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Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

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New Covers for My Novellas!

February 15, 2023 By D'Ann Mateer

What a great time—the day after Valentine’s Day—to reveal the new covers for my two historical romance novellas! Did you know I’ve written two novellas? I have! And with their new covers, it completes my name change from Anne to D’Ann. 

Here’s a bit about each book, along with its new cover. See what you think. 

No Small Storm

September 1815, Providence, Rhode Island

Thirty-year-old Remembrance “Mem” Wilkins loves her solitary life running the farm and orchard she inherited from her father and has no plans to give up her independence. Especially not for the likes of Mr. Graham Lott. But when Mem is unable to harvest the apples on her own, she accepts the help of the man she despises.

Fresh off a boat from Ireland with his four-year-old son in tow, Simon Brennan secures a building in which to ply his trade as a cobbler. Still healing from the grief of his wife’s death a year earlier, he determines to focus only on providing a good life for his son. But when he intervenes in an argument on behalf of the intriguing Miss Wilkins, sister-in-law of the tavern owner who befriends him, he suddenly finds himself crossways with his landlord, Mr. Lott, and relieved of his lease and most of his money. 

With no means of support, Simon takes a job helping Mem with her harvest, relieving her of the need of Lott’s help. But their growing attraction to each other makes them both uneasy. Mem gladly escapes to town when her sister begins labor, and Simon, believing it best to distance himself from Mem, takes his son and leaves. But neither anticipates the worst gale New England has ever seen—or that the storm will threaten all they hold dear.

Time Will Tell

Returning home after two years at the Buffalo Ladies’ Seminary, Annis Jackson believes God has blessed her with the perfect homecoming: a whirlwind romance with a man she’s loved from afar during her time at school. Except the object of her affections, Hugh Hylton, is related to her father’s most bitter enemy, a man determined to see Toledo firmly in the grip of the state of Ohio, and the one funding Hugh’s newspaper venture. 

After several years of newspaper work in Buffalo, New York, Hugh Hylton jumped at his uncle’s offer of financial help to start a newspaper on the opposite shore of Lake Erie. And when he discovers during the steamship voyage to his new home that the woman he’s been dreaming about for the past year, Annis Jackson, loves him back, his future seems secure. He arrives in Port Lawrence, part of the newly named town of Toledo, ready to approach her father and declare his intentions toward her. 

However, Annis, fearing Hugh doesn’t understand the depth of the personal conflict over the positioning of Ohio’s state line, persuades him to conceal their relationship until she can prepare her father to accept Hugh in spite of his family connections. When the Michigan militia arrives in the Toledo Strip, determined to prevent Ohio elections, the situation gets out of hand, making their secret more difficult to guard. Suddenly the future of the newspaper—and their relationship—is as unstable as the fate of Toledo itself. 

Will Hugh and Annis survive their feuding families? Only time will tell.

Have you read either of these books? Which cover draws you in? Which story intrigues you most? 

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D'Ann Mateer

Inspired by novelist Eugenia Price, D’Ann’s dream of writing historical fiction with an element of faith began in middle school, though her serious drive toward publication took a bit longer. D’Ann is the author of four historical novels and one novella, as well as a contemporary short stories in a compilation volume. D’Ann and her husband of 30 years can be found in Austin, TX when they aren’t touring historic sites or visiting their grown children.

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Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: Novella, Novellas

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Comments

  1. Deborah Raney says

    February 15, 2023 at 5:15 am

    They’re both beautiful covers, D’Ann, but I especially love the one with the apple trees. Congratulations!

    • D'Ann Mateer says

      February 15, 2023 at 8:06 am

      Thanks, Deb! Do you remember editing that one?? 🙂

  2. Harriet Glenn says

    February 15, 2023 at 5:52 am

    Like Deborah, I like the one with the appple trees as it brings fond memories of picking apples with my cousins in North .Carolina. Also, I’m a sucker for stories with children involved.

    • D'Ann Mateer says

      February 15, 2023 at 8:08 am

      I love that it brings back a memory for you! I kind of think it’s funny I’ve written several stories that involve children when mothering was one of my greatest insecurities!

  3. Karen Witemeyer says

    February 15, 2023 at 7:54 am

    How exciting, D’Ann! The covers are lovely and the stories sound intriguing. I never knew there was so much fighting over Toledo. Ha! I love that you are bringing fascinating tidbits of history to life.

    • D'Ann Mateer says

      February 15, 2023 at 8:09 am

      Isn’t that hilarious? I love finding obscure historical tidbits like that! Because although they are obscure to us now, they were very real and intense for the people who experienced it!

  4. Becky Wade says

    February 15, 2023 at 8:53 am

    Congrats on the new covers!!

    • D'Ann Mateer says

      February 15, 2023 at 10:28 am

      Thanks!

  5. Robin Lee Hatcher says

    February 15, 2023 at 3:45 pm

    Congrats! It’s so fun to repackage older books. It gives them new life and introduces them to new readers. And how fun to have all the books in your real name, D’Ann. That feels good too.

    • D'Ann Mateer says

      February 16, 2023 at 7:54 am

      It’s does! Thanks for that encouragement, Robin!

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