If you love heartwarming and hilarious stories with a touch of awkward family drama, don’t miss my free short story “The Sushi Toss!” This romantic comedy vignette takes place immediately after the events of my Contemporary Christian Romance novel Sushi for One , and follows the characters into a chaotic wedding scene inspired by my real-life experiences as a single woman at family weddings. Yes—this actually happened to me! Even if you haven’t read Sushi for One , you’ll still enjoy this funny, feel-good story packed with wedding mayhem and family antics. 👉 Click here to download “The Sushi Toss” for free on BookFunnel. (Note: If you’re already subscribed to my newsletter, be sure to use the same email address to avoid duplicate subscriptions.)

My novel, The Lone Rice Ball , is in the multi-author box set, Once Upon a Starry Night , a Christian contemporary romance collection. Also in the box set is my friend Jan Thompson’s novel, Let Me Hold You . I made this pattern for her to celebrate our box set being released. It’s the crossbody bag worn by Jan’s character Maggie. You can download a free PDF of the pattern here (no email necessary). See this pattern in Ravelry. If you are savvy with a sewing machine, you can make a cloth lining and sew it to the inside. If you use a stretchy fabric, you can take advantage of the stretchy nature of the bag. If you leave it unlined, you can take this bag to the beach and easily shake the sand out of it. I happened to have a D-ring and buckle, which I used to make the strap adjustable, but you don’t need these to make this bag. You can simply sew the end of the strap to the bag rather than using the D-ring. If you have a D-ring but not a buckle, you can do a (YO, k2tog) in the ...

My Christian contemporary romance, Single Sashimi , includes some of the wilder tales from my and my husband’s stints as youth staff workers at our church. The Steven character in the book is actually the same Steven who’s the associate pastor and youth group leader at our church now, since I wrote Single Sashimi when he was still in youth group. :) He’s a young man in his late twenties (maybe early thirties?), and he’s full of great ideas and lots of energy. On one particular Saturday, my husband and I were at youth group as usual. Steven had bought a tug of war rope—the really long, thick kind that looks like it belongs on a sea trawler. The opening game for the kids was, of course, tug of war. Then we came indoors for a three-song worship set. After worship, we usually split up into Junior High and High School for lessons, but this time Steven had an idea: “Okay guys, we’re going to have a tug of war--staff versus kids. If you guys win, we’ll ditch the lesson and go out t...

I just joined Sweet Romance Reads, a group of authors who all write sweet romances in a variety of sub-genres. I’m friends with several of the authors from my days writing for Harlequin/Love Inspired, so it’s nice to be able to join their group. If you’re on Facebook, this is their Facebook page , and this is their Facebook group . I posted my introductory post yesterday on the Sweet Romance Reads blog (Blogger), where I listed three strange things about me. Click here to read the post, and tell me three strange things about you!

August 27, 2024 Update on Year of the Dog While I originally was posting this as a free serial read on my blog, I wasn’t able to keep working on it while also working on my Christian Regency romantic suspense series, Lady Wynwood’s Spies. To be honest, this story has languished for over two years now, and I decided to simply finish writing it. Rather than continuing it as a monthly serial novel (which is really too slow to release chapters of a book), I’ll be releasing Year of the Dog in May 2025 as a completed novel in a Christian Suspense anthology. Once I have the preorder information, I’ll post it here.

I’m happy to announce that my first Contemporary Romance story in 5 years releases today! The Wedding Kimono is one of TWELVE novellas in this massive Christian Contemporary Romance collection. Here’s the back cover description: Weddings for every season and occasion. Adventures, mishaps, and dream destinations—this collection has it all! As our guest of honor, you’re cordially invited on a journey through twelve heartwarming and inspirational novellas that will take you from small-town America to romantic Paris, from the sunny shores of Hawaii to New Zealand. Office romances, friends-to-lovers, second chances, and more await you in these stories full of forgiveness, redemption, laughter, and love. Say “I do” and claim your copy of this limited-time anthology by your favorite USA Today and bestselling Christian romance authors! January Hope by Kari Trumbo Clothing historian Cleo goes on the hunt for an 1880s fashion magazine wedding dress. Discovering it's part of a mu...

This year, I'll be releasing my first Christian Contemporary Romance in 5 years! The Wedding Kimono is the prequel novella for my new series, the Warubozu Spa Chronicles , and will be released in Save the Date , a Christian Romance Wedding anthology, on October 12th. Here’s the back cover description: Raised by a single father with two older brothers, tomboy Lila has often been mistaken for a young man because of her androgynous looks. However, she's very popular with the women at the massage therapy spa where she works, who love her older-sister vibe. She feels this is where God wants her to be, helping women feel beautiful and good about themselves. Secretly she's attracted to her boss at work, spa manager Fred, but she holds no hope since there's nothing feminine about her, and she's four inches taller than he is. Then, when cleaning out the attic for her father, she finds her maternal grandmother's gorgeous antique wedding kimono. Being half-Japanese...

Chautona Havig is one of the twelve authors who participated with me in the Christian Contemporary Romance anthology, Save the Date . Chautona’s novella in the anthology was titled Adoring April . In celebration, I wrote a knitting pattern for the Newsboy Hat used by Chautona’s heroine, April. (In case you missed it, here are the links for my interview with Chautona part 1 and part 2 , and an excerpt of one of Chautona’s other books, Blessing Bentley .) Chautona’s heroine April wears a casual blue cotton Newsboy Cap. I knit it with Knit Picks Dishie, which is a sturdy cotton yarn. I specifically designed this to only use one ball of Dishie. The hat is knit in the round, making the lace part of the crown very easy. I have charted the pattern below. Just double click on the chart to see the larger version, which you can right-click to save on your computer. The pattern for the crown is a combination of the pattern Figure 47 Block for Counterpane in the Priscilla Cotton Knit...

Today is part of my interview with Contemporary Romance author Chautona Havig ! ( Part one is here. ) Chautona’s bio: Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her at chautona.com and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name. Camy here: Chautona is one of the twelve authors participating with me in the Christian Contemporary Romance anthology, Save the Date , which releases September 15. Chautona will be on my blog three times! Twice for a two-part interview, and an excerpt of her book, Blessing Bentley . Tomorrow I’ll also post a special knitting pattern for the Newsboy Cap that Chautona’s heroine April uses in her novella, Adoring April , in the Save the Date anthology! And here, he’s me and Chautona! Camy: What was the funnest...

Today, I’m posting an excerpt from Chautona Havig’s Christian Contemporary Romance, Blessing Bentley , book 1 in the Marriages of Conviction series. Here’s the back cover description: Bentley Girard's about to propose... to a guy she doesn't even love. Not THAT way anyway. After studying everything the Bible has to say about marriage, she's decided she wants in. Now. So who's going to take her up on that offer? And just why did no one reminded her that those vows include that little word, "love?" I interviewed Chautona in a two part interview— part 1 is here and part 2 is coming next week. I’ll also post a special knitting pattern for a drawstring purse that Chautona’s heroine April uses in her novella, Adoring April , in the Save the Date anthology! Excerpt: (Note from Chautona: I cut from the middle of the chapter, but you’ll get up to speed mid-excerpt) Bentley pulled her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk. “I’ll do that. Thank you...