About the Book

Book: The Cross at Morioka Castle

Author: Kathleen J. Robison

Genre: Historical Christian Romance

Release Date: July 15, 2025

Within this ancient land of shoji screens and tatami mats, Ariko finds that the stone ruins of Morioka Castle hide a mysterious secret that holds the keys to a Christian faith extending far deeper than she ever imagined.

Ariko returns to Japan, riddled with guild. Engulfed with grief, she must tidy up her deceased father’s affairs, and she faces the shattering of a dream. Her father’s small soba shop, a haven where he shared his faith, stands silent, and his wealthy family has long since turned their back on his legacy of faith. Ariko struggles with whether to return to the United States when her great-grandmother demands that she stay in Japan and join the family business, a legacy her father abandoned years ago.

Seeking escape, Ariko ventures to the enigmatic ruins of Morioka Castle, where the air hums with murmurs of the forgotten past. Amid the crumbling stones and ancient shadows, providence brings a striking stranger, and he captivates her with a tale woven into the very fabric of the castle – a legend that flickers with the promise of hope, just in time for a fateful Christmas Eve.

Click here to get your copy!

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, where they find joy in the company of their twenty-one and counting grandchildren.

More from Kathleen

Who doesn’t love castles, right? I fell in love with the ruins of Morioka Castle Park long before I wrote this novella. Both my sons and their families lived in Morioka when they first became missionaries, so we made trips to see the grandkids and a few trips to the castle ruins as well.

Morioka Castle in Northern Japan is a park of ruins, but what glorious ruins they are.  In 1632, after twenty years of construction, the castle was completed by the Nanbu, a well-known Samurai clan. The castle stood from 1598 until 1874. Sadly, after serving feudal lords for two-hundred and fifty years, the age of the Samurai came to a close, and the magnificent structure was demolished. After the Boshin War, the Meiji government consolidated its power by abolishing domains and removing castles in lands that had opposed the government.

Thankfully, in 1906 a park was established around what was left of the granite walls and grounds of Morioka Castle. It’s where my character Ariko meets a handsome stranger and while touring the castle, learns of the legend of the cross.

“He explained the castle kitchen history, but his emphasis was on the cross. “The Castle Kitchen Cross, as I call it on my blog, is where an ex-samurai and his wife practiced their faith and shared it secretly with those who came to the kitchen. The cross carved in the stone, although obscured, was hidden behind pots and pans hanging on the wall.”

Ariko’s ears perked when he mentioned ex-samurai.”

The legend in the story is completely fictional. Although in my research, I discovered that there was a Christian Samurai who … well, if you read the book, perhaps you’ll discover what’s fact and what’s fiction! Just imagine walking the castle grounds with Ariko as she discovers the cross in the kitchen. What conflicts may it have caused in her ancestral, Japanese family?  Let The Cross at Morioka Castle whisk you away. Take the journey to Japan, where the ethereal land of the ancient is not so far away.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, November 7

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 8

Guild Master, November 9 (Author Interview)

capturingluminous, November 9

Lily’s Corner, November 10

Texas Book-aholic, November 11

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 12

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, November 13 (Author Interview)

The Lofty Pages, November 14

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 15

For Him and My Family, November 16

Fiction Book Lover, November 17 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, November 17

Blogging With Carol, November 18

Paula’s Pad of Inspiration, November 19

Life on Chickadee Lane, November 20

Giveaway

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

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

https://promosimple.com/ps/3d011/the-cross-at-morioka-castle-celebration-tour-giveaway

Interview

Do you have a favorite character you’ve created? Tell us about them.

I do. In my Christian Romantic Suspense Bay Town Series, Book One, Shattered Guilt, I tell the story of Melanie Thompson, a single working mom with a teenage daughter. As an Event/Wedding Planner, she does what I would have liked to have done! But she also works through a past that she wishes hadn’t happened. Still, facing overwhelming odds, she finds the love of her life, Pastor Desmond. I love him too! But through harrowing ordeals, their happily-ever-after almost doesn’t happen. Melanie was the first character I ever created, and she has evolved so much! She’s a mash-up of my three daughters, but the thing I loved most about writing about her was her faith and how it develops. The prequel, Revived Hope, is also about her. It’s where you learn her background. However, as the series progresses, she becomes the spiritual mentor to many women in the subsequent four books. I love her kind personality, her doubting faults, and blossoming faith.

Do you use humor at all in your writing?

Oh, yes. Most of it comes from real-life experiences. We have eight children, seven spouses, and twenty-one grandchildren, so our lives are full of fun and laughter. Lots of experiences to draw from. I tell my youngest single daughter, ‘Marry a Christian man who’s kind and funny…like your father!’

Give us an insight into your faith in the Lord.

I wasn’t raised in a Christian home, but Christ found me as a young adult, and I’m grateful He did. My early years of faith were marked by obedience, followed by learning to love God for His holiness, and now I experience His amazing grace every day. Each morning, I’m overwhelmed by His love and sacrifice. I can be very disciplined, so purposing to rise early and spend quiet time with Jesus every morning and trying to never miss church has helped me grow in His Word. I love the community of believers at church, I always have, so I look forward to Sundays so much. The knowledge and love of God inspires me to desire to know Him even more as my life unfolds. I often ask, “Why me?” And I know it’s nothing at all that I have done. It’s totally His grace that has saved me. My greatest desire is for all my grandchildren to learn and experience the love, mercy, and grace of a sovereign, all-knowing God. I pray they also love Him with their whole heart, soul and mind. He is so very good!

Is your book part of a series?

The Cross at Morioka Castle is not a series. The little novella is one of my favorite stories, though. It was such fun transporting my readers, and myself, to modern Japan, yet infusing the ancient within the pages as well. I do have a book series. It’s a five-book Christian Romantic Suspense series set in a small coastal town in Mississippi, including a prequel. It’s much different than this book. However, I enjoy writing sweet holiday romance, so this is the third Christmas Romance I’ve published. Mistletoe Village was my first holiday book about a young woman moving to a small rural town with her son. The heartache of their past disappears as the magic of Christmas unfolds. I also wrote Let Them Eat Fruitcake, it goes along with the Romantic Suspense Series but is instead a sweet holiday romance but with the characters in Bay Town. I plan on releasing a holiday romance every year. Who doesn’t get excited about love at Christmas…and most importantly Christ’s love at Christmas!

What are you currently working on?

I’m putting the final touches on another holiday romance that hopefully will debut in early December this year! Christmas Cookie Connections is Book One of a fun series set in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. I already finished Book Two, Broken Cookie Hearts. It’s a Valentine’s Day Romance! Simultaneously, I’m hoping to release another Romantic Suspense, Frozen Echo, in June of 2026.

I love sharing my writing journey, and I sure appreciate your allowing me to do so. Thanks so very much.