Lori Wolf-Heffner
Stories about family. In all its varieties.
Latest Release!
A best friend’s visit, a father’s return, and a missing family treasure.
Juliana’s summer should be carefree—hanging out with her best friend from Calgary and her favourite cousin. But when Opa loses a cherished family photo, and Juliana falls behind on a summer school project about her future, her perfect week starts to unravel.
Elisabeth hopes Tata’s return from America will bring life back to how it was before the war. But after witnessing the harsh realities of the world, Tata takes the reins on his oldest daughter’s future. Elisabeth must fight to carve out a life that’s her own—one that doesn’t fit Tata’s fears.
Between Worlds 9: Rhythms Shared is the last instalment in Juliana and Elisabeth’s journey. Join them in this story of friendship, family, and the power of choosing your own path.
Books by Lori Wolf-Heffner
Canadian author Lori Wolf-Heffner writes young adult and sweet romance series that put the family–in all its forms–front and centre.
Between Worlds: A Young Adult Series
Love on Belmont: A Sweet Romance Series
Behind the Scenes, Deep Dives into Lori's Novels, and More!
Are the Love on Belmont Books Later-in-Life Romance Novels?
I love reading romance novels about characters my age or older: What experiences do we share? How do their lives differ from mine? What might I be able to look forward to as I near my 50s, 60s, and 70s? Later-in-life romance novels follow older characters looking for love. Since my Love on Belmont series is about an entire community, it also includes later-in-love romance books.
What Are Later-in-Life Romance Books?
This romance subgenre focuses on protagonists who are 40 or over. So if you like reading about people over 40 falling in love, this is your jam.
This subgenre can come in all levels of spice, from clean novels to sweet romance to spicy to erotica. In other words, it’s not about heat level but about character age. Looking for a novel about people in their older years? This is the subgenre to search for. Amazon.com has a subcategory for it, too.
Why Write Later-in-Life Romance Novels?
Unfortunately, this subgenre doesn’t exist on Amazon.ca, which suggests it isn’t that popular north of the border yet. To underline the lack of popularity, Booknet Canada reported earlier this year that interest in later-in-life romance books is decreasing.
In a 2022 report by K-Lytics, which analyzed Amazon data, later-in-life romance books were fifth from the bottom of a list of 24 subgenres. Contemporary romance topped the chart, followed by mystery & suspense, romantic comedy, and paranormal.
From a financial perspective, it doesn’t make sense to write later-in-life romances.
However, I find so much more to explore when characters are older:
- Pauline (47) and Todd (43) meet because they’re both forced out of their physically demanding artistic careers (Tea Shop for Two).
- Tracy (48) and Ben (35) show a strong gap between their generations: Tracy has to care for her teenaged son, who has epilepsy, while juggling renewed interests from her estranged husband (51), and Ben has never been married, doesn’t have any children, and was recently fired from a company he’d spent 10 years at (Oh, What the Fudge).
- Claire (76) and Richard (79) find themselves at opposite poles when they realize they have different goals for their stage in life, putting their marriage of 50 years at risk (Teas of Joy).
Although these plots aren’t impossible in younger age groups, I have a lot more to work with, like career legacy and lifelong community impact.
Will All Love on Belmont Books Be in This Romance Subgenre?
Because this series involves a real community, the series will not focus on a single age group. For example, Tracy’s son, Austin, who’s 16 when the Love on Belmont novels begin, will have his own romance story when he’s old enough. So that readers don’t have to wait too long, that will happen when he’s in his early 20s.
Which Love on Belmont Books are Later-in-Life Romances?
At time of writing, almost all of them. But to be specific, these are the titles:
- Trick or Tea (a short-story prequel)
- Oh, Christmas Tea (a short-story prequel)
- Tea Shop for Two
- Oh, What the Fudge
- Teas of Joy
Which Books, Then, Aren’t Later-in-Life Romances?
So far, only Claire's Tea Shop, the first short story prequel, doesn't qualify as a later-in-life romance story.
To start a new later-in-life author, give the Love on Belmont series a try and let me know how you like it. If you sign up to my bi-monthly newsletter, you’ll get the three short stories for free as a thank you for joining my community.
What do you think about later-in-life romance novels? Yea or nay?