Run, don't walk, to get this historical!

Shadowed in Silk will keep you up long past your bedtime—each time you want to put it down, you tell yourself, just one more page, just one more page…

Lindsay has written of two characters, Major Geoff Richards and Abby Fraser, who grab you from the beginning and don’t let go until the last page. They are in an impossible situation which only gets more difficult, but the reader roots for them from the moment they meet on board a ship bound for India, he to take up his old post after surviving the horrors of World War I and she to return to her childhood home.

You’ll fall in love with Geoff—the strong, silent hero with a tragic past, who proves to be a wonderful surrogate father to Abby’s young son, and a quiet protector to Abby when she is faced by more danger than she knows.

And you’ll feel for Abby, trying to do what’s right when her life seems to have ended before it has a chance to begin and coming finally to that place of acknowledging that she can’t do it on her own.

There’s a wonderful set of secondary characters, especially those Indian Christians who endure the loss of everything for their newfound faith.

The Indian backdrop with its sights, smells and sounds and the increasing turmoil under the British raj only add to the allure of this story. For those who love The Far Pavilions and The Jewel in the Crown, with the addition of a strong Christian theme and a wonderful romance, this book is for you!

Wonderful story set on the mid-coast of America right before the War of 1812. Eakes knows her historical period as well as sailing. You can just imagine yourself in that time period, feel the spray on your cheeks as you skim the waves on a fishing sailboat.
You also get a good view of what led up to the war from the American side. I'm so used to studying it from the British and French perspectives.
But most of all, you get to read about a wonderfully charming British hero and his growing fascination with a tart, no-nonsense midwife, who, nevertheless, is enough of a free spirit that he finds himself falling in love before he knows it.
But it's a hopeless love as they see it, since he is not from her world, and she can never fit in his. Throw in a mystery plot, which the two join forces to solve, and you have the ingredients of a great suspenseful romance.

New Book

My fourth Love Inspired Historical is out this month. A Gentleman's Homecoming is set in one of my favorite periods, Victorian England. I delved into the field of engineering for this one. I was interested in all the great projects being built in the second half of the 19th century: railroad bridges, tunnels, the first subways, skyscrapers, etc.
So, what if you have a prominent male engineer and a female who's always dreamed of being an engineer, an old crush, a child...
Mix it all up and you have A Gentleman's Homecoming.

The Master's Wall

Sandi Rog has written an action-packed story taking place in the First Century. She creates a fascinating look at both the slave and upper level Roman world, Christian and pagan. I really enjoyed the young slave's interaction with his new mentor and trainer, fellow slave, Titus, who teaches him to fight.
Rog makes it seem like she was really there in ancient Rome, detailing all kinds of fascinating everyday details (especially the food) sprinkled with references to politics and things going on in the outside world (to the villa, where most of the action takes place).
I think the story between 11-yr. old Alethea and 15 yr. old David is great for Y/A's. Lots of emotion and character growth (especially for the heroine).
Nice, romantic development as the hero and heroine grow up.

New Book in Dutch

I just found the cover of my newest book--a book that for now is only published in Dutch.

Originally titled In Your Eyes, this is a story of love, revenge and intrigue in the Golden era of the Netherlands, a time when great fortunes were made in the East Indies in the spice trade and at home on the newly created stock exchange. Tulips were the rage, and the painters of the Lowlands were beginning to vie with the Italian masters for preeminence.

Orphaned Francesca di Paolo dreams of becoming a portrait painter when mysterious, dashing, larger-than-life Dirk Vredeman walks into her life--a subject she longs to capture on her canvas--and who threatens to capture her carefully guarded heart.

But does he love her--or is she only a means to an end for him?

In Your Eyes translated to De Zee in Je Ogen will be available to Dutch readers in June.

This story was a finalist in Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart contest, the premier contest for unpublished romance writers.

Here's a glimpse of the write-up from Dutch publisher Mozaeik : De Zee in Je Ogen

Medieval Time Travel

Want to travel back to mid-fourteenth century England?

You'll have a great visit and meet some very interesting people in Deb Kinnard's new book, Seasons in the Mist. Her heroine, Bethany, stumbles through some kind of time portal into a manor house in Cornwall. Luckily for her, she is a medieval scholar, so she can quickly make herself understood in Middle English. Explaining her jeans and t-shirt are a bit more challenging.

Once she has satisfied her hosts that she has lost her memory and was most likely set upon by thieves, she is taken to the nearby lord, Baron Michael Veryan, whom she must convince she is legit.

When the two lay eyes on each other, they don't realize it yet, but 21st century Bethany has met her destiny...

Medieval Scottish Romance

For those medieval lovers, there will soon be a great Scottish highland romance out on the shelves: Highland Blessings by Jennifer Hudson Taylor. This is her debut novel. It features a great brawny hero and a petite heroine who is more than his match. He starts out quite insensitive and brutish but ends up putty in her artful hands. She is a strong woman of faith, a faith that she'll need when she is snatched from her home by the hero and taken away to his castle.
If you'd like to pre-order, you can do so on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
Here's the link to the Amazon page: Highland Blessings.