Colonial America spans a fascinating swathe of time–the ultimate adventure series–from early European settlements in the late 16th century up through the American Revolution. I have ancestral ties in America from its beginnings, including a Churchman listed on the ship’s roster from the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island. And then there’s the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Got that bizarre era covered, too. Research into family genealogy spurs my interest and spawns story ideas, along with dreams and a feeling of being led by my ancestors; I’m definitely inspired by them. I never set a story anywhere not associated with those who’ve gone before me.
Many eras and settings within this intriguing period haven’t yet made appearances in my work. That’s not to say they won’t. I tend to favor the mid to latter 18th century. Anything from lavish manor homes in posh society to rustic log cabins and Indian lodges–think woodlands and mountains in the colonial frontier–think The Last of the Mohicans. March with Revolutionary War soldiers and Shawnee Warriors, though not in the same scene. Gather around campfires in jovial company, or in preparation for battle. Frolic at balls and dinner parties, whoop it up at raucous frontier weddings. Savor idyllic Christmas celebrations and run for your life during fort assaults. Enjoy carriage rides and hang on tight in wild gallops. Visit ghostly homes and search for haunted treasure. Saunter arm in arm or load muskets. Decipher a coded letter. Who’s the spy? Could be anyone.
Gentlemen and frontiersmen, ladies and warriors, pirates and redcoats, Colonial America is all about contrast. The very wealthy, the hardy and heroic who survive by their wits, sumptuous homes, the untamed land and the even wilder men who battle for their place in it. All are a part of this dynamic era.
I meticulously research my work, and think where the stories will go, but they have a way of asserting themselves. The past will speak out.
Step back in time with mystery, adventure, and romance.
Enemy of King: 1780, South Carolina: While Loyalist Meriwether Steele recovers from illness in the stately home of her beloved guardian, Jeremiah Jordan, she senses the haunting presence of his late wife. When she learns that Jeremiah is a Patriot spy and shoots Captain Vaughan, the British officer sent to arrest him, she is caught up on a wild ride into Carolina back country, pursued both by the impassioned captain and the vindictive ghost. Will she remain loyal to her king and Tory twin brother or risk a traitor’s death fighting for Jeremiah? If Captain Vaughan snatches her away, he won’t give her a choice.
Traitor’s Legacy (Sequel to award-winning historical romance novel, Enemy of the King): Recent Release!
1781. On opposite sides of the War of Independence, British Captain Jacob Vaughan and Claire Monroe find themselves thrust together by chance and expediency. Captain Vaughan comes to a stately North Carolina manor to catch a spy. Instead, he finds himself in bedlam: the head of the household is an old man ravaged by madness, the one sane male of the family is the very man he is hunting, and the household is overseen by his beguiling sister Claire. Torn between duty, love, and allegiances, yearning desperately for peace, will Captain Vaughan and Claire Monroe forge a peace of their own against the vagaries of war and the betrayal of false friends.
Colonial American Christmas Romance
A Warrior for Christmas (also available in audio): Reclaimed by his wealthy uncle, former Shawnee captive Corwin Whitfield finds life with his adopted people at an end and reluctantly enters the social world of 1764. He plans to return to the colonial frontier at his first opportunity–until he meets Uncle Randolph’s ward, Dimity Scott.
Deaf since a childhood bout of Scarlet fever, Dimity Scott intends to be cherished for herself, not her guardian’s purse, even if it means risking spinsterhood. Then the rugged newcomer arrives, unlike any man she’s ever known. Dimity has learned to manage her silent world, but unaccustomed to the dangers of the frontier, can she expect love and marriage from Corwin, who longs to return to his Shawnee life?
Award-winning historical romance novel
Red Bird’s Song: Can a Scots-Irish woman terrified of warriors fall in love with her Shawnee captor?
Taken captive by a Shawnee war party wasn’t how Charity Edmondson hoped to escape an unwanted marriage. Nor did Shawnee warrior Wicomechee expect to find the treasure promised by his grandfather’s vision in the unpredictable red-headed girl.
George III’s English Red-Coats, unprincipled colonial militia, prejudice and jealousy are not the only enemies Charity and Wicomechee will face before they can hope for a peaceful life. The greatest obstacle to happiness is in their own hearts.
As they struggle through bleak mountains and cold weather, facing wild nature and wilder men, Wicomechee and Charity must learn to trust each other.
Award-winning historical romance novel
Through the Fire: Will love inflame these two natural-born enemies in fiery destruction?
Passions run deep in the raging battle to possess a continent, its wealth and furs. Both the French and English count powerful Indian tribes as their allies.
English lady Rebecca Elliot, having eloped to America with a British captain, finds herself a widow. When she ventures into the colonial frontier with the militia to seek her uncle, she unwittingly enters a dangerous world of rugged mountains, wild animals, and even wilder men. The rules are different here and she doesn’t know them, especially those of the savagely handsome warrior who captures her body and her heart.
Half-Shawnee, half-French warrior Shoka, former guide for English traders, is the hawk, swift, sure, and silent as the moon. He knows all about survival in this untamed land and how deadly distraction can be. His intent is to sell Rebecca to the French before she draws him under her spell, but if he lets her go he can no longer protect her. If he holds onto her, can he safeguard his heart? With battle looming and an enemy warrior bent on vengeance, Shoka and Rebecca must decide whether to fight together or be destroyed.
The French and Indian War, A Shawnee Warrior, An English Lady, Blood Vengeance, Deadly Pursuit, Primal, Powerful, Passionate…Through the Fire~
Kira, Daughter of the Moon (sequel to Through the Fire):
With the terror of the French and Indian War fresh in her mind, can Kira love a white warrior?
Logan McCutcheon returns to colonial Virginia after seven years in the hands of Shawnee Indians. But was he really a captive, as everybody thinks? He looks and fights like a warrior, and seems eager to return to those he calls friends and family.
Kira McClure has waited for Logan all those years, passing herself off as odd to keep suitors at bay–and anyone else from getting too close. Now that he’s back, he seems to be the only person capable of protecting her from the advances of Josiah Campbell and accusations of witchcraft. And to defend the settlers against a well-organized band of murderous thieves.
Several other titles are set in the frontier just after the American Revolution, The Bearwalker’s Daughter and my short story, The Lady and the Warrior. I’m at work on a third set shortly after the war, the sequel to Traitor’s Legacy, Traitor’s Curse. Onward ho. The adventure continues.
Like this:
Like Loading...
“Beth Trissel has written a captivating ghost story entwining a contemporary love story with the mystery of a murder from the nineteenth century. The wonderful characters and evocative historical details caught my attention from the first page.”
One Writer's Way 
