Summer Trolleys, Gazebo Proposals & The Novella They Inspired ✨

Beachhouse Chronicles: Romance Research in Real Time

Summer has officially arrived on the coast! We're still battling the usual May gray and June gloom, but the free trolleys are running again, and every time I spot one rolling by, I feel like there's a fun party somewhere I could hop aboard and crash.

I absolutely love that our community does this all summer long. We can access so much of South County and multiple beaches from the San Clemente pier all the way to the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach without the parking nightmare. And it's FREE! There's something so delightfully carefree about summer trolley season.

The beach has been packed, and the gazebo across the street has become weekend proposal central. I'm talking almost nightly bookings for quirky weddings and lavish proposals, and as a writer, this is basically my dream research scenario unfolding right outside my window. Like... I can literally pull up a lawn chair.

We've become shameless proposal spies from our backyard, trying to guess which women "knew" what was coming. Here's the thing though - they almost ALL show up dressed to the nines with perfect hair and fresh manicures, which is frankly a bit suspect. 

Some of these proposal setups are absolutely elaborate productions. I love chatting with the event planners who orchestrate the whole thing they have stories that could fill a dozen romcom novels.

Speaking of which... all the gazebo magic inspired me to write a novella! 

Meet my newest project: She Sells Sea Spells. 

This quick read features the enchanting Luna Vega, who runs a magical proposal planning business at a suspiciously similar gazebo. She's an empathic witch who believes in magic but has serious doubts about true love. Her latest client is Bowie Ball - a pro surfer from a local dynastic family. He also happens to be her former high school chemistry lab partner and the boy who broke her heart.

There's not only sparks between them, there's lightning and fireworks and a whole tsunami of feelings. This story will be part of an Orange County anthology coming out next fall, and I honestly can't wait for you to meet these characters born from real-life romance watching!