About the Book

Book: Shaded Goodness

Author: Kathleen J. Robison

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release Date: June 10, 2025

Jacquie Dupre has worked tirelessly to give her daughter, Destiny, a future free from the mistakes of her past. But when Mickey, her ex-husband returns to Bay Town, her carefully built world begins to crumble. He claims he’s changed. He’s conquered his addiction that destroyed too many lives, but can Jacquie believe him? As old wounds resurface and a dangerous figure from their past threatens their fragile peace, Jacquie must confront her deepest fears—about Mickey, about love, and about God. Can faith truly heal, can goodness prevail, or will their future be forever shaded by their past?

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About the Author

Kathleen J. Robison weaves tales that inspire a walk of faith and a reliance on God’s guidance through life’s trials. With endearing characters, her stories are a testament to the resilience of broken lives, revived through hope and renewed through God’s grace. Kathleen and her husband call Southern California home residing near the beach and find their most joy in the company of their nineteen and counting grandchildren.

More from Kathleen

Have you ever heard of a Shoofly? The word conjures up an annoying, buzzing insect, but a Shoofly is a magnificent white, wooden, raised gazebo-like structure built around giant oaks and sycamore trees. Back in the 1800s, in the south, they elegantly dotted the coastline of Mississippi. Almost every vacation boarding house boasted one. A relaxing venue for people to gather while avoiding the large horse flies that tended to hover closer to the ground, pestering guests and residents. The raised platform also allowed guests to enjoy the ocean breezes on sweltering hot summer days. Sounds romantic, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, due to storms, hurricanes, and erosion, Shooflys all but disappeared in the 1900s. Yet in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, the setting of my Bay Town Books, you can visit a Shoofly today in the local park downtown. In 1989, a group of town women decided to resurrect the nostalgic structure and had one built. It was completed nearly one hundred years after the near extinction of most of the iconic Shooflys along the Gulf Coast. It’s a key setting in my book, Shaded Goodness.

Recently, my childhood friend returned to visit Bay St. Louis. I asked him to take a picture of the Shoofly, and his wife took the shot above of him waving from the deck. He remembers visiting my family in Bay St. Louis sixty years ago, and he said it still has the charm and hasn’t changed or grown much. Except that it’s now an artisan’s dream! Can you imagine? I can. It’s why I set my romantic suspense series in the fictional setting of Bay Town, inspired by Bay St. Louis. Shaded Goodness is the last in the book series.

“You got to forgive him, Jacquie. And no, I haven’t seen him. But I have been talking to Pastor Roland, and it’s a dark spot, one of many in my soul.”

“Dark spots? Is that what you call ’em?” Jacquie threw up her hands. “I can’t even go there. That man killed –”

Themes of forgiveness, second chances, and redemption are woven throughout Shaded Goodness. It was a joy to write because the male protagonist in this book was inspired by the character of my deceased ex-brother-in-law. Shaded Goodness is entirely fictional, but I loved using Mickey’s good traits to craft his character. He was a truly good soul who sadly made poor choices throughout his life. I like to think that if he had lived long enough, his life might have turned out like Mickey’s in this book, happily ever after. That’s why I enjoyed writing this story, as it allowed me to give Mickey a life of redemption here on earth, and I’m grateful that he’s living it in eternity. His love for the Lord in his last years proved contagious, just like his Christ-indwelling goodness. All glory to the Lord.

I pray for my readers that, as in all my books, you will be encouraged in your faith. That’s why I like writing about second chances and reconciliation. Because God is all about that, isn’t he? The Bay Town Series is a collection of stand-alone books. Still, the returning characters, after facing their own troubles and tragedies, help their neighbors as they face similar trials. 2 Corinthians 1:4-5 instructs us to do just that. Some characters choose the right path, and some don’t, just like in real life. But God’s promised hope is extended to all.

Shaded Goodness comes full circle from book one. Melanie Thompson Brooks champions through tragedy in the prequel and in Shattered Guilt. Her growth enables her to serve as the guiding voice to Jacquie Dupree in Shaded Goodness. With similar backgrounds, the pain of their pasts threatens to unravel their future. You won’t need to read Shattered Guilt, Book One, to enjoy Shaded Goodness, Book Five, but I think you’ll want to go back and get to know the lovely people of Bay Town through Restored Grace (First Place in the National Excellence in Writing competition), Shadowed Doubt, and Ransomed Peace. I think you’ll find some good friends and wish they really were your neighbors.

I hope you’ll fall in love with the setting where I lived for a short time as a child. It’s why I set my books in the deep south of Mississippi. Where life was slower, and the small-town community came together for events and rallied and prayed for one another during difficulties, much like the body of Christ should. Come on down to Bay Town; it just may become home.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, August 26

Stories By Gina, August 27 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, August 28

Simple Harvest Reads, August 29 (Author Interview)

Artistic Nobody, August 30 (Author Interview)

Fiction Book Lover, August 30

Guild Master, August 31 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 1

Tell Tale Book Reviews, September 2 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, September 3

Blossoms and Blessings, September 4 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, September 5

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, September 6 (Author Interview)

A Reader’s Brain , September 7 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 7

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, September 8 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Kathleen is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card and a paperback copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54285

Interview

Give us an insight into your faith in the Lord.

He is my all in all. I’m so thankful for the life that the Lord has blessed me with. I hate my younger years of horribly wrong choices, but because I have been forgiven much, I can now forgive and find grace for all through Jesus. My stories flow because of the grace God extends to sinners like me. What an amazing God that He would give His son for me; that I can now spend eternity worshipping Him forever…unfathomable! I also find it a great responsibility to allow the Holy Spirit to work through me to share the good news of Jesus Christ. And to think I get to do this through story-telling. What a beautiful thing. What a lovely, holy God.

Do your books revolve around certain themes?

Pride, fear, doubts, and bitterness leading to forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation, and hope! My characters come from varied and rough backgrounds, where God does His most perfect work if we surrender to Him. However, as in real life, my stories often feature themes of hardship and cruelty, where people don’t always choose to follow Him. The titles pretty much tell the themes. Hope, guilt, grace, doubt, peace, and goodness. Galatians 5:19-25 pretty much covers the gambit!

Is your book part of a series?

Yes. Shaded Goodness is Book Five in the Bay Town Series. Small Town Romantic Suspense. All my books are stand-alone, but I bring back the same characters to help restore one another. It’s what God tells us will happen, as stated in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. Community is crucial in helping a friend find a renewed life. I love all my returning characters, Pastor Desmond and his wife, Melanie, are key. But you won’t be lost if you don’t read the books in order. Readers have indicated that, but I hope you’ll read them all. I loved writing them, and Bay Town became my community. I hope you’ll join it, too!

What are you currently working on?

I’m releasing another book in July 2025, titled The Cross at Morioka Castle. It’s a sweet, contemporary Christmas Romance set in Japan. The characters are Japanese, and the clash between old traditions and modern ideas drives the plot.  I love writing holiday romance, and besides the Bay Town Series, I’ve written three Christmas romance novellas and one historical romance mystery. I’m finishing up another book, Christmas Cookie Connections, Book One of a holiday romance series. It’s sweet, funny and delicious!

Tell us something unique about yourself.

Everyone has something unique these days, but here you go. I’m half-Okinawan, born there. I’ve lived in a couple of different states and countries and traveled extensively. My husband, a retired Pastor, and I have been married for fifty years, and we are blessed with eight children and twenty-one grandchildren. All forty of us will be together for a reunion at Yosemite this year! Two of our boys are missionaries in Japan who married Japanese sisters. One of our sons is a deputy sheriff, and a son-in-law is a Firefighter. God’s grace abounds in our family of forty, where so far, all our children and grandchildren are following Jesus