The world can wait

  Why I wrote Cooking up a Mystery I planned Cooking up a Mystery because I wanted to write a series of books about women entrepreneurs who started their own businesses and succeeded while depending on their faith. I enjoy reading and writing about mysteries, so I knew I wanted a mystery, but my main character still needed a business. Searching my thoughts for a skill I knew well took me back to my mother, grandmother and aunts’ kitchens. They created gourmet Southern U.S. dishes from scratch and made it look easy. I can’t replicate a lot of their delicacies, but I have most of their recipes and the advantage of watching them prepare them for many, many years, so I decided my entrepreneur would cook.  From then on, I could see Laney Eskridge, my heroine, in the commercial kitchen at her tea house. Laney needed a reason to start her own catering service and tea house, and what better than having her husband leave. Starting a business requires expertise, determination and hard work.

  Back cover blurb :   She wants independence. He wants her affections. They’ll have to face her past for any chance of a future. Escaping an abusive boyfriend, Meg Gilmore finds refuge in Sycamore Hill. She’s particularly drawn to a 250-year-old tree she names Alfred. Like her, Alfred is a survivor, and the shade beneath its protective branches is her go-to place for solace. When a construction firm slates the majestic tree for destruction, Meg resolves to save Alfred. But Meg underestimates an adversary who refuses to yield to her requests to work around the tree. Eli Martin’s family money is as old as the tree Meg is desperate to save. Attracted to Meg from day one, he sees Meg’s campaign to save Alfred as his chance to seal her affections. The best way to fight big business is to attack them in the pocketbook, and he devises a plan that Meg’s adversary won’t be able to afford to fight. When Meg’s ex arrives, Eli once again rises to her aid. However, Meg insists he can’t simply th

  REDEMPTION’S HOPE   First blurb “Two orphaned children. Two different sets of villains. A man without a country and a woman with too much past. And a rambunctious young country where anything went, especially in the West. Seriously. What could go wrong?” Second blurb “The world wanted to put their love in a box. So they made their own world.” Third blurb “Redemption’s Hope” is the third and last installment of Kathleen D. Bailey’s “Western Dreams” series, following “Westward Hope” and “Settler’s Hope.” The novel takes Jenny Thatcher, a secondary character in the first two books on the ride of her life, from the Oregon Country to New Mexico to San Antonio to New Orleans and back, as she looks for her dream and finds herself in the bargain. White Bear, the Cheyenne brave, has a foot in two worlds but feels at home in neither. He longs to reconnect with the spirited white woman who had sought refuge with his family three years before. Is his true home with “Blue Eyes,” t

  Blurb: Charlee Bennett is running from her past. Once deserted by her musician ex-fianc é , she ’ s vowed to avoid anything that reminds her of the pain of his betrayal. Chance Jackson is starting over. Hoping to redeem the mistakes of his earlier life, he hopes to become the music and worship pastor of the largest church in Crescent Bluff. Charlee tries to convince herself she should not be attracted to Chance. But then she discovers an old letter hidden in the secret drawer of an antique desk. The pain expressed by its author resonates deep within her. Can the words of long ago soften Charlee's heart and help her discover that there is a time for singing?    Extract:               So, who would it be tonight?             From her table in the back corner, Charlee Bennett surveyed the inn ’ s small dining room. The only empty chair sat across from her, a sure sign she ’ d soon have a dinner companion.             She smoothed the white linen napkin in her lap a