Pleased to Meet You - Again!

After nearly three years away from the romance writing community, I’ve been thinking for a while about how to reintroduce myself. Some of you may be familiar with me as a writer, but let’s be honest, most of you probably aren’t. I thought we might start, not with a big splashy announcement, but with something that feels more like a sit‑down coffee chat—just you and me, talking about writing and reading romance.

So, first, let me introduce myself.

Hi! My name is Mary Jean Adams, and I’m a seasoned novelist, starting a new chapter in my writing career. In June of 2026, I released The Chevalier and His Unlikely Lady on Kindle Unlimited. While it may look like this is my first novel, it’s not. Over the years, I’ve published five novels, all with traditional publishing houses. In 2025, after a couple of years of not writing anything, I took all my books off the market.

I know, crazy, right? Why would someone who worked so hard to publish multiple books do something like that?

Well, let me assure you, it had nothing to do with my publishers. I’m grateful for those experiences, and I learned a tremendous amount about the craft and business of writing through them. At the same time, those stories never really hit the right note for me as a writer. That’s mostly on me. Whenever an editor or publisher said, “You should do this,” I followed their advice. After all, they had years more experience in publishing and marketing romance novels than I did.

That advice often extended to heat levels. As most avid romance readers know, things have gotten pretty wild in Romancelandia over the last twenty years. There’s always been a steamier side to romance, of course, but there was a lot of pressure to keep amping up the heat level when what I actually wanted to write were clean, but intensely romantic, novels.

Pulling those books was scary. But once I did it, I felt relief—like I’d finally given myself permission to bring my stories back into alignment with my values and my voice. And I didn't have to hope nobody I knew read them!

After getting the rights back to my novels, I let almost another year go by before I started writing again. I just wasn’t ready yet, and with everything I had going on, rewrites seemed daunting. Could I really achieve what I had envisioned? But once I jumped back in, I discovered something wonderful: it's not as difficult as I thought it would be be. I’ve learned so much over the years, and I’m a much tighter writer now. It’s been a lot of fun so far.

So, what can you expect from my books today?

In terms of heat level, these are clean romances. Think “shut‑the‑door” rather than “explicit on the page.” There is kissing—a lot of kissing, in fact—but we’re not lingering on detailed physical intimacy. The camera fades to black and lets your imagination fill in the rest.

“Clean,” however, does not mean “sweet” in the saccharine sense. The emotional tone is amped up. The romanticism is amped up. Instead of trying to make the stories sexier through explicit detail, I’ve leaned hard into the feelings—the yearning, the tension, the vulnerability, the joy.

Sometimes, in higher‑heat romances, the focus on titillation can overshadow the romance itself. That’s not the experience I want for my readers. When you close one of my books, my goal is that you let out a heavy sigh and think, “Oh, that was so good.” The kind of deep, satisfying romance that leaves you feeling full and a little glowy inside.

To readers who picked up Le Chevalier years ago, I want to be completely transparent: No, this is not an entirely new plot; Yes, it is substantially rewritten. If you loved the story before, I hope you’ll enjoy this refined, more romantic version. If you were on the fence, I hope this new take gives you a different, more emotionally satisfying experience.

In this new edition, I’ve kept the plot primarily the same. The bones of the story—the hero, the heroine, the arc—are still there. What’s changed is the execution: scenes are amped up, the pacing is tighter, and the story moves faster than it did in the first rendition. It’s also about 25,000 words shorter, which goes to show how hard I worked to eliminate the drag. (Pun absolutely intended.)

And, as I mentioned earlier, the heat level has shifted. The original version was more explicit. This one is cleaner, far more romantic—and to me, that’s actually sexier. It’s available on Kindle Unlimited, something I always wanted for my other novels but, again, assumed my publishers knew best. I’m planning to add paperback—and possibly hardcover—editions as I continue building the marketing platform around the book.

Later this summer—probably around August—I plan to start rewrites for Caution to the Wind (expect a title change there, too!) This was my second published book, but the one I actually wrote first. While it’s not technically a series, the characters in both The Chevalier and His Unlikely Lady and Caution to the Wind meet up in a third book, so maybe there's series potential. At the very least, there’s a lovely bit of crossover happening, and I’m excited to lean into that as I bring these stories back into the world.

Thank you for sitting down with me for this little chat. If The Chevalier and His Unlikely Lady sounds like your kind of romance, I’d love for you to give it a try and let me know what you think. Also, stick around as I bring these rewritten—and some brand‑new—stories into the world. Here’s to tighter plots, deeper emotions, and a whole lot of happy endings ahead!