will make it completely in the finished book. […] - [Save the Date!](https://anatejano.com/2016/save-the-date/): Okay, we have a little something up our sleeves. More details soon, but for now, save the date: April 17, 2016, Sunday, 1-5PM. Get ready for #AprilFEELSday. ♥ * * * I’m so close to the end of Novel # 2, I can almost taste it. I’m doing a combination of revising/writing because I went through all the 16+ chapters in the past days to revise it, and then I went ahead to write the last chapters. I used to have a lot of problems with Act 2, but this time Act 3 is the stubborn one. I know how it will end, but […] - [Blog Tour: Songs to Get Over You - Review](https://anatejano.com/2016/blog-tour-songs-to-get-over-you-review/): SONGS TO GET OVER YOU (Playlist #2) by Jay E. Tria Published on Feb 29, 2016 Genre: Contemporary Romance Goodreads | Amazon It’s harder to get over someone who was never really yours. They say rock stars get all the girls. But Miki knows that’s not always true. He, for one, though the guitarist of popular indie band Trainman, just can’t seem to get the girl. It’s kind of his fault, really. No one told him to fall in love with Jill. No one told him to stand still and watch as she moved on from a terrible breakup into […] - [Faith Signs](https://anatejano.com/2016/faith-signs/): I had this other, longer blog entry about jumping ship and changing POVs and stuff that I was supposed to post last Wednesday, but Thursday I decided that effort (changing POVs) wasn’t going to happen. In a way, that’s a relief because as much as it was interesting at first, Book # 2’s manuscript is already 4/5s done, and it’s wasn’t as easy to switch. And it was really just me being fickle. So I’m back to the original one, and I can’t help but get worried how it will turn out. I’ve been working on this for a looong time (too […] - [It's about time](https://anatejano.com/2016/its-about-time/): I realized that I’m pretty bad with personal deadlines lately. Case in point: there’s this email that I was supposed to send even before the new year rolled by but I only got to send it this week. This was a bit personal so there was a lot of stuff that I had to discern before I even sent it out, and I guess it was pretty delicate in terms of content…but still, more than a month before I finally crossed it out on my to-do list. How about thaht? Second example: book 2. I don’t think I need to explain […] - [Hello there.](https://anatejano.com/2016/hello-there/): It’s kind of weird writing this blog post when I haven’t even fixed the entire site yet, but I kind of don’t want people to go here with just one post when this finally opens. So when this is finally open, and you’re reading this: hello, welcome to the website. Or, as my friend Kai say, Adele style: hello from the other side. 😛 I was supposed to have another WordPress site that I also never launched, because maintaining too many blogs is hard. And it was supposed to be a secret blog in the sense that it’s totally not connected to my […] ## Pages - [Win Meah Over by Ana Tejan](https://anatejano.com/wmo/): Win Meah Over Former psych turned events director Meah reconnects with Joseph during a four-week concert tour, forcing her to confront their past and decide whether to give their romance another chance. enemies to lovers | second chance | set in the Philippines | first person POV | heat level 0 Buy now: Ebooks: Print: Ana Tejano Filipino Romance Authoranatejano.com - [Ana Tejano - Links](https://anatejano.com/links_/): Ana Tejano Filipino Romance Author - [Win Meah Over](https://anatejano.com/books/win-meah-over/): Release date: February 18, 2026Genre: Contemporary romance, new adultPurchase: Ebook: Amazon | Smashwords | Apple Books | Kobo | Bookshop.org | Gumroad | Other retailersPrint: International | Philippines Add to Goodreads Meah Constantino is everyone’s friend: cheerleader, matchmaker, fixer, and the one who’ll drop everything when you call at 3 a.m. Not even her career shift from psych to events kept her from being the steady person everyone can rely on. Being needed is easy. Being seen? No, thanks. When a last-minute work change brings Joseph Rodriguez, the guy she’s vowed to forget, back into her orbit for the concert tour she’s […] - [Until You (short story)](https://anatejano.com/books/until-you-short-story/): Purchase: Amazon | Everand | Gumroad | Other retailers [Add to Goodreads] When Charlie Ronquillo finds herself short-staffed for a couple of days, she finds help in the most unexpected person: Sid Agustin, her fruit and vegetable supplier, who was also the same guy who recently ghosted her. Left with no choice, she lets him help and discovers that there was more to their failed date than she knew. Will Charlie give this attraction another chance, or is it better to close the door and forget everything about it? * This story was first published in #RomanceClass NomCom: A foodie romance anthology […] - [Newsletter](https://anatejano.com/newsletter/): Thank you for your interest in hearing more from me! You may subscribe to my semi-regular newsletter through the form below. My newsletter is hosted on Kit, and all content is exclusive to subscribers. I write about creative things, making sense of my journey, and putting words into feelings the way I always knew how. I will also share sneak peeks of my current projects and news before I post them here, so if you want to get these first, this is the place to be. 🙂 All new subscribers will get a free ebook, too! Watch out for the […] - [Five Minutes Till Midnight (A Keep the Faith Christmas story)](https://anatejano.com/books/five-minutes-till-midnight/): Purchase: Ebook: Gumroad [Add to Goodreads] It’s the night before Christmas… Duty calls on Christmas Eve as Faith Alvarez finds herself away from home for disaster response work, waiting for yet another tropical storm to hit the country. But it seems there’s another storm brewing with the sudden, mysterious absence of her boyfriend, Nico Tamayo, bringing up unpleasant memories of another Christmas Eve from the past. The story was first published in Make My Wish Come True, a Christmas anthology by RomanceClass. Published: December 10, 2016 Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult Purchase: Ebook: Gumroad   - [Win Meah Over (preview)](https://anatejano.com/wmo-excerpt/): This content is password-protected. To view it, please enter the password below. Password: - [Privacy Policy](https://anatejano.com/privacy-policy/): Who we are Our website address is: https://anatejano.com. What personal data we collect and why we collect it Comments When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the […] - [Make My Wish Come True](https://anatejano.com/books/make-my-wish-come-true/): Purchase: Ebook: Amazon Print: PH Edition [Add to your Goodreads shelf] Get ready for feels this holiday season with Make My Wish Come True, a Christmas anthology by #romanceclass authors. Join a Kris Kringle and receive the perfect gift, or learn how to survive your first Christmas in Manila and the steps you need to take to be with the one you love. Go to parties that will not go according to plan, feel the cold (and probably humid) December air as you explore city streets, and count down to five minutes to Christmas. Meet kind strangers and friends that remind […] - [You Could Be the One](https://anatejano.com/books/you-could-be-the-one/): Purchase: Ebook: Amazon | Gumroad | Everand | Other retailers Print: PH Edition | Amazon Experience the spark of discovering something new with someone familiar in You Could Be the One, a collection of stories about friends, lovers, and friends becoming lovers. Complications abound when the line between platonic and romantic gets blurred, but they did say that friendship is the foundation of a great love story. Will you take the risk for a relationship upgrade? It’s a Match Cams Ronquillo is single and ready to mingle—at least, online. After finally moving on from her last breakup, she decides to try […] - [Order Print Books (PH only)](https://anatejano.com/orderbooks/): Loading… - [Keep the Faith](https://anatejano.com/books/keep-the-faith/): Release date:  July 31, 2016Genre: Contemporary Romance, New AdultPurchase:Ebook: Amazon | Gumroad | Other retailersPrint: PH Edition | Shopee | Lazada |  AmazonAudio: #RomanceClass Podcast, season 3 [Add to your Goodreads shelf] When Faith’s five-year relationship ends right before she leaves for a typhoon-stricken town in Iloilo, she chooses not to make a big deal out of it. She’s not a stranger to heartbreak after all – she deals with it every day with her disaster relief work. How can she be broken up about her lost love life when she’s surrounded by people who literally lost everything? All she wants now […] - [Fall Like Rain](https://anatejano.com/books/fall-like-rain/): Release date: September 29, 2014Genre: Contemporary romance, new adultPurchase:Ebook: Amazon | Gumroad | Other retailersPrint: PH Edition | Amazon [Add to your Goodreads shelf] Rain De Castro has been in love with her best friend, Mark Velasco, for almost the entire time she has known him, but she’s clearly in the friend zone because he’s happily in a relationship. Or so she thought, until the news of his break-up reaches her. Now that Mark’s single again, she decides that it’s time to get out of the zone. But when her cousin Lissa comes into the picture and sets her eyes on Mark, Rain feels […] - [Blog](https://anatejano.com/hello/blog/) - [Order Form](https://anatejano.com/hello/order-form/) - [Books](https://anatejano.com/books/): Novels/novellas: Fall Like Rain Keep the Faith Win Meah Over Short stories: Anthologies:     - [About Ana](https://anatejano.com/about/): Ana Tejano (@itstimeana) has loved words since she started reading books for fun in elementary school. From writing short stories in her free time as a kid, she got published under her full name in various Philippine print and online publications, including Didache, In His Steps, Fish Magazine, Family Time, The Female Network, and The Top Knotters. In 2014, she self-published her first romance novel, Fall Like Rain, written during the first batch of #RomanceClass. Her books and stories are all zero heat and always with happily ever afters. Ana was part of the Filipino ReaderCon core committee from 2010 […] [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)