A Welcome Note

Welcome to my website. Feel free to explore and learn more about me and my novels. I write historical women’s fiction and western historical romances.

Historical Women’s Fiction:

My HWF stories are best defined as a hybrid of fact and fiction. They feature real stories about real women with fiction forming their motivations and dialogue as well as connecting action between factual events. Based on research, I remain true to facts as they are known but create the story around those facts in order to make the women come alive so we can get to know them beyond the mark they have left on history. My first novel in this genre, NEVER LET GO, released in January 2021 (publication delayed from original date). NECESSARY DECEPTIONS: the Women of Wyatt Earp released in February 2022. 

Historical Romance:

In my romances, I blend conflict, romantic tension, and truly unique characters. I’ve always felt the very best books are those that grab hold of my emotions and make me feel. I love characters that have flaws and need to discover themselves, characters that are different enough to be memorable but familiar enough that I can identify with them.

My stories are set in the American West, in the last part of the 19th century. It is a time and place that intrigues me deeply. My imagination wraps itself around the western spirit, the Victorian customs, and this era of growth and change. There are so many stories in my mind, waiting to be told. I’m hoping you will be intrigued, as well, and that this will be the beginning of a long relationship.

About NECESSARY DECEPTIONS: The Women of Wyatt Earp 

Deception defined Wyatt Earp and the two women who were married to him longest. Their stories remained elusive, buried by the legend that emerged around Wyatt. Mattie Blaylock lived with him during the years when prostitution and corruption ran their lives, clinging to the lies she told herself and fighting to remain her own woman. Josephine Marcus deceived others her entire life, hiding her less-than-desirable past and opening doors to the role she craved. When Josie met Wyatt, it was easy enough to reinvent him as well. The myth that emerged from her fabrications created a history that destroyed Mattie and left Josie struggling to keep her stories straight.

About NEVER LET GO

On the day the Santee Sioux attacked the isolated settlement on Lake Shetek, the white women who lived there had long since accepted their youthful dreams would never be realized. None knew they were about to become pawns in a struggle between cultures. By day’s end, the five still alive recognized the challenges of their pasts were nothing compared to the strength it would take to survive nor that their views on what mattered most would be changed forever.

NEVER LET GO follows the lives of Laura Duley, Lavina Eastlick, Christina Koch, Almena Hurd, and Julia Wright from the time they left home to their settlement at Lake Shetek on the Minnesota frontier and through the Dakota Conflict of 1862. One abandoned on the prairie with two small children, one left for dead, and three taken captive: the stories of these five women should have been told long ago. Their entwined, true stories are finally realized in this women’s historical fiction.

(Five Star/Cengage. Available from your favorite book stores or online retailers.)

About ESCAPING YESTERDAY

Lottie Chase is willing to take any risk to save her daughter from their abusive uncle. Stranded in Denver during the summer of 1905, Lottie meets Caleb Hudson, manager at Elitch’s Gardens amusement park, who sees her as a manipulative huckster. Caleb, a veteran suffering from PTSD, craves the tranquility of the park’s gardens. Lottie brings anything but peace as she seeks to convince the owners to add thrill rides so she can collect the sales commission and support her daughter. Neither anticipates their growing passion, common demons, or the dangers they will face as they confront their pasts and free their love.

About CHANGES

In 1879, Omaha librarian Lise Dupree struggles to keep her part-Sioux heritage hidden as she reluctantly agrees to help research legal questions for a band of Ponca Indians led by Standing Bear.  What begins as a quest for justice becomes a search for identity as she encounters ambitious district attorney Zach Spencer in a battle that will force them both to change the roles they have created for themselves.  In the process, they confront Lise’s haunting past, Zach’s political aspirations, the dangerous prejudice of an unstable Indian agent, and the subtle differences between justice and the law.  They discover smoldering love and a shared passion for justice—theirs if they can embrace the changes that have allowed them to open their hearts to one another.

About CHOICES
When independent Miriam Longstreet is forced to abide by Fort Randall’s narrow social rules, she rebels. Unable to resist a forbidden relationship with rugged Private Jake Deakins, Miriam must take a stand against her abusive laudanum-addicted mother, a jealous and manipulative lieutenant, and her father’s authority as commanding officer. As Jake and Miriam face a raging blizzard and a possible court-martial, as well as escalating deception and violence, they discover commonalities and a love that crosses social boundaries if only they have the courage to make the choices to shape their own destinies.

About CHANCES
When outspoken female telegrapher Sarah Donovan, determined to make her mark on the world, ends up working with conservative Denver undertaker Daniel Petterman, sparks fly. His steadfast resistance to change, dislike of public attention, and distaste for Colorado’s 1876 suffrage movement hides a smoldering passion. Within it are rewards far more fulfilling than those offered by the acclaim she seeks or the consistency he clings to. To claim it, they must be willing to stand together against violence and charges of prostitution and take a chance on love.