Introducing: Captured by the Canadians

A spicy romcom Substack series from author T.L. Martin

Lately, my life’s been all romcoms, all the time—which means absurdly funny stories now throw themselves at me and the voices just won’t stop! I also have a habit (read: obsession) with digging up Black stories in places where people swear we don’t exist. So when the algorithm started feeding me videos of fine men doing lumberjack fitness? You already know I went on a mission to find lumberjacks in chocolate.

Enter: Aaron Spady on TikTok. The moment I saw him, I knew two things. One, God has favorites. Two, this man is absolutely one of them.

There was something about Aaron’s videos that stopped me mid-scroll. Here was a big, beautiful Black man just… existing. Peacefully. Fully. Chopping wood, breathing air, minding his business.

No chaos, no performative nonsense—just vibes and trees. And I couldn’t stop wondering: Where does he live? How did he build this soft, strong, quiet life? What’s the backstory behind this serenity?

Now, let’s be clear—I’m a happily married woman, so I had zero interest in learning more personally. But as a writer? My curiosity was on fire. I just knew my readers would eat him up.

So I did what any romcom writer with a healthy imagination and a questionable sense of boundaries would do: I wrote him. And just like that, Aaron became Eli Shaw—a brooding, hilarious, secretly soft millionaire from Canada who chops wood to clear his head and absolutely hates Americans.

Because of course he does.

And of course, what better backdrop for a romantic mess than the completely unhinged trade war between the U.S. and Canada? One minute we’re besties, the next minute Canadians are yanking American whiskey off their shelves like it’s nobody’s business. It was ridiculous. It was petty. It was also perfect.

So I got a little sad… and then I got to writing. Because if there’s one thing romance writers and readers are gonna do, it’s escape the flaming landfill formerly known as Earth. We’re not built to suffer—we’re built to daydream our way out.

A spin-off from The Black Wife Effect series, Captured by the Canadians is a hilarious, heart-thumping romantic comedy following Maxine Palmer (Timantha’s assistant)—a quick-witted techie from Atlanta—on what should’ve been her dream trip to RomantiComiCon, the biggest romance book conference on the planet. Only problem? It’s in Canada… and no one warned her the locals might not be so welcoming.

Things go from mildly inconvenient to full-blown chaotic when her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and a large, flannel-clad stranger emerges from the woods—who Max briefly mistakes for a bear. Enter Eli: brooding, rugged, and clearly not thrilled to be her knight in dented-truck armor.

When he offers her a ride to make a call, he thinks he’s doing a good deed. Within minutes, he’s questioning every life choice that led him to this loud, charming, walking disaster of a woman.

Part road trip, part enemies-to-lovers chaos, Captured by the Canadians is your new Substack obsession—filled with sharp banter, forced proximity, unexpected heat, and all the romance your heart can handle (with a few detours along the way).

This chaotic love story—featuring Eli Shaw, the reluctant Canadian heartthrob, and the very American Max Palmer who ruins his peace—kicks off exclusively here on Substack.

The series drops March 29, 2025, with new chapters dropping every Saturday. The first two are totally free, because I believe in giving y’all a little taste before asking for commitment. But after that? It’s paid subscribers only. Because great storytelling deserves support.