Book Review—A Match Made in Texas

In the small town of Dry Gulch, Texas, a good-hearted busybody just can't keep herself from surreptitiously trying to match up women in dire straits with men of good character she hopes can help them. How is she to know she's also giving each couple a little nudge toward love?

A Cowboy Unmatched
Neill isn't sure who hired him to repair Clara's roof--he only knows Clara desperately needs his help. Can he convince this stubborn widow to let down her guard and take another chance on love?

An Unforeseen Match
Hoping to earn an honest wage on his way to the land rush, Clayton ends up on Grace's doorstep, lured by a classified ad. He may have signed on for more than he expected though--and he may have found the one woman who can keep him from moving on.

No Match for Love
Andrew can't fathom how refined Lucy ended up as the caretaker to his dotty aunt, and somehow her arrival has prompted even more bizarre occurrences around the ranch. When they join forces to unearth the truth, will the attraction between Andrew and Lucy develop into more?

Meeting Her Match
When the tables are turned and a tenderhearted meddler becomes the beneficiary of a matchmaking scheme, her world is turned upside down. As her entire life changes, will she finally be able to tell the banker's son how much she cares for him?

* * * *

I was delighted to discover I could get this book to review because I pretty much devour anything that has Karen Witemeyer’s name on it. A Match Made in Texas is a wonderful collection of romantic novellas all linked to a town in Texas and a particular matchmaker. Of course, I especially enjoyed A Cowboy Unmatched by Karen Witemeyer. She is one of my favorite authors, and I just loved her books about the Archer brothers. So I was very anxious to read about Neill, the last of the Archer brothers to find a girl. It had me giggling plenty of times, and then getting nervous near the end. I would have loved to have it novel length, but it still felt very complete. Each story was very cute and enjoyable, and I highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys a good historical, Texas romance. And, might I add, it has an absolutely gorgeous cover!

I received this book free from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

Handmade Necklace Giveaway

I've decided to hold my first giveaway just in time for Christmas! Two winners will be drawn to receive their choice of one of my handmade necklaces. The giveaway will run through December 11th. Winners will choose from the list of necklaces below. Enter now for your chance to win one!

Ship Charm Necklace
Copper Flower Lariat Necklace
"Create" (or "Imagine") Charm Necklace
Copper Bow and Arrow Necklace
Compass Lariat Necklace
Aqua (or Purple) Lariat Necklace
Lavender and Copper Lariat Necklace
Writer Pen Nib Necklace with "Imagine" (or "Create) Charm
Aqua (or Purple) Ship's Wheel Lariat Necklace

Congratulations to Aubrey and Marion!


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"New Adult" Fiction

Recently I posted on Facebook about my frustration with the young adult category for books. There's such a varying opinion on just what age range this is. I've always considered it 15-25 year olds. On another blog, I saw it classified as 12-17. YA and Teen seem to be used interchangeably. That presents a problem for me. Since I started writing Ilyon Chronicles, I've been calling it a YA series, but I consider it upper YA. I don’t want anyone to come along randomly and think it’s just another teen series, because it isn’t. Not that teens can’t read it, but only two of my quite a few point of view characters are in their teens at the start of the series. Everyone else is between 20 and late fifties. They’re all adults, or will be by the end of the series.

Now, I have read YA books with older characters, but I still balk at sticking Ilyon in the category. So what choice does that leave me? Let me introduce you to the “New Adult”(NA) category of fiction. I only just discovered this in the last few weeks. This category covers readers 18-25+ who are newly into adulthood. Definitely more what I was thinking for Ilyon. The category had me intrigued right away. However, after some research, I discovered that the vast majority of NA fiction is full of inappropriate material. It seems to be an excuse to write YA fiction and add all the R rated material that isn’t allowed in YA. With a stigma like this, I initially shied away from using the NA label. However, with a bit more thought and an email from a reader, I’ve given it more consideration. The fact that NA is filled with such books just presents the huge need for a clean, Godly alternative. That has been one of my biggest goals since I started publishing—to offer alternatives to what the world produces. The more I’ve thought about this, the more excited I’ve become. I feel like I’ve been given a mission to be a sort of pioneer in Christian NA fiction.

Some people wonder at the need for a category between YA and adult. If we’re in our twenties, why not just read adult fiction, right? We are adults after all. But I’ve always felt a need for something in between. I think it has to do with book style. I’ve always loved to read and write YA. It’s just different from adult fiction. I feel like NA presents a YA style book with older, more mature characters that we who are in our late teens and twenties can identify with better than, say, a 15 year old protagonist.

Another reason I love this new trend toward NA is it perfectly fits my growth as an author. As I’ve said, I love to write YA, but as I get older and mature, I naturally want to write about older, more mature characters. Yet, I don’t want to make the switch over to adult fiction. NA is the perfect middle ground for where I’m at. I can write more mature fiction, but still do it with a YA feel.

It will be interesting to see where NA goes in the future and whether or not it will be adopted by the Christian market. Either way, I’m quite excited about this new direction my writing is taking. After all, I’ve always gravitated toward doing things different from the norm.

Announcing Jaye L. Knight Etsy Shop

The time has finally come to announce the opening of my new Etsy shop! I have always been interested in making jewelry, but I never pursued it until I recently had the idea to make and sell jewelry inspired by my books. So, for the last couple of months, I've been gathering supplies and creating designs to capture the essence of different characters or books. You can see a few of these designs below. Or click here to visit my shop and see them all.

I've only just begun in this new endeavor, and hope to add new designs regularly. Especially if I can get a few sales to cover the cost of more supplies. I also have plenty more ideas for jewelry and accessories inspired by Ilyon Chronicles that I look forward to making once Resistance is published. Right now, I've got pieces inspired by both my Pirates & Faith series and Makilien.

Have fun exploring my shop! And if you know anyone who loves jewelry, I'd love it if you send them my way. I hope my designs will appeal to a wide variety of people, not only fans of my books.

Welcome

   Welcome to my new blog! The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity in preparation for the unveiling of my new pen name and website. It's been so exciting, and I'm looking forward to what becomes of it in the future. I hope to publish many fantasy adventures under this name. For more information on how it came to be, you can read my official announcement here. Thanks for stopping by and checking things out!