About Jen

Growing up under the big sky of western Canada, and spending summers in a little Ontario town where my Irish family roots run deep, books were my passport to other worlds.

I started writing poems and stories in elementary school and, as a teenager, reached the semi-finals in a local short story contest. Even after all these years, I still remember the thrill of the judge encouraging me to keep writing.

Then life and work intervened, and I set aside the craft of fiction to study, teach and work in marketing communications, business development and academic editing.

Along the way, I read romances and women’s fiction, escaping into a world where characters grew and changed their lives for the better. And one day, I realized that by losing my creative writing, I’d also lost part of what makes me who I am.

Now I write the kind of stories I like to read–heartwarming romance and uplifting women’s fiction about finding home, family and community–where ordinary women overcome challenges to earn hopeful, happy endings.

In the US, I’m published in romance by Harlequin Heartwarming, Grand Central Forever and Soul Mate. Some of my books have also been published in German translation by Penguin Verlag.

I lived in England for many years and earned a doctorate in geography (with a focus on British cultural studies and social history) from University College London where I was a Commonwealth Scholar.

I’m mum to a university-age daughter and now live with my tech guy husband and a floppy-eared rescue hound in a small town in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The same area I loved as a girl in those summers long ago.

When I’m not writing, I enjoy reading, ballet, ice cream and paddling my purple kayak.

 

Photo by Robin Spencer, Spencer Studio

Visiting Harlequin’s Toronto, Canada office

I recently visited the Harlequin office (part of HarperCollins Publishers) in Toronto, Canada. Harlequin publishes my sweet romance Montana Carters books for Heartwarming, one of their series lines, and visiting the office and meeting my editor in person was an...

Meet me at “Let’s Talk Romance,” Rideau Lakes Public Library, February 3, 2024

On Saturday, February 3rd, I’m delighted to be taking part in a special “Let’s Talk Romance” event at Rideau Lakes Public Library in Elgin, Ontario, Canada. I’ll be joined by romance movie producer Beth Stevenson, and cover art photographer Bruno Crescia. Although the...

“A Family for the Rodeo Cowboy” is out now from Harlequin Heartwarming/Harlequin Books

A Family for the Rodeo Cowboy, my new sweet western romance from Harlequin Heartwarming is now available in paperback (large print) and eBook.  Although it's the second in my Montana Carters miniseries (following Montana Reunion), it also stands alone. A footloose...

Podcast chat with “Books and Brews: Where Literature Meets Beer”

Thanks to author Laura Vosika and Certified Cicerone (beer sommelier) Michael Agnew, hosts of “Books and Brews: Where Literature Meets Beer" for interviewing me on this fun podcast. Listen in to hear me read three excerpts from The Sweetheart Locket, my Second World...

“From Hobby to Working Writer: Living the Author Life,” Talk to North Grenville Writers Circle

Thanks to everyone who came to my talk to the North Grenville Writers Circle at the North Grenville Public Library, Kemptville, Ontario, Canada, on February 6, 2023.  It was great to meet other writers at various career stages, and I appreciate your interest in and...

Interview with Maggie Smith for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association “Hear Us Roar” podcast series

Thanks to Maggie Smith, host of the Women's Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) podcast series, "Hear Us Roar" for interviewing me about writing in two genres (women's fiction and romance) while "still holding tight to [my] unique creative voice," career strategy,...

“The Sweetheart Locket” featured in BookTrib’s WFWA “10 Stories of Families Dealing with War”

Thanks to BookTrib for featuring my Second World War novel, The Sweetheart Locket, in the Women's Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) November 2022 list, "10 Stories of Families Dealing with War." I'm delighted to see my book alongside those by other WFWA authors...

“The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls” is now available in audiobook from Blackstone Audio

Blackstone Audio bought audio rights for one of my sweet small-town contemporary romances, The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls, and they've just released it in audiobook, with this gorgeous new cover too. Narrated by Samantha Desz, it’s available on Audible (free with an...

‘The Sweetheart Locket’ is now out in audiobook, October 2022

I'm delighted that The Sweetheart Locket, my dual-time Second World War women’s fiction novel, is available in audiobook from October 2022. Narrated by Polly Edsell and Regina Reagan, the audiobook was released by Isis Audio on 1 October (primarily for the UK library...

Eine Mitteilung an deutsche Leser über “Mein einziger Wunsch bist du”

Liebe Leserinnen und Leser, ich freue mich sehr, mein neues Buch mit Ihnen teilen zu können. „Mein einziger Wunsch bist du“ ist ein warmherziger, süßer Liebesroman, in dem der Held und die Heldin eine zweite Chance in der Liebe, im Leben und in der Familie finden. In...

Photo by Robin Spencer, Spencer Studio