Book Review | The Last Way Home by Liz Johnson

15 August 2022

Not long ago, Eli Ross was a famous ice hockey player living the high life. Now he’s back in his hometown on Prince Edward Island, hoping his mother will give him a free place to stay after he walked out a decade ago. He also has to deal with his brothers who are not as forgiving as his mother.

Violet Donaghy ran away from home as a teenager and found her second home with the Ross family, working with Eli’s mother at Mama Potts’s Red Clay Shoppe. Mama Potts took her in when she had nothing, so now she’s fiercely protective of her new family and doesn’t want Eli’s return to mess that up.

I have to admit that I struggled through the first quarter of this novel.

The problem wasn’t the heroine hiding a secret (secrets usually entice me to keep reading ) or the bad-boy ice hockey player (even if I think Carolyn Miller did the bad boy plot better in her Original Six series). It was that they both seemed to have done stupid things and kept doing less-than-sensible things.

I also didn’t see where the romance was going to come from. It was obvious the couple was Violet and Eli, but I didn’t like Eli, and nor did Violet.

But the novel started to really grab me at around the one-quarter mark.

I got hooked when Eli agrees to coach the local high school ice hockey team because he needs the money (and boy, I was surprised at how much the parents were prepared to pay!). The coaching doesn’t go well at first, but as Eli settles into his new role, I found myself liking him more and more.

It wasn’t long before I realised that at least one of my earlier assumptions wasn’t accurate (but I’m not going to say which one because #spoilers). Let’s say that while there were still some stupid actions, there was an honourable motive.

There were also some great lines, and I’m always a sucker for great writing.

Best of all, there was a a strong message of family, faith, and forgiveness. Yes, it took me a while to get into The Last Way Home, but it was worth it.

The Last Way Home is the second book in Liz Johnson’s Prince Edward Island Shores series. I haven’t read the first, but that didn’t affect my enjoyment or my understanding.

Recommended for fans of contemporary Christian romance, especially those with a soft spot for bad boys, ice hockey players, and Prince Edward Island.

Thanks to Baker Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Liz Johnson

By day Liz Johnson works in marketing. She finds time to write late at night and is a Christy Award finalist and a two-time ACFW Carol Award finalist. Liz makes her home in Phoenix, Arizona where she enjoys theater, exploring local history, and doting on her nieces and nephews. She loves stories of true love with happy endings.

Find Liz Johnson online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

About The Last Way Home

When Eli Ross left Prince Edward Island to join the NHL, he left a broken family behind. More than a decade later, he’s broke and headed home to an uncertain welcome. He wants to make things right with the family he wronged, but his mom’s business partner isn’t making it easy. To top it off, the coaching job he’s accepted turns out to be far more difficult than he anticipated.

For years, Violet Donaghy has put everything she had into making Eli’s mom’s ceramics shop a success, and she’s not eager to forgive the man who hurt the family that’s taken her in as one of their own. But when the kiln at the shop starts a fire that nearly destroys the studio, she’ll need all the help she can get to save the business and their summer income.

Can these two strong-willed people come together to mend the broken pieces of the Ross family? Or will the ghosts of the past continue to haunt them?

Find The Last Way Home online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Read the introduction to The Last Way Home below:

First Line Friday | Week #245 | The Billionaires Best Friend by Elizabeth Maddrey

by Iola Goulton

12 August 2022

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 Billionaires Best Friend by Elizabeth Maddrey. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About The Billionaires Best Friend

You ever meet someone and have that immediate click? That was Kayla and me. First day of our first teaching jobs and we both just knew we were going to be best friends forever.

And we are.

She does a great job keeping me down to earth—a skill I appreciate even more now that I’m a billionaire.

Except lately, it’s like she’s pulling away.

It started with her spending more time with my sister instead of hanging out with me. And now she’s starting to date the youth pastor?

It could be that I’m a little jealous. Seems like everyone is falling in love except me. But I don’t think that’s it.

Because it feels like I’m in danger of losing a lot more than my best friend and I don’t know how to make it stop.

You can find The Billionaires Best Friend online at

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

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

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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!

Book Review | When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnett

by Iola Goulton

11 August 2022

When Stone Wings Fly is a dual-timeline novel set in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in the present, and in the 1930s when the park is still being established. One of the first Christian novels I read was Christy by Catherine Marshall, which was set in the Great Smokies before it became a National Park (and I also enjoyed watching the TV series in the 1990s).

So I was keen to read another Christian romance in the same setting.

The historic story is about Rosie McCauley who doesn’t want to sell her family land, the land where she and her sister were born, and where her parents and grandparents are buried. She meets Benton Fuller, who is studying birdlife in the mountains. They form a friendship.

In the present, Kieran Lucas is trying to make ends meet while working two jobs and taking care of her grandmother in her spare time. After growing up in care, she wants to learn more about her family while there is still time. After Granny Mac tells Kieran about her early years in the Smokies, Kieran tries to find her grandmother’s childhood home with the aid of National Park Service guide Zach Jensen.

I’ve read a few of Karen Barnett’s earlier historical novels, although I haven’t read any of her previous books about America’s National Parks. I enjoyed the historic aspect of When Stone Wings Fly, particularly setting up the National Park. I was interested in how the park was set up—by buying the land from the legal residents, using money donated from everyone from schoolchildren to the Rockefeller family.

I liked the romances—both of them—and I thought the novel dealt with the problems of age and dementia in a sensitive and appropriate manner.

There were a couple of plot points that I didn’t think were necessary. Sure, they needed to happen to set up the novel’s climax, but I didn’t think events had to happen the way they happened. I don’t want to say so much because that would be a #spoiler but it’s like baking. It’s not great if you take the cake out of the over before it’s cooked, but you can always put it back in the oven to finish cooking. Don’t leave it sitting on the the table then complain it’s not cooked.

But that’s a small issue overall. I liked all the characters – they were intelligent, hardworking, and willing to fight for what they wanted. The writing was excellent, and I was left feeling as though I knew the characters and had visited the Smokies, and seen the good and the bad.

Thanks to Kregel Publications and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Karen Barnett

Fueled by a passion for research and learning, and a secret desire to travel in time, author Karen Barnett creates historical romances that draw readers deep into a story. She’s fascinated that even though human history is constantly changing, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). The point where those two facts collide forms the basis for her writing–finding those moments when an ordinary person brushes up against the eternal.

A graduate of Valparaiso University and Oregon State University, Barnett’s debut novel, Mistaken, was released in 2013 and earned her the Oregon Christian Writers “Writer of Promise” award and a Cascade Award for best historical fiction. She also won the coveted “Writer of the Year” title from the prestigious Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference in 2016. The Road to Paradise was a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Carol Awards in 2018.

Karen spent several years working in outdoor education as a park ranger and naturalist for Mount Rainier National Park and Oregon’s Silver Falls State Park before becoming a stay-at-home mom and professional writer. She spends her free time hiking, taking photographs, and decorating crazy birthday cakes.

Karen and her husband live in western Oregon and are trying to adjust to the empty nest life now that both kids are in college. Well, their home isn’t entirely empty––they still have three mischievous dachshunds underfoot.

Find Karen Barnett online:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter

About When Stone Wings Fly

Kieran Lucas’s grandmother is slipping into dementia, and when her memory is gone, Kieran’s last tie to the family she barely knows will be lost forever. Worse, flashbacks of her mother’s death torment Granny Mac and there’s precious little Kieran can do to help.

In 1931, the creation of the new Great Smoky Mountains National Park threatens Rosie McCauley’s home. Rosie vows the only way the commission will get her land is if they haul her off in a pine box. When a compromise offers her and her disabled sister the opportunity to stay for Rosie’s lifetime, her acceptance sets her apart from the other mountain folk. And the bond she’s forming with ornithologist and outsider Benton Fuller only broadens the rift.

Eighty-five years later, Kieran heads back to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to find answers to her great-grandmother’s mysterious death and bring peace to Granny Mac before it’s too late. Park Historian Zach Jensen may be the key to locating both the answers. But what Kieran needs clashes with the government regulations Zach is sworn to uphold. Can she trust God for a solution to heal this generations-old wound?

Find When Stone Wings Fly online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads

Read the introduction to When Stone Wings Fly below:

Bookish Question #238 | Do you know any Christian fiction with a cat as a major character?

by Iola Goulton

9 August 2022

I’ve read a lot of Christian fiction with dogs or horses, and some with more unusual pets. Novels will often have cats as pets, but there is only one Christian novel I can think of where I would describe the cat as a major character.

Melissa Koslin’s debut novel, Never Miss, features a Maine Coon cat called Mac who often acts more like a dog. Mac it a big cat and has an attitude to match. Mac and his owner, Kadance, help Lyndon Vaile stay alive long enough to figure out who wants him dead … and why.

I do enjoy a good romantic suspense novel, and Never Miss was a solid debut that has the added advantage of a cat.

What about you? Do you know of any Christian fiction with a cat as a major character?

You can read the introduction to Never Miss below:

First Line Friday | Week #244 | Never Miss by Melissa Koslin

by Iola Goulton

5 August 2022

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 Never Miss, a Christian romantic suspense from debut author Melissa Koslin. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Never Miss

Former CIA sniper Kadance Tolle possesses a special set of skills and a rare pedigree. She comes from a family of assassins, and by saving Lyndon Vaile’s life she risks being found by them. Despite the danger, Kadance feels compelled to help Lyndon discover who is after him–and his research that seems to prove that the Ebola virus was manmade and is about to be weaponized.

With shadowy figures pursuing them and a Mastermind watching their every move, Kadance and Lyndon must scramble to stop an impending bioattack at the State of the Union address. But their warnings fall on deaf ears, and it becomes increasingly clear that there’s no one they can trust–except perhaps each other.

Strap in for a breakneck story that will have you up all night, hurtling toward the last page as the clock ticks and time runs out.

You can find Never Miss online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads | Koorong

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!

Bookish Question #237 | Do fictional characters have to be likeable?

by Iola Goulton

2 August 2022

Do you think fictional characters have to be likeable?

The main character? Yes.

Other characters? Mostly.

I don’t want to read a novel where I don’t like the main character or characters because I want to send time with characters I like … not characters I don’t like. In a romance, I want to like both the hero and the heroine, because I want to be happy when they end up together.

There are novels I’ve given up on because I didn’t like the main character. In fact, not liking the main character is one of the few reasons I’ll stop reading a novel.

I also want to like the other major characters. If a character isn’t likeable, I want there to be a good reason why they’re not likeable. Perhaps they are the foil for one of the main characters. Perhaps they’re the character who is going to be redeemed by the end of the novel. Perhaps they’re the evildoer (I prefer not to like the antagonist, especially in suspense).

I like most people I meet in real life, so I prefer to read fiction with likeable people as well.

What about you? Do you think fictional characters have to be likeable?

Book Review | The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs Kip by Sara Brunsvold

by Iola Goulton

1 August 2022

Aidyn Kelley is an ambitious junior journalist in Kansas, but when her ambition gets her in trouble, she finds herself relegated to writing obituaries. Her editor sends her to a local hospice to interview the somewhat eccentric Mrs Kip.

Clara Kip is seventy-nine years old, and an unexpected cancer diagnosis has left her not in hospital but in a hospice. Still, she is determined to die as she has lived – with Jesus.

Clara is immediately likeable as a character. She’s bubbly, bright, and determined to see the best in everything and everyone. Aidyn? Not so much. She’s self-absorbed and thinks she’s above the rules. That’s probably not too different to many other bright young graduates in their mid-twenties, but it didn’t help me like her.

Not liking Aidyn meant I found the first quarter of the book a bit of a struggle. I actually set the book aside for a couple of weeks. What got me reading it again were a few of the comments I saw online, readers praising the book as brilliant and heartrending.

So I picked the book up again, determined to give it another chance. But it wasn’t until Aidyn and Clara met for the second time that I found myself really being drawn into the story. And once I was drawn in, it was impossible to put it down.

I don’t want to say too much about the plot in case I give spoilers. But I can explain why I changed my mind.

The story flips between the present (well, the book is set in 2016) and Clara’s past. At first, the past stories seemed like random anecdotes, with no particular purpose. But as I kept reading, it became apparent that the past stories were tied up with the present, in that they were the stories Mrs Kip was telling Aidyn, the stories that show how ordinary can become extraordinary when walking with God.

The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs Kip is Christian fiction of the best kind.

Mrs Kip has been a Christian for decades, and she’s the kind of Christian we should all aspire to being: one who loves God and loves those people He puts in her path and loves them well.

The whole story took place over less than ten days in book time, but the changes Mrs Kip inspires in Aidyn made it feel like a much longer timeframe. I guess that’s because of the lesson of Mrs Kip’s extraordinary death—and life—which is one we can hear and adopt ourselves.

I always let the Lord guide me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8)

Recommended for fans of authors such as Cynthia Ruchti, Sharon Garlough Brown, Elizabeth Musser, and Christine Dillon.

About Sara Brunsvold

Sara Brunsvold creates stories that speak hope, truth, and life. Influenced by humble women of God who find His fingerprints in the everyday, she does the same in her life and her storytelling. Sara’s recognitions include the 2020 ACFW Genesis Award for Contemporary Fiction. She lives with her family in Kansas City, where she can often be spotted writing at a park or library.

Find Sara Brunsvold online at

Website| Facebook | Instagram

About The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs Kip

Aidyn Kelley is talented, ambitious, and ready for a more serious assignment than the fluff pieces she’s been getting as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. In her eagerness, she pushes too hard, earning herself the menial task of writing an obituary for an unremarkable woman who’s just entered hospice care.

But there’s more to Clara Kip than meets the eye. The spirited septuagenarian may be dying, but she’s not quite ready to cash it in yet. Never one to shy away from an assignment herself, she can see that God brought the young reporter into her life for a reason. And if it’s a story Aidyn Kelley wants, that’s just what Mrs. Kip will give her–but she’s going to have to work for it.

Debut author Sara Brunsvold delights with this emotional multigenerational story that shows that the very best life is made up of thousands of little deaths to self. You’ll want to be just like Mrs. Kip when you grow up!

You can find The Extraordinary Lives of Mrs Kip online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

First Line Friday | Week #243 | The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs Kip by Sara Brunsvold

by Iola Goulton

29 July 2022

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 Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs Kip by debut author Sara Brunsvold.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs Kip

You can find The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs Kip online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

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!

Bookish Question #236 | Do you enjoy wedding scenes in Christian romance?

by Iola Goulton

26 July 2022

One of the rule of romance novels is that they have to have an emotionally satisfying ending.

Many authors and readers use the phrase happy-every-after to describe the perfect ending for a romance novel.

While I agree that the a wedding is the ideal happy-ever-after in a Christian romance, I don’t necessarily think the wedding has to happen as part of the novel. It doesn’t even need to happen in the epilogue.

As an example, I’ve just finished a novel which featured the hero and heroine marrying at the end (I’m not going to name the book for reasons that will become obvious).

The heroine has just moved to a small town after she inherits the Inn her aunt ran. The hero is a local businessman who maintains the Inn’s gardens in his spare time. They’re attracted to each other, and a relationship develops. The book ends with their wedding, and she’s pregnant by the “one year later” epilogue.

My problem? The “hero” is a widow whose wife and son died less than two months earlier.

Wait. A. Minute.

“Hero” has been widowed for just two months? And he’s already moving on into another relationship? And his mother is encouraging it?

We find out the hero never really loved his first wife, that their marriage was a mistake. Well, that might explain how he’s emotionally able to move on so quickly, but it doesn’t show good judgement. I really wasn’t interested in the romance plot. The subplots were the only reason I kept reading.

In that case, the wedding scene crowned an already distasteful plot.

If the couple only meets for the first time at the beginning of the novel, and the novel takes place over a relatively short timeframe (weeks or months), then I prefer that the story doesn’t end in a wedding, or even an engagement. I’d rather that came in the next book in the series, after the couple have truly had a chance to get to know each other.

But if the story is a reunion romance or a friends to more story, then I’m more relaxed.

The couple have history. They know each other. That, to me, makes it more likely their relationship will succeed … as long as they can resolve whatever issue split them up in the first place.

Now, having said, that, I do enjoy a good marriage of convenience story …

And those typically include a wedding scene at or near the beginning. But in those stories, the whole plot is strangers getting married, then falling in love. The wedding is what brings the couple together, and the whole point of the story is that they will establish a lasting relationship.

What about you? Do you enjoy wedding scenes in Christian romance?

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

by Iola Goulton

25 July 2022

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 Share on X

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

Tammy 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:

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.