Notable author: Kimberley Woodhouse

  Kimberley Woodhouse is another author who is definitely not new to me, but is very notable. And she is the author I know the most about, and is one of three authors I have met in person. She and Tracie Peterson were in Sugarcreek, Ohio on a book tour for a series they wrote together, so I took a trip over there to meet them.

  Back in 2011, I was reviewing books for Broadman and Holman, and reviewed her first two books that were suspense co-written with her daughter Kayla, No Safe Haven.  (I did an interview with Kayla in 2015, and you can find it here.) I loved both books. With the exception of an anthology of 4 books she did with Ronie Kendig (another awesome author), she has been writing historical fiction since. Until her most recent book. I credit Kimberley with giving me a love for historical fiction. My favorite genre' is Christian suspense, but I really liked her books and had interacted with her on social media by then, so I started reading everything she wrote, and she got on my favorite authors list.

Some of her books I consider most notable: Her Mayflower Brides books. That is a series Barbour books did with multiple authors. Kimberley wrote four books for that series. I enjoyed all four, but my favorite is The Express Bride. It is not about a woman who got married really fast (haha), but is about a woman who worked for the Pony Express, something that has always fascinated me.

The other most notable to me is the Heart of Alaska Series she co-wrote with Tracie Peterson, and one of those was the book they were touring for when I met both authors. (I think the first one.) She did another series with Peterson titled Treasures of Nome. They have another series starting in May, 10 days before my birthday :), The Hearts Choice, #1 in The Jewels of Kalispell Series. Kimberley has another series (just her) starting in September: The Secrets Beneath, #1 in Treasures of the Earth Series, a series that has something to do with dinosaurs. 

She went back to suspense this month with the release of 26 Below, an awesome story revolving around cyber security. I loved the book, and was happy to see it is the first in a series, so there will be more. She lost her father a couple months ago, and didn't get the word spread about her new and upcoming books. I thought this was awesome: Several - and I mean several - did a cover reveal of The Secrets Beneath, and also spread the word about 26 Below. I follow several authors on Facebook who did it, and I am sure some did it who I do not follow. I thought it was amazing in what is probably somewhat of a competitive market. We can't buy everyone's books.

One thing that has impressed me with this author is the research she does for her books. She puts a lot of historical facts in her books, and I have learned a lot from her books. I have Googled things - such as how long it would take to get from one town in Arizona to the Grand Canyon by train. I learned about the Kolb brothers who took daring photographs in the early 1900's from her Secrets of the Canyon Series.

Christian fiction sometimes gets a bad rap. I remember people in my church I grew up in referring to the Christian novel as if it was barely a step above Playboy....not much of an exaggeration. There are a lot of Christian novels that have a lot of fluff - which is fine, we need fun and laughter - but there are also a lot that have a great Christian message, and that we can learn a lot from. Kimberley Woodhouse is one of those authors, and all of her books have some kind of Biblical teaching, often something that she was recently studying in the Bible.

 It is difficult for me to pick a favorite author, as I have so many favorites and they write different genre's....plus, it may sound weird, but I hate to try to pick a favorite. But Kim is one who is way, way up there. 

Kim has a stuffed crocheted chicken named Moe that she takes along on many of her adventures. And I will just leave it at that😀

Kimberley has two kids: Joshua and Kayla, both married. Kayla gave birth to Kim's first grandchild last year.  Kimberley's husband is a pastor, and they are currently pastoring a church in PA. And not only is she a great author, she is an awesome lady who interacts a lot with her readers. If you have not read anything by her, you are truly missing out.

Kimberley Woodhouse (www.kimberleywoodhouse.com) is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than 30 fiction and nonfiction books. Kim and her incredible husband of 30-plus years live in the Poconos, where they play golf together, spend time with their kids and grandbaby, and research all the history around them.