News and Reviews – Page 2 – Kelsey Gietl

Behind Purple Mask Publishing: 2025 Highlights

Welcome back to the Extra Edition newsletter! I’m excited to bring you bonus content each month with a special inside look at my novels and the history behind them.

What’s in this Edition:

2025 Indie Author Insights – Inside Purple Mask Publishing’s Annual Report
Stars in the Storm makes the 2025 Historical Fiction List
It’s finally here! – Unsettled Shores now in AudioBook
Releasing in January – Other authors’ new releases I’m most excited about

2025 Indie Author Insights

As an independently published author, I founded Purple Mask Publishing in 2017 with a ten-year goal to break even by 2027. This year, I was close enough that it’s finally looking like a real possibility. But if it doesn’t happen, I’ll do what I’ve always done – budget as best I can, then use my personal funds (aka: my day job) to pay the bills. The truth is, most authors don’t go into writing with the intention of making millions. (Some might, but they’ll probably be sorely disappointed). Authors write because we need to, it’s therapeutic, it inspires our readers, and (most of the time) it brings us joy. We write because we have stories that need to be told (or our characters demand that we tell them) and hopefully, those stories can help others in some way. For Christian writers, most importantly, we write to bring God glory. For all these reasons, I love what I do even during years without profit. Here’s a brief summary of what Purple Mask Publishing accomplished this year:

Stars makes Best of Historical Fiction List

I was honored to discover Stars in the Storm listed on author/editor Allison Ramirez’s “2025 Historical Fiction Books to Read in 2026” list. Stars was joined by two of my own favorite 2025 reads, Secret Dwellings by Angelina Salvaggio and Perpetual Rainbows by Jessika Caruso, and I added several more to my TBR. Thank you, Allison for your lovely review!

“Stars in the Storm was one of the first historical fiction novels I read in 2025, and it lived up to (and even exceeded, in my opinion) the other three books in the Larksong Legacy series. I wasn’t an editor for this book, but I’ve faithfully read each book as it was released, and this is a great series with biblical and historical significance, set in 1800s Washington State (my home state!). Kelsey Gietl is a talented author of many noteworthy historical fiction novels.”

Discover all of Allison’s favorite 2025 historical fiction books on her Substack.

Unsettled Shores now in AudioBook

I spent a lot of time over the past few months reviewing my narrator’s audiobook production of Unsettled Shores, the second book in my World War I historical fiction series about spies, censorship, and betrayal on the home front. If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know that I toot a lot of horns for my narrator, Tawnya Rollingson. This lady is simply amazing with her multiple character voices, accents, and even singing. (Although, there’s no singing in Unsettled Shores. Check out my Larksong Legacy series for that.) While this can be read as a standalone, I do recommend reading Broken Lines first.

Get your audiobook of Unsettled Shores.

Releasing in January

Need even more books? Here are this month’s new releases. (Note: I receive no compensation for featuring the books below.)

The Charmed Library by Jennifer Moorman – A librarian can see words all around her, shimmering and flitting like living things, carrying emotions and whispers of untold stories.
The Belle of Chatham by Laura Frantz – The American Revolution ripples through a family as members take opposing sides, causing a deep chasm that fractures two sisters’ once-unbreakable bond.
Braving Fiery Waters by Sarah Hanks – A family vacation goes horribly awry as a mother finds herself thrown from modern times into the 1849 Great Fire of St. Louis.
To Love a Lady by Gabrielle Meyer – A My Fair Lady retelling where a lavish ball, a long-buried secret, and one reckless act of love threaten to unravel everything.
Beyond the Clouds by Elizabeth Camden – Old sparks of romance begin to stir for childhood sweethearts until duty sends them behind enemy lines during World War I.

Did you know reviews help both readers and authors? Even one sentence is enough, and every word greatly appreciated. Consider leaving a rating on Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, and/or your favorite retailer!

Want to know what I’m reading as I’m reading it? Follow me on GoodReads.

Until next month, happy reading!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Kelsey

Purchase signed copies of my books: kelseygietl.com

Follow me on:

COPYRIGHT © KELSEY GIETL 2026

Purple Mask Publishing

2025 Zumbehl Rd, Ste. 33

St. Charles, MO 63303

An Open Book – January’s Best Catholic Reads from a Catholic Author

Welcome to January’s #OpenBook. I’m joining up with host Carolyn Astfalk on CatholicMom.com to share my favorite recent reads by Catholic authors. Have you read any of the books below? Let me know what you thought!

(Note: I receive no compensation for recommending these books.)

Love by Design by Maddie Evans is the third in the Crafted by Love series and my favorite of the three. (You can read them separately or together.) This quick-read romance follows a marriage of convenience between yarn-store owner, Brooke, and her high school best friend, Jonathan, who recently discerned out of the seminary. As someone who has known many Catholic seminarians, and several who have discerned out, and several of those who found their wives soon after, this story really hit home. I loved Jonathan and Brooke so much both as individual characters and as a couple. They had a lovely dynamic together, some really fun banter, and made me cry, too! It felt like the author held Jonathan and Brooke’s story closer to her heart than the others, but maybe that was just how I read it. I’m sad to see this series end but glad it ended on such a high note.

Emma’s Hero by Carrie Walker is the first book in the Faith Endures series. Emma’s Hero is a powerful and inspiring pro-life debut about a single mom whose unborn baby receives a devastating medical diagnosis. This novel shows how God has a purpose in all things, even when they don’t seem to make sense, and the beauty of each person’s lasting impact, no matter their disabilities or how long their life may be. I wasn’t familiar with the baby’s diagnosis of HPE before reading and loved that the author was inspired because of her friend’s baby with the same condition. What a wonderful tribute! Note: While written by a Catholic author, this book is published for the general Christian market.

Treacherous by Susan Laspe was a re-read for me. After my 2nd reading – Love seeing all the foreshadowing! This second book in the Rise of the Charioteer series is best described as Percy Jackson set in the middle ages but with Roman mythology and a Catholic foundation. Our heroes face many challenges, an exciting new rival, and a mythological cast of characters that turn up the element of surprise. After my second reading, I can also appreciate the slow burn romance more now that I know where it ends up. I do recommend reading Book 1, Sorcerous, first.

I spent a lot of time over the past few months reviewing my narrator’s audiobook production of Unsettled Shores, the second book in my World War I historical fiction series. If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know that I toot a lot of horns for my narrator, Tawnya Rollingson. This lady is simply amazing with her multiple character voices, accents, and even singing. (Although, there’s no singing in Unsettled Shores. Check out my Larksong Legacy series for that.) While this can be read as a standalone, I do recommend reading Broken Lines first.

Get your audiobook of Unsettled Shores.

And in case you missed my Top Books of 2025 post, here are my Top 10 favorite books by Catholic authors. My Catholic reads were extremely varied this year from historical to fantasy to contemporary to paranormal with all but two being new to me authors.

Historical Fiction: Perpetual Rainbows by Jessika Caruso (1st in series), Secret Dwellings by Angelina Salvaggio (1st in series), Contemporary Romance: The Crafted with Love series by Maddie Evans, Pro-Life Romance: For Eden’s Sake by T.M. Gaouette, Emma’s Hero by Carrie Walker (1st in series), Paranormal: The Curse He Chose by Sr. Allison Regina Gliot (1st in series), Historical Fantasy Re-read: Sorcerous by Susan Laspe (1st in series), Religious Vocations Fiction: The Fire of Your Love by Erin Lewis (3rd in series, I recommend reading in order), Afterlife Fiction (because I still don’t know what to call it): A Hiker’s Guide to Purgatory by Michael Norton, Non-Fiction: Near Death Experiences by Scott L. Smith, Jr.

Want to know what I’m reading as I’m reading it? Follow me on GoodReads.

Until next time, happy reading!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Kelsey

Purchase signed copies of my books: kelseygietl.com

COPYRIGHT © KELSEY GIETL 2026

Purple Mask Publishing

2025 Zumbehl Rd, Ste. 33

St. Charles, MO 63303

The Results Are in! Reader Feedback and Author Insights

Happy January, readers! I hope you had a blessed Christmas!

What’s in this Edition:

Meet the Author – Get to know Kelsey Gietl
The Results are In! – Learn how you’re making my books better
Writing Update – The latest on Astonished
Recent Reads I Recommend – My favorite reads from last month.
A Little Non-Bookish Delight – My beautiful new Last Supper painting

Get to know Kelsey Gietl

Happy New Year! There were many new subscribers in 2025 (welcome again!), so it’s time to do another “Meet the Author.” Here are just a few facts about me. What else would you like to know?

The Results are In!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2025 Reader Preferences Survey! With so many options available to readers, it’s important to pinpoint what brings you back to my individual stories and newsletter time and again. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. Here are the highlights:

General Information:

Top reasons for choosing a book – being recommended by a friend, an intriguing description and/or title, eye-catching cover art, no explicit sexual content, minimal profanity, and including Christian themes. Surprisingly, price was one of the least considered factors.
Top Read Genres – Historical Fiction/Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance, and Mystery/Suspense.
Most readers (73.9%) prefer series novels to standalone with 43.5% preferring a connected series (all books read in order).
57% of readers prefer reading physical books over ebooks.
Top book-specific sites – Goodreads (70%), BookBub, JustRead Tours, and NetGalley.

Pricing:

Readers’ preferred price points remain at $14.99 for paperbacks and $4.99 for ebooks.
Over 70% of readers are not part of an ebook subscription plan. 26% use Kindle Unlimited.
Most readers (82.6%) have not purchased a book from my online store. Most of you said you would like to support authors directly, but ultimately choose sites with free shipping. (I completely understand this. I wish I could offer free shipping without raising product cost.)
Related to the possibility of a book box offering, interest was pretty evenly split. I’m going to give this more thought.

Email Newsletter:

Almost all of you (98%) continue to prefer the current frequency of 2x per month at the current length.
Top 5 Topics Read – Get to Know the Author, Sales/Giveaways, Background of my Books, Writing Updates, and Recommendations.
Most of you (78%) preferred to know what I’m personally reading over any other kind of recommendation. 90% combined were also interested in monthly new releases and author interviews/giveaways. Going forward, my personal recommendations will be in the main newsletter with other authors’ new releases in the Extra Edition newsletter. Interviews/giveaways will be intermittent.

While the survey timeframe has ended, feedback is always appreciated. Please send any questions or comments as a reply to this email or via my contact page.

Writing Update

Good news! I’m about halfway done drafting Astonished and have made good progress on the remaining half. These characters are taking me for a wild ride, but don’t they always? Speaking of demanding characters, the book I’m planning for after Astonished also barged its way in and demanded some of my time. I’ve got a decent start on an outline with one of Astonished‘s side characters returning as the lead.

For those of you who have read my Over the Atlantic and/or War Across Waters series, I hope you’ll be pleased with the character cameo scene I just finished writing for Astonished. I was really happy to have an excuse to bring back one of my favorite British journalists. Any guesses who it is?

New to the newsletter? Learn more about Astonished.

Recent Reads I Recommend

Need another book for your TBR? Of course you do. Here are the books I’ve recently read and loved. (Note: I receive no compensation for featuring the books below.)

“Death is not a period – it’s a comma. A breath, a waiting, a symbol of more to come. God’s work continues.” Christy-Award-finalist The Way Back by Heidi Chiavoroli is a dual-timeline story deep in complicated family dynamics, overcoming trauma and grief, and discovering the power of forgiveness and moving forward…all with God’s help. These characters were richly portrayed and deeply relatable. We may not all have experienced exactly what they did, but their emotions are universal to the human experience. Just like death, what we go through in life only stops us from living if we leave God out of the equation. With Him, all of life’s challenges are just commas, not the end of the sentence. This was my first Heidi Chiavoroli book and won’t be the last.

While I’ve read and enjoyed all of Hannah Hood Lucero’s books, Battle Charged was my favorite to date. Set in Colorado, there are many twists and turns to this military romantic suspense with the constant question of which characters can be trusted. In the author’s notes, Hannah says this book was the hardest for her to connect with, but to me, it reads with a lot of vulnerability and heart. Plus, it’s a standalone so it makes the perfect book to start with if you’re new to Hannah’s work.

(Note: While I was paid to design the cover for this book, I was not required to leave a positive review or feature in any way.)

Want to know what I’m reading as I’m reading it? Follow me on GoodReads.

A Little Non-Bookish Delight

Last but not least, here’s something non-bookish that I’m loving. Last week, my family added curtains to our kitchen transom window which left the wall beneath feeling too bare. Cue a trip to Hobby Lobby. My daughter and I found a beautiful painting of the Last Supper that fits the space perfectly, although the photo doesn’t do the colors justice. What I like most is that it breaks from the usual mold of DaVinci’s Last Supper while still remaining reverent. This now hangs right behind our kitchen table, a constant reminder of the meal we share in the Eucharist at Mass.

Until next month, happy reading!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Kelsey

Purchase signed copies of my books: kelseygietl.com

Follow me on:

COPYRIGHT © KELSEY GIETL 2026

Purple Mask Publishing

2025 Zumbehl Rd, Ste. 33

St. Charles, MO 63303

Top Must-Read Books of 2025

2025 was a great year for reading! I finished 77 books with many wonderful 4 and 5 star selections. As the year comes to a close, here are my Top 10 recommended reads, listed first by genre, then by author’s last name. Have you read any of these? Which books should I add to my must-read list in 2026?

(Note: I receive no compensation for featuring the books below.)

This year, my reading list was light on Historical Fiction (surprising I know), so it was pretty easy to choose my Top 10. Historical Fantasy and Time Travel are included in the Speculative category below.

Tri-Timeline: Splinters and Seams by Courtney Rivera, Dual Timeline 1920s/1960s: The Bootlegger’s Betrayal by Tanya E. Williams, Protestant Reformation: Secret Dwellings by Angelina Salvaggio (1st in series), American Revolution: Perpetual Rainbows by Jessika Caruso (1st in series), American Frontier: On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1830s: Some Melodious Sonnet by Jennifer Q. Hunt (1st in series), 1850s: The Bachelor and the Bride by Sarah Eden (4th in series, but I read as a standalone), 1910s: Hope Like Wildflowers by Pepper Basham (3rd in series, but I read as a standalone), 1920s: Whispers of Her Worth by Tanya E. Williams, World War II: The Girls of the Glimmer Factory by Jennifer Coburn (2nd in series, Note for clean readers: There is one open door sex scene.),

I read way more Contemporary Fiction this year, so narrowing the choices was more difficult. These are mostly romances with a few exceptions, such as The Fire of Your Love which is centered around religious vocations.

Between the Sound and Sea by Amanda Cox, For Eden’s Sake by T.M. Gaouette, The Crafted With Love series by Maddie Evans (Book 3 was my favorite, but the entire series was great), The Dating Charade by Melissa Ferguson, Summer Ever After by Kortney Keisel, The Fire of Your Love by Erin Lewis (3rd in series, I recommend reading in order), A Name to Remember by Hannah Hood Lucero, Emma’s Hero by Carrie Walker (1st in series)

I’m smashing all these genres together as I didn’t have enough in any one for a Top 10.

Paranormal: The Curse He Chose by Sr. Allison Regina Gliot (1st in series, I don’t usually enjoy paranormal, but I’ve already pre-ordered book 2), Time Travel: Braving Strange Waters by Sarah Hanks (1st in series), In this Moment and For a Lifetime by Gabrielle Meyer (2nd and 3rd in series), Dystopian: Scythe by Neal Shusterman (1st in series), Historical Fantasy Re-reads: Sorcerous & Treacherous by Susan Laspe (1st & 2nd in series), Afterlife Fiction (because I don’t know what to call it): A Hiker’s Guide to Purgatory by Michael Norton, The Historical Fiction/Dystopian/Magical realism/Romance series I didn’t know I wanted to binge read and then loved: The Land Uncharted series by Keely Brooke Keith (15-book series, I never start a series this long, but it was well worth it. Book 1 & 15 are pictured. Book 16 coming soon.)

I have to give an extra special shout-out to my fellow Catholic Christian authors. My Catholic reads were extremely varied this year from historical to fantasy to contemporary to paranormal with all but two being new to me authors.

Want to read my full reviews? Follow me on GoodReads.

Until next time, happy reading!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Kelsey

Purchase signed copies of my books: kelseygietl.com

Follow me on:

Purple Mask Publishing

2025 Zumbehl Rd, Ste. 33

St. Charles, MO 63303

2 Days Left: Make your voice heard in the Reader Preferences Survey

Welcome back to the Extra Edition newsletter! December’s crazy busy so this edition has one request and a reminder. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

***A Quick Request*** – I received a comment from the Reader Preferences Survey asking, “I know very few Catholic authors and would love to know more! Can you email me if you know more?” The survey didn’t collect names or email addresses, so if this was you, please reply to this newsletter. I would love to talk more!

***Reminder!*** – My 2025 Reader Preferences Survey is still open until this Wednesday, December 17. With so many options available to readers, it’s important to pinpoint what brings you back to my individual stories and newsletter time and again. I would greatly appreciate it if you could take ten minutes of your time to complete the survey below. All the questions are optional, but I do hope you will consider completing them. Responses are anonymous, so please share all your thoughts! Thank you to all those who have already responded!

Provide Your Reader Preferences

Until next time, happy reading!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Kelsey

Purchase signed copies of my books: kelseygietl.com

Follow me on:

Purple Mask Publishing

2025 Zumbehl Rd, Ste. 33

St. Charles, MO 63303

What’s in this Edition:

2025 Indie Author Insights

Stars makes Best of Historical Fiction List

Unsettled Shores now in AudioBook

Releasing in January

Until next month, happy reading!

Kelsey

Follow me on:

COPYRIGHT © KELSEY GIETL 2026

Until next time, happy reading!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Kelsey

COPYRIGHT © KELSEY GIETL 2026

What’s in this Edition:

Get to know Kelsey Gietl

The Results are In!

Writing Update

Recent Reads I Recommend

A Little Non-Bookish Delight

Follow me on:

COPYRIGHT © KELSEY GIETL 2026

Until next time, happy reading!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Kelsey

Follow me on:

COPYRIGHT © KELSEY GIETL 2025

Until next time, happy reading!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Kelsey

Follow me on:

COPYRIGHT © KELSEY GIETL 2025

Kelsey Gietl - Author