Romanceclass Stories

This is a collection of short stories, ficlets, and one shots featuring characters from my previously published work. You may find my books on Amazon and other reading platforms such as Apple Books, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, Overdrive, Radish, and Scribd. Some of my work are also available here on Wattpad. For more information about my books, go to tarafrejas.com.

First 5 chapters of my latest book, published and available worldwide now. Eighteen-year-old Clara Liwanag is a small-town girl with a big dream: to be a hard-hitting national news reporter. The only problem? She's been stuck at her family's resort in Pampanga her whole life. So she makes a foolproof plan to achieve her goal. Step One, check: Get a scholarship to study in Manila, the place where all the action is. What's not part of The Plan? Meeting basketball heartthrob and aspiring photographer Mickey King. He's annoying, distracting, and always manages to catch Clara at her worst. But as much as she hates to admit it, he has a sweet, caring side that makes her think twice. When Clara starts struggling in school and her plan falls apart, she wonders if she should have listened to her parents and stayed closer to home. Should she give up and go back, or face her fears in a city that could break her heart and her spirit? *This novel is part of the #RomanceClassFlicker series, but can be read as a standalone. The complete book is available on Amazon or my website (link in my profile page). Happy reading!

A #RomanceClass prompt story set after the end of Fall Like Rain. Roadtrip or Rain and Mark on their first international travel together as a couple ❤️

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 from heartbreak before the buzzer signals Game Over? . . . . . Hustle Play Running on pure adrenaline and working with game strategies is something a basketball player like Garnet Figueroa is trained for. On the court, she is unbeatable. Off the court... that's a completely different story. Because falling in love is trickier than a ball game, and Garnet finds herself fumbling over her feelings for Charles Crisostomo. The fact that her attention gets divided between him and rival school hard-court hottie Chris Barcelo doesn't help. Or does it?

When Gita Joson sent a Best Day Ever email invitation to her old friend (and TOTGA) David Hermosa, she didn't expect much. Not him, the rising Hollywood star, showing up at her front door unannounced, or him spending their dog's last day on earth with her, and certainly not them rekindling the short-lived romance they shared as teenagers. Content Warnings This story makes several references to the COVID-19 pandemic and tackles the grief of losing a pet. Heat Level: 3.

Neither Paula nor Juan has felt the kind of attraction they each feel toward each other from the moment they met. It would be so easy to fall in love except that as a single father, Juan's priority will always be his son, Julian. What if they fall for Paula and she's not ready to fall for them? Author's Note: I wrote this shortie as Georgette Gonzales, and it was first published as part of The Tropetastic 2021 Kindness Bundle. 15 #romanceclass authors contributed stories which were published on Gumroad for a limited time. Proceeds of the sale were donated 100% to three organizations -- Gantala Press, RockEd Phils, and Project Propel. I am working on expanding this story into a full novel. Stay tuned.

Jamie bravely takes the first step into a new world. (This is a short story for the Luna East Arts Academy series.)

Aina Macaraig finds out that famous TV reporter Maki Angeles is actually her long-lost childhood friend. They meet each other again after so many years, and Maki now has a chance to fulfill a promise he once made her, many years ago. This story was part of the Tropetastic Kindness Bundle, a charity anthology that featured all-new romance short stories from 15 #RomanceClass authors. Each author was assigned a trope and a shared setting (the fictional St. Tropez Court condominium in Ortigas, Metro Manila). The trope for this story is "First Love".

NJ Mabini, drummer of Catholic worship band Manalig, can't stand their newest member, violinist Van Esquivel, but no matter how hard she tries, she just can't seem to avoid him. When her old violin teacher comes across them grudgingly sitting together at a food park, she asks them to play a duet for a recital. NJ wonders if they can set aside their differences long enough for the performance, but turns out that they have more things in common than she thought. Maybe they can be friends, after all. And maybe...more? This story was part of Nomcom: Tropetastic Kindness Bundle 2, a charity anthology that featured all-new romance short stories from 14 #RomanceClass authors. Each author was assigned a trope and a shared setting (the fictional Nomnom Commons Food Park in Ortigas, Metro Manila). The trope for this story is "Only One Table".

After a three week work trip abroad, Luigi Quirino from 11A comes home to a package that is not for him. He discovers it belongs to an annoyed Patricia Co from 11K and intends to make it up to her, if she lets him.

Spelling bee veteran Iris Garcia meets her match in academic overachiever Luke Sandoval. (This is a short story for the Luna East Arts Academy series.)

Cams joins a televised baking competition, and Gabriel is her supportive stage boyfriend. A #romanceclass Prompt & Pairing, Please fic, set in the universe of "It's a Match' from the collection, "You Could Be the One".

What happens behind the scenes at a Pio Alvez-Alice Panganiban movie. (with thanks to Jay E. Tria, who owns the characters Alice and Son.)

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 is for her life to go back to normal. Never mind her unanswered questions about the breakup, or that (not so) tiny ache in her heart whenever she sees her ex. She's okay now and maybe she's even starting to like Nico Tamayo, the attractive new guy at work. With new possibilities on the horizon, Faith thinks she is well on her way to moving on. But when her past comes calling back to her, will all the good things in her present be enough to keep her on the path? Or will she finally learn that there's more to heartbreak and recovery than what she knows? CONTENT NOTE: This book is heat level 0 and follows #romanceclass guidelines requiring happily ever after (HEA) / happy for now (HFN) for romance. There is no mention of COVID-19, and the events of this book happened years before lockdown. There is mention of a super typhoon hitting the country and its aftermath. More info: https://anatejano.com/books/keep-the-faith/

A oneshot short story featuring Mayumi and Joaquin, from my short story "Finally Home", as they join the solidarity walk of health care workers for the 2022 Philippine national elections. You can read more about them in the medical romance anthology here: https://books2read.com/doctorinlove

Restoration architect Giada Manahan's heart has begun to resemble the adobe walls she loves. At least that's what her friends say. But Gia knows better---she's just being cautious. After all, as a single mom, her kids are her first priority. But one drunken night, her friends push her into a trippy crystal healing ritual. Gia thinks it's a joke . . . until a few days later, she finds a half-naked stranger in her bed. Hot, tatted anthropologist Alex Roces is exactly the kind of guy Gia should avoid. But when they end up sharing a house, Gia finds Alex's charms increasingly difficult to resist. Will Gia continue to keep the walls around her heart? Or will she finally give in to its demands? + + + Note: This was published as "Dare To Love Dangerously" on Wattpad and is now available as an ebook on Amazon. It is also available in print via Createspace (INTL) or through the author (PH)

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 directing, Meah's world tilts off-balance. It's been three years since she last heard from him, and now they're together for four weeks, pretending their history doesn't exist and that she doesn't want answers. Meah is determined to stay away from him, but somewhere between prod meetings and supply runs, she remembers why she fell for him in the first place, especially when Joseph keeps breaking through her carefully compartmentalized life. All Meah wants is to reach the finale with the heart she gives so freely out of Joseph's reach again. When the encore fades, will Meah protect her heart the old way, or will she give Joseph a chance to win her over? CONTENT NOTE: This book is heat level 0 and follows #romanceclass guidelines requiring happily ever after (HEA) / happy for now (HFN) for romance. There is no mention of COVID-19, and the events of this book happened years before lockdown. The book mentions pet loss and grief, as well as parental abandonment in the backstory.

Mika Arceo is in a rut, and not even her morning encounters with her condo crush Paul has helped her get out of her creative block. When she finds a letter from a fan who calls himself C on the poster she left at the condo's bulletin board, she finds herself slowly getting unblocked. But when C stops writing to her, she finds that her secret fan had been around her all this time.

Two friends, an old orange Beetle and years of memories. Romance at its finest, I think.

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 troubled when he gets a little too friendly with her. Rain is determined to fight for what she feels this time, but is it worth the effort if it's a losing battle from the start? Will she back off to give way for her best friend's happiness, even if it means losing him to someone else again?