When I first released the Sushi series, I had no idea how deeply readers would connect with Lex, Trish, Venus, and Jennifer—and with their wild, meddling aunties and one very stubborn grandma. The stories were a mix of my friends’ family chaos, my love of romantic comedy, and the joy (and frustration!) of navigating faith, friendships, and relationships as an Asian American Christian woman. Now that the rights have returned to me, I’m thrilled to be republishing the series on Amazon so a new generation of readers—and longtime fans—can dive back into the drama, the laughter, and the unforgettable auntie antics. Book 1, Sushi for One? , is available on Amazon now, and the rest of the series is up on preorder. Sushi for One? will go into Kindle Unlimited on May 19, 2025. Each book follows a different cousin in the extended Sakai family as they wrestle with romance, expectations, and God’s timing (and sometimes, Grandma’s interference). If you’re new to the series, here’s the ...

Sushi series now on sale The entire Sushi Series is now available directly from me — early! 🎉 Four cousins—Lex the Jock, Trish the Flirt, Venus the Cactus, and Jennifer the Doormat—commiserate their single status. As the only Christians in their large extended family, they vow to fight the stigma of the infamous family title, Oldest Single Female Cousin. But they have very different ideas about not acting as desperate as they feel about their bleak love lives. Who knew God would have His own plans of true love for each of them? For a limited time, I’m offering early access to all five books of the Sushi series exclusively through my website. 📖 Why purchase direct? • Get the book weeks before it appears on Amazon. • Receive a special gift for buying from my website (details below). • Support me directly — this helps me keep writing more stories. 🛍 Claim your early access copies here ! What about Amazon? For those who prefer Amazon, the books will be available for p...

I joined two Christian suspense multi-author anthologies that will release next year in May and October! The May anthology is Danger in the Shadows , and the October anthology is Don’t Blink . I have taken down Year of the Dog from my blog and will instead finish editing/rewriting it for the May anthology, Danger in the Shadows . I decided to do this because I was only working on Year of the Dog sporadically, and I wanted to set a deadline for myself to finish it sooner. To complicate matters, I’ve been unhappy with my decision to leave Sushi and Suspicions as a stand-alone rather than putting it in a series. And I’ve also been unhappy with putting The Lone Rice Ball as a 5th book in the Sushi series when it’s more romantic suspense than the other books in the series. Now that I’ll be writing Year of the Dog for the anthology, and because I haven’t yet released Sushi and Suspicions and The Lone Rice Ball as individual ebooks, I decided to switch things around. I’m rem...

Christine Henderson interviewed me if you’d like to read some tidbits about The Lone Rice Ball and some tips on writing. Check out the interview. Christine writes Christian contemporary romance and was in the Once Upon a Starry Night box set with me. You can check out her book The Sweetest Delights in Life here .

My novel, The Lone Rice Ball , is book 5 in my Christian contemporary romance Sushi series , but you don’t have to read the other books before reading this one. (It also serves as Book 1 in my Mahina Security series.) I had a lot of fun writing The Lone Rice Ball because I set it in my home state of Hawaii, on the North Shore of the island where my mother grew up. Most of the places in the book are fictional, including my hero’s uncle’s restaurant, the Molokai Red Restaurant in Haleiwa. I named it after a hibiscus variant that grows in my parents’ yard, which my dad has lovingly tended to for years. This is the Molokai Red hibiscus. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s hard to see in the photos, but it has a rich, dark red color that’s unusual for hibiscus. In the book, I also had the Molokai Red hibiscus bushes growing along the path to the front entrance of the restaurant. But in actuality, it’s not a very common hibiscus variant. I hope you can imagine these lovely flowers whe...

It’s here at last! Thank you to everyone who preordered this box set. If you’re in Kindle Unlimited, you can now borrow Once Upon a Starry Night  and read all 12 clean romance novellas! My story in the box set is  The Lone Rice Ball . Edytha and the gang from the Warubozu Spa Chronicles are in The Lone Rice Ball , and the story takes place the winter after The Wedding Kimono . Click here to read Once Upon a Starry Night

I finished the rough draft and self-edit today and sent The Lone Rice Ball off to my editor! She’s wonderful and is doing a rush job on it, so I’ll get her edits back tomorrow and do the final revision on my book before sending it to the formatter of the Once Upon a Starry Night multi-author box set. Here’s the back cover description for Once Upon a Starry Night: A Very Merry Christmas Romance Collection : Enjoy these 12 brand-new sweet and inspirational Christian love stories of second chances, friends to more, unrequited love, new beginnings, and much more from 12 beloved romance novelists. Merry Christmas, everyone! A Country Christmas in the Show Me State by USA Today Bestselling Author Jessie Gussman Will the hope of Christmas bring these two a second chance? Holly’s Hope by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Hickey Can Holly step out of her shell at Christmas or will she retreat and miss out on the joy of romance? One Sweet Christmas by...

Unfortunately I had a bad bout of IBS, which was probably exacerbated by the stress of my looming deadline. As of today, I’m only about halfway through The Lone Rice Ball . Please pray for me that I’ll be able to finish it by the end of the month!

Shoshanna Gabriel was one of the twelve authors who participated with me in the Christian Contemporary Romance anthology, Save the Date . Shoshanna’s novella in the anthology was titled Countdown to Her Cowboy’s Christmas Wedding . In celebration, I wrote a knitting pattern for the cozy tube scarf used by Shoshanna’s heroine, Kate. Tragically, Shoshanna died before Save the Date was released. To honor her memory, I wrote Kate’s Tube Scarf into my novel, The Lone Rice Ball . It only has a small mention since my story is set in Hawaii (and pretty much NO ONE wears wool scarves in Hawaii), but I made the excuse that my heroine had knit it in anticipation of a trip to Tahoe. This is a soft, squishy scarf in a subtle lace pattern, knitted in fingering weight yarn, in a heathered brown-red colorway and also a multi-colorway in orange, burnt umber, and brown. However, the color possibilities are endless! This is a great way to use one skein of a lovely hand-painted sock yarn, and ...