Publishing milestones are fun things!

I’m so happy to share that Revell kept my working title for this next release once again. Titling a book can be tricky & many of my novels have simple names starting with my debut, The Frontiersman’s Daughter.

This portrait-like image above hints of the setting & shows the two character templates I had in mind while writing it. The letters of their first names are entwined in the wax seal at bottom right. But no spoilers for you!

Please watch for a cover reveal this summer, likely June, and details as to what this story of my heart is about…

The post My next Revell novel has a name! appeared first on Laura Frantz.

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS on 3/19 at noon Mountain with Stop #1 at LisaBergren.com.
• Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
• There’s NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 3/22 at midnight Mountain)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
• Submit you entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the entry form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

Laura Frantz is an author. Wife. Empty nester. Proud mom of an American soldier & a career firefighter. Though I will always call Kentucky home I live in Washington State.

You can learn more about me and all my books here on my site and on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

The call for liberty creates a divide between family and country, desire and duty, love and loyalty.

In 1777, caught in the crossroads of the American Revolution, sisters Maebel and Coralie Bohannon’s quaint New Jersey village becomes a battleground as they house American officers. Rebellion ripples through their family as members take opposing sides—Patriots and Loyalists—causing a deep chasm that fractures their once-unbreakable bond.

As Mae’s friendship grows with the American general Rhys Harlow, Coralie continues her liaison with her childhood sweetheart, a British officer stationed in New York. Mae, torn between her deepening love for the general and suspicion that her sister is a British spy, leaves the only home she’s ever known for the New York frontier. When betrayal strikes in the heart of the wilderness, she’s forced to take a perilous journey that tests her very survival and those she loves, all in the name of liberty.

It’s been said you can’t judge a book by its cover & that’s so true! A great cover opens the door to an entire universe or story world. The cover is a promise. A silent salesman. The right cover finds the right reader. A cover is the window into the soul of a story. I’ve heard them all! And out of my almost 20 published novels, I’ve had some cover hits & some cover misses. Here’s a look at cover art for my latest release, The Belle of Chatham. 

Publishing is especially thrilling when your novel gets a face. In this case, 3 of them! Revell’s art director sent me these comps to choose from. Easy, right? Not when you like ALL of them for different reasons! #1 pops with floral trim & a landscape & period-appropriate dress. Cover 2 has a to-die-for flag & balcony even if the heroine isn’t dressed for 18th-century success. And #3 is a win because of the hair & gown & jewelry though I’m not a fan of that wood wall behind her. Plus, our heroine’s hair is blonde & this belle’s is dark. Still, I had to choose so…

Voila! Once again, there were elements that I like but hoped to change. Since one of my former novel’s, A Heart Adrift, had a square frame around it, I decided to go with the scrap of paper & asked if more of the flag could be shown. Also, her hair needed lightening though to be honest, the dark hair is more striking…

So, now that we’ve narrowed it down to a single design, we still have to work out the placement of the title & author name…

After a bit of back & forth, this final design was landed on. I love it, thanks to Revell’s art team & the very gifted designer, Laura Klynstra. She’s done my covers since A Heart Adrift which is one of my favorites along with The Rose & the Thistle & The Indigo Heiress. 

Cover love is a splendid thing!

Here’s the Stop #15 Basics:

If you’re interested, you can order The Belle of Chatham on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook or your local bookstore. 

Clue to Write Down: or if a

Link to Stop #16 HERE, the next Stop on the Loop: Creston Mape’s site!

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Creativity is such a fascinating thing. One idea or research trail leads to another. Often novels birth more novels. As I wrote The Belle of Chatham, our hero’s sister, Bronwyn Harlow, materialized in my mind. Often these characters are unbidden & unplanned. They just appear in a scene & start talking or doing, especially if you’re not a novel planner but more of a wing-it-and-watch-what-happens like me. I found Bronwyn Harlow to be the most deserving of characters in the novel. She’d also suffered a grievous loss in the Battle of Great Bridge, December 1775, before the American Revolution officially began.

I’d written about that particular Virginia battle in The Lacemaker. I revisited it & remembered no Patriots died in that conflict. Only one was injured in the hand. The British had a death toll of one hundred or more in what was touted as a victory for the Americans, ridding Virginia of their last royal governor, Lord Dunmore, forever. So, Bronwyn’s loss may have not been as she’d been told yet she continued to mourn, thinking him gone, but there had been no body, no burial. This isn’t or wasn’t uncommon at that time. Truth really is stranger than fiction. I asked readers on my social media what they envision for Bronwyn. So many inspiring possibilities!

So, look for Bronwyn’s story down the road. It’s a bumpy one but has a hope-filled, happy ending!

The post Bronwyn & the mystery of the Battle of Great Bridge appeared first on Laura Frantz.

Another novel is on shelves!

This year is such a historic milestone. 1776-2026.

I’m so grateful to be American born that I wrote a book about it!

A tale of courtship & marriage, duty versus desire, faith & forgiveness.

In the spirit of 1776, happy reading!

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Thank you to PW for your review of

The Belle of Chatham! 

The post Publishers Weekly appeared first on Laura Frantz.

I’m reading through the pages for Belle as I call this novel set in 1777. Dear to my heart, here’s the gist of it:

A tale of courtship & marriage, duty versus desire, faith & forgiveness.

We’re up to novel 17 now aside from my 2 novellas. It’s truly amazing that each book is a small universe or world of its own. I can’t count all the different worlds I’ve inhabited since childhood as a reader. And then quite a few as an author. So grateful! Reading is the gift that keeps on giving yet in the 18th-century, books were very expensive & literacy uncommon. Most were just trying to survive, our ancestors among them. They wouldn’t believe how much has changed should they be allowed a look at our 21st-century lives!

What do I love best about The Belle of Chatham? My heroine’s name, for one. My hero’s abilities & heritage. The theme of patriotism. A quaint New England village & then endless New York frontier & last but not least Virginia…

One of my editors said it was an impactful read for her, that she was moved when I went a different direction than she expected. Here’s hoping you feel the same. January 2026 is just round the bend!

BAKER BOOK HOUSE PREORDERSALE

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If I ever wanted to be a heroine in a book this would be the one. The romantic 18th-century cover echoes the story beautifully right down to her silk gown. Though Bleu Galant’s happily ever after is 220+ pages, I found myself wanting to make it a full length novel. It’s one of my favorites of the 18 I’ve written. The epilogue after his grand gesture is one I return to again & again. Here’s hoping he wins your heart & not just our heroine’s.

Happy reading!

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Releases January 2026 from Revell Books

*Preorder from your favorite bookseller

The post The Belle of Chatham appeared first on Laura Frantz.

Ever so often you meet a secondary character in a novel that steals your heart & you need to write a novella to give him his own happy ending. I have a special love for Bleu Galant from The Seamstress of Acadie & this new title reflects the gist of his 220 plus page story. I always wondered who would steal Bleu’s heart. Here’s hoping A Fierce Devotion wins yours!

Available on Amazon

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Expecting galleys for the Revolutionary War novel out 1/26

Just saw Revell’s cover comps for that novel & ohmyword

Working on a novel set in London now, half finished first draft

Working on my summer newsletter. Expect 2 giveaways & much more…!

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