It’s Release Day! Awakened

It’s Release Day! Awakened

by | Jun 3, 2025 | Announcements, Book News, Books, Fantasy

Welcome to the Launch Day Celebration
for Awakened!

It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!!!

I am so, SO excited to celebrate the release of my FIRST (but not last!) romantasy. Awakened came to me on a beach vacation and gave me first a delightful week of world-building and dreaming while there, then countless hours of fun as I wrote the book between other projects, just because I had to.

It’s a story that consumed me in a way few books have done. A story that kept growing and expanding into a whole world, filled with origin stories, spin-offs, and new things to discover. It’s a story with a big-big romance that I hope makes you swoon as much as it did me.

Of course, this book is DIFFERENT. Nearly everything I’ve written is either historical or at least with a historical thread. Awakened, however, is pure fantasy-romance. I absolutely understand that not all my historical romance readers are going to want to dive into a fantasy world. And yet…I’d of course love it if you gave it a try. So I wanted to share some responses from other early readers who don’t often turn to fantasy but fell in love with Arden and Seidon’s story. =)

What Early Readers Are Saying

Even when they don’t usually read fantasy…

Halee Porter

Adventure, suspense, romance, and spirituality – Awakened is one of the BEST books I’ve read by one of my favorite authors, Roseanna M. White. There’s such beauty in every aspect of the book’s plot and its characters. In a mystical world surrounded by magical beings, you get a real love story filled with depth and conviction. I couldn’t put the book down and was sad to see the end of the story.

Shaleen Howard

This is a beautiful love story full of excitement, peril, stunning settings, themes that are relatable and touch your heart, and of course, there are mermaids! The realistic world and characters were creatively woven together with fantastic elements to provide a truly thrilling and immersive read. I loved every bit of this book and highly recommend!

Margaret N.

I am always amazed when an author is able to create a whole new world that makes sense to me in the speculative fiction/fantasy genre. I quickly fell in love with the characters and the world White has created. If you enjoy a good story with great characters, spiritual insights that apply to any age, and the fun of imagining swimming with a mermaid or riding an eagle, I think you’ll really enjoy this book!

Bethany Aich

Everything White writes is amazing, but I was interested to see if she could pull it off in a different genre. Boy howdy, did she. Awakened may be her debut fantasy, but it was riveting from first to last. There were some things I predicted and a lot I didn’t. I loved the world and the main characters and the magic system: basically, if it was in here, I loved it.

Laura Heagy

While fantasy fiction is not my usual go-to genre, Awakened proved to be the exception to my rule. Roseanna brings a brand new world to life through her amazing imagination and brilliant writing skills while not sacrificing the depth of her characters or the substance of her story. I was captured at the beginning of the story and captivated until the end. If you are one to hesitate where fantasy fiction is concerned, let Awakened take you on a fantastic voyage. Come on in… the water’s fine.

Candice W.

Awakened was an amazing romance in a fantasy setting! It has everything we love about Roseanna’s historical books (mystery, suspense, faith, intrigue, plot twists, character growth and development) just set in a wonderful world Roseanna created herself. I highly recommend reading this book to take you on a journey of romance and imagination – like all good books do!

Danielle Grandinetti

Roseanna M. White’s new romantasy highlights her quintessential ability to immerse the reader into a whole new world—whether historical or fantastical—and craft her tales with heart-touching romance and faith arcs. Whether you’re new to romantasy (like me) or it’s already a favorite genre, you won’t want to miss Awakened. I loved it!

Caroline Smith

(My illustrator!)
Awakened is a breathtaking new fantasy novel by Roseanna M. White. Following the diverging journeys of two sisters as they navigate self-discovery and the Lord’s purpose for their lives was both captivating and deeply moving. There were moments that made me laugh aloud and others that brought me to tears. Roseanna’s prose is as beautiful as ever, and her faith is woven seamlessly into this new genre—an inspiring and humble debut in fantasy for her. If you’re not sure about fantasy, but love Roseanna, I promise, you will not be disappointed!

A Reader

I loved this book. It grabbed me from the beginning and I could not put it down. I am new to the fantasy genre. This book has so much happening. The characters are amazing and you will be cheering for them and will be tuning the pages quickly to see what happens. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

Live Event!

Join me for a Facebook Live video NEXT Tuesday, June 10, at 7 pm Eastern! (You can watch it afterward too, and I’ll try to answer any questions in the comments!)

  • Behind the scenes
  • Fun facts
  • Short author reading
  • What’s coming next
Visit Roseanna M. White on Facebook

The speculative fiction bug has been awakened in prolific author Roseanna White, and her fantasy debut does not disappoint! With a refreshing and imaginative spin on mermaid lore, Awakened offers a richly woven tale of love and loyalty in the collision of two vibrant worlds. White’s masterful storytelling and vivid world-building will draw readers into an epic adventure that explores the depths of sacrifice and the power of unity. A thoroughly enjoyable and captivating read—I eagerly await her next foray into the fantasy genre!

Jill Williamson

Christy Award-winning Blood of Kings author

Awakened 

Where sea and land meet, two worlds clash in a fury of wind and waves.

Arden Bleu has always known that her stepsister, Jade, was destined for great things. In a world where beauty follows magic, she has no doubt that their upcoming Awakening Ceremony will reveal that gorgeous Jade is far more than a mere mortal. But when Jade is kidnapped by a mysterious sect of mer on the eve of the newly-returned king’s ball, Arden will do anything to save her sister. Even face down the man she’s always dreaded meeting because of the power he holds over her family, the man to whom her father swore loyalty long before she was born. The Sea King.

Seidon, the Sea King of Daryatla, has grown only more powerful as the centuries have gone by, but lifetime after lifetime has failed to give him what he most yearns for: a family. He knows that it will take a woman of extraordinary power to match him enough to create a child, and no such woman seems to exist…until he feels her magic calling to his one day in the water. And when Arden Bleu, daughter of his most trusted official, arrives to tell him about her missing stepsister, he knows this Jade, with a new magic so coveted that the mer would risk war with his kingdom to steal her away, may be the one he’s waited centuries for. But how can he and the determined Arden ever hope to find one young woman trapped beneath the waves? Perhaps the Great Golden Sea Hawk who has guarded the sisters all their lives holds the key.

In a world on the brink of war between the mer and the land-dwellers, friendship, faith, and love demand the ultimate sacrifice as both kingdoms seek to unlock the prophesied magic waiting to spring forth: the magic of wind and sky. To the mer, it would mean the freedom to return to the land. To Seidon’s court, it would mean safety from every storm. But how can any human hand wield the wind?

Sand meets sea and Disney’s The Little Mermaid meets Robin McKinley’s beloved classic The Blue Sword in this beautifully written and wonderfully original YA science fantasy. Seidon and Arden stole my heart and Roseanna White’s gorgeous world-building, imbued with rich spiritual themes and symbolism, enthralled me from start to finish. Highly recommend!

J. J. Fischer

award-winning author of The Nightingale Trilogy, The Soul Mark Duology, and Regency & Regicide

Bonus Content that comes with Awakened

If you order Awakened before June 17, 2025, you don’t just get the book.
You get some bonuses too!

(If you order straight from me, you’ll get this automatically; if you ordered elsewhere, just email me the purchase confirmation/receipt at roseannamwhite@gmail.com with a subject line of “Awakened Pre-Order”)

  • ALL print copies from my shop will have printed edges!
  • Free short story, Captivated, in either PDF or epub (after June 10, this will be purchasable for 99¢)
  • Bonus story, Foretold…once I finish writing it. 😉 (I thought this would be a novella, but um…it might be longer than that.) Ebook format is the bonus.
  • An early peek at the world of Book 2, Aflame, including character art and descriptions and the first two chapters.

Roseanna White combines technology and fantasy to create a compelling world in Awakened. I enjoyed the unique take on mermaids, magic, and cultures. The characters were well crafted and relatable, and the blend of everyday faith she brought to the story felt natural. I could not put the book down!

Morgan L. Busse

award-winning author of the Ravenwood Saga and the Nordic Wars

More from the world of Awakened

There’s So Much to Explore!

Imagine a world thousands of years in the future, where the Lord has tarried in His return…

Explore More!

Awakened is an unforgettable journey filled with magic and heart-pounding heroism. This  fantasy masterpiece grabs you by the collar and doesn’t let go. With richly imagined worlds, fully developed and interesting characters, and twists that will leave you breathless, this is the kind of book that reminds me why I fell in love with fantasy in the first place.

Tabitha M. Corvin

author of the Beyond Wonderland trilogy

Giveaway

US entrants, enter to win a print version of Awakened with printed edges
(or another book of your choice) + a $25 gift card to my shop!

International entrants, enter to win an ebook!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wow, what a riveting read! Much-loved Historical author Roseanna White plunges into the fantasy genre with aplomb! Awakened takes a deep dive into intricate family and kingdom dynamics that had me on the edge of my seat. This story has it all—sisters who champion each other, a swoony hero, and a strong heroine! I loved this book and could not stop thinking about it long after the last tail—er, page!

Ronie Kendig

award-winning author of the Droseran Saga

Surprise! The Island Bookshop!

Surprise! The Island Bookshop!

by | May 29, 2025 | Announcements, Book News, Books

Book

The Island Bookshop

Contemporary Romance with a Historical Thread

AVAILABLE NOW!
Purchase Book

Surprise!

While I’ve known that The Island Bookshop would be coming out this summer, I wasn’t honestly sure when…until it arrived on my doorstep before I’d even seen the cover, LOL. So instead of my usual cover reveal and pre-order, you just get to learn about it NOW, all at once, and can snap it up now too, either directly from me or from Guideposts! (Paperback will be available wide at other retailers in July; ebook is available now.)

So what’s it about?

ABOUT

The Island Bookshop

When Kennedy Marshall sets off for a prestigious career in the city, she leaves behind the sunlit shores of North Carolina’s Outer Banks—and runs from a love she believes she can never have. With her sister, Lara, managing their grandmother’s beloved island bookshop, Kennedy feels confident she’s escaped the past. But when Lara is suddenly injured, Kennedy is drawn back into the island’s warm embrace—and bittersweet memories she thought she’d buried forever.

For Wes Armstrong, the Outer Banks is more than home—it’s his anchor. Building a successful family business was supposed to bring stability, but life has been anything but steady since his wife’s passing. Haunted by past regrets and facing a life-changing decision, Wes is determined to make the right choice for his family’s future. Yet Kennedy’s unexpected return stirs up old emotions and mistakes he thought he’d put to rest.

As hidden family secrets surface and long-buried truths come to light, Kennedy and Wes must navigate the delicate tides of forgiveness, second chances, and the unspoken love that still lingers between them. Can they find the courage to rewrite their story and create a new future on the island’s shifting sands?

Perfect for fans of clean, wholesome romance and gentle mysteries, The Island Bookshop is a heartwarming story of love, family, and the enduring power of second chances.

 

Let’s meet…

Kennedy Marshall

Kennedy has made a career from rare books—their preservation, grading them, and authenticating them. She’s finally got the job she always dreamed of at the Library of Congress in DC, plus a YouTube channel ever increasing in popularity that’s beginning to pad her income. Life’s perfect…until her sister falls off the ladder to the attic in the bookshop they co-own in the Outer Banks, and Kennedy has to go home to Hatteras Island to help out. She thought she’d escaped all the memories—and the best friend she does not want to be in love with anymore. But facing them—and Wes—all summer? This isn’t at all what she’d planned. And what had Lara even been doing up in the attic? More alarming still: Why is the deed to the bookstore in the name of a stranger?

The Boy Next Door

Wes Armstrong

Wes loves helping his family run their real estate company and bringing paradise to people a week at a time—especially since it keeps him busy, keeps him from dwelling too long on his wife’s death two years ago…and the fact that he’ll never get to fix everything that had gone wrong in their relationship. But when Armstrong Realty gets an offer from a national vacation rental chain, suddenly everything’s up in the air. He’s glad Kenni’s home to work through it with him…except that when Kenni’s home, he can’t help but wonder about all the could-have-beens.

In 1938…

Ana Horvat

In 1938, Ana Horvat arrives in Avon to join her husband, Marko, who’d immigrated a few months ahead of her. Their goal: to build a life for their coming child in a land of promise, rather than under the oppressive regime of Mussolini in their native Dalmatia. But though Ana is quick to find a friend in Caroline Armstrong, not everyone on the insular island is so quick to accept someone different. Can the books Ana loves build a bridge between her and her new community while Marko is away on a fishing trip…or will it be the very thing to drive in a wedge she’ll never be able to overcome?

This is the book I wrote entirely while undergoing chemo last year, and focusing on a fun beach read, with plenty of family secrets and drama but also a setting I know and love and a book-theme that made me sigh in delight, was such a treat! Avon is one of a cluster of little villages on Hatteras Island near the famous Hatteras Lighthouse, and it’s where my family vacations almost every year. I love visiting Buxton Village Books a few miles down the road, and that shop served as the inspiration for the bookstore Kennedy and her sister, Lara, run in this story. With a little bit of Books to Be Red on Ocracoke thrown in too. 😉 (Thanks to both bookshop owners for answering my questions!)

There is a light historical time-slip element (about 1/3 of the story), but it’s mostly contemporary. And while historicals still hold my heart, it was definitely fun to get to write in the modern world. And especially to get to pick names without looking up if they’d have been use in a particular region at a particular time. 😉 LOTS of my P&P ladies have characters named after them in this one!

The Secret Garden plays a key role in the book! Which means I had an excuse to buy the pretty Wordsworth Collector’s Edition and reread this favorite childhood classic last summer. It was every bit as delightful as I remembered!

Kennedy and her sister Lara co-own the Island Bookshop, which they inherited from their grandmother, who converted her family home into the store when they were girls. The perfect place to stop by for your beach read!

And of course, some secondary Characters you’ll be seeing more of in the next books!

Harper Dailey is one of Kennedy’s good friends. She just moved home from Savannah to help out in her family’s bakery, and though she’d always known her parents meant for her to inherit and run Sunshine Bakery, she hadn’t intended to take it over quite so soon. After her dad had a heart attack though, he couldn’t keep up. So here she is.

Beckett “Beck” Mills moved to Hatteras after his stint in the Navy and runs a fishing charter during the summer months…and is happy to be a recluse during the winter. He, Wes, and Asher have been a solid trio, in part because they know to leave him alone and not press him for the history he has no interest in hashing out.

Asher Whetsone owns a beach equipment rental shop specializing in bicycles and anything else with wheels. He’s all about the therapy we can get from spending time out in nature…and likes to think that the countless hours he’s spent cycling along the shore has taught him patience. He certainly prays so…because he’s going to need it.

Kennedy’s sister, Lara, has always been content to run the Island Bookshop. But when a Traumatic Brain Injury from a concussion leaves her unable to handle reading or working on screens, all her dreams come to a screeching halt, and she’s forced to ask herself what comes next, when nothing is what she wants it to be.

The Island Bookshop

Contemporary Romance with a Historical Thread

AVAILABLE NOW!
Purchase Book
Cover Reveal of Awakened

Cover Reveal of Awakened

by | Jan 23, 2025 | Announcements, Book News, Books, Cover Designs

It’s Time!

For Another Cover Reveal!!

Up until now, all of my books have been either historical…or at least with a historical thread (like my Guideposts books). And I LOVE historicals, both writing and reading them.

But I have another literary love too. I’ve long been a sucker for a good fantasy romance, and in the past few years, that’s where I’ve often turned for my reading while I’m juggling a lot of contracts, in large part because it’s not my primary genre. Harder to compare and second-guess myself with reading that’s not too much like my writing!

Of course, when you read something a lot, as a writer, it’s not uncommon to decide to “play” with that new genre. I started playing with fantasy, and I loved this story so much that it was soon finished too!

I polled readers to help me come up with the title, Awakened, and I also did a poll for some cover options…none of which I ended up using. Why?

Because the winner by far was a photographic-style cover with a woman on it, which was fun for me to make, but…well, but NO successful fantasy romances in today’s market have a photographic image of people on them. While that’s what my historical readers expect, it’s not what romantasy readers expect.

So I went back to the drawing board. Or rather, had an artist friend go to the drawing board for me. And I am SO in love with what she created!

Let’s meet…

Arden Bleu

Arden is the daughter of the High Guardian of the Barrier Banks, but it’s her stepsister, Jade, who is the special one. And when Jade is kidnapped by the mer, Arden will do anything to save her, even if it means facing down the one man she’s long lived in fear of–King Seidon, who is the only person in the empire who could take her father away from her.

The mightiest king Daryatla has ever known…

Seidon

Seidon has already been king for 200 years, and it’s taught him a lot about judging people. He knows as soon as Arden demands help in finding her sister that she’s going to be a friend, just as her father is. What he doesn’t know is how to find the young woman the mer have seized…though he knows exactly why they took her. He felt her blood in the water during the scuffle, and the magic in it was more powerful than any he’d felt before. Is Jade the one he’s been waiting centuries for?

An evocative setting

Daryatla

In a post-cataclysmic Earth many thousands of years in the future, technology and gift from God have combined to create power over the elements that is called “magic.” In what used to be the eastern seaboard of North America and the Atlantic, a new empire has emerged–Daryatla, the land ruled by the Sea King. But under the waves, humans who have evolved to withstand the pressure of the ocean depths live in an undersea kingdom called the Sunken Cities. And the mer rulers are known for their ruthlessness. If they unleash the power they all suspect lies dormant in Jade’s veins, it could mean devastation for them all.

Roseanna’s first

Fantasy Romance

A unique take on mermaids, a powerful but down-to-earth king, an overlooked heroine, and a young woman desperate to just be normal all combine to bring you the world of Awakened.

Ready? Here it is!
The cover of Awakened!

What do you think??

I LOVE how this turned out! The beautiful drawing of Arden comes to us courtesy of the amazing Caroline Smith of Caroline Calligraphie (one of my P&P ladies). I added an overlay of ocean waves to her skirt, combined it with oceanic colors for the background, we super-imposed the Awakening mark (which appears on the palm of all Awakened people in the book), and then of course had the title in a fun gild.

Pre-Order Now!

“The speculative fiction bug has been awakened in prolific author Roseanna White, and her fantasy debut does not disappoint! With a refreshing and imaginative spin on mermaid lore, Awakened offers a richly woven tale of love and loyalty in the collision of two vibrant worlds. White’s masterful storytelling and vivid world-building will draw readers into an epic adventure that explores the depths of sacrifice and the power of unity. A thoroughly enjoyable and captivating read—I eagerly await her next foray into the fantasy genre!”

—Jill Williamson, Christy Award-winning Blood of Kings author

The Official Description

Where sea and land meet, two worlds clash in a fury of wind and waves.

Arden Bleu has always known that her stepsister, Jade, was destined for great things. In a world where beauty follows magic, she has no doubt that their upcoming Awakening ceremony will reveal that gorgeous, kind, compelling Jade is far more than a mere mortal. But when Jade is kidnapped by a mysterious sect of mer on the eve of the newly-returned king’s ball, Arden will do anything to save her sister. Even face down the man she’s always dreaded meeting because of the power he holds over her family, the man to whom her father swore loyalty long before she was born. The Sea King.

Seidon, the Sea King of Daryatla, has grown only more powerful as the centuries have gone by, but lifetime after lifetime have failed to give him what he most yearns for: a family. He knows that it will take a woman of extraordinary power to match him enough to create a child, and no such woman seems to exist…until he feels her magic calling to his one day in the water. And when Arden Bleu, daughter of his most trusted official, arrives to tell him about her missing stepsister, he knows this Jade, with a new magic so coveted that the mer would risk war with his kingdom to steal her away, may be the one he’s waited centuries for. But how can he and the determined Arden ever hope to find one young woman trapped beneath the waves? Perhaps the Great Golden Sea Hawk who has guarded the sisters all their lives holds the key.

In a world on the brink of war between the mer and the land-dwellers, friendship, faith, and love demand the ultimate sacrifice as both kingdoms seek to unlock the prophesied magic waiting to spring forth: the magic of wind and sky. To the mer, it would mean the freedom to return to the land. To Seidon’s court, it would mean safety from every storm. But how can any human hand wield the wind?

It’s Release Day! An Honorable Deception

It’s Release Day! An Honorable Deception

by | Nov 19, 2024 | Announcements, Book News, Books

Welcome to the Launch Day Celebration
for An Honorable Deception!

It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!!!

I am so, SO excited to welcome the final book in the Imposters series into the world…because let’s face it. Yates has been chomping at the bit very impatiently for his turn to take center stage. I love that we’ve had his POV in the first two books, so we already know him pretty well. We know his good heart. We know his sense of humor. We know how devoted he is to his family. We even know how hard he’s worked to get over his feelings for his sister’s childhood best friend, Lavinia.

So…what is Yates’s story? Who will win his heart, when he’s both intrigued by his beautiful and mysterious new client, Lady Alethia, who is so desperately in need of the peace and security she finds when she’s whisked away to Fairfax Tower to keep her safe from men out to kill her, and Lady Lavinia, who recruits herself into the Imposters when Marigold and Gemma are both a bit indisposed with coming babies?

Yep, we’ve got a love triangle, but where it’s the hero deciding between two equally wonderful women. And whenever people ask me who he’s going to end up, I have a ready answer: Penelope the monkey, of course! 😉 Seriously, Lavinia and Alethia even look similar from behind, which is why I specifically requested that the lady on the cover not have her face fully visible. Which one is that lovely model representing?? You’ll have to read to find out! (Mwa ha ha ha!)

Scroll down to learn more about the fun I’ve plotted up for this release!

Live Event!

Join me for a Facebook Live video tonight, Tuesday November 19, at 7 pm Eastern! (You can watch it afterward too, and I’ll try to answer any questions in the comments!)

  • Behind the scenes
  • Fun facts
  • Short author reading
  • What’s coming next
Visit Roseanna M. White on Facebook

An Honorable Deception  focuses on Yates, Alethia, and Lavinia, so here’s a bit more about them!

Confession! I generated these images with MidJourney long before I plotted out the book, and it was actually the fact that these two ladies looked pretty similar that inspired a HUGE part of the plot!

Working left to right, here…

First we have Lady Alethia Barremore. Lady Alethia is the daughter of a (fictional) viceroy of India, so she spent most of her life in India. Her best friend, her only true friend, is Samira, her ayah (Indian nanny). When her family moved back to England when she was about twelve, Samira was obviously dismissed…but they’ve stayed in touch. Samira is the only one who knows the dark secret Alethia has struggled to escape. But when Samira goes missing, Alethia knows it’s that same secret rearing its ugly head and threatening to consume them all.

Lord Yates Fairfax may be an earl, but he’s the most unconventional one you’ll find in Edwardian England. He prefers his gymnasium to Parliament and feels a keen responsibility for the people who rely on him and the family estate, Fairfax Tower, for their livelihood. His sister is his favorite person in the world, with the circus performers who have retired to the Tower being close behind. “A veritable circus strongman,” Yates keeps a strict physical routine so that he can support his sister in their acrobatic feats, which aid them in the secretive private investigation firm of which he’s become the head. Yates is fun-loving and always quick to see the bright side of things…but the secrets they begin to uncover in this new case will challenge even him.

And finally, Lady Lavinia Hemming. Lavinia has been reeling ever since her mother’s duplicity and betrayal was revealed in A Beautiful Disguise. How can she ever trust anyone again? The only people she knows are safe are Yates and Marigold, and when she overhears that they’re the Imposters and invites herself into the organization, she finally finds something that sparks life in her heart again. But does being the daughter of a traitor make her half a traitor? Will she ever be anything but a burden to those who love her, few as they may be? She’s desperate to find her purpose…but when she does, it’s something she never would have thought herself capable of.

Launch Team Spotlight

All of a Kind Mom

Launch Team Spotlight

Bea R

Launch Team Spotlight

Erin L

Launch Team Spotlight

Faith O

Launch Team Spotlight

Lovely Words

Launch Team Spotlight

Melissa G

More from the world of the Imposters

There’s So Much to Explore!

Learn more about the Edwardian circus that defined the Imposters’ childhood, get fashion tips from Lady M, explore the theater of the day, meet the team, pet the animals, go behind the Top Secret stamp to learn about intelligence in the early 20th century, train yourself to be a private investigator, and dive into some fun and games!

Explore More!

Shop the Imposters Collection

Lions, sprayed edges, handmade vintage style bags, peacock stationery, and more!
To celebrate this release specifically, I ordered some adorable stuffed animals from an amazing brand, Wild Republic, and created Penelope the capuchin monkey with a pink tutu. We also have Leonidas the Lion (he really roars!) and Pardulfo the leopard!

Also, I regularly joked, whenever someone asked me with whom Yates would end up, “Penelope the monkey, of course!”
So some of my reader friends demanded a “Team Penelope” T-shirt. Who was I to argue? LOL

Giveaway

US entrants, enter to win a copy of An Honorable Deception
(or another book of your choice) + a $25 gift card to my shop!

International entrants, enter to win a copy of any of my books, shipped from your usual online retailer.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal of Awakened

Cover Reveal of The Collector of Burned Books

by | Oct 10, 2024 | Announcements, Book News, Books, Cover Designs

It’s Time!

For Another Cover Reveal!!

Guys, I am SO EXCITED for this book, and equally excited to share this AMAZING cover with you!! Because for one thing, when you have the word “books” in the very title, you know what’s going to be on the cover, right??

My original title for this story was The Library of Burned Books, and I knew then the “library” was going to HAVE to be visible. Even though we changed the name to avoid confusion with another, very similarly titled book, those “books” were bound to stay!

The Collector of Burned Books is set in Paris of 1940, all about the power of words and what they represent for a free society…and how they’re the first things to be attacked when freedom is subverted. Ready to learn more? Let me introduce you to my characters, and then I’ll share the cover, my thoughts, and the official back cover description!

Let’s meet…

Corinne Bastien

Corinne Bastien may constantly be mistaken for a student, but she is in fact a professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Sorbonne, one of Paris’s most prestigious universities. Having made her home for the last seven years beside the German Library of Burned Books, she has secrets irrevocably yoked to that library, full of every book the Nazis hate…secrets meant to aid the Allies in reclaiming the city she loves…secrets that could get her killed by Paris’s occupiers if anyone discovers them.

A man who isn’t what he appears to be…

Christian Bauer

Christian Bauer has been an enemy of the Nazi Party longer than most of the world knew to fear them. But when Goebbels sends him to Paris to “relocate” France’s libraries, he knows refusing would mean being sent to a concentration camp. So he dons the hated Nazi uniform and sets up his headquarters at the Library of Burned Books. Though determined to help all those he can while in Paris, Christian walks a dangerous line. Because if his superiors discover what he’s been hiding and where his loyalties really lie, a concentration camp is the best he can hope for.

An evocative setting

Paris, 1940

The City of Lights suffered only one small bombing during the early days of World War II. When the Nazis marched on the city, the government surrendered and fled, declaring Paris “an open city”–meaning the Nazi army was free to enter. While General de Gaulle called for every French citizen to continue to resist, a puppet government was soon set up in Vichy, urging the French to collaborate with their new occupiers, claiming “German” was the new “European.”

But within weeks, a Resistance began to operate. And individuals went about intelligence gathering and espionage in many quiet ways, even before they knew how to get any information they gathered into Allied hands. While the Nazis began systematically dismantling much of Paris’s culture–its museums, its libraries–many Parisians clung to an idea set out by one of its writers. There was “a France which could not be invaded.” A France that lived in the hearts of the French. And that France was worth defending at any cost.

Roseanna’s first

World War II Romance

This high-stakes, fast-paced story explores the power of words, the heart of society, and what happens when it becomes illegal to live according to your morals.

Ready? Here it is!
The cover of The Collector of Burned Books!

What do you think??

I LOVE this cover! I was actually given a choice between TWO covers, both of them beautiful, but there was no contest between them in my mind, largely because the second, while gorgeous, didn’t look like my heroine, Corinne, LOL. This one absolutely does!

I love that we have the library, framing a window through which we get that hint of the setting. Now, is the Eiffel Tower actually visible from the library in the book? No. But I am 100% in favor of ignoring that fact for the sake of immediate setting-recognition. 😉 I love the fall colors (the book spans June through December of 1940), I love that back-view of Corinne, and I REALLY love that we even have a glimpse of Christian. This is the first time I’ve ever had my hero on the cover!

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Early endorsements

from some authors you know and love.

“With her signature blend of page-turning storytelling, fascinating historical details, and enduring themes, Roseanna M. White draws readers into the dark days after Paris falls to Nazi occupation. Corinne and Christian shine in their undaunted determination to preserve books threatened by a regime that seeks to extinguish truth. The Collector of Burned Books is a stirring and inspiring tribute to the powerful bond between literature and freedom.”

~ Amanda Barratt,
Christy Award-winning author of The Warsaw Sisters and Within These Walls of Sorrow

~*~

“Courage, honor, and sacrifice born of great love overflow the pages of The Collector of Burned Books.  Rarely have I read a book with such perfect tension.  Meticulously researched, intellectually and spiritually stimulating, compelling and beautifully written, Roseanna White has written a book I could not put down, one I will not forget.”

~ Cathy Gohlke,
Christy Hall of Fame author of This Promised Land and Ladies of the Lake

~*~

“The Collector of Burned Books is a heart-pounding historical that kept me riveted from beginning to end. Roseanna White, a brilliant storyteller, weaves together a gripping plot about the many dangers of distributing prohibited books during the Nazi regime. As her cast of heroic characters secretly fight for freedom, they risk their lives to spread the truth and protect those they love. The Collector of Burned Books should be read by every lover of a life-changing book!” 

~ Melanie Dobson,
award-winning author of Chateau of Secrets and The Curator’s Daughter

The Official Description

In this gripping World War II historical about the power of words, two people form an unlikely friendship amid the Nazi occupation in Paris and fight to preserve the truth that enemies of freedom long to destroy.

Paris, 1940. Ever since the Nazi Party began burning books, German writers exiled for their opinions or heritage have been taking up residence in Paris. There they opened a library meant to celebrate the freedom of ideas and gathered every book on the banned list . . . and even incognito versions of the forbidden books that were smuggled back into Germany.

For the last six years, Corinne Bastien has been reading those books and making that library a second home. But when the German army takes possession of Paris, she loses access to the library and all the secrets she’d hidden there. Secrets the Allies will need if they have any hope of liberating the city she calls home.

Christian Bauer may be German, but he never wanted anything to do with the Nazi Party—he is a professor, one who’s done his best to protect his family as well as the books that were a threat to Nazi ideals. But when Goebbels sends him to Paris to handle the “relocation” of France’s libraries, he’s forced into an army uniform and given a rank he doesn’t want. In Paris, he tries to protect whoever and whatever he can from the madness of the Party and preserve the ideas that Germans will need again when that madness is over, and maybe find a lost piece of his heart.

But he hadn’t bargained on meeting a beautiful Parisian scholar who is clearly keeping as many secrets as he is. As Christian and Corinne try to discern each other’s true loyalties, forces beyond their control are making plans that could destroy everything they hold dear.

Announcing The Island Bookshop!

Announcing The Island Bookshop!

by | Aug 22, 2024 | Announcements, Book News

Time for a fun announcement that I’ve been sitting on for a while! My editor at Guideposts reached out in May to ask if I’d consider writing a contemporary beach read for them.

Now, the question came right as I was dealing with my cancer diagnosis, so there was a lot up in the air. Would I be able to write as quickly as normal? Or quickly enough, anyway? Would I be able to get it to them this summer? For that matter, when my editor reached out, the line they wanted it for wasn’t yet green-lit, so there was a lot of “maybe” involved.

She told me what they were looking for, though, so I spent a weekend with the comparable title they’d named, then some time brainstorming how I could deliver the “what they want” with something unique and “me.”

I decided right off the bat that I wanted to set this book in the Outer Banks, this time in the stretch I know best, between Avon and Buxton on Hatteras Island. I decided a bookshop would be a fun setting, in part because visiting the local bookstores down there, on both Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, are always one of the highlights of a beach trip for me. And so I pitched The Island Bookshop, and my editor and team were very enthusiastic. The project got the official go-ahead, I turned in a synopsis…then there was a bit of delay on the contract itself, so I’m only just now able to share. But excited to do so, nevertheless!

The Island Bookshop is mostly a contemporary about Kennedy Marshall, who has to drop everything with her very-cool job as a rare book expert for the Library of Congress in D.C. to rush home to Avon, NC when her sister, Jackie, falls off the ladder to the attic of their family bookstore and gets a serious concussion and traumatic brain injury. Kennedy usually avoids her hometown, not because she doesn’t love it there, but because when she’s there, it’s too hard to remember that she’s only supposed to be the friend of Wes Armstrong, their next-door neighbor and the guy she’s been trying not to love ever since he chose her best friend over her in high school. Spending longer than a week in the beach town is the last thing she wants to do–but Jackie’s injuries are severe, and abandoning her and the store they inherited from their grandmother a year ago isn’t an option. Especially when she finds what had sent Jackie down the attic ladder too fast–a box of first edition children’s books and the deed to the house that became the bookshop…made out to a name none of them has ever heard before.

Cue the light timeslip element, where we jump back to 1938 and meet Ana Horvat, who has just immigrated from Dalmatia (now Croatia, Italy at the time) to escape Mussolini’s persecution. She arrives in Avon looking for her husband, Marko, who had come ahead of her to find the perfect place for them and their coming child. Marko, however, has signed onto a weeks-long fishing trip, so Ana has to find her own place as she waits for him to return. She’s blessed to find a friend quickly…but not everyone is eager to welcome a “foreigner” with strange ideas about teaching the island children other languages through various-language versions of The Secret Garden–the very way she learned English as a girl. All she wants is a place to belong–but can they really find it in this tight-knit island community, where it’s so obvious that they’re different?

So, yeah. We’ve got classic literature. A bookstore. A heroine with the coolest job ever (I mean, right??). Friends-to-more. Some deep family drama. The pull of family and dreams that clash…and of course, a gorgeous setting, full of sandy beaches, the occasional tropical storm, and lots of mood.

I’ve already finished writing it and have turned it in, so it’s a little funny that I can only now announce it, but still so fun! It’s currently set to come out next May from Guideposts. Stay tuned for things like cover reveals and pre-order info!

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