Celebrating a New Multi-Author Book Series

For the past three years, I've had the privilege of getting to know many of the authors in this new book series through social media, blog interviews, and other writing collaborations. I've been a part of eBook box sets and collaborations with several other authors in the past. Most collaborative projects tend to follow a familiar formula—they're usually connected by a single genre or centered around a specific holiday, such as Christmas.

This series, however, is something entirely different. Instead of every book fitting neatly into one genre, Our House on Jakaranda Laan series offers a wonderful variety of stories. You'll find contemporary fiction, historical fiction, dual-timeline novels, and women's fiction. Some books weave romance gently into the story, while others place it front and center – all in a sweet and clean closed door romance style.

Yet what truly connects these books goes far beyond a shared title. Every story is set in the same fictional South African town of Cedarfontein.

Creating Cedarfontein was a collaborative effort. The authors worked together to imagine everything from the town's layout and local businesses to the people who call it home. There's even a map showing the town's location south of Cape Town. Because each author is writing within the same community, readers will discover familiar places and occasionally meet characters from other books throughout the series.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this project is that several of the authors don't live in South Africa—and some have never even visited. That meant extensive research became an essential part of the writing process. Having South African authors as part of the team to answer questions and provide guidance has been invaluable in helping each story feel authentic.

Readers may also notice that certain words are spelled differently from one book to another. For example, as an American, I write color, while my United Kingdom friends naturally write colour. Both spellings are correct—they simply reflect the author's home country. So if you spot differences like that throughout the series, don't worry. They're intentional, not mistakes.

Although all fifteen books share the same setting, each story stands completely on its own. There's no required reading order, so you can begin with whichever title catches your interest. Along the way, you'll enjoy seeing familiar faces and discovering how the lives of Cedarfontein's residents intersect from one story to the next.

I chose to join this series because it challenged me as a writer. My story pushed me well beyond my usual writing comfort zone. My heroine is from San Antonio, Texas. My hero grew up in King's Cross, London. They both arrive in Cedarfontein for work and find themselves staying at a charming bed-and-breakfast run by a couple from Normandy, France. Bringing together characters from different parts of the world has made this one of the most enjoyable stories I've written. I'll share more about my own book in a future post.

The fifteen books are currently available for preorder. Publication releases are scheduled every two weeks between now and October.  Review the basics for each of the upcoming eBooks through this link below and then go to each of the book links to learn more about them and choose which story you want to start with first.

Of course, I'd be delighted if you started with mine—but whichever book you choose first, I think you'll quickly fall in love with the welcoming community of Cedarfontein.

Here's the link for all the book details. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H7SDQGFC