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My fascination with Colonial America, particularly stirring tales of the frontier and the Shawnee Indians, is an early and abiding one. My English, Scot-Irish ancestors had interactions with this tribe, including family members taken captive. These accounts inspired my passion. Intrigued with all things Celtic, much of my writing features these early Scot-Irish forebears who settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and surrounding mountains, spreading into Tennessee and the Carolinas.
This absorption with Colonial America also extends to the high drama of the Revolution. My ancestors fought and loved on both sides of that sweeping conflict. My research into the Southern face of the war was partly inspired by my great-great-great grandfather, Sam Houston, uncle of the famous Sam, who kept a journal of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, 1781, that is used by historians today.
I am a member of Romance Writers of America, Virginia Romance Writers and Celtic Heart Romance Writers. I have completed six historical romance novels and am at work on a seventh with several more waiting in the wings.
I am married and live on a farm in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley with children and multiple animals. The beauty of the valley and uniqueness of rural life has led me to write a collection of atmospheric personal essays compiled into a work of nonfiction.
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Somewhere My Love
Newly arrived at Foxleigh, the gracious old Wentworth home in Virginia,
British born Julia Morrow is excited at the prospect of a summer working as a guide in the stately house and herb garden. She
quickly discovers the historic plantation holds far more. She becomes obsessed with the portrait of handsome Cole Wentworth,
killed in a quarrel over the lovely English lady, Julia Maury, two hundred years ago. Then she meets his double, William,
the only remaining Wentworth heir. Somehow, Julia must persuade Will that their fates are entwined with those of Cole
Wentworth and Julia Maury, and that the man who killed his ancestor has returned to enact the deadly cycle again, or
she will lose him twice. The blade is about to fall.
Although SOMEWHERE MY LOVE is coming out with the Faery Rose, the story is set in a colonial plantation home along the James River with flashbacks to early nineteenth century Virginia. The past is deeply interwoven with the present in this unusual murder mystery/ghost story romance novel.
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Enemy of the King
1780, South Carolina: While Loyalist Meriwether Steele recovers from illness in the
stately home of her beloved guardian, Jeremiah Jordan, she senses the haunting presence
of his late wife. When she learns that Jeremiah is a Patriot spy and shoots Captain
Vaughan, the British officer sent to arrest him, she is caught up on a wild ride into
Carolina back country, pursued both by the impassioned captain and the vindictive ghost.
Will she remain loyal to her king and Tory twin brother, or risk a traitor’s death fighting
for Jeremiah? If Captain Vaughan snatches her away, he won’t give her a choice.
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