This is the last call. My new romance, Only in Istanbul, is about to step onto the stage — and I’d love for you to be in the front row.
On the surface, it’s a steamy, funny, adventurous romance. But at On the surface, it’s a steamy, funny, adventurous romance. But at its heart, it’s a happy twist on Romeo and Juliet — a love story about what happens when passion and art collide. It’s about the sacrifices we make to follow a creative path, and how that path can lead us to love, our truest selves, and surprises along the way… even for me, as I wrote it.
Coming September 2025
Joining my team isn’t just about a free early copy. It’s about being part of the intimate circle who helps launch this story into the world.
Here’s what you’ll get:
Read it first before release day
Shape its future with your honest review
Be part of the story’s beginnings as one of the readers who helped it find its wings
My appreciation — giveaways, sneak peeks, and more along the way
If you crave a romance that’s sexy and sweet, set against exotic backdrops, with tension you can’t resist and characters who chase both love and creative freedom… this is for you.
Thank you for walking this journey with me. Your support means more than I can say.
Marika 💕
P.S. This is the last chance to join in for Only in Istanbul. Don’t miss it!
I’m writing this little update on the precipice of an almost-done phase for my third novel, Only in Istanbul. It is very close to completion and in a heavy editing and proofreading phase. I’m about a week from handing it to my editor for the final very important detailing of the affair.
Coming September 2025
This novel has been a couple years in the making. After completing One Dance in Greece, I picked up the draft I wrote in late 2023 in December 2024, thinking it would be an easy uplift, but that idea was very quickly thwarted. The writing and some of the story needed heavy surgery and though it has been more work than I expected, it has highlighted to me how far I have come as a writer and editor.
That is good ultimately news. My hope is that my writing will continually improve. I love the process even if at times it’s a slog. It is a great joy and a lifelong dream to write fun entertaining novels.
Only in Istanbul is a Synergy romance but, despite its title, the story isn’t as heavily travel based as the first two. It was a challenge to focus more on the character’s relationship and less on travel and glamor. It’s also been a challenge to capture the characters’ voices. For some reason, my main character, Martin, was a little shy with me and true to his character, likes to take his time. My other main character, Raven, on the other hand, wanted to barrel through it all without letting anyone slow her down. The tension in their relationship was definitely reflected in my process. I re-learned the value of patience and really appreciate that sometimes things just need to marinate.
A lot of LIFE and growth has also slowed me down, too. It’s hard to know exactly where to begin and to keep this email on the short side I’ll share the key points.
I have started painting again and I find it as fulfilling and beautiful as ever. I look back now and know that I needed the hiatus to create momentum and confidence for writing my first novels. Now that my writing has a life and process of its own, I feel like I have more time. Painting balances my creativity. I love falling back on it. Here’s my most recent painting: It’s in Your Energy.
Here’s some works in progress for fun too:
My husband and I are settling part-time in Bozeman, Montana where we have spent over half of this year dreaming, climbing, skiing, hot springing and rekindling our relationship as part-time empty nesters.
We are building my dream studio shed on our property here. It’s a beautiful footprint, feels like more space than I need, and I’m looking forward to filling it with all the things that inspire me. I almost cannot believe that I will have a permanent, dedicated-to-me, place to write and paint. Not in a van, camp chair, on a couch, at my small desk nook, on my cell phone in the airport, or in a garage, but in a real-life permanent space of my own that’s even better than the basement studio I had before covid.
I’m a little overwhelmed that it’s finally manifesting. Does this mean that I have to start taking myself more seriously? Maybe it does, and maybe that’s a good thing.
All formats of my first romance novel, Dear Mexico, I Love You are now available on Amazon and all I can say is – Wow! It’s my novel’s birthday.
It was an awesome feeling receiving proof copies this week. Having a real live book in my hand after two years writing her was an unbeatable feeling. I love it. But waiting for this day has been both exciting and nerve racking. From elation, to doubt and worry, I’ve had all kinds of feelings since I finished the manuscript. And now it’s done. She’s in your hands.
If you like a spicy romance, travel, and a good chuckle, then I think you would like this little love story. I hope she makes you feel something like what I felt writing her. I’d love to hear what you think.
And thank you for all your well wishes and to the people who placed pre-orders, too. What a surprise! Your support is so valuable to me. I’ve felt a bit like a social hermit as I worked on Dear Mexico, I Love You the last couple of years. It feels good that there are people still here to cheer me on. Thank you.
I woke up this morning and it felt like my birthday. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything, it’s not. This kind of birthday has nothing to do with how many trips I’ve made around the sun. It’s more like I’ve been prepping for a transformation, and I’ve finally done it. I’m new.
The last two years, my internal world has been a wonderful riot. I’ve been writing through a fantastic creative flow that guided me to draft three romance novels in a series. Yesterday, I finally handed off my first completed manuscript. After writing, editing, proofing, rereading and more, my heart tells me it’s done.
My first published novel, Dear Mexico, I Love You will be available on Amazon on June 1st as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover.
Dear Mexico, I Love You by Marika Reinke
Dear Mexico, I Love You is a spicey second chance romance with a fairytale twist. If you like a sexy romance, travel, and a good chuckle, this book is for you. Believe me, the only way I could have read its drafts so many times was if it entertained me. It does. I truly love this book.
For more, you can read Dear Mexico, I Love You’s description on her Amazon page now. When you read the full novel, I hope she makes you feel any fraction of the fun it felt to write her. I’d love to hear what you think.
And surprise, I’m a romance novelist! Maybe it surprises you, but it certainly surprises me. Yes, I’ve had a long-term dream to write a novel most of my life, but romance? I didn’t see it coming. At one time, I’m humbled to admit that I thought the genre was beneath me, but I grew up and got lighter. It turns out that, for me, exploring the romance genre is an unbelievably fun ride.
I promise I’ll send you a reminder on her birthday because that is a real cause to celebrate.
After an extended silence, I’m pleased to announce that Book 1 of my Synergy Romance series will be released soon! The series has been my creative passion and focus for the last year and a half. Please stay tuned for more as I adjust to the fact that my babies are soon going to be born! In the meantime, here is a sneak peek:
Dear Mexico, I Love You
A sexy second chance romance with a fairytale twist.
Two travelers. A once-in-a-lifetime trip. As many chances as it takes to get it right …
River secretly hates Mexico. Before he returns to London, he hopes his last backpacking stop on his year-long world tour will be an exciting and exotic highpoint, but it has only been a series of missed opportunities and disappointments.
On her mission to reclaim discarded dreams after unpredictable loss, Sedona left her job and sold everything in Portland, Oregon to travel solo. Her first stop is Mexico. Surrounded by its vibrant culture and inspiring beauty, she falls in love with the country and begins to find herself again.
Chance after chance, River and Sedona keep meeting and can’t deny their attraction. When they finally surrender to their chemistry, fate leads them into an unforgettably sexy, adventurous, passionate affair across Mexico and Guatemala that teaches them a new meaning of love and healing.
After only two weeks together, they know their worlds will never be the same, but their time together is limited. They believe they will never see each other again when River returns to London.
Ease is radical counter-culture that requires personal trickery and magic because our popular culture pushes us towards the opposite; dis-ease and not good enough. With the popular mindset we cover up our true natures with workaholism, entertainment, politics, crisis and constant striving for more and more and more. But wait, just breath a moment, because right now is fantastically perfect. All those worries just don’t exist except in your mind. We are on an incredible journey through space and time and with each clock-hand shift unfolds another incredible new mystery with beautiful worry-less ease. The universe aids us, yet we resist.
In the keynote address Elizabeth Gilbert shared at Wanderlust Oahu, she talked about this conundrum from a woman’s vantage point. A “Relaxed Woman” is a cultural oddity. She wondered what it takes for a woman to relax and find ease and shared her noodling about what she reckoned was required for a woman to simply let go, relax and accept the universe’s wisdom. There were three ingredients to her magic potion that I love so much.
Priorities. Know what you value and what is important to you. Keep your focus there.
Boundaries. Know what is sacred in your life and relationships, draw a circle around these sacred principles and stand firm. Spend time understanding your needs. Spend time gently standing firm and comfortable in your sacred. People won’t always respect your boundaries, but ease isn’t found with people who trample on boundaries either. Find people in your life that respect and love you for your boundaries.
The Divine. Develop an intentional relationship with Divinity or Mysticism. There is more than the physical on this planet and you don’t need religion to explore it. Convene with your soul, celebrate your spirit and hunt out connections in nature and the universe. Meditate. Reflect. Get curious about the unknown.
Real wisdom and food for the soul, so simple and yet always a practice.
C) Marika Reinke – Adventures in Art with Heart, Humor and Spirit.
There are two types of power; traditional and authentic.
Accumulating traditional power demands sacrifice for a well-understood balance; power must be earned by privilege and accumulated. Traditionally, status, money, fame, and politics demand specific expenses. Time for money. Privacy for fame. Quietude for politics. Authenticity for status. Responsibility for influence. These are economic exchanges that offer calculable and physical profits; requirements are met, titles are gained, tribes grow, conquests are made. It is power created and maintain by externalities.
Authentic power exists in love, truth, creativity, spirit, integrity, hope, joy, spirituality and even childbirth. With authentic power we are reminded we are co-creators of this astonishing life, not the gatekeepers to the traditional and mundane. Power is seeded internally and then nurtured. Authentic power exists without rules of economics or privilege to validate it. More threatening, this is proof that a creative force is alive and powerful in anybody. Authentic power is not an exchange, it is a fact of living. A woman, an artist, a human being on the verge of creation, art-making, expressing authentic truth and human right is about to inaugurate a miracle and confirm, once again, that there is a universal alternative power. Authentic power is free. It’s inside us, expressed in creative endeavors and among those we connect and love. It is the ultimate empowering life-source; free, abundant, and available.
For self-conscious and insecure humans, any power is a tempting target. Economics of power are always at play. It is not unlikely that someone or some institution will test the title to his/her influence. The traditionally power-starved or hungry will think, perhaps unconsciously, “I can take a little bit of this power and I will feel so much better, so much more in control.” A sweet piece of someone else’s authentic power is a battle trophy that feeds a human desire to feel powerful. Perhaps that is why authentic power is diminished into the frivolous; even as battles continue over reproductive rights.
Imagine a world where we chose authentic power. Sure a little traditional power might keep us in line. But if we all claimed and honored that authentic power in all of us, it would change the world.
C) Marika Reinke – Adventures in Art with Heart, Humor and Spirit.
I find daily practice tedious. Really, I do. Even with a morning ritual, I would rather have daily variety than a predictable plan.
An unpredictable day lifts me from monotonous self-talk. Instead of the self-same stories, I can create detached fables in my head. This protagonist is confident, capable, able to adjust and flex my muscles into any new challenge. I can surprise myself. With new context, I am awed like a newborn. It’s a joy to be different, just different.
In contrast, day by day progress is a slow measure; an increment here, a millimeter there and then a few subtractions just to rub it in.
It’s the reason I need my daily practice.
C) Marika Reinke – Adventures in Art with Heart, Humor and Spirit.
Coffee. Journal. Meditation. Movement. My morning ritual.
Some people swear a ritual makes the day better. Some days, I swear if a day could be worse, what would it be without it?
It is better than rushing out the door as I gulp down my coffee and stuff my face. It’s better than a never-ending ache for time alone to think. It’s better than insisting I don’t have time to pay myself some time. My time is the morning and my quiet, rhythmic ritual.
It’s like a warm up for a workout; a necessary prelude to the day. The older I get, the more I need it too. My body-mind won’t operate without a little shaking out each morning.
I return from the ritual a little cleaner. The world a little neater. My mind a slight more organized. Nothing perfect, but I’ve swiped more ready-energy and dusted my nerves with calm.
The day’s remainder is hardly habit and anti-ritual. I can invite its un-structure now.
C) Marika Reinke – Adventures in Art with Heart, Humor and Spirit.
A wise person claims that asking yourself, “Am I better than yesterday?” is a powerful daily life practice. Whether the answer is “Yes” or “No” during the pursuit of mastery, the practitioner’s reply must be a life-affirming, “Yes, I’m getting better at this because I practice.” Wisdom claims that answer drives doggedness through the stagnant times and frustration.
Easier said than done.
I reflect on my own pursuits which spread across parenting, painting, writing, climbing, fitness, mindfulness and admit there is no clear and simple answer. I have given up in the past. I’ve conceded defeat. I’ve believed I can’t do better. I have many excuses too, and I hate excuses. I’ve discovered that what you might call my doggedness is not certitude, but an overall concession and helpless defeat that I can’t do anything else than this.
So, without anything better to do, I continue to practice. Sometimes I remember to ask myself. “Am I better than yesterday?” But mostly I don’t.
Then, sometimes I come across a project or circumstance that reveals my progress and I get a second wind. This painting is it. It is my answer to the question. Yes, today I am better than yesterday.
C) Marika Reinke – Adventures in Art with Heart, Humor and Spirit.
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