Mary Lou Cheatham

Author Bio:

Mary Lou Cheatham began her life on a Mississippi farm north of Hot Coffee. Her family spent their winter evenings playing games, reading, and conversing by the fireplace. Mary’s parents, two of the world’s greatest storytellers, bequeathed a legacy of yarn spinning to their children and grandchildren.

A former teacher and retired registered nurse, she writes inspirational novels and story cookbooks. In 2016, she married John Cooke and now uses the name Mary Cooke in her personal life. Her daughter, Christie Underwood, is a dairy calf and heifer specialist.

A member of Panhandle Professional Writers and American Christian Fiction Writers, Mary has served as a judge in the ACFW Carol Awards Contest. Three of her novels—The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson, The Dream Bucket, and Abi of Cyrene—have won awards. Her most recent fictional writing is a novella, Manuela Blayne, which is the fourth in her series, The Covington Chronicles.

Letter from Belleau Wood

Trudy and Jeremy grew up in the same neighborhood, and they have always loved each other. She is a part of a large blended family living near a south Mississippi village. Jeremy, having lost all his family, makes his way through the world alone. At the beginning of World War I, he becomes so enthralled…

As Doves Fly in the Wind

Jessica Boudreaux Hays, a retired music professor, has recently moved to Rousseauville to open a bed and breakfast in her grandparents’ house. An attractive and talented fifty-five-year-old widow, Jessica loves to cook, entertain, and play the piano. Her life is filled with problems. Emmie, her younger…

Manuela Blayne (Covington Chronicles) (Volume 4)

NOTICE: This book contains depictions of violence and sexual crime. These scenes are treated with as much discretion as possible. Manuela Blayne, a novella, is the fourth book in the Covington Chronicles. It is a complete story that stands alone. To understand some of the characters fully, however,…

Abi of Cyrene

--Two decades after the birth of Christ Abi, a Nubian archer of Jewish background, resides in Meroe, a city-state in the general vicinity of Ethiopia. Once a member of a group of archers in training for the royal army, she has been dismissed from the palace because she is considered too attractive to…

The Dream Bucket (Covington Chronicles) (Volume 3)

In The Dream Bucket, Trudy Cameron, lives in an elaborate Mississippi home with her hypocritical father William, withdrawn mother Zoe, and mischievous older brother Billy Jack. It is the spring of 1909.The last session ever at Gravel Hill School comes to a close, as Trudy looks forward to her tenth…

The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson (The Covington Chronicles) (Volume 2)

Loretta Larson, a southern lady in the early 1900’s, has everything she needs except a man. Ensnared by memories of lost romance, limited by codes of etiquette, and unimpressed by the eligible suitors in her town, she pursues an escape from her solitary life. Where can she find a man who will accept…

Secret Promise

Caroline is in hiding. She knows that lying in her bed seems too dangerous. If the wind blows, the curtains will fly open. Anyone passing in the yard will see her. She pulls the bed sheets and quilt onto the floor to make a pallet. Then she snuffs out the candle and finds her way to her makeshift resting…