Hi Everyone! I’m participating in an awesome giveaway, where the winner will get a $25 Amazon Gift Card and several great Historical Romance Reads:
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Historical Romance Giveaway ~ Feb/Mar 2024
Monday, December 4, 2023
12 Books of Christmas Giveaway!
I’ve joined up with seven other authors to giveaway 12 autographed paperback books directly from each of the authors in the giveaway. That means that there will be 12 winners!
Here’s your chance to win! Just enter using the rafflecopter link here:
Or, you can enter by leaving a comment with the book you’d like most to win!
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
More New Releases ~ for real!
So it seems like I’m releasing a book every week, but I’m really not… However, I have started writing more words per day, so you’re getting books galore from me for the next few months, anyway!
Here’s Today’s new release:
THE MARSHAL’S MAIL ORDER BRIDE ~ Eight brides each find themselves in a compromising situation – and the only way out is to escape west and become a mail-order bride. But will trouble follow them? Good thing they are heading into the arms of a law man. All the brides have a different, stand alone story ~ Read each one and don’t miss out!
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 Virginia 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲?
Schoolteacher Joy Stewart has never been lucky. Her father died before she was born. Her mother left her in the care of her grandmother so that she could get remarried and move far away. So when her grandmother succumbs to illness, her debtors come to call. And one of them has his eyes set on Joy to be his bride as payment for his debt. That bad luck just seems to be compounding on Joy—what she needs is a Christmas Miracle, and her grandmother has put a plan in the works…
Marshal Jack Bolling has found himself in want of a nanny. With the death of his sister and her husband in a tragic accident, he has now come into possession of his twin niece and nephew of four years old. For over a month he’s had no luck in locating an appropriate nanny for them—at least not on his salary and what a marshal can afford. But then his good friend, Pastor North has the idea that perhaps Jack should be looking for a wife instead? The thought of that sends chills down Jack’s spine, but when he end’s up putting the twins’ lives in danger due to his job, he wonders what choice he has. But can he even dare to hope that he’d be lucky enough to find a wife so close to Christmastime?
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
New Releases ~ and other news…
Here’s the Blurb:
This Christmas, love arrives unexpectedly in Idaho Springs—by stagecoach.
December 1887 - When mail-order bride and nurse Gwendolyn Wright steps off the stagecoach, she expects a new beginning as bride to Idaho Springs’ handsome young doctor, Cecil Cody. But Dr. Cody seems oblivious to their matrimonial arrangement. As snow blankets the dusty streets this Christmas, Gwendolyn discovers more trouble than tidings in this untamed town. Suspicion and rumors plague her efforts to bring holiday spirit and health to the sick townspeople.
The unlikely pair must learn to heal wounds and soften hearts for misunderstandings to unravel. Can unexpected Christmas magic spark love’s flame between a man with no bride and the woman who has traveled so far to win his wary affection?
This is a clean, wholesome, standalone novella written from a Christian worldview. It has a happily ever after and features down-to-earth characters with real world problems who overcome them by grace and love.
There are seven books planned in this series - the first three will be released between now and the end of the year, two are planned for Christmas in July 2024 and two more for the Holiday season in Nov/Dec of 2024. Here’s a peek at the rest of the series:
Friday, September 29, 2023
Fall Christian Facebook Covers for FREE!
I created these three Christian Autumn Facebook Covers, if you like one, click on it and download for free:
Hi Everybody!
I’ve got two new releases that are coming up both currently in pre-order. Although I have 3 more potential Christmas books coming out before the end of 2023, and two new boxed sets, those are not yet available for pre-order. For now, make sure you don’t miss either of these two, each a part of an awesome multi-author series.
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 Virginia 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲?
Schoolteacher Joy Stewart has never been lucky. Her father died before she was born. Her mother left her in the care of her grandmother so that she could get remarried and move far away. So when her grandmother succumbs to illness, her debtors come to call. And one of them has his eyes set on Joy to be his bride as payment for his debt. That bad luck just seems to be compounding on Joy—what she needs is a Christmas Miracle, and her grandmother has put a plan in the works…
Marshal Jack Bolling has found himself in want of a nanny. With the death of his sister and her husband in a tragic accident, he has now come into possession of his twin niece and nephew of four years old. For over a month he’s had no luck in locating an appropriate nanny for them—at least not on his salary and what a marshal can afford. But then his good friend, Pastor North has the idea that perhaps Jack should be looking for a wife instead? The thought of that sends chills down Jack’s spine, but when he end’s up putting the twins’ lives in danger due to his job, he wonders what choice he has. But can he even dare to hope that he’d be lucky enough to find a wife so close to Christmastime?
Sunday, September 24, 2023
Surviving the Unknown: How Life on the Oregon Trail Mirrored Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
In the mid-1800s, traveling the Oregon Trail was akin to living in a post-apocalyptic world. The long, arduous journey from the Midwest to the Western frontier shaped a daily existence for pioneers that has many parallels to the imagined life of survivors in a post-apocalyptic landscape.
The Oregon Trail was fraught with danger and uncertainty. Accidents, storms, disease, starvation, and attacks from bandits and natives were common lethal threats along the trail. Any day could bring disaster or death. This resembles many works of post-apocalyptic fiction, which depict hazardous worlds filled with threats from the environment, illness, violence, and more. Simple mistakes or just plain bad luck could spell doom for those making their way west in covered wagons just as they could for characters navigating a ravaged, dangerous wasteland.
Resource scarcity was a harsh reality along the trail. Food, water, tools, and various supplies had to be rationed and scavenged. Overhunting along the trail severely depleted the numbers of bison and other wildlife. This forced real innovation and improvisation, much like survivors in post-apocalyptic tales who have to learn to make do and repurpose anything they can find in order to survive. Careful maintenance and jury-rigging of equipment and technology is often a necessity both on the trail and in the remnants of civilization.
Shelter along the Oregon Trail was makeshift and temporary. Travelers camped in tents or barebones structures along the way, moving from place to place. Even when settlements began to form in the West, buildings were often simple cabins or ramshackle affairs built from available natural materials. Much post-apocalyptic fiction also commonly depicts the need for nomadic lifestyles or otherwise improvised, transient housing options in the dangerous ruins of the world.
Despite all of these challenges and deprivations, those undertaking the Oregon Trail persevered in hopes of better lives ahead. They banded together for mutual aid and protection and helped encourage each other onwards. Even when things looked bleak, hope drove them forward. This dogged determination and maintenance of hope features prominently in a great deal of post-apocalyptic media. Even under the direst of circumstances, protagonists cling to the promise of the future.
The parallels between the Oregon Trail and imagined post-apocalyptic scenarios are clear. From the unpredictable threats to the scraped-together supplies and shelters, the experience of making a life in an unfamiliar land was not so different from what writers and creators have envisioned for life after a world-changing disaster. The human spirit persevered on the trail just as it does in even the grimmest fictional dystopias. Life was 10 percent what happened and 90 percent how people responded to it. That has remained true from the journey of the pioneers to the pages of post-apocalyptic novels and films all these years later.
This is what makes the Reluctant Wagon Train Bride Series a form of Romantic Suspense. The couples in each story are overcoming nature and other obstacles as they continue the trip to a place of hope and safety. If you’re interested in reading, I wrote the first book in the series, A Journey for Lily. You can find out more about my story and the rest of the series here: