Jen Gilroy's Blog

As most of you know, I have two homes, Canada and England.

And while I now live in a part of Canada where my Irish family roots on my mother’s side extend to the 1820s, I also have British ancestry and spent many years living and working in England.

This week, I’m leaving Tech Guy and Floppy Ears behind and flying to London, my favourite city, for a mix of work and holiday there and elsewhere in the UK.

For my writing work

I’m looking forward to attending the Romance Writing Festival in Bournemouth.

Since I started my author career in the UK, this festival will be a chance to catch up with friends and attend talks on the craft and business of writing.

A highlight will be a literary-themed walk, telling the stories of writers associated with Bournemouth, a popular resort town on England’s beautiful south coast.

My trip also involves writing research, especially for the third book in my WW2 British home front Teacher Evacuees series as Rose Warner.

I’ve booked a Women of London walking tour in the city’s East End and also plan to visit the nearby Museum of the Home.

Since all my books, both contemporary romance as Jen Gilroy and historical women’s fiction as Rose Warner, are in some way about ‘finding home,’ I’ll be exploring what home means to different people at different times and places.

I’ll also visit The Museum of English Rural Life in Reading and several historic properties in and around London in the care of Britain’s National Trust.

Not least, I’m looking forward to meeting with my UK literary agent and editor for bookish and career chat.

Holiday adventures

Any UK trip also means seeing friends beyond my writing community.

From a mum friend I met in hospital after giving birth to English Rose, to past work colleagues and village neighbours, I have a happy schedule of lunches, dinners and afternoon teas.

Fortunately, I’ll be doing lots of walking to balance what’s sure to be an excess of cake, fish and chips and other treats.

Solo travel

Although I’ll miss Tech Guy, I’m used to travelling alone and find that it gives me ‘thinking’ and ‘being’ time.

And by letting let my mind wander, I discover more about myself and often find unexpected writing inspiration.

So here’s to autumn adventures, no matter where and how you take them.

Since I’ll be away and, for the first time, I’m not taking my laptop with me, my next blog post will be in early November.

With The Teacher Evacuees, my WW2 British home front story as Rose Warner having come out last week, this week it’s my next Jen Gilroy sweet contemporary romance, The Hero Next Door.

Published by Harlequin Heartwarming, “uplifting stories where the bonds of family, friendship and community unite,” The Hero Next Door is first in my new Strawberry Pond series.

The books in this series (books 2 and 3 are out in 2026) follow three women who work in and around the fictional small town of Strawberry Pond in New Hampshire, U.S.A.’s beautiful White Mountains.

Calling themselves “The Farm-Hers,” since they’re all involved in agriculture, these close friends support each other in life and farming.

In The Hero Next Door, Josie Ryan, a single mom, runs struggling Snow Moon Hill Farm with her grandparents.

Then, Heath Tremblay, a divorced city guy from Boston, inherits his great-aunt’s property, Tabby Cat Hollow, next door.

Will Heath be a temporary neighbor…Or a permanent problem?

At first, Heath and Josie are complete opposites.

She’s a hard-working farmer, and he’s a fish out of water city guy who’s never even met a cow up close.

Yet the more time they spend together, the more Heath could be the remedy for both Josie’s farm and her guarded heart.

There’s lots of family—his and hers.

Strawberry Pond is also a tight-knit community inspired by real places I’ve visited on New Hampshire vacations.

It’s filled with what my maternal grandmother would’ve called “button-hole cousins,” and where people have deep roots and long memories.

A town where people care about their neighbours and look out for them.

There’s also Cookie, a special rescue dog, a cow named Clarabelle and Fifi, a vintage tractor.

Fellow Heartwarming author Anna Grace describes The Hero Next Door as “a cozy, thoughtful read” which left her “smiling and uplifted.”

An early reader says “the characters are wonderful. I was rooting for all of them.”

It’s a story about how an unlikely connection might just become a love for keeps.

And for a man who never expected to have a family of his own, is an unexpected “found family” the one he never knew he needed?

In addition, The Hero Next Door is a story about home and what it means—both the real place and finding home with “your person.”

From my heart to yours, welcome to Strawberry Pond. I’m excited to share this story and series with you.

If you haven’t already got a copy, order (in e-book or large-print paperback here.

As for The Teacher Evacuees?

British saga/historical women’s fiction author, Susanna Bavin, showcased The Teacher Evacuees on her blog here, calling my first Rose Warner historical “an emotionally satisfying story of new love, unexpected friendships and wartime courage…Warm[s] your heart.”

I couldn’t hope for higher praise.

In both my Jen Gilroy contemporary romances, and Rose Warner historical women’s fiction, I write stories to “warm your heart” as well as “bring your heart home.”

The countdown is on! The Teacher Evacuees, my first historical women’s fiction/saga novel as Rose Warner, is out in e-book and audiobook (narrated by Laurel Lefkow and with a different cover) worldwide and paperback (UK) on 25 September.

My publisher, Canelo, calls it a ‘fresh and interesting concept’ for a WW2 story since it follows British teachers, the ‘silent evacuees,’ relocated to the countryside with their pupils at the start of the Second World War in September 1939.

To keep children safe from anticipated bombing, the British government evacuated millions of them from cities and towns to rural areas. Living with strangers and far from family and friends, this experience impacted all areas of children’s lives and had lasting effects, some positive, others profoundly damaging.

Yet little attention has been paid to the teachers who accompanied them to the countryside. Sometimes called the ‘silent evacuees,’ these teachers also had their lives uprooted and upended. In The Teacher Evacuees, and upcoming series of the same name, I tell their stories.

The heroine of The Teacher Evacuees, Canadian-born Victoria McKaye, is in part inspired by my great-aunt Vera who was teaching in England before war broke out.

When Vera’s father summoned her home to Canada, she dutifully obeyed. However, my fictional Victoria stayed in England and became a ‘teacher evacuee.’

Moving from London to a small village in rural Norfolk, a county in eastern England, forever changes Victoria’s life.

Together with her colleagues, middle-aged, standoffish Beatrice and young, quiet Nell, like their real counterparts, Victoria sorts out billets for her pupils and, with no accommodation at first arranged for them, the three live and work in the village hall.

Victoria and her fellow teachers must also improvise, adapting the standard curriculum to account for a paper shortage and rationing, no blackboard and large classes of various ages (sixty children was common).

And while adjusting to life in the countryside brings many challenges, it also brings Victoria unexpected friendships, adventure and romance with a handsome but mysterious naval officer.

Since Victoria comes from my home province of Manitoba, Canada and makes a new home in England, The Teacher Evacuees blends my British and Canadian lives and is especially close to my heart.

It’s also shaped by research I did at London’s Imperial War Museum and elsewhere, reading letters and other materials associated with wartime teachers to get a sense of the challenges they faced.

Early readers call The Teacher Evacuees ‘beautiful and very touching’ and ‘heartwarming’ with a ‘sweet romance.’

I’m excited to share this story with you and hope you enjoy it.

Find out more & pre-order The Teacher Evacuees via the links on my website here.

Paperbacks in the U.S. & Canada: Order from Blackwell’s online (with free shipping worldwide) here (currently circa $21.00 CAD/ $15.00 U.S.)

*Please note: Paperback cost fluctuates due to changing currency exchange rates but also may be much higher after the book’s publication.*

Dear blog readers,

I hope you’ve had a good summer (or winter for those in the southern hemisphere).

Since some of you review books on NetGalley, I wanted to let you know that writing as Rose Warner, The Teacher Evacuees, my first historical women’s fiction/British home front saga is now available to request.

Login to NetGalley and request The Teacher Evacuees from my publisher, Canelo, here.

The Teacher Evacuees will only be on NetGalley until September 13, 2025 so you need to be quick with your request. 

I’m honoured that the book has already received some lovely advance praise from authors I respect and admire.

Donna Jones Alward, bestselling author of When the World Fell Silent, calls it a “wartime treasure.”

Maisie Thomas, bestselling author of The Railway Girls series, says it’s “An emotionally satisfying story of new love, unexpected friendships and wartime courage.”

The Teacher Evacuees is out September 25, 2025. Find out more and, if you’re interested, pre-order a copy here.

Paperbacks in North America: Although paperbacks aren’t available to order in North America, if you’d prefer a paperback copy, you can pre-order one from Blackwell’s online (with free delivery worldwide) here. At date of posting, total cost was circa $19.42 CDN/$14.09 US but may change due to currency exchange rate fluctuations.

Audiobook edition

I’m delighted that The Teacher Evacuees is also being recorded as an audiobook narrated by Laurel Lefkow.

With a different but still gorgeous cover, the audiobook edition will be available worldwide on Audible and most other audiobook sites as well as in UK and some other libraries.

Here in Canada, we’re on the cusp of summer.

With these warm, sunny days, vibrant pink wild roses and purple iris are interspersed with peonies, bright-eyed daisies and honeysuckle.

After a long winter, June always brings me a sense of hopeful promise.

It’s the childhood end-of-school feeling when summer stretched out in front of me with unstructured time to read, dream and “simply be”.

As usual, I’m taking a summer blogging break so this post will be my last one until September.

If you aren’t already signed up, keep in touch with me over the next months by subscribing to my reader e-newsletter here. It’s a double opt-in so after subscribing you’ll receive an email link to confirm.

The June edition is out next week, followed by a combined July and August newsletter in early August.

Although I won’t be blogging, I’m still working on two books and other projects this summer, much of the time from my lake life office.

First is A Christmas Proposal, second in my WW2 Teacher Evacuees British home front women’s fiction series as Rose Warner. It’s due to my UK agent in mid-July and then my Canelo editor in mid-August.

Second is the as yet untitled third book in my Jen Gilroy Strawberry Pond miniseries for Harlequin Heartwarming, due to my Harlequin editor in October and which also has a Christmas theme.

After never publishing a Christmas book before, I’m now writing two at once. What are the odds?!

However, with a mini artificial Christmas tree on my desk, holiday music playlist, and using this lovely ‘Packed Full of Christmas’ tote bag from London’s iconic Fortnum & Mason department store (a present from a dear English friend), I’m creating a festive vibe.

Although my other summer plans are still in flux, I’ll have a week of holiday and lots of reading time is also on the agenda.

And in the midst of writing, this year I’m also consciously taking time to slow down.

Although I can’t return to what seemed like those endless childhood summers, I hope the coming weeks will be a time of renewal before the countdown to the actual festive season begins.

I need less of a schedule and more sunsets.

Less haste and more hammock.

And, like sweet Floppy Ears, less stress and more smiles.

Wishing you a happy summer and, however you spend it, time to savour special moments and make happy memories.

And for those in the southern hemisphere? Cozy winter wishes. When it comes to writing, I’m with you in spirit!

I’m delighted that my “Jen Gilroy blog” has been recognized by Feedspot, an online RSS content reader, as one of their “Top 35 Women’s Fiction Blogs” in 2025.

My blog sits at number 6 on the list alongside those of many other fabulous bloggers whom I admire and inspire me.

This ranking is a lovely acknowledgement which I very much appreciate.

Check out Feedspot’s list of the “Top 35 Women’s Fiction Blogs” here.

I started writing this blog about my life and writing in March 2014, three years before I became a published author. It was a way to share my writing with others, build a community and, I hoped, readership.

In the past eleven years, much has changed in both my life and writing, but my blog’s purpose remains the same, and I’m grateful to everyone who’s been part of my journey.

In life…

We moved from England to Canada but, then as now, I’m blessed to have deep roots in two countries.

English Rose, who in March 2014 was a schoolgirl of eleven, has grown up to be a young woman of twenty-one.

She’s on the cusp of finishing a university degree and is forging an independent life and career path.

Tech Guy has changed jobs, and, for a time, we unexpectedly had to navigate a long-distance marriage.

Now, as a result of the Covid pandemic, we’re navigating the “togetherness” of working from home most days.

Home-based work means that if we renovate our kitchen, space for a separate “Tech Guy tea and coffee station” is a must!

With sweet Floppy Ears, our family has the dog we once longed for and she’s a blessing in all our lives.

We also have our special lake house to enjoy in all seasons.

In writing…

I’ve transitioned from an office job with lots of travel, to a writing life where I spend most of my time with imaginary people in a fictional world.

Since 2017, I’ve published ten books with two more releasing this year.

I’ve worked with six publishers, three literary agents and numerous editors.

My books have been published in paperback, with the thrill of seeing them on store shelves, e-book and audio editions and in German translation.

I’m also now writing heartwarming and hopeful stories in two genres, contemporary romance and historical women’s fiction and have a new name, Rose Warner, for the latter.

But most important of all, I’m part of a vibrant reader and author community, many of whom have become dear friends.

Thanks again for reading and supporting my blog.

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When is the last time you celebrated or rewarded yourself for meeting a small goal, let alone a big one or even just because?

Like many of us, I get busy with the day-to-day routine and time slips by. I’ll celebrate ‘later’ but then ‘later’ doesn’t happen and the moment is forgotten.

However, sometimes the smallest milestones can be the most meaningful. And little treats bring joy, are a form of self-care and remind me to celebrate ‘me.’

Three small rewards…Three big celebratory joys 

Ice cream, of course!

I recently finished the first draft of book 2 in my Jen Gilroy Strawberry Pond series for Harlequin Heartwarming and celebrated it at a local ice cream shop.

While I could have had ice cream at home, it was special to treat myself while sitting in the spring sunshine and watching the world go by.

A new mug…just because

While Tech Guy would disagree, I am firmly of the opinion that there is no such thing as too many mugs for tea and other beverages.

When I spotted this Anne of Green Gables mug at a nearby thrift store (charity shop) last weekend, it went into my shopping basket faster than I could say ‘kindred spirit.’

Since it’s not dishwasher safe, I’ll use it on my desk to hold pens rather than drink out of. That way, I’ll have the daily joy of remembering both a favourite book and Canadian author who inspires me.

Stationery…Notebooks, pens and sticky notes

These small and joyful rewards are also useful and a business expense, so I count them as a ‘win’ on multiple fronts.

Plus, they’re fun and who doesn’t need more fun in their life?

Whether it’s a favourite meal, relaxing bath, taking time for a hobby or sitting back and enjoying cloud patterns (which I did for a happy half hour on a recent warm day), the celebratory joy of small rewards is good for the soul.

For U.S. readers…Treat yourself or a romance reader friend 

I’ve just spotted two, Amazon Kindle series starter deals on Montana Reunion & A Family for the Rodeo Cowboy (books 1 & 2 in my Montana Carters sweet contemporary western romance series for Harlequin Heartwarming).

You need to be quick because I don’t know how long this sale, a massive discount, will last.

Get Montana Reunion for U.S. $0.50 here.

Get A Family for the Rodeo Cowboy for U.S. $1.49 here.

If you subscribe to my reader newsletter, I shared the gorgeous cover for The Teacher Evacuees (out September 25, 2025), first in my WW2, British home front women’s fiction series as Rose Warner, in the April edition.

From the English village setting, to the book’s heroine, Canadian-born teacher Victoria McKaye looking just as I imagine her, the cover is a delight.

But how did the designer blend fact with fiction to evoke such a powerful sense of place and time?

The schools

When teachers and pupils are evacuated from London to the fictional North Norfolk village of Hazelbury in September 1939, the local school isn’t big enough to accommodate evacuees and villagers.

As a result, Victoria teaches the youngest children in the village hall.

The fictional school was inspired by several real North Norfolk brick and flint buildings, including the former Blickling (primary/elementary) School. It opened in 1867 and closed in 1953 and can still be seen near the National Trust’s Blickling Estate.

The village hall school is inspired by what’s now The Old Reading Room Gallery & Tea Room in Kelling.

The village

Hazelbury village is also inspired by several real Norfolk villages including Overstrand and Cley next the Sea.

The village church, where teachers and pupils are, like many Britons were, at Sunday service when war is declared, dates from medieval times.

It’s an amalgam of several local churches, including the one pictured.

Victoria and WW2 vibes

Victoria, who comes from my home province of Manitoba, Canada, has a Scottish father and English mother.

On the cover, she has the “Scottish Celtic look” I describe in the story, and her hair, clothing and general appearance make her true to the time.

The two vintage planes overhead, a familiar sight in wartime, are a nod to a nearby RAF (Royal Air Force) base, one of many in Norfolk and elsewhere in Eastern England in the 1940s.

From fact to fiction

All my books, contemporary and historical, are strongly rooted in the places where they’re set.

That’s especially true in The Teacher Evacuees which celebrates a part of England dear to my heart, and where, even eighty years later, echoes of wartime life still dot the landscape.

There are more dangers than German bombs in wartime…Will her move to the countryside bring hardship, adventure—or love?

UK: The Teacher Evacuees is available for pre-order (ebook & paperback) from most online bookshops, including Amazon UK here.

Rest of world: Pre-order information coming soon.

If you don’t yet subscribe to my monthly newsletter, sign up here for subscriber-first news and life and writing updates.

As I write this post, I’m surrounded by bits of paper covering both my desk and home office floor.

Why?

It’s tax season in Canada, and with a filing deadline of April 30, the pressure is on.

When I wasn’t self-employed, tax season, although still involving some work, in retrospect barely caused a ripple in my world.

Nowadays, it’s much different—and a lot more stressful.

Taxes for the self-employed author

Instead of a small folder of tax slips, I have a large box filled with taxation paperwork.

Throughout the year, I retain receipts for everything related to my author business—from book purchases to website hosting, marketing costs, museum entry fees, printer paper, ink and more.

I now earn and incur costs in three different countries and currencies: Canada, the United Kingdom and United States.

Each country also has a different taxation year and system.

So, after paying most of my Canadian taxes in advance in quarterly instalments, I compile all my receipts and other business information for a tax preparer who specializes in international and small-business taxation.

Why did I leave it until April to do my annual paperwork sort?

Because there always seemed to be something more pressing!

This year, I’ve had tight writing deadlines, a publisher closure and other life and professional stresses that took immediate priority.

As a result, I still have several last pieces of information to compile.

Not “the most wonderful time of year” … But still memorable

Tax season is my least favourite time of year.

However, my piles of receipts also evoke special memories, including time with friends and learning.

This year, they’re also a record of my summer 2024 UK trip researching my upcoming Rose Warner, WW2 British home front Teacher Evacuees series.

Author life

Over the past few years, my tax preparer has probably learned more than he ever expected about how much of the author life involves things other than writing.

And if he looks closely at any of my 2024 travel meal receipts, he may be puzzled by “Vic Sponge” and “Wens/Carrot.”

One is a Victoria Sponge cake, pictured. The other denotes a Marks & Spencer Wensleydale Carrot Chutney sandwich. I ate both these favourites in England last summer.

The first book in my new Rose Warner historical series, The Teacher Evacuees, is out in September and I’ll share a cover soon.

And while wartime rationing means my characters are restricted in terms of cake choices, they eat carrots in many forms, including chutney and in sandwiches.

As far back as I can remember, I’ve loved and collected old books, especially those for children.

The gorgeous covers. The thick paper, sometimes with foxing (age-related browning). The scent of old binding. The faded inscriptions in elegant cursive writing.

Yes, I’m a bibliophile and openly admit it!

While all books are passports to different worlds, old books are that and so much more.

Books I’ve inherited from family members were often given to them as school prizes, or presents for birthdays, Christmas and other special occasions.

For long out-of-print second-hand books I’ve found in specialist shops, online and at library and community sales, I wonder about the people who owned and read them before me.

All these books are part of my life, and both personal and family history. They sit on shelves in my home, taken out when I need a comfort read or now, as an author myself, occasionally as a reference for a book I’m working on.

While collecting old books is in part about nostalgia, there’s also the thrill of browsing second-hand bookshops and thrift stores/charity shops. I never know when I might find a hidden gem or title I didn’t know I needed.

Even more exciting is finding a vintage book signed by the author. I’ve come across several of these in the past few months, and I may have squealed a bit at the moment of discovery!

I do read e-books, a lot of them, and my Kindle is especially useful for new releases or when I’m on holiday.

However, the books that bring me the most joy are the old ones on my physical shelves, collected throughout my life and holding parts of my past.

My latest find? This beautiful, illustrated 1943 edition of Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, a children’s book by Rachel Field.

Hitty was recommended in “Vintage Chapter Books for Children,” a lovely Facebook group I belong to. So, when I spotted this copy in Toronto last month, I couldn’t resist.

Books and book collecting are also about community and sharing favourite reads with like-minded readers.

And as a lifelong bookworm, it’s a community I cherish.