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📝 Writing Butterfly Games #2 in Sweden — August 2025

Posted on 03/08/25

Greetings from Sweden, friends! 🇸🇪 I’m lucky to be spending the month writing the second book in the Butterfly Games historical fiction series in a grand circa-1901 apartment in the Haga neighborhood of Karlstad. Yes, Karlstad—not Stockholm, not Goth…

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Book cover of historical novel Butterfly Games by Kelly Scarborough

Historical Fiction Book Covers: Butterfly Games: Behind the Scenes

Posted on 11/07/25

Discover the story behind the book cover of royal historical fiction novel Butterfly Games by Kelly Scarborough. Meet the artists who designed the fern embroidery and cipher pin worn by ladies in waiting at the Swedish royal court. Preorder Butterfly…

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Cover of historical novel Napoleon's Mirage by Michelle Cameron

Q&A with Michelle Cameron: On Napoleon’s Mirage and the Illusions We Hold

Posted on 11/07/25

I love Napoleonic tales, especially those with far-flung settings distant from Bonaparte’s seat of power in Paris. Having already read and loved Michelle Cameron’s Beyond the Ghetto Gates, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Napoleon’s Mirag…

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Q&A with Jude Berman: On The Vow, Angelica Kauffman, and Reimagining a Forgotten Icon

Posted on 08/05/25

This month, I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Jude Berman—historian, novelist, and all-around master of time travel (of the literary kind, that is). Her novel The Vow reimagines the life of 18th-century artist Angelica Kauffman, a name that…

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#bookstagram #historicalfiction #jacquette #regency

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#bookstagram #historicalfiction #jacquette #regency

Napoleon’s Mirage by Michelle Cameron reunites the reader with the trio of main
characters who inhabited the wonderful tale of historical fiction told in her previous novel,
Beyond the Ghetto Gates. We return to Ancona, Italy’s center of ketubah artistry and its beautiful
decorative Jewish marriage contracts. There, Mirelle is reeling from society’s condemnation and is about to lose the family business. Fighting with the Grand Armée in Egypt, Daniel is struggling with his loyalty to the increasingly despotic Napoleon Bonaparte and Christophe is striving to rise above his inner demons and prove himself a man. Napoleon’s ill-fated assault on Egypt and Syria, is a perfect backdrop for three characters coming of age and grappling with disillusionment and loss of hope. Highly recommended.

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Napoleon’s Mirage by Michelle Cameron reunites the reader with the trio of main
characters who inhabited the wonderful tale of historical fiction told in her previous novel,
Beyond the Ghetto Gates. We return to Ancona, Italy’s center of ketubah artistry and its beautiful
decorative Jewish marriage contracts. There, Mirelle is reeling from society’s condemnation and is about to lose the family business. Fighting with the Grand Armée in Egypt, Daniel is struggling with his loyalty to the increasingly despotic Napoleon Bonaparte and Christophe is striving to rise above his inner demons and prove himself a man. Napoleon’s ill-fated assault on Egypt and Syria, is a perfect backdrop for three characters coming of age and grappling with disillusionment and loss of hope. Highly recommended.

Should Have Told You Sooner is an emotionally layered story of lost chances, found courage, and the complicated path between the two. Jane Ward gives us Noel, a woman whose past mistakes aren’t just baggage—they’re buried truths, the kind that shape your whole life if left unspoken.
Noel isn’t a heroine who gets everything right, and that’s exactly what makes her unforgettable. As she navigates the slow unraveling of secrets and the tentative pull of a long-lost love, her work in the art museum world becomes the perfect metaphor: recapturing what’s been forgotten, holding on to what’s still worth saving.
The narrative moves effortlessly between past and present in a way that feels both grounded and immediate. It’s a portrait of a woman learning that the stories we tell (and the ones we don’t) can shape not just who we were, but who we still might become.

Quietly powerful and beautifully told. On preorder for a February release.

#bookstagram #fiction #contemporaryfiction #kellyrecommends #shouldhavetoldyousooner #booklove #amreading #womenwhoread

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Should Have Told You Sooner is an emotionally layered story of lost chances, found courage, and the complicated path between the two. Jane Ward gives us Noel, a woman whose past mistakes aren’t just baggage—they’re buried truths, the kind that shape your whole life if left unspoken.
Noel isn’t a heroine who gets everything right, and that’s exactly what makes her unforgettable. As she navigates the slow unraveling of secrets and the tentative pull of a long-lost love, her work in the art museum world becomes the perfect metaphor: recapturing what’s been forgotten, holding on to what’s still worth saving.
The narrative moves effortlessly between past and present in a way that feels both grounded and immediate. It’s a portrait of a woman learning that the stories we tell (and the ones we don’t) can shape not just who we were, but who we still might become.

Quietly powerful and beautifully told. On preorder for a February release.

#bookstagram #fiction #contemporaryfiction #kellyrecommends #shouldhavetoldyousooner #booklove #amreading #womenwhoread

𝗦𝗺ö𝗿𝗴å𝘀𝘁å𝗿𝘁𝗮—𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀. 🥪🍰⁣
I’m spending August in Sweden writing the sequel to 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 (yes, the one with the scandalous royal affair and the secret that could shatter a crown). Between writing sessions in a historic apartment and day trips to Jacquette’s real-life haunts, I made time to sample this retro Scandinavian delight. Spoiler: it’s weird and wonderful.⁣
⁣
✨ Head to the blog for my thoughts on the cake, the city, and why I keep writing about 19th-century Swedes.⁣
📖 [Link in bio]⁣
#historicalfiction #smörgåstårta #butterflygames #royalty #swedishsummer #writerinresidence #kellyscarboroughwrites

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𝗦𝗺ö𝗿𝗴å𝘀𝘁å𝗿𝘁𝗮—𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀. 🥪🍰⁣
I’m spending August in Sweden writing the sequel to 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 (yes, the one with the scandalous royal affair and the secret that could shatter a crown). Between writing sessions in a historic apartment and day trips to Jacquette’s real-life haunts, I made time to sample this retro Scandinavian delight. Spoiler: it’s weird and wonderful.⁣
⁣
✨ Head to the blog for my thoughts on the cake, the city, and why I keep writing about 19th-century Swedes.⁣
📖 [Link in bio]⁣
#historicalfiction #smörgåstårta #butterflygames #royalty #swedishsummer #writerinresidence #kellyscarboroughwrites

Only a few days until my trip to Sweden, and a long awaited reunion with @annalenaberg_forfattare . She’s the expert and noted biographer of #Jacquette, heroine of my upcoming novel, #butterflygames . We are traveling together to the remarkable Swedish castle, @skoklostersslott to see the @shondaland exhibit of @queencharlotenetflix swag. Warming up for #bridgerton Season 4 and re-reading the source, @juliaquinnauthor ! 🦋🦋

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Only a few days until my trip to Sweden, and a long awaited reunion with @annalenaberg_forfattare . She’s the expert and noted biographer of #Jacquette, heroine of my upcoming novel, #butterflygames . We are traveling together to the remarkable Swedish castle, @skoklostersslott to see the @shondaland exhibit of @queencharlotenetflix swag. Warming up for #bridgerton Season 4 and re-reading the source, @juliaquinnauthor ! 🦋🦋

Happy Publication Day to @lorettarothschild. Finding Grace is a novel for the twenty-first century--inventive, fast paced, "high concept." It blends genres, with a love story and loads of domestic psychological suspense. Loved it! #FindingGraceNovel
#StMartinsPress

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Happy Publication Day to @lorettarothschild. Finding Grace is a novel for the twenty-first century--inventive, fast paced, "high concept." It blends genres, with a love story and loads of domestic psychological suspense. Loved it! #FindingGraceNovel
#StMartinsPress

Remembering the best of them on this Father’s Day. Good wishes to you and yours. #happyfathersday

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Remembering the best of them on this Father’s Day. Good wishes to you and yours. #happyfathersday

Read it now. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Queens-Musician/Martha-Jean-Johnson/9781684633104

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Read it now. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Queens-Musician/Martha-Jean-Johnson/9781684633104

Read The Vow. You’ll meet Angelica Kauffman, a pioneer in history painting. She crossed paths with the titans of art and society in late 18th century London and Rome. I loved this book, and know you will, too. #historicalfiction #bookstagram

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Open post by kellyscarboroughwrites with ID 18033256532382790

Read The Vow. You’ll meet Angelica Kauffman, a pioneer in history painting. She crossed paths with the titans of art and society in late 18th century London and Rome. I loved this book, and know you will, too. #historicalfiction #bookstagram

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