I was recently honored in Chicago with the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. Receiving this award made me stop and look back over my writing “career” and I found it hard to believe that I’ve been writing (professionally) for more than twenty years. How is that even possible? Before I got serious about writing I tended to flit from one “career” to the next. I never lasted at one thing for more than a few years. Although I learned a lot of interesting things in my diverse occupations, I could never find something I loved doing enough to imagine doing it for the rest of my life. However, I had always loved writing. I just never dreamed I could make a career of it. And even now—with more than 200 books published and more than five million books sold—I am more amazed than anyone. How did that happen?

LOCK STOCK AND OVER A BARREL

With high hopes, Daphne Ballinger lands her dream job at The New York Times. But it's not long until writing about weddings becomes a painful reminder of her own failed romance, and her love of the city slowly sours as well. Is it time to give up the Big Apple for her small hometown of Appleton?

When her eccentric Aunt Dee passes away and leaves a sizeable estate to Daphne, going back home is an easy choice. What isn’t easy is coming to terms with the downright odd clauses written into the will.

Daphne only stands to inherit the estate if she agrees to her aunt's very specific posthumous terms -- personal and professional. And if she fails to comply, the sprawling old Victorian house shall be bequeathed to . . . Aunt Dee’s cats.

And if Daphne thinks that’s odd, wait until she finds out an array of secrets about Aunt Dee's life, and how imperfect circumstances can sometimes lead to God's perfect timing.

A SIMPLE SONG

Katrina Yoder loves to sing, but her Amish parents view singing as vainglory and a sin. Katrina's best friend, Bekka, is convinced Katrina should try out for American Star, a televised singing competition that Bekka has been secretly watching. Katrina resists the temptation until her father's health worsens. He desperately needs a surgery the family cannot afford. Katrina decides she must go against her parents' wishes to win the money needed to help her father. But how will she handle herself as an Amish teenager out in the world?

ENTICED

Sixteen-year-old Simi Fremont thinks she’s found her dream job and the solution to her family’s money problems. But the modeling agency she found online is not what it seems. It’ll take every bit of her faith for her to escape the dangerous scheme and survive.

Prom Queen

Megan Bernard would sell her soul to be prom queen. Okay, maybe not her soul. But her popular older sister Belinda was prom queen last year, and Megan is certain that the only thing that would make her truly happy would be to attain the same honor. Her mom thinks it would be pretty cool too. But when Megan decides she'll do whatever it takes to take home the crown, life gets decidedly complicated. Maybe "celebrity" isn't all it's cracked up to be after all.

"Hard work by your friends and fairy-tale good luck can get you elected prom queen—if you want it badly enough. After catching a televangelist’s message to “believe it and receive it,” Megan decides that the prom crown will be hers. As part of her campaign during the months running up to prom, she tries to get involved in a range of extracurricular activities at her Christian high school, do good works, show leadership, lose weight, and get a date for the big night. While the teen guy characters don’t feel fully developed, here, Megan and her girlfriends are presented as credibly flawed and sympathetic, and readers will enjoy all of Megan’s projects to boost her electability, even if they occasionally stretch probability. There is no need for readers to refer to earlier episodes in the Life at Kingston High series for this entry to make sense to fans of very gentle Christian romances." — Francisca Goldsmith for Booklist

Blood Sisters

"We'll always be best friends."

"That afternoon Mr. Jones read to them from Tom Sawyer, and when he reached the part about blood brothers, Judith knew just what she and Jasmine should do. Hidden behind an oak tree, the little girls jabbed their forefingers with a thumbtack and mixed their blood to become honest-to-goodness blood sisters. In their childish hearts they vowed to be best friends forever and ever."

Judith Blackwell returns to Cedar Crest trying to understand the sudden death of her dearest childhood friend, Jasmine Morrison. But her questions seem only to raise more questions. What is the dark secret of the sleepy little town she once called home? Why hadn’t Jasmine been in contact with her? And where is God in all this? In her quest for the truth in matters of the heart and faith, Judith turns to a dedicated police detective. Together they form a plan that could either save Cedar Crest or send them tumbling down the same desperate road Jasmine found herself on.

A Dream for Tomorrow

Elizabeth Martin and her two children have made it through the easy part of their journey, but now their wagon train faces high mountain passes, dangerous river crossings, and decreasing supplies. Desperate circumstances bring out the best and worst of the travelers, including Will Bramford, the wealthy widower who is pursuing Elizabeth, and Eli Kincade, the independent and solitary guide who has stolen Elizabeth's heart.

As the group reaches the Oregon Country, the emigrants part ways to find their new homes. Elizabeth and Will and their families have made arrangements to board a ship that will take them south along the coast. Will Eli change his plans and accompany Elizabeth to her new and permanent home? Or will his mysterious past continue to keep them from love?