Welcome!

The Deception

(Book 2, The Secret Tales)

Coming June 15!!!

A love forged through adversity….

Daughter of an illustrious artist, Lady Charlotte Pheland forges her late father’s paintings for the survival of herself, her sister, and her widowed mother. Charlotte slips from a ball to sell a painting to naval Captain Patrick Landsdowne, Lord Hawthorne. Disaster strikes when a duke arrives with a crowd of attendees only to discover their clandestine meeting, compromising them. To salvage their reputations, they announce their fake engagement.

Patrick sails for the West Indies, confident Charlotte will renege. But all goes horribly wrong when Patrick suffers a devastating accident at sea, returning to his family and Charlotte a broken man. Now, if Charlotte severs her engagement, society will vilify her. But if they marry, she will bind herself to a man who could reveal her secret forgeries.

Patrick will never again captain a ship, and he rails against his loss of purpose. Yet while convalescing, his heart warms to Charlotte’s kindness, talent, and perseverance. Meanwhile, she sees Patrick’s quips and sarcasm mask a caring person with a steel backbone and a gentle heart.

A murder complicates matters. Worse, a stranger’s obsession with Charlotte and her father’s art puts their lives in peril. Yet they find a harmony that surprises them both…until Patrick discovers her forgery.

Will Patrick reveal all, thus devastating Charlotte’s world and their budding relationship?

Or will their engagement stand? Even so, murder and obsession may destroy them both.

You can purchase The Bond at Amazon and Everywhere Else

“The protagonists are caring, courageous, and kind, leaving no choice to the reader but to like them. The story building is great with some unexpected twists that make the story intriguing.” —Online Book Club, 5 Stars

“The Bond, written by Vicki Stiefel, is a beautiful Regency novel with prevalent themes of family, loss, self-acceptance, and, most importantly, love.” —Morgan Lee Reviews

“A great start to the series and I can't wait for the next book! Definitely recommended by me.” —Archaeolibrarian

An Impossible Choice…

Lady Rosamund Fielding hides a secret so terrible it could ruin her, her family, and Major General Lord Rhys Lansdowne, the man she loves. Rose and Rhys were inseparable in childhood—their friendship the one shining light in Rose’s dark upbringing. 

Yet when Rhys proposes, Rose refuses, for he can never know her shameful truth. 

Returned from the Napoleonic wars and now the Marquess of Ravenscroft, Rhys is determined to uncover the reason behind Rose's rejection and win her hand and heart once and for all.

Meanwhile, Rose’s father, Earl Fielding, demands Rose accept Brigadier Viscount Pennworth's marriage proposal, threatening dire consequences if she does not obey.

Time is of the essence as Rose faces this difficult crossroads, where she is forced to confront past demons and choose a path. 

Should she marry Rhys, deceiving him, and forever be branded a liar in his eyes? She cannot.

Wed Pennworth? Never.

Or flee? Away from Rhys, away from her father, and away from all she holds dear. 

Rose has faced many dangerous choices in her life. Will this final one destroy her?

You can purchase The Bond at Amazon and Everywhere Elseead.com

Read the Prologue & Chapter 1!

Sanna Brand

A Fable—

Once upon a time… 

When my great grandmother came to America from England, she carried only two items—her Bible and her great-grandmother’s diaries. Great-nana Sanna Brand was an inveterate diarist and wrote daily. For years, I’ve been pouring through her journals, fascinated. Much she wrote was mundane—about family, fashion, food, and her beaus (until she met my great etc. grandfather). 

I read and read until I came upon a peculiar journal—which turned out to be Sanna’s penning of a novel! 

(I also learned from her journals that her first name was actually Susannah, but her youngest brother couldn’t pronounce the word and called her Sanna. Thus, forever-after, she used that name.)

So far, I’ve discovered four books penned by Sanna Brand.

What to do? Publish them, of course!

The first one, THE BOND, takes place in Regency England near Sanna’s childhood home and is the first book in The Secret Tales.

Sanna’s writing shocked me at first because THE BOND includes love, murder, adventure, some tender subjects, bits of naughty romance, numerous horses, a goat, dogs, and much more. 

I am Sanna Brand, of course. But my great-grandmother did come from England and her name was Susannah. (In my mind, Sanna’s little brother, Oliver, couldn’t pronounce her name, and so she was Sanna thereafter.)