So…I’ve been swamped this year with three book releases, plus my first re-print. In case you missed any of this, here’s what 2019 has held for me so far…and what’s coming in the next couple months.

Sand Creek Serenade came out out March 14.

Cameo Courtships came out June 1.

The Cowboys releases in just a few days–August 15.

My first release from back in 2015, The Oregon Trail Romance Collection, is getting a second print run on November 1 this year–so YAY, you’ll be able to purchase paperback copies again in just a few months.

I’ve also worked on several proposals for new projects that are currently being shopped to publishers, as well as lots of blog posts and promotional work for the above titles. This is all hugely exciting to me, and I’m very grateful for the opportunities that continue to come my way. But all these releases are also the reason why I haven’t shared the news of what’s coming up in 2020. So, without further ado…let me share.

I’ve got two novella collections coming up next year. I’ll share about the first one here. Keep watching for more details on the second in the near future.

The first novella collection is called Blacksmith Brides. It is a 4-in-1 collection from Barbour Publishing and will include stories by Pegg Thomas, Amanda Barratt, Angela Couch, and me. Here’s the back-cover description:

Hearts Are Forged by the Flames of Gentle Love in 4 Historical Stories
 
Worth Fighting For (1774—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) by Pegg Thomas
Talk of war has surrounded Meg McCracken, including her father and four brothers. Alexander Ogilvie doesn’t care about the coming war; his plans are to head west. When Meg comes to his smithy, sparks fly off more than the forge. But can they build anything during unstable times?
 
Forging Forever (1798—Cornwall, England) by Amanda Barratt
When the actions of Elowyn Brody’s father force her into a marriage of convenience with blacksmith Josiah Hendrick, she consigns love to a bygone dream. But as Elowyn comes to know her new husband, her flame of hope begins to burn again. Until heartache threatens to sever the future forged between them.
 
A Tempered Heart (1861—Charlottesville, Virginia) By Angela K. Couch
Buried under a debt that is not his own, Thomas Flynn’s only focus is gaining his freedom. He has learned to keep his head low and not pay attention to the troubles of others, until a peculiar boy and his widowed mother show him how empty his life has become. After years of protecting her son from slights and neglect of the people closest them, Esther Mathews is not sure how to trust the local blacksmith with her child…or her heart.
 
A Malleable Heart (California—1870) by Jennifer Uhlarik
A hard-hearted blacksmith finds acceptance with the town laundress. But when his past comes to call, will he resist love’s softening or allow God to hammer his ruined life into something of worth?

I’m writing my story for this collection right now, and so far, two chapters in, I’m loving it! After struggling with some of the proposals I worked on, this story is flowing and I’m enjoying the process again! This is great news. I need to have this story completed by October 1, but I’m hoping to really hammer it out in August and have it done soon. 

Now…are you ready? I already have the cover for Blacksmith Brides!!! Want to see it? I thought you might, so…here it is.

To me, the cover is beautiful, although you might be wondering why it doesn’t feature a man with a hammer standing at an anvil. The truth is, you’d be rather surprised how hard it is to find photos of historically accurate blacksmiths! So the cover artists at Barbour found the picture above, and fortunately for me, it will fit with a scene later in my novella. So I’ll be describing my hero in this pose at some point in the story. Fun.

So…there’s the first part of the 2020 news. Yahoo–new stories coming up! Keep watching for the other half of the 2020 news in the coming days or weeks. 

As always, thanks for reading! Hope you’re as excited as I am.