Welcome
After more than two decades as an attorney, I began writing historical novels about fascinating women who lived in challenging times. It’s my passion, and it has taken me to Swedish castles and archives, where I found stories, surprises, and more than a few new friends.
My debut novel, Butterfly Games, is a biographical historical novel based on real people who lived in Sweden in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. At its heart is a tragic love story between a young countess and a prince — a romance with personal and political consequences that echo through the Swedish royal court. The novel won the Bronze Medal in Historical Fiction (Romance) in the 2026 Independent Publisher Book Awards and was named a 2025 Goethe Book Awards Semi-Finalist for Late Historical Fiction. It’s for readers who enjoy Philippa Gregory, Allison Pataki, Outlander, Bridgerton, and The Crown.
I live in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, where I bang away on my MacBook Pro whenever my husband, three stepchildren, two children, and Shih Tzu cooperate. At heart, I’ll always be a Jersey Girl.
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Friday Celebration: Butterfly Games Is on Multiple Amazon UK Best Seller Lists
Posted on July 10, 2026 in Behind the Scenes, Book News, Butterfly Games
I just got some wonderful book news from the UK. Today, Butterfly Games appeared on multiple Amazon UK Best Seller lists, with both the Kindle edition and paperback reaching readers in categories close to my heart: 19th Century Historical Fiction and…
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The Fact and Fiction Behind Jacquette and Oscar’s First Meeting at Drottningholm
Posted on July 4, 2026 in Butterfly Games, Jacquette
On July 4, as America celebrates its 250th birthday, I’m thinking about another pair of birthdays—two young people born on the same day, two years apart, whose lives would become entangled in one of those relationships that history remembers. Jacquet…
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Women, Law, and Lawlessness in 19th-Century New York
Posted on June 28, 2026 in Butterfly Games, Events
New York City-area friends: please join me on Tuesday, June 30, at 6:30pm at Jefferson Market Library for a Historical Novel Society–New York Chapter panel, “Women, Law, and Lawlessness in 19th-Century New York.” I’ll be moderating a conversation wit…
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Butterfly Games
For fans of Philippa Gregory, Allison Pataki, Bridgerton, and The Crown, Butterfly Games is Kelly Scarborough’s award-winning debut biographical historical novel about a young Swedish countess whose youthful love affair with Prince Oscar, heir to Sweden’s throne, has profound personal and political repercussions. Set in late-Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic Sweden from 1811 to 1817, the novel blends romance, royal intrigue, ambition, and the dangerous consequences of proximity to power.
In some games, winning means losing everything that matters.
In the opulent world of the Swedish royal court, Jacquette Gyldenstolpe walks a dangerous tightrope between romance and political intrigue. Neglected by her parents and ostracized by the people around her, the young countess falls in love with Prince Oscar, heir to the Swedish throne—but their passionate affair has far-reaching consequences for the new Bernadotte dynasty, which is already challenged by threats from inside Sweden and beyond.
By the time Jacquette learns that the Butterfly Game is not for the faint-hearted, it is too late. For she has a secret—one as precious to her as it is potentially devastating to the crown—and she will stop at nothing to protect it.
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