Return to the Frontier with The Schoolmarm’s Convenient Marriage

I’m delighted to report that the fourth book in my Frontier Matches series, The Schoolmarm’s Convenient Marriage, is out in the world!

Once the darling of her Boston-area community, Alice Dennison has travelled across the entire country to start life over as a schoolteacher in the tiny settlement of Wallin Landing, north of frontier Seattle. No one there knows the humiliation and hurt hidden in her heart. Perhaps she can finally be herself. Then a storm forces her to seek shelter with a handsome logger for the night, and suddenly she’s facing marriage or scandal! Again!

One look, and shy Jesse Willets knew the pretty, proper schoolmarm wasn’t the woman for him. He saw the love between his mother and father, a love built on common values, shared experiences. He has nothing in common with Alice, except maybe a desire to make the world a little better.

The community comes together to help this unlikely couple find their way in a marriage of convenience, and Jesse and Alice begin to discover that they have more in common than they thought. When Alice’s past intrudes, revealing secrets, they must work together for their chance at happiness. In doing so, they may discover that true love is not so distant after all.

“This is a wonderful, sweet love story that I highly recommend for those who enjoy marriages of convenience or with an interest in the history of Washington state. There are many details that help ground the reader in the time and place, and I really love how this town has become almost a character in itself. This one should not be missed!” Lynda’s Reviews

Available at fine online retailers including

Directly from me 

Smashwords 

Amazon 

Barnes and Noble 

Apple Books 

Kobo  

Looking for print? Try Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Baking Her Frontier Sweethearts

I have featured recipes and dinners—from elaborate multi-course events to simple fare cooked over a campfire—in many of my books. But Her Frontier Sweethearts, out now, was the first time I dreamed up an entire restaurant, complete with menus! I hope you’ll enjoy returning with me to the frontier of the Pacific Northwest in 1876.

Ciara O’Rourke learned to bake sweet treats from the best, her older sister. Now determined to step out on her own, she agrees to start the first cookhouse and restaurant at Wallin Landing, a tiny settlement north of frontier Seattle. But nothing goes as planned, from the local loggers, who seem more interested in courting than being paying customers, to the baby who’s thrust into her arms by a stranger who rides off whispering warnings. 

Kit Weatherly sailed away from his controlling family on a tea clipper to explore the world. He’s since found a true family in the Wallin Landing logging crew. That is, until the pretty new cook informs him he’s uncle to a niece he never knew he had! One look in little Grace’s face, and Kit knows he’ll do anything to protect her. And one taste of Ciara’s cooking has him wondering what he’d have to do to convince her to take a chance on them both.

“Her Frontier Sweethearts was a winner for me. I love books about protecting children and books about fake engagements so this was a special treat for me. A+” Hott Book Reviews 

You can find the story in print and ebook at fine online retailers such as

Smashwords 
Amazon 
Barnes and Noble 
Apple Books 
Kobo 

Make your reservation for a sweet treat today.

Four Little Known Facts about Wallin Landing

As I prepare to say goodbye to Wallin Landing, the setting for my Frontier Bachelors series, I thought you might like to know a few secrets as about the town. Here then are little known facts about the setting:

1. It wasn’t originally intended to be. When I first started the Frontier Bachelors series, I had envisioned telling the stories of several of the Mercer Belles, those ladies from the East Coast who traveled west with Asa Mercer to civilize pioneer Seattle following the Civil War. But in the second book, Would-Be Wilderness Wife, I fell in love with the Wallin family and the little town they were trying to build on the shores of Lake Union. And so, what was originally planned to be a three-book series grew into an eight-book saga as each of the Wallin siblings met their match.

2. The stories about it span nearly a decade. So that I could plausibly write about the last three siblings, two of whom were in their teens in Would-Be Wilderness Wife, I had to expand the timeline as well. The books now span from January 1866 to April 1875. Seattle grew by leaps and bounds during that time. So did Wallin Landing.

3. The town grew with the books. If you’ve read the series, you’ve probably already noticed this one. With the advent of Frontier Matchmaker Bride, the little town has a post office (run by James Wallin), school (with Rina Wallin, his wife, teacher and Dottie Wallin, John’s wife, assistant), church (with Levi Wallin the minister), dispensary (run by Catherine Wallin, Drew’s wife), and general store (James again). Individuals serve the function of blacksmith (John Wallin), seamstress (Nora Wallin, Simon’s wife), music teacher (Callie Wallin, Levi’s wife), and medical professional (Catherine) besides farmer (Simon Wallin) and logger (Drew Wallin). Simon Wallin might even be called an architect of sorts. 

4. Wallin Landing isn’t Wallingford. There is a neighborhood in Seattle called Wallingford. It is actually the location Pa Wallin wanted to build his town originally. I picture the town of Wallin Landing in the Westlake/East Queen Anne area of the Seattle area instead, across the lake and to the west of Wallingford.

Finally, I’m getting lots of mail from readers asking whether I will return to Wallin Landing one day. I hope so. A certain family friend needs to find his happily-ever-after, and there’s Gillian Howard, Ciara and Aiden O’Rourke, Frisco and Sutter Murphy, and the Wallin children who will need spouses in a few years. However, my current publisher is ending its historical romance line, and other publishers are notoriously leery of taking on a series started elsewhere.

This industry has taught me to beware of saying “never.” Things changes, rights are reverted, readers clamor for more. Wallin Landing will be sitting on the shores of Lake Union, waiting.

And so will I.