Books
God has so blessed me with eighty-eight published titles to share with readers! That’s a whole lot of stories, y’all! From Christian historical romance and Biblical fiction to contemporary Christian romance, family sagas, mysteries, young adult stories, and books for children, I’ve loved writing across several genres. All my Christian books are organized here by genre so you can easily find the stories you most enjoy—or maybe discover some new ones!
And when I say “I’ve written,” I really mean “we.” My husband Ron and I have been writing together for years, though not the whole sixty-six years we’ve been a duo! There’s a story behind his name not appearing on my book covers.
When Simon & Schuster published our tenth title, they wanted only one author’s name on the cover, and since I handle the marketing, we went with Caryl McAdoo. That worked so well for us we just kept it up!
Most every morning–we only miss a few–the two of us write here at The Peaceable in Northeast Texas. We each add to the story until we’ve written an average of about a thousand new words a day. What a blessing it’s been to spend all these years creating faith-filled stories together!
And after all this time, I hardly ever throw forks at him anymore! 🙂
So what kind of story do you love best? Historical Christian romance? Biblical fiction? A sweeping family saga? Take a look around. I hope you’ll find a Caryl McAdoo book—or maybe a whole series—that feels as though it was written just for you.
Historical Christian Romance
How I became a Historical Christian Romance Author
Once upon a time, at a critique group far, far away—well, three hours one way, which was certainly too far for weekly meetings IMHO—a mentor I dearly loved and respected imparted a bit of wisdom. “Caryl, pick a genre.” 🙂
That mentor was prolific Western author Jack Ballas, Berkeley’s top-selling Western author for years. At the time, Ron and I had already written a Biblical fiction novel, a thriller, a mystery, a mature inspirational romance, a World War II novel, three mid-grade chapter books, a Texas firemen cookbook, an antique guide, and started several other projects besides.
Pick ONE genre? How in the world were we supposed to do that?
Life rolled right along, and after only a year of enjoying an empty nest, the Lord saw fit to give us four more little boys to rear. Before long, we moved them to the country and settled in Red River County in Northeast Texas. Putting words to paper—or these days, more accurately, to a computer monitor—took a back seat for a while.
We missed the DFW Writers Workshop, but soon founded the Red River Writers Workshop, and before we knew it, we were right back to writing again. Then came one of those wonderful God-incidences that still makes me smile.
The Story Behind Our First Historical Christian Romance, VOW UNBROKEN
At a small writers’ conference we helped with, we met New York literary agent Mary Sue Seymour of the Seymour Agency. Being a gung-ho new member, I had volunteered to be her gopher, which included picking her up at the hotel and chauffeuring her to the Civic Center in Mt. Pleasant, Texas.
When the elevator doors opened, Mary Sue stepped out, hugged my neck, and said, “You’re the first McAdoo I’ve ever met who wasn’t family.”
Wait! WHAT?! Her maiden name was Mary Sue McAdoo! Sometimes I think the Father above uses a velvet hammer when He wants to make certain we’re paying attention. To make a long story short, Mary Sue had loved the pre-conference chapter we submitted and told us, “If you’ll write a historical Christian romance set in the 1800s, I’ll sell it.”
We did. And she did. To Simon & Schuster!
That opportunity changed the direction of our writing. I discovered how much I loved writing Christian historical romance—stories where faith, family, love, redemption, and the principles of God’s Word could be woven naturally into the lives of unforgettable characters. That first story simply poured onto the pages.
Vow Unbroken, a Texas historical Christian romance about a young widow determined to get her cotton to market, grew to more than ninety-three thousand words in only nine weeks. Mary Sue sold it in about two months. Miracles all the way around!
Why I Love Writing Historical Christian Romance
That novel opened the floodgates, and historical Christian romance quickly became one of our favorite genres to write. I love stepping back into nineteenth-century Texas, pioneer America, the Old West, wagon trails, small towns, farms, families, and communities where faith shaped everyday life.
I also love that historical Christian fiction never goes out of date. No need for concern about changes in fashion and technology. History doesn’t change. It’s always the same–like God! 🙂 Stories about love, courage, family, sacrifice, redemption, and trusting God remain timeless.
And what a blessing our Christian fiction community of authors and readers is! Christian authors and readers prove to be so kind and caring. We talk about the Lord, pray for one another, share prayer requests, encourage each other, and celebrate each other’s blessings.
That fits perfectly with something I’ve long called God’s economy: no deal is truly a good deal unless everybody involved gets blessed. That’s the kind of story we want to write, ones filled with love, faith, grace, hope, redemption, and a God who is still very much involved in the lives of His children.
Once I was blind, but now I see. I was lost, but now I’m found. Do you know my Jesus? Is there an emptiness inside that nothing else has ever been able to fill? E’me. I’m always happy to share His good news!
Contemporary Christian Romance
From Historical Texas to Present Day Love Stories
After spending so much time writing historical Christian romance, it seemed perfectly natural to whip out a present-day love story now and then. What a nice little break! Such a blessing to use words like “lunch” and “okay” again without stopping to wonder whether folks were actually saying them in 1840. 🙂
Our contemporary Christian romances also tend to move along a little faster because there’s usually far less research involved. I can spend more time with the characters, their families, their faith, and all the twists and turns that lead them toward love.
The Story Behind Our First Contemporary Christian Romance, LADY LUCK’S A LOSER
We’d already dipped our toes into contemporary romance years earlier with The Apple Orchard Bed and Breakfast, published in 2002 by Five Star Press up in Maine. Years later, when they returned the rights to us, we gave the story a new cover, a new title, and even a new last chapter! In April 2015, it was reborn as Lady Luck’s a Loser.
When Historical Characters Become Modern Day Family
I’ve had such fun writing these faith-filled contemporary love stories, and here’s something I especially enjoy: some of the characters are the great-great-grandchildren of families readers first met in our 1800s historical novels!
That feels especially fitting because so many real families here in Red River County and Northeast Texas have roots that reach back for generations, too.
So while the clothes, cars, and conveniences may be modern, the things that matter most haven’t changed much at all—love, family, faith, forgiveness, hope, and finding the person God just might have had in mind all along.
Historical Cozy Mystery
From Romance Favorites to Amateur Sleuths
While Ron and I were writing our Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga, two characters from book four quickly became favorites—Morgan and Charity Lowell. Oh, what wonderful folks they are!
When we wanted another little break from our usual historical Christian romance, we decided those two simply deserved a series of their own. And what better occupation for them than amateur sleuths? 🙂
The Birth of the Cross Timbers Mystery series
Morgan and Charity soon found themselves putting their heads together to unravel a murder that took place right in their own hotel. And just like that, the Cross Timbers Mysteries were born!
These Christian historical mysteries let us mix several things we love: history, suspense, family, faith, a little romance, and a good old-fashioned whodunit.
So far, the series includes: Duplicity at the Lowell House, Skullduggery in the Sulphur River Bottoms, and Coercion at the Cow Palace
Familiar Faces, New Mysteries
One of my favorite things about writing this historical mystery series is getting to revisit so many characters from the Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga. I love bringing old friends back onto the page!
Readers who already know the families get to see familiar faces in a whole new kind of story, while those discovering Morgan and Charity for the first time can simply enjoy a clean historical mystery filled with clues, danger, faith, and a married couple determined to get to the truth.
The curious readers who fall in love with them may want to go back and get to know Charity when she was only eight in book one of the Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga, Gone to Texas. Morgan doesn’t show up until book four Leaving Texas.
And who knows? Morgan and Charity may not be finished sleuthing yet. There just might be another mystery—or two—waiting for them down the road!
HISTORICALS:
VOW UNBROKEN 1832 / Susannah Baylor Buy VOW Now
HEARTS STOLEN 1839-1844 / Sassy Nightengale Buy HEARTS Now
HOPE REBORN 1850-1851 / May Merriwether Buy HOPE Now
SINS OF THE MOTHERS 1851-1853 / Mary Wheeler Buy MOTHERS Now
CONTEMPORARY:
LADY LUCK’S A LOSER present / Marge Winters Buy LADY Now
THE PREACHER’S FAITH present / Faith Johnson Buy FAITH Now
SING A NEW SONG present / Mary Esther Robbins Buy SING Now
BIBLICAL FICTION:
A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS First Family Buy ANGELS
THEN THE DELUGE COMES Seth~thru~Noah Buy DELUGE
If you’d like to purchase a signed copy of any of my books that are still available, I’m happy to sign them for you and mail them out. Just go to my contact page and e’me or send a check to the post office box!
Children’s Picture Books
Why This Grami Started Writing Children’s Picture Books
As a Grami with thirty grandsugars—ten of those great-grands—it was only a matter of time before I hankered to write a children’s picture book for the younger ones! The trouble was, picture books need pictures, and that generally means an illustrator.
I’d already learned how hard it can be to explain to an artist exactly what I’m seeing in my head. Sometimes the picture in there just does not come out looking the same on somebody else’s paper! 🙂
Then we got chickens–which is a story all its own! Of course, I took lots and lots of photographs of moving them and their coop to The Peaceable Farm and after they arived. One day, looking through all those photographs, I thought, Hmmm . . . why not use photographs to tell the story?
I’ve always believed bright, cheerful colors attract little ones, and I could work with photographs myself. So in December 2022, I designed and published our first children’s picture book, Moving to The Peaceable. And just like that, a whole new genre opened up for me!
When My SugarDoll Became an Author
One of my very favorite picture-book stories actually started with my six-year-old SugarDoll. During one of her visits to The Peaceable, we went shopping, and a brand-new box of Crayolas with a purple composition book were among our treasures that day. Back home, she announced that she wanted to write a story.
Well, what’s an author-Grami supposed to do with that? 🙂 With just a few questions and prompts from me, she created The Happy Rainbow right there in that purple tablet, using her new Crayolas to write the text. Now that is a treasure indeed!
Later, without telling her, I created illustrations and published her sweet story through my Amazon account. What a joy it was to surprise her with her very own book!
So now, my SugarDoll is a published author, too, and you’d better believe this Grami proudly includes her children’s picture books right alongside mine.
Christian Children’s Books With Faith, Family, and Fun
Whether the story features animals, farm life, children, or some bit of everyday adventure, my hope for every Christian children’s book I create is pretty simple. I want it to help children. I want it to honor God. And I want it to be FUN!
Faith-based picture books can plant wonderful little seeds—kindness, gratitude, courage, love, responsibility, and an awareness that God is part of everyday life. And here at The Peaceable, with goats, chickens, dogs, barn cats, grandsugars, gardens, and all manner of happenings, I certainly don’t lack for story ideas!
A Genre Grami Gets to Call Her Own
Children’s picture books are about the only genre O’Pa doesn’t get very involved in. And that’s okay. I love these stories enough to go it alone. 🙂
Besides, after writing so many books together, he allowed the Grami one little corner of the bookshelf all to herself!
Chapter Books for Mid Grade Readers
How Our Middle Grade Chapter Books Began
Back when O’Pa and I had only twelve grandsugars and just three or four published books under our belts, we inherited twelve American Quarter Horses and kept them at our River Bottom Ranch (leased 113 acres) in Grand Prairie, Texas. One was an orphaned colt with four white socks.
Even for a young Texas girl, I obsessed over horses and loved them way beyond normal! I read every horse book in the library and collected more than a hundred equine figurines, so when O’Pa suggested we write a story about Sergeant Socks, the orphan colt, I was thrilled. I admit to pestering him a bit about writing a book for the grandsugars.
The Adventures of Sergeant Socks
Sarge would surely need a series, so we chose The Adventures of Sergeant Socks with The Journey Home for the book first title, and we were off! Everyone at the ranch loved him!
With plans for more stories about not just about him, but all inspired by ranch life, horses, goats, dogs, cats, and chickens–the kinds of adventures we knew young readers would enjoy–we really got into writing those illustrated chapter books.
From Horses to Livestock Guardian Dogs
Before long, another real-life animal became the star of one of our Christian middle grade chapter books—our livestock guardian dog, Gracie. Her story became Amazing Gracie, Guardian of the River Bottom Goats.
Sergeant Socks and Gracie both became part of our ‘River Bottom Ranch Stories’, wholesome chapter books filled with animals, adventure, family values, faith, and plenty of heart.
Taking Our Stories Into Texas Schools
One of the greatest blessings came when we began traveling all over Texas visiting schools with those books. Oh, what fun we had with those children!
We talked about writing, horses, dogs, ranch life, storytelling, and the actual adventures behind the books. The Lord even gave me songs to go along with the stories, and at the school presentations, O’Pa would ask me to sing here and there whenever we needed to pull everybody’s attention back in. 🙂
Come to think of it, I really should put those songs up on YouTube!
Christian Chapter Books for Young Readers
These middle grade books grew straight out of our own lives, our animals, and our desire to give children stories they could enjoy while still taking something good away with them. I love writing wholesome books for young readers—stories with adventure, courage, responsibility, kindness, faith, and family woven through them.
If your child loves horse books, dog stories, ranch adventures, Christian fiction for kids, or family-friendly chapter books, the River Bottom Ranch Stories just might be a good place to start.
Young Adult Christian Fiction
How the ‘Days of Dread’ Trilogy Came About
Back in 2014, at the ACFW—American Christian Fiction Writers—Conference, I pitched an idea to a ZonderKidz editor for an end-times trilogy I called Days of Dread. She liked the idea, and was taking it to the committee, but before anything could come of it, she left the company due to illness.
Still, the story wouldn’t leave me alone, so the following year, in 2015, that first book The King’s Highway finally came to fruition, and I’ve loved this series ever since.
Christian Young Adult Fiction With an End-Times Setting
One thing that makes the ‘Days of Dread’ trilogy a little different is the majority of the characters being young people. There are very few adults around to solve their problems for them, although one angel posing as an old man pops up a lot with just what they need.
In The King’s Highway, fifteen-year-old Jackson becomes the hero of the story. His sister Mackenzie is twelve, and his little brother Cooper is nine. When an EMP explodes over the central plains of the United States, everything electronic suddenly becomes useless.
No phones.
No cars.
No power.
No easy way to call for help.
And very quickly, the apartment complex where they live in Irving, Texas, becomes a dangerous place.
Their father is deployed in the Middle East, and their mother had left early for work that morning and never came home. Jackson waits as long as he can, hoping she’ll return, but finally realizes he has to get his younger brother and sister to safety.
Their grandparents live about 150 miles away.
So begins their journey.
The Journey in The King’s Highway
The King’s Highway follows Jackson, Mackenzie, and Cooper as they make their way toward Honey Grove, Texas, and eventually Clarksville, Texas, facing dangers they never could have imagined.
But this Christian adventure story for teens isn’t only about surviving an EMP or traveling through a country suddenly stripped of modern conveniences.
It’s about learning that no matter how bad things get, God is still there.
He sees them.
He is with them.
He provides.
He protects.
That is the message I most hope young readers carry away from these books.
The Days of Dread Trilogy
The complete Days of Dread series includes:
The King’s Highway
The Sixth Trumpet War
The Kidron Valley
These faith-based young adult novels were written with teens in mind, but older middle-grade readers can enjoy them, too.
The series combines Christian dystopian fiction, end-times adventure, survival, family, faith, courage, and hope—all seen largely through the eyes of young people who have to grow up in a hurry.
Hope in the Midst of Trouble
I love these stories because they prepare young readers to think about difficult times without leaving them in fear.
The world may fall apart around Jackson and the others, but God does not.
That’s what I want young people to know.
No matter what comes, they are never beyond His reach