Tag: Tammy L Gray

I’m alone in the battle of a lifetime and have no idea how to even begin the fight.

Book Review | Love and the Dream Come True by Tammy L Gray

Cameron Lee isn’t living the music star dream.

Sure, he has two albums and an award-winning single, but now he’s contractually obliged to provide the label with a third album, but he’s lost his desire to write or even sing. First, he has to go home and attend his baby sister’s wedding … and hopefully not face up to the mistakes of his past.

Lexie Walters is the twenty-nine-year-old guardian/mother to Morgan, who is thirteen-going-on-forty. Despite being orphaned and having to drop out of college to raise her niece before the age of twenty, Lexi is the eternal optimist who doesn’t let things list clocks and lists get int he way of enjoying life. (To be honest, that annoyed me at first but she did grow on me). She’s an interior designer who has just bought a house with her contractor cousin that they plan to renovate and flip. And she’s had a crush on her best friend’s older brother since she was thirteen.

He’s a singer … Cameron Lee.

So yes, we know where this story is going.

I will say I found the beginning a little confusing. I’ve been watching old episodes of House, and so it took me a few pages to work out that Cameron was the hero, not the heroine. However, it was immediately obvious that Morgan was female, not male 🙂

It also took me a couple of chapters to realise the book is written in first person from both points of view—Cameron’s and Lexie’s—so it was important for me to read the chapter titles so I knew which character I was reading. Yes, I usually ignore chapter titles (because I find too many give spoilers).

The story picked up in pace and interest once Cameron and Lexie meet at the wedding.

They then discover Cameron is staying in town, renting a house two doors down from the house Lexie is renovating. That gives lots of opportunities to bring the two together and allow their relationship to develop.

It’s obvious from early on that Lexie has a strong Christian faith.

Cameron is a believer, but has struggling with faith for several years, since he left home to chase his music dream. His journey back to faith isn’t explicit, but it’s also obvious that it’s tied up with his journey back to music, and that is clearly shown. So while the novel isn’t all rah-rah-Jesus, it is definitely a Christian story … but one that a non Christian might also be interested in reading.

Love and the Dream Come True is the third book in Tammy L Gray’s State of Grace series, following Love and a Little White Lie and Love and the Silver Lining. I’ve read the whole series but have to admit that I can’t remember anything about the previous books except that I really enjoyed them (which is why I requested a review copy of this one).

Love and the Dream Come True by Tammy L Gray is a fun contemporary Christian romance featuring a music star and an interior designer. #ChristianRomance Click To Tweet

However, I never felt as though I’d missed anything in not remembering. To me, that’s the market of a well-written novel, when I don’t feel like I’m missing anything from not having read (or remembered) the earlier books in the series. I have since re-read my reviews and can now remember how much I did enjoy the stories. What is most interesting is how much time has passed in novel-world since the first story was released—five or six years. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait that long.

Recommended for contemporary romance fans, especially those who enjoy rock star romance or similar.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About the Author

Author Photo Tammy L GrayTammy L. Gray lives in the Dallas area with her family, and they love all things Texas, even the erratic weather patterns. She writes modern Christian romance with true-to-life characters and culturally-relevant plot lines. She believes hope and healing can be found through high quality fiction that inspires and provokes change.

Tammy is often lauded for her unique writing style within the inspirational genre, preferring to use analogies verses heavy-handed spiritual content. Her characters are real, relatable and deep, earning her a 2017 RITA award nomination in the Romance with Religious and Spiritual Elements category.

When not chasing after her three amazing kids, Tammy can be spotted with her head in a book. Writing has given her a platform to combine her passion with her ministry.

Tammy L. Gray has lots of projects going on.

You can find Tammy Gray online at:

Website Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter Goodreads

About Love and the Dream Come True

Their faith will face its toughest test yet.

Four years after getting the biggest break of his life, Cameron Lee’s music career has taken a nosedive, leaving him two options: become a sellout or give up on his lifelong dream. He reluctantly returns home for his sister’s wedding, hoping to avoid his past and find his love for music again.

Single mom Lexie Walters has suffered her fair share of tragedies and setbacks, but she has finally scraped together the money to achieve her dream of going into business with her cousin as an interior designer. When Lexie’s life is at an all-time high, she runs into her teenage crush, Cameron Lee.

Lost in the emotional turmoil of failure, Cameron is immediately drawn to Lexie and her infectious smile and optimistic spirit. Moreover, he adores her mouthy, no-holds-barred daughter. But fantasies only last so long, and soon Lexie and Cameron must face the real world, the one fraught with heartbreak, disappointment, and questions that sometimes can only be answered by a leap of faith.

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week #238 | The Truth Between Us by Tammy L Gray

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from The Truth Between Us by Tammy L Gray, the second book in her Brentwood series. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

Nine months, twenty-seven days, and four hours. The last time he'd had contact with the woman he was supposed to marry.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About The Truth Between Us

Nine years to win her. Three years to love her. And one decision that destroyed it all.

April Duncan was raised with three clear truths: the family name is absolute, ambition and success rule over every emotion, and love always comes with strings attached. Image was everything in her carefully crafted world… until the mirror cracked. Sean Taylor was April’s best friend, the one man who taught her it was okay to let her guard down and to rely on someone. She trusted him. She loved him. Which made his deception the darkest kind of cruelty. Now, nearly a year later, she’s ready to leave her failed engagement in the past and get back her life and her estranged family, even if it means dating a man solely for his connections. She’ll never again choose love over loyalty.

Sean has spent his entire life breaking barriers, facing challenges, and never giving up. Until one impossible choice destroyed his future and left him no option but to flee from the woman who annihilated his heart. Now he’s back in Bentwood and determined to make her hear the truth and rebuild the trust he shattered. But April has become a mere shell of the woman who claimed his heart long ago. Winning her back is more than just seizing a victory, because if he fails… the girl he’s loved for a lifetime will disappear forever.

You can find The Truth Between Us online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

What is the point of working and straining to hear God's will when in the end I'm just as lost as if I'd never tried?

Book Review | Love and the Silver Lining by Tammy L Gray

Love and the Silver Lining surprised me several times. At the beginning, I thought it was going to be a typical friends-to-more novel. And it was … kind of. But there was also the other man, and that added both interest and complications.

The story is written entirely in first person, which is an inspired decision.

Yes, some readers don’t like first person (although I’m not one of them). The beauty of using first person in this instance meant it was impossible to guess which man Darcy was going to choose: best friend forever Cameron, or his bad boy bandmate Bryson. Yes, it’s the other man/other woman trope, which isn’t my favourite.

One of the reasons I’m not a fan is that I often end up favouring the “wrong” character—the one who doesn’t end up with the girl. As such, I was very happy with Love and the Silver Lining, because it made the right choice. Well, the choice I thought was right for Darcy.

Book Review | Love and the Silver Lining by Tammy L Gray Click To Tweet

While I liked Darcy as a character, there were times she annoyed me. I assumed she was a teacher, as she’d given up her job and her apartment to go to Central America for a year to teach English to children in an orphanage—a noble cause, no doubt. But do Central American orphanages really need teachers with little or no experience? Given her reaction to not being able to go, I did question how good a teacher she’d have been.

As it turned out, her skills were in an entirely different area.

Darcy is a dog whisperer. Well, not really. But she is a dog walker with a college degree in animal something, and a true skill for seeing why a badly behaved dog is acting out, and working with the dog to correct their behaviour.

I’m more of a cat person than a dog person, but I was impressed by the way Darcy worked with the dogs. I was also impressed by the way that became a subtle underlying metaphor for healing–healing for Darcy, healing for the dog’s widowed owner, and healing for Bryson, brought the two together.

Love and the Silver Lining isn’t a suspense novel, but there were more than a few low-key nail-biting moments as Darcy worked with the dogs and worked through her own healing. In the end, the novel was everything I look forward to and expect in a Tammy L Gray novel, and even managed to convince me the “other man” trope isn’t always awful.

The faith elements in the novel are present but understated.

The novel starts with Darcy experiencing a crisis of faith: if God really had wanted her to go on a year-long mission to Central America, why did it fall apart at the last minute? This is a variation on the age-old “where is God when it hurts?” question, and while it doesn’t answer the unanswerable, it does show us how God can use any situation to pull us closer to Him … if we allow it to.

Recommended for fans of contemporary Christian romance, especially dog lovers.

Thanks to Bethany House and Netgalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About the Author

Author Photo Tammy L GrayTammy L. Gray lives in the Dallas area with her family, and they love all things Texas, even the erratic weather patterns. She writes modern Christian romance with true-to-life characters and culturally-relevant plot lines. She believes hope and healing can be found through high quality fiction that inspires and provokes change.

Tammy is often lauded for her unique writing style within the inspirational genre, preferring to use analogies verses heavy-handed spiritual content. Her characters are real, relatable and deep, earning her a 2017 RITA award nomination in the Romance with Religious and Spiritual Elements category.

When not chasing after her three amazing kids, Tammy can be spotted with her head in a book. Writing has given her a platform to combine her passion with her ministry.

Tammy L. Gray has lots of projects going on.

You can find Tammy Gray online at:

Website Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter Goodreads

About Love and the Silver Lining

This disaster may be just what she needed.

Darcy Malone’s dreams of mission work are dashed on the eve of fulfilling them: The Guatemalan school she was going to teach at has closed, and she’s already quit her job and given up her apartment. Stuck in her worst-case scenario, Darcy accepts an unexpected offer to move in with Bryson Katsaros’s little sister, despite the years of distrust between her and Bryson, the lead singer in her best friend Cameron’s band. But as she meets those close to Bryson, Darcy quickly discovers there is more to him than just his bad-boy persona.

Needing to find a purpose for all her sudden free time, Darcy jumps at the chance to care for and train a group of unruly dogs, with the aim of finding each a home before their bereaved owner returns them to animal control. But it’s Darcy herself who will encounter a surprising rescue in the form of love, forgiveness, and learning to let go.

Find Love and the Silver Lining online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week 188 | Love and the Silver Lining by Tammy L Gray

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from Love and the Silver Lining by Tammy L Gray, the second book in her State of Grace series. She is one of my favourite Christian romance authors, so I’m looking forward to reading this!

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

I'm supposed to be on an airplane, flying to Central America to teach children to speak English.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

About Love and the Silver Lining

This disaster may be just what she needed.

Darcy Malone’s dreams of mission work are dashed on the eve of fulfilling them: The Guatemalan school she was going to teach at has closed, and she’s already quit her job and given up her apartment. Stuck in her worst-case scenario, Darcy accepts an unexpected offer to move in with Bryson Katsaros’s little sister, despite the years of distrust between her and Bryson, the lead singer in her best friend Cameron’s band. But as she meets those close to Bryson, Darcy quickly discovers there is more to him than just his bad-boy persona.

Needing to find a purpose for all her sudden free time, Darcy jumps at the chance to care for and train a group of unruly dogs, with the aim of finding each a home before their bereaved owner returns them to animal control. But it’s Darcy herself who will encounter a surprising rescue in the form of love, forgiveness, and learning to let go.

Find Love and the Silver Lining online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:

You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

You came, you saw, you insulted. I believe your obligation has been fulfilled.

Book Review | Love and a Little White Lie by Tammy L Gray

January Saunders has just been hired as an administrative assistant at Grace Community Church, a job she desperately needs. So desperately that she’s willing to work in a church, despite not believing in God or any other higher power. The work isn’t difficult, but working in a new environment does have challenges.

She’s assisting an overworked pastor who covers a broad range of ministries.

She soon finds he has more challenges than a lack of ability to organise hundreds of prayer request cards (her first task). Jen also finds herself working with Cameron, the handsome young worship leader who wants a career in music. Cameron is friendly and outgoing, and Jen finds herself spending a lot of time with him.

Jen is staying in a cottage on at her aunt’s wedding ranch, where she meets Dillon, the contractor installing a new gazebo and undertaking other repairs around the ranch. He’s always there, but he’s not the guy Cameron is. For one thing, Dillon is too blunt for Jen’s taste, especially when he calls her on her “little white lie” around her lack of faith.

Love and a Little White Lie is written in first person point of view.

I like first person—it does a great job of bringing the reader (me) into the character’s head. I know some people don’t like first person, which is why I mention it. However, I do think it was the right choice for this novel, because it left the reader guessing which guy Jan was going to end up with.

Tammy L Gray consistently writes excellent Christian fiction.

This is a bit of a change from her previous novels—a little more comedic, but also deeper in terms of the faith questions. Jen isn’t a Christian, and (as Christian readers) we know the story isn’t going to end with her being unequally yoked, so there is a definite faith journey that isn’t present in a lot of Christian fiction. That was good to read.

Tammy L Gray consistently writes excellent Christian fiction, and Love and a Little White Lie is no exception. A great contemporary #ChristianRomance #BookReview Click To Tweet

Overall, Love and a Little White Lie is a great contemporary Christian romance. Recommended for fans of Courtney Walsh and Kara Isaac.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About the Author

Author Photo Tammy L GrayTammy L. Gray lives in the Dallas area with her family, and they love all things Texas, even the erratic weather patterns. She writes modern Christian romance with true-to-life characters and culturally-relevant plot lines. She believes hope and healing can be found through high quality fiction that inspires and provokes change.

Tammy is often lauded for her unique writing style within the inspirational genre, preferring to use analogies verses heavy-handed spiritual content. Her characters are real, relatable and deep, earning her a 2017 RITA award nomination in the Romance with Religious and Spiritual Elements category.

When not chasing after her three amazing kids, Tammy can be spotted with her head in a book. Writing has given her a platform to combine her passion with her ministry.

Tammy L. Gray has lots of projects going on.

You can find Tammy Gray online at:

Website Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter Goodreads

About Love and a Little White Lie

January Sanders grew up believing karma was more reliable than an imaginary higher power, but after suffering her worst heartbreak in 29 years, she’s open to just about anything, including taking a temporary position at her aunt’s church. Keeping her lack of faith a secret, January is determined to use her photographic memory to help Grace Community’s overworked staff, all while scraping herself off rock bottom.

What she doesn’t count on is meeting the church’s handsome and charming guitarist, who not only is a strong believer, but has also dedicated his life to Christian music. It’s a match set for disaster, and yet January has no ability to stay away, even if it means pretending to have faith in a God she doesn’t believe in.

Only this time, keeping secrets isn’t as easy as she thought it would be. Especially when she’s constantly running into her aunt’s landscape architect, who seems to know everything about her past and present sins and makes no apologies about pushing her to deal with feelings she’d rather keep buried.

Torn between two worlds incapable of coexisting, can January find the healing that’s eluded her or will her resistance to the truth ruin any chance of happiness?

Find Love and a Little White Lie online at:

Amazon | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

#ThrowbackThursday | My Hope Next Door by Tammy L Gray

It’s Throwback Thursday! Today I’m resharing my review of the RITA Award-winning novel, My Hope Next Door by Tammy L Gray. It’s the first of Tammy L Gray’s books I read, and she’s become one of my must-read authors.

Katie Stone escaped her home town of Fairfield four years ago and has felt guilty ever since. Now her dad needs help with her mother, so she’s home again. Reluctantly. Very reluctantly. But she’s changed: she’s no longer the drug addict who spends more time with her boyfriend than with her family. She’s become a Christian … as if anyone in Fairfield is going to believe that.

Once home, she finds her new next door neighbour is Asher Powell. Asher, pastor’s son and town good boy, the guy she teased for being so boring all through high school. And she finds her dad’s new best friend is her ex-boyfriend, the person she’s least in interested in spending time with. Oops.

Asher has his own issues with the church and mistakes and judgement. It’s not that he’s given up on God. Just the church his dad pastors, the church he’s attended all his life.

My Hope Next Door was one of the best Christian novels I’ve read this year. It had a clear Christian message—a message it delivers as much to the people in the church as outside:

Quote

Thanks to Waterfall Press and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About the Author

Author Photo Tammy L GrayTammy L. Gray lives in the Dallas area with her family, and they love all things Texas, even the erratic weather patterns. She writes modern Christian romance with true-to-life characters and culturally-relevant plot lines. She believes hope and healing can be found through high quality fiction that inspires and provokes change.

Tammy is often lauded for her unique writing style within the inspirational genre, preferring to use analogies verses heavy-handed spiritual content. Her characters are real, relatable and deep, earning her a 2017 RITA award nomination in the Romance with Religious and Spiritual Elements category.

When not chasing after her three amazing kids, Tammy can be spotted with her head in a book. Writing has given her a platform to combine her passion with her ministry.

Tammy L. Gray has lots of projects going on.

You can find Tammy Gray online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter | Goodreads

About My Hope Next Door

Can love grow in the shadow of a broken past?

Former bad girl Katie Stone can feel the weight of her reputation settle over her as she drives home for the first time in years. Feeling deeply guilty about her past mistakes, Katie wants to do the right thing for once. But the small town where she grew up is not nearly as forgiving as she’d hoped. Despite it all, she’s determined to help her parents cope with her mother’s recent illness, and Katie finds a surprise ally in the man next door.

Asher Powell never minded being the son of a small-town pastor until a recent breakup leaves him wounded by lifelong members of his church. He remembers his new neighbor as a mean-spirited high school troublemaker, but he senses that her newfound faith and desire for forgiveness are sincere.

Through an unexpected friendship, two people from different worlds find peace, hope, and a second chance they never dreamed was possible.

You can find My Hope Next Door online at:

Amazon | Goodreads

You can read the introduction to My Hope Next Door Below:

Click here to find My Hope Next Door and other great Christian fiction in my Amazon shop!

What’s your favourite Christian book genre?

Bookish Question #47 | What’s your favourite Christian book genre?

Asking a keen reader their favourite genre is like asking any addict about their favourite fix. Well, I assume it is. I haven’t spent a lot of time around addicts!

My favourite genre is romance, which shouldn’t come as any surpirse to anyone who reads my reviews on a regular basis. But romance is a huge genre, so what are my favourite novels within romance? I have three:

Regency Romance

Regency Romance is set in England during the period of the British Regency—when King George III was deemed mentally unfit to rule, so his son (the future King George IV) was named Prince Regent in his place. A lot of Georgette Heyer’s novels are set in the Regency period, and it’s also the time when Jane Austen was writing and publishing. Regency Romance characters are often members of the aristocracy, so the stories are complete fantasy when compared to my way of life!

My favourite Christian Regency Romance authors are Julie Klassen, Kristi Ann Hunter, and Carolyn Miller.

Romantic Suspense

I also enjoy romance with a suspense or thriller element. The mix of romance and suspense provides the classic mix of internal and external conflict, and provides plenty of opportunity for the hero and heroine to get to know each other as they work together to solve the crime (or stop one happenning).

My favourite Christian romantic suspense authors are DiAnn Mills, Lynette Eason, Terri Blackstock, and similar authors.

Contemporary Romance

My absolute favourite genre is contemporary romance. But not just any contemporary romance. I like stories that are a realistic and even a little gritty, that show life like it is but still show the hope of Jesus. And a little comedy doesn’t hurt, as a way of diffusing tension.

My favourite contemporary Christian romance authors are whichever book I’ve read most recently. Kara Isaac, Bethany Turner, Jennifer Rodewald, Brandy Bruce, Carla Laureano, Tammy L Gray, Courtney Walsh, Amy Matayo … the list goes on.

What about you? What’s your favourite Christian book genre?

Let me know in the comments, then pop over to Australasian Christian Writers and share there!

Quote from My Unexpected Hope

Book Recommendation | My Unexpected Hope by Tammy L Gray

Tammy L Gray doesn’t write nice Christian fiction.

She writes fiction about broken characters who’ve done stupid things, who are now trying to pull themselves out of the hell they have created. My Unexpected Hope is no exception.

It’s the story of Leila and Chad, united by their common family histories of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction, and separated by those same addictions. Laila eventually kicked Chad out, unwilling and unable to be with someone who showed every sign of turning into his father, or her mother.

Now he’s back. But can she trust him?

I didn’t enjoy An Unexpected Hope as much as I enjoyed My Hope Next Door. However, that might be like saying I didn’t enjoy Hitchcock’s Vertigo as much as I enjoyed Rear Window, given that My Hope Next Door has just won the 2017 RITA award from Romance Writers of America for Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements.

My main issue was Chad. I liked him, and wanted him to succeed in his quest for sobriety. But his characterisation wasn’t even, and while he was convinced he was Laila’s soul mate, I wasn’t. There was no reason for them to be together beyond their extensive shared history. My other reason could be that I’m not a fan of the Other Woman or Other Man trope, because it always means a perfectly nice character ends up hurt (as happened in this case).

My Unexpected Hope isn’t a comfortable read.

It’s full of conflict and angst as two messed-up people try and sort their lives out. But it’s an excellent story of redemption, and well worth reading. It can be read as a standalone novel, although those who have read My Hope Next Door will enjoy seeing Katie and Cooper again. Well, perhaps not Cooper.

Thanks to Waterfall Press and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About the Book

After a year of grieving her divorce and living a life permanently stuck on pause, Laila Richardson is finally ready to have her own happy ending. Then a listing for a quaint cottage in another town answers her prayers for a fresh beginning—one that will bring her closer to her new boyfriend, Ben. Unfortunately, in her small town of Fairfield, Georgia, letting go of the past is virtually impossible. No one wants to see her move on, including the man who destroyed her heart to begin with.

Chad Richardson has spent years in misery but finally has his life on somewhat stable ground. When he learns his ex-wife is dating, he knows it’s time to go back and fight for the life he abandoned. Bolstered by his newfound sobriety, Chad has every intention of winning back the woman he loves, even if that means facing old demons that are waiting for him to fail.

Passions run deep as two souls searching for a second chance find the courage to let go of old patterns. Can they recognize that their dreams are still possible, even when forged from a broken past?

About the Author

Author Photo Tammy L GrayTammy L. Gray lives in the Dallas area with her family, and they love all things Texas, even the erratic weather patterns. She writes modern Christian romance with true-to-life characters and culturally-relevant plot lines. She believes hope and healing can be found through high quality fiction that inspires and provokes change.

Tammy is often lauded for her unique writing style within the inspirational genre, preferring to use analogies verses heavy-handed spiritual content. Her characters are real, relatable and deep, earning her a 2017 RITA award nomination in the Romance with Religious and Spiritual Elements category.

When not chasing after her three amazing kids, Tammy can be spotted with her head in a book. Writing has given her a platform to combine her passion with her ministry.

Tammy L. Gray has lots of projects going on.

You can find Tammy Gray online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter | Goodreads

Click below to buy An Unexpected Hope:

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

You can read the introduction to An Unexpected Hope:

It's RITA Time!

It’s RITA Time!

It’s time for the 2017 RITA Awards! For those who don’t know, the RITA Awards are the annual published author awards presented by Romance Writers of America.

They are a big deal, the Oscars of the romance writing world. I read Christian fiction, so I’m most interested in the Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements category.

The four finalists for 2017 are:

  • My Hope Next Door by Tammy L Gray
  • Keeper of the Stars by Robin Lee Hatcher
  • Close to You by Kara Isaac (who also finalled in the Debut novel category)
  • Trust My Heart by Carol J Post

I’ve read and reviewed all four books, and I’m glad I’m not a judge!

All four books were excellent, and it’s going to be a tough decision for someone (or several someones). I’d love for Kara Isaac to win, because Close to You is set in New Zealand and she’s finalled in two categories. And I edited her latest book, Then There Was You. Not that I’m biased or anything.

Here are links to my reviews:

Close to You
Keeper of the Stars
My Hope Next Door
Trust My Heart

My review of Keeper of the Stars was a guest post at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, as part of their annual RITA challenge. They ask for guest reviewers to volunteer to review each of the (many) finalists. They post two reviews of each book in the weeks leading up to the announcement of the winners.

These reviews are interesting to read because they are mostly written by readers who don’t usually read Christian romance. You’ll see the reviews aren’t nearly as glowing as those usually seen on Christian fiction review sites.

Here are links to the other SBTB reviews:

A B- review for Close to You from Bluetomarto.
A C- review for Close to You from Hope.

A B- review for Trust My Heart from LauraL.
A C- review for Trust My Heart from DonnaMarie.

A C+ review from Julia for Keeper of the Stars.

A D review for My Hope Next Door from Samantha.

If you go by the SBTB grades, the winner will be Keeper of the Stars. But that’s based on my B+ review, and I’d have given B+ or better grades to all four finalists!

The winners will be announced at the Romance Writers of America conference, on 27 July.

Have you read any of these RITA finalists? Which do you think should win?

books I’m looking forward to reading

Bookish Question #13 | What Books are you Looking Forward to Reading?

It’s the end of June (already!), which means we’re halfway through the year. I’ve read a bunch of books, but there are still more books to read. There are always more books to read.

Here are the books I’m looking forward to reading (click on the covers to buy on Amazon):

Books from Debut Authors

Count Me In by Mikal Dawn

An accountant as a heroine? I don’t think I’ve seen that before, so I’m looking forward to finding out Allegra’s story.

Someplace Familiar by Teresa Tysinger

I’ve heard good things about Someplace Familiar. It’s a debut novel, and the start of a series. Well, it’s best to start at the beginning, right?

 

 

Books I Own But Haven’t Read Yet

(Don’t judge me. You have a mile-high to-read pile as well. Don’t you?)

Finders Keepers by Sarah Monzon

Finders Keepers has just won the Selah Award, and I’ve read (and reviewed) the sequel, but somehow haven’t managed to read this yet.

 The Whys Have It by Amy Matayo

I love Amy Matayo’s writing and the way she shows authentic faith in a real world. And the cover …

My Unexpected Hope by Tammy L Gray

My Unexpected hope is the sequel to My Hope Next Door, which is a RITA finalist, and was one of my top picks for 2016. So I have to read it, right?

The Wayward Heart by Nerys Leigh

The Wayward Heart is the third book in Nerys Leigh’s unique mail order bride series—unique in that each of the stories in the series is happening at the same time, so you can read the series in any order.

 

Books I’m Waiting For

Ghost Hunter by Lisa Harris and Lynne Gentry

Ghost Hunter is a suspense novel set in Tanzania and the United States. That’s all I know about it. But it’s by Lisa Harris, which pretty much guarantees a winner.

Ghost Hunter releases in August 2017.

A Dangerous Legacy by Elizabeth Camden

I love the way Elizabeth Camden melds new-to-me historical research with faith and romance.

A Dangerous Legacy releases in October 2017.

The Captivating Lady Charlotte by Carolyn Miller

Regency romance is one of my favourite romance genres, and it’s great to see more Christian authors in this space.

The Captivating Lady Charlotte releases tomorrow! I can’t wait! Well, I can. Because I have to. But you know what I mean.

An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter

More Regency romance, from award-winning Kristi Ann Hunter. I’ve read and enjoyed every one of her books so far, so I have no doubts about this one. And the cover is gorgeous.

An Inconvenient Beauty releases in September 2017.

Deadly Proof by Rachel Dylan

Legal suspense. What more do I need to know?

Legal Proof releases in September 2017.

 

What book or books are you most looking forward to reading in the second half of 2017?