HarperCollins threw a garden party to celebrate the launch of its new inspirational women's fiction line, Avon Inspire.

The mainstream publisher served breakfast in a pavilion that covered a fake lawn, where guests met authors Tracey Bateman and Linda Windsor, writers of the two launch titles for the new line, respectively, Defiant Heart and Wedding Bell Blues.

Liate Stehlik, publisher of Harper's successful Avon romance fiction imprint, said the company was “really excited” about the new venture. Mark Tauber, publisher of Harper's HarperOne religious imprint, which has partnered with Avon Books in the Avon Inspire initiative, said that religious fiction was a strong and growing category.

"Harper has been trying to figure out how to get into it for a while, and we are finally doing so under the Avon name," he said. "We have a lot more exciting stuff to come."

Bateman's first Avon Inspire title is the first of a three-part wagon train series. The former president of the American Christian Writers Association said it was "a big honor" to be signed for the new imprint.

She attributed the growing market for Christian fiction to the fact "that people want to read really great books with a good message, and I think that is coming out of what we do. We provide great fiction without the despair. We offer hope and that is what the world is looking for. Your hope is in Jesus."

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