About Kelsey
Author, wife, mother, animal-lover, and owner of an obscene amount of books. Kelsey is an Illinois native but spent some time in North Carolina while in college. She fostered her love of reading and writing after a heart condition sidelined her childhood. Her passions continued to develop long after surgery restored her health. To this day it's difficult to find her without a book in her hand. She dove headfirst into the romance genre (perhaps) a bit earlier than the recommended minimum age and became rather adept at disguising her reading material. Once exposed to the glittering world of historical romance, she was forever changed. Her love of writing and all things British translated into her future collegiate studies in both English (with an emphasis on Brit Lit) and History (mainly British and European). She would go on to earn Bachelor's Degrees in both English and History, as well as a Master's Degree in English. She finished penning her first novel fresh out of high school and has never looked back. After a few more years, she was inspired to write The Baron's Folly -- her first publication. When she's not writing or reading, Kelsey is usually watching reruns of her favorite shows ("Schitt's Creek", "The Office", "The Middle", "The Good Place", "Parks and Rec", "New Girl", etc.), or streaming just about any true crime show on Netflix; obsessively collecting architectural designs, crafts, and recipes on Pinterest; or sketching, crocheting, cooking, and spending time with her family. She is a diehard supporter of the Oxford Comma (in case you couldn't tell) and is glued to the TV whenever le Tour de France is on.
News & Reviews
Updates!
As of December 2023, I have signed a contract with Dragonblade Publishing for a three-book series (with the possibility of adding more)! I am so excited about this new adventure and look forward to see where this takes my books. Check out my profile on Dragonblade Publishing HERE.
I officially have three books published in “The Stratford Family” series! Lily, George, and Simon’s books are all available on Amazon right now.
If you see my PA, Grace, flitting around on my social media, be sure to say hi! She’s wonderful and definitely helping me maintain my sanity.
Want to stay up to date on all things related to my books and releases? Sign up for my Newsletter HERE! (I promise not to spam you every single day...no matter how excited I am!) The best part about subscribing to my Newsletter? You receive a FREE Bonus Epilogue for The Baron's Folly!
My Works
Want to know more about my books?
Click on a cover to jump to that book's page!
The Baron's Folly
Released 01/31/2023
The Baron's Folly: Bonus Epilogue
Released 06/27/2023
Saving the Viscount
Released 10/03/2023
My Works:
Continued
Want to know more about my books?
Click on a cover to jump to that book's page!
Loving Mister Stratford
Released 04/02/2024
Coming Soon!
A Most Unsuitable Lover
Tentative pre-order 08/27/2024
Tentative release date 09/03/2024
Coming Soon!
When the Duke Comes to Play...
Pre-order 07/01/2024
Release date 10/02/2024
My Works:
Continued
Coming Soon!
Want to know more about my books?
Click on a cover to jump to that book's page!
Bonus Epilogue Anthology
Release date 2024
Coming Soon!
Seducing the Spy
Release date 2025
Coming Soon!
Courting the Duchess
Release date 2025
My Works:
Continued
Coming Soon!
Want to know more about my books?
Click on a cover to jump to that book's page!
Marrying the Marquess
Release date 2025
The Baron's Folly
Book 1 in "The Stratford Family" Series
Original Publication Date: January 31, 2023
Editions: 1
Details: Jeremy and Lily's story
Inspiration: In my mind, Jeremy is basically Chris Hemsworth with dark hair and eyes...
Find it on Amazon
Available as a Kindle e-book and a paperback on Amazon. You can also read it for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited (KU) subscription!
Wedding planning is torturous for most men, let alone when that man has knowingly trapped himself into assisting with the wedding of the woman he loves...to another man.
Jeremy Balfour, the new Baron Shefford, has known Lady Lily Stratford her entire life and loved her just as long. But several truths were evident to him from the very beginning:
- As his best friend's younger sister, she was completely off-limits.
- Revealing his feelings would do no good.
- Lily was not meant for him. As the daughter of an earl, she was destined to marry a great lord and bring her family an advantageous connection.
When the inevitable happens and Lily is betrothed to another man, Jeremy must make the decision to risk destroying both of their lives by revealing his feelings, or do the honorable thing and relinquish her forever. Either through blind stupidity or desperation, he offers to stand in for the absent bridegroom during the planning process; telling himself that he will take solace in Lily's temporary nearness, imprint her smile upon his memory, and hold those recollections close as he vows to step aside and never interfere again. When he discovers her fiancé's true nature, however, Jeremy's choice becomes clear: He must save Lily from the marriage...at any cost.
Brimming with angst and longing, electric passion and an explosive conclusion, The Baron's Folly is a spectacular introduction to the world of "The Stratford Family" series; part of an interwoven, multilayered set of books with overlapping characters and plots. Welcome to Kelsey Swanson's world of Regency Romance.
What happens to the characters after you close their book? Find out in this Newsletter exclusive...
Be sure to read The Baron's Folly before reading this Bonus Epilogue! It is available to read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited, and for purchase as a Kindle ebook and as a paperback on Amazon.com. Click HERE to view it on Amazon.
Fifteen years after The Baron's Folly takes place, Jeremy and Lily have settled into the life of which they'd always dreamed. Together, they have created a family, a life, and a future.
Short, sweet, with a hint of spice, this Bonus Epilogue is a glimpse ahead to see what the future holds for the Balfours.
This is an exclusive release for subscribers to Kelsey Swanson's Newsletter!
Brimming with angst and longing, electric passion and an explosive conclusion, The Baron's Folly is a spectacular introduction to the world of "The Stratford Family" series; part of an interwoven, multilayered set of books with overlapping characters and plots. Welcome to Kelsey Swanson's world of Regency Romance.
The Baron's Folly:
Bonus Epilogue
Book 1.5 in "The Stratford Family" Series
Original Publication Date: June 27, 2023
Editions: 1
Details: A special continuation of Jeremy and Lily's story!
Exclusively for Newsletter subscribers
Available to read for FREE if you sign up for my Newsletter HERE!
Saving the Viscount
Book 2 in "The Stratford Family" Series
Original Publication Date: October 3, 2023
Editions: 1
Details: George and Meredith's story
Inspiration: George is basically Chris Evans from Avengers: Infinity War (longer hair and all) but with green eyes.
Available as a Kindle e-book and a paperback on Amazon. You can also read it for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited (KU) subscription!
He is broken in both body and soul...
George Stratford, Viscount Sommerfeld, is accustomed to being a man envied. As the eldest son of the Earl of Aldborough, he stands to inherit numerous properties and wealth along with a powerful title. He is well-liked among the ton and widely considered a man with a jovial disposition, winning smile, and sharp wit. Unfortunately for George, a tragic, violent injury lays him low and cripples his body as well as his future. His lack of improvement knocks his life from its seemingly unwavering course and plunges him into a dark hole simmering with anger and bitterness. Gone is the affable man, and in his place is a wounded lion who'd rather hold everyone at bay with claws and vicious, biting words than reveal to the world the true depth of his pain.
She has nowhere to call home...
Meredith Pryce has spent her life on the outside. An unwanted daughter of a lord who'd resented his Scottish wife, she'd been foisted off on her mother's relatives and found solace in books and the unconventional comfort of her uncle's medical practice before being married off to a man decades her senior. Her husband's death leaves her as the Dowager Baroness Gallwell, but her stepson, the new baron, makes it clear she's no longer safe or welcome in her home. What follows is a life of deprivation as she bounces from one home to the next, forever without security of the warmth of a family. When she's generously invited to stay at Rosehall, she hardly expects to be confronted with an embittered viscount with a permanent scowl. Nor does she expect her past will play a vital role in saving them both.
Can she show him life is still worth living? And can he teach her what love and acceptance are? Follow the eldest Stratford sibling as he overcomes his shattered sense of self and teaches a lost woman the true meaning of family.
Though born into privilege as the youngest child of the Earl of Aldborough, much of Simon Stratford's life has been spent as an outcast. He never experienced the same desire to feign another personality or affect mannerisms for the sake of acceptance; always more concerned with his intellectual pursuits than the opinions of others. He exists in a space of orderly numbers where equations make infinitely more sense to him than the veiled barbs and cutting words of his peers. His work is his life and his haven in a world where he is, at best, misunderstood. Resigned to a life of solitude as a social pariah, he never counted on meeting a woman who makes him rethink all his priorities and wonder if there might be more to life than books or journals.
Odette Leroy, the illegitimate daughter of a renowned French actress, suffers from a similar sensation of imposter syndrome. She is too introverted and sheltered to fit in well at the theater, and her parentage too dubious to be easily accepted in polite society. A chance encounter with the curious Mister Stratford has irrevocably altered her and given her hope for the future. There is something endearing and charming about the quiet, intensely intelligent man who asks her to dance and calls upon her as if she were the most proper and respected of ladies.
Unfortunately for them, Odette's mother is more calculating than most... One orchestrated compromising situation and they find themselves rushed into a marriage of propriety, effectively elevating Odette's status and setting Simon's orderly, regulated world on its ear.
While Odette struggles to find her place in the world, Simon must understand he can be more to his wife than a burden, dragging her down before she has a chance to fly.
Aching desire and steamy passion abound in this third book in "The Stratford Family" series; part of an interwoven, multilayered set of books with overlapping characters and plots. Fall in love with Kelsey Swanson's world of Regency Romance.
Loving Mister Stratford
Book 3 in "The Stratford Family" Series
Book 1 in untitled "Theater" series
Original Publication Date: TBD
Editions: N/A
Details: Simon and Odette's story
Inspiration: Benedict Cumberbatch in Sherlock played a big part in my mind's development of Simon -- all cheekbones that can cut glass, luscious curling hair (but blonde), and gorgeous, intense eyes.
Available as a Kindle e-book and a paperback on Amazon. You can also read it for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited (KU) subscription!
A Most Unsuitable Lover
Book 4 in "The Stratford Family" Series
Book 1 in untitled "Reading Society" series
Prequel to untitled "Spy" series
Original Publication Date: TBD
Editions: N/A
Details: Ian and Juliette's story
Inspiration: (Work in progress)
Will be available as both a Kindle e-book and a paperback on Amazon
Reading Order
Want to know in which order to read my books? Look no further!
The Baron's Folly (1816) - "The Stratford Family" Series #1
The Baron's Folly: Bonus Epilogue (1831) - "The Stratford Family" Series #2
Saving the Viscount (1818) - "The Stratford Family" Series #2
Loving Mister Stratford (1821) - "The Stratford Family" Series #3 & "Theater"* #1
A Most Unsuitable Lover (1822) - "The Stratford Family" Series #4, untitled "Reading Society" series #1, & prequel to untitled "Spy" series
*Tentative series title.
Work in Progress
I am continuing to work on my spinoff to “The Stratford Family” series, A Most Unsuitable Lover. I am also nearly done with my novella contribution for a “curvy heroine” anthology (and I love it)! I’ve also finished the basic first draft of my first book with Dragonblade Publishing! Things are moving along at a very nice clip.
Sign up for my NEWSLETTER for more information!
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Are you on Goodreads.com? So am I!
Not only am I a Goodreads author, but I also LOVE to read! I founded Overbooked Reading Group as a fun way to challenge myself, branch out to new reading materials and authors, and connect with some amazing people. This is a NO PRESSURE reading group! No awkward meetings or being forced to read a book you don't want to. This is a community of monthly and yearly challenges designed to add variety and excitement to your reading.
Does this sound like something you would enjoy? Click the logo to the right to send a request to join my Goodreads.com reading group! While you're there, FOLLOW me!
Just for Fun...
Q & A with Kelsey
What inspires you when you write?
I listen to a lot of music when I write -- some of my books are even entirely inspired by songs!
Who is your favorite character?
This is a tricky question because I feel like my favorite varies depending upon the story I happen to be working on at that moment. Like a typical mother, I adore all of my "children." However, I am quite fond of Pearce, Dorian, and Amelia (you'll meet them much later).
Why Regency England?
I might ask this question of a good portion of romance readers. Personally, I think it has to do with the romance of it all -- the societal restrictions of the time placed upon men and women (and how delicious those were to break), the glamor of balls and parties and glittering costumes and jewels, the escape a time and place so different from our own affords to us readers.
How do you pick your character names?
To be honest, a majority of them were taken from my list of "possible baby names" nixed by my husband. I was able to use them for my "book babies"!
Just for Fun... Character Art
I have been playing around with AI generators and putting all my years of art classes to use to create these fun images of some of my characters. Enjoy!
Jeremy
Lily
Just for Fun... Character Art - Part 2
I have been playing around with AI generators and putting all my years of art classes to use to create these fun images of some of my characters. Enjoy!
George
Meredith
KS
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