A Little About Me

With a new year upon us, and some new followers, I thought I would do a little about me! I'd love to know more about you, as well! Do we have anything in common? What is your favorite genre to read? What is one thing you are looking forward to this year? Do you have a pet? Let me know!

A New Year's Gift For Me!

Happy New Year! I stayed up late to welcome in the new year, then started 2026 by watching Seeking Persephone, a movie based off of Sarah Eden's book of the same name. The movie was SO good! I can't wait to watch it again. The acting was really well-done, (my compliments to the casting director, they nailed it!) the story had me riveted, the entire production truly was so, so good. I hope we can get more movies like that!

My Top Ten Books of 2025

It was hard to choose my top ten books of 2025 but here's what I came up with.

1. The Fur Trader's Lady by Gabrielle Meyer

2. Town of Shadows by Jessica Scarlett

3. Over the Edge by Stephanie Black

4. Against a Crescent Storm by A.L. Sowards

5. Discovering Dahlia by Jennifer Moore

6. A Hopeful Proposal by Samantha Hastings

7. Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews

8. The Marriage Method by Mimi Matthews

9. The Best-Kept Secrets by Sarah Eden

10. If You'll Have Me by Esther Hatch

What was your favorite book you read this year?

Christmas Sweater

 I just couldn't resist posting this picture of my sweet little Teddy in his new Christmas sweater! He's such a happy little guy and a very good boy. I hope you had the best holiday!

The Book I Devoured in ONE Day!

I had a wonderful Christmas with my family and we've had a restful weekend after all the celebration. I hope you did, too! But I have to tell you about this book I read--IN ONE DAY!

My friend and fellow author Becky Monson recommended The Fur Trader's Lady by Gabrielle Meyer to me and I've sort of been in a little book slump so I immediately downloaded it from KU and started reading and I couldn't stop! It was SO well-written and I was sucked right into the story. I loved the slow burn romance, and the tension of what the villain was going to do when he finally found our hero and heroine was ratcheting up higher and higher with every page and I couldn't wait to see how it all ended! I devoured this book and I've already downloaded the next one in the series.

Does that ever happen to you? What have you been reading lately?

Get your copy of The Fur Trader's lady HERE

Here's the back copy:

To escape her guardian’s plans to marry her, Lady Charlotte Fairfax steals away to Montreal to locate Reid McCoy, a fur trader who owes her fiancé a debt for saving his life. Even though European women are forbidden from entering the interior, she is desperate to get to her fiancé deep within the northwestern wilderness.

Reid McCoy has worked hard for fifteen years to become a shareholder in the North West Company and is on the brink of realizing that goal. Taking Charlotte into the interior will not only put her life at risk, but it could also jeopardize his dreams. Honor bound to repay his debt, his only option is to have Charlotte dress as a man and enter as his assistant clerk.

With Charlotte’s guardian close on their trail and a personal rival willing to do anything to keep Reid from becoming a shareholder, they will embark on an epic journey that will test not only their strength and endurance, but their hearts, as well.

A Métis Christmas is On Sale!

I was talking to a friend about my children's picture book, A Métis Christmas, and when we looked it up on Amazon, the HARDCOVER is on sale for half price and it will still be delivered by Christmas! If you love to learn about different cultures and how they celebrate Christmas, you will love learning about the beautiful Métis traditions!

Get your sale copy HERE

Here's the back copy:

A beautiful introduction to Métis culture and traditions . . .

Thelma, a young Metis girl, can hardly wait for Christmas, and it is the night before the big day. Her family is celebrating with lots of food, including Thelma's favorite jam with bannock, and her father will dress in his traditional clothing to tell them the ancestor stories---but all Thelma wants to do is her best, most fancy, jigging dance. Stopping for a moment so her grandmother can read the story of the Christ child's birth, Thelma wonders what she could have given the baby had she been there that special night---and then her heart tells her what gift she can give right now!

*Winner of the Best of State Medal for Children's Books*

"Julie Coulter Bellon captures the specific distinction of the Métis powerfully...This story has a rightful place on the shelves of every home and school library." ---Readers' Favorite

Review of The Marriage Method

Mimi Matthews' new book, The Marriage Method, combines love, mystery, and a little bit of mayhem! Nell is the deputy headmistress of the Crinoline Academy and she has been sent on her first mission--to meet with newspaperman Miles and deflect his curiosity about the academy. Before she can so much as answer more than one of his questions, however, a mishap with a cat changes her life forever. Caught in a compromising position, Nell must marry Miles to save both of their reputations. They find common ground as they work to discover what happened to a missing reporter and a missing orphan, but the villains are tightening the circle around Nell and Miles and they are in more danger than they think. Can they trust the love they are building? Or will they be torn apart by those who have secrets to keep?

Ms. Matthews has truly outdone herself in this riveting new mystery romance. Nell and Miles have both survived difficult childhoods and made something of themselves, and both characters are easy to relate to and care about. The setting and description is so beautifully done and each character comes with a depth that endears them to you. Readers will love Nell's determination to find the missing girl and be there for her as no one was for Nell as a child. Miles collects stray cats like friends and it is so tender to see him fall in love with Nell and the wonder he feels at having someone to call his own. He also has an abundance of daring in trying to find out what happened to his reporter and when his efforts are combined with Nell's, there's no good place to stop reading because you'll want to see what happens next. The author deftly intertwines the mystery with the love story and contrasts the seedy underbelly of London with two love-starved souls who need each other, but are afraid to take a risk. Ms. Matthews is truly a gift for readers who enjoy a mystery with plenty of twists and turns combined with a swoony romance that will suck you in and keep you up late reading one more page.

You can get your copy HERE

Here is the back copy:

The Academy always comes first . . . which makes marriage to its most formidable adversary an exceedingly inconvenient arrangement.

Well removed from London’s more curious eyes, the Benevolent Academy for the Betterment of Young Ladies strives toward one clandestine goal: to distract, disrupt, and discredit men in power who would seek to harm the advancement of women—by appropriate means, of course.

When intrepid newspaper editor Miles Quincey starts to question the school’s intentions, the Academy appoints Penelope “Nell” Trewlove, one of their brightest graduates, to put this nuisance to rest. An easy enough mission, she supposes. Or it would be, if Miles wasn’t so fascinating—too fascinating to resist—and if Nell’s visit to London didn’t perfectly coincide with the murder of one of Miles’s reporters.

When the inexorable claws of fate trap Nell and Miles in a compromising situation, they agree to an arrangement that will save their reputations while enabling them to investigate the story that led to a man’s death, as well as the surprising chemistry between them . . .