For a few years, she served as the Assistant Director of the Utah Chocolate Show. An annual event for chocolate lovers, where attendees get to learn about chocolate in hands-on classes, observe chocolate cooking demonstrations, shop and taste at dozens of chocolate vendors.

Lyon is also a member of the Whitney Awards committee. The awards honor books in the LDS market.

What Lyon thinks readers will find appealing about her latest book, “Tower of Strength.” “The story isn’t about perfect people and their perfect lives. The problems are real, and the answers aren’t easy. But I also think readers will simply enjoy the fun parts of the story, because in addition to the conflicts, it’s got humor and a light side to it.”

“Tower of Strength” tells about Tabitha Hall Chadwick, who left Manti as a young bride in 1877. Now nearly seven years later, she returns as a widow with her young son to make a new beginning. Tabitha’s strained relationship with her mother-in-law adds more difficulty to her life as a single working mother.

Yet with a stroke of courage, Tabitha makes two purchases that become her passions: the local newspaper business and a traumatized horse.

As she struggles to meet the challenges of her new rolls, Tabitha welcomes the friendship of Samuel, a recently widowed British immigrant.

Working together to train the abused horse, the two discover a second chance at love. But when Samuel is critically injured during the construction of the Manti Temple, Tabitha faces the pain of old wounds and the risk of new ones.

Weaving themes of loss and renewal, this poignant tale explores a vital choice each of us must make: to seek safety in isolation or to embrace the painful yet beautiful complexities of life and love.