Faith, Failure, and Fiction: Why I Write Both Steamy and Christian Romance

In many ways, my writing journey has mirrored my personal faith journey—which I would describe as a bit of a roller coaster. I’m sharing this not to give readers (and potential readers) a clearer understanding of why you’ll find both steamy romance and Christian romance under my name.

Childhood

I was raised in a Christian home, but when my parents divorced when I was twelve, the circumstances shook my faith. So did some difficult experiences within our Lutheran church.

When I left for Army basic training right out of high school, I walked away from a Christian path—and that pattern continued through my college and young adult years.

Young Adult

When I married at twenty-four, my husband and I found a wonderful church and became part of a group of young married couples. From the outside, it looked like faith had taken root again.

But looking back, I would call it a shallow faith. Too shallow.

Because when my marriage faced real challenges, I didn’t turn to God. Instead, I gave in to temptation.

Marriage & Kids

Our marriage was saved through what I can only describe as divine intervention—and a lot of hard work. We realized we had our priorities out of order and recommitted: God first, marriage second, kids third, everything else after that.

In the years that followed—years filled with full-time work and raising children—we stayed involved in small groups and Bible studies. Those things grounded me, but I still didn’t go deeper. Prayer and Scripture weren’t daily priorities.

This was also when I began writing.

Early Writing Days

At the time, I wrote for the market—and the market was steamy romance. The industry looked very different then: fewer subgenres, fewer paths to publishing, fewer reader niches.

Many of my early books have since been revised. While I’ve toned down some of the steam, in some stories it’s integral to the characters and their journeys. Removing it entirely would change the emotional truth of who they are.

Because at my core, I’ve always been drawn to stories of transformation—messy, emotional, deeply human transformation. That’s what I love to read. And it’s what I strive to write.

Even in my steamy titles, the intimacy is never there just for the sake of it—it’s tied to emotion, to struggle, to growth. In some cases, those stories even include elements of faith and spiritual wrestling alongside the romance (most notably in my Army Ranger series).

COVID

In 2020, during COVID, everything shifted again.

My daughter—just shy of thirteen at the time—went through a mental health crisis that shook me to my core. It was the kind of fear that reaches all the way to your marrow.

That season changed all of us.

Prayer became a daily necessity, not an afterthought. Church and small group became lifelines, not routines.

And my writing began to change too. Or more accurately—what I felt called to write began to change.

My more recent books, especially the Legacy Falls series, are what I call realistic Christian romance. They aren’t preachy or perfect. My characters wrestle with real temptation, real sin, real doubts—just like I have. Many of them don’t even start the story as believers.

But they encounter grace. Redemption. Truth.

Sometimes slowly. Sometimes painfully.

Just like in real life.

Conclusion

So why have I written both steamy romance and Christian romance?

Because both come from real places in my journey.

Some of my stories reflect where I’ve been—times of compromise, struggle, and searching. Others reflect where I am now—and where I continue to grow.

I don’t see my books as contradictions. I see them as a continuum. A reflection of a life still being shaped. A faith still being refined. A storyteller still drawn to redemption in all its forms.

If you read my books, you’ll find one common thread woven through all of them—whether the story leans steamy or faith-centered: Broken people. Real struggles. And the possibility of transformation.

Because no matter where we start, the story isn’t over yet.

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