Category: Book Review

Just because I made a plan, there was no guarantee God was going to go along with it.

Book Review | Postcards by Elizabeth Maddrey

Cecily has just landed a big project for her company and is looking forward to managing her first project when her boss dumps a bombshell: he’s hired Owen Chandler to take over the project. Unfortunately, her sister and sounding board has just left the country after dropping a bombshell of her own: she’s been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She’s even cancelled her mobile, so Cecily can’t even text her. Instead, she finds herself texting the random stranger who now has Leila’s number.

Work improves, and Cecily finds herself hanging out with Owen outside of work – they have the same taste in movies, and go to the same church. But he’s just a friend.

After all, everyone who loves her ends up leaving her …

There was so much to like about this novel. To start with, Postcards is written in first person. I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love it as a way of getting inside the character’s head.

Postcards has a heroine with the unusual job. The fact she enjoyed her job and was really good at it was a bonus (I love to read about women who are good at things, especially areas such as IT or STEM which are often male-dominated).

And there were other things I loved: The postcards Leila sent as she travelled. The way Cecily investigated the places her sister visited (many of which I’ve visited too). Cecily’s snarky tone (particularly her attitude to exercise). The way Cecily’s Christian faith was intertwined into the novel. Her relationship with her sister.

The fact Cecily isn’t afraid to stand up for herself at work. The fact money wasn’t an issue (I’m not a fan of novels where someone’s financial problems are a major plot points. It’s an unpleasant reminder of some of the systemic failures in our society, and I’m generally reading romance to escape. If I want Big Issues, I’ll choose women’s fiction).

Overall, Postcards ticked all my boxes for contemporary Christian Romance: intelligent heroine, great hero, excellent writing, and a strong Christian thread.

Overall, Postcards by @ElizabethMaddre ticked all my boxes for contemporary Christian Romance: intelligent heroine, great hero, excellent writing, and a strong Christian thread. #BookReview #ChristianRomance Share on X

There were also links back to Elizabeth Maddrey’s Operation Romance series, which I read over the Christmas break. It was great to catch up with some of those characters again.

Recommended for Christian romance fans, especially if you’ve already read the Operation Romance series.

About Elizabeth Maddrey

Elizabeth MaddreyElizabeth Maddrey is a semi-reformed computer geek and homeschooling mother of two who loves a good happily ever after.

She began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of computers, math, and organization steered her into computer science at Wheaton College, she always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. This continued through a Master’s program in Software Engineering, several years in the computer industry, teaching programming at the college level, and a Ph.D. in Computer Technology in Education. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity.

She lives in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys.

Find Elizabeth Maddrey online at:

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About Postcards

Turns out, my sister was serious about everything she said in that phone call.

The cancer.
The leaving.
The postcards.

So I was already struggling to figure out just what God thought He was doing. And then my boss introduced me to the guy who would be taking over the new project.

My project.

Sure, Owen’s hot. And so what if he has the world’s most impressive resume? He’s not getting my job without a fight.
And my job isn’t the only thing I’m not going to surrender.

I’m also not going to let Owen take over my heart.

You can find Postcards online at:

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Safe House Exposed by Darlene L Turner

Book Review | Safe House Exposed by Darlene L Turner

Canadian Police Constable Mason James is undercover to investigate a leak in the Canadian Witness Protection Program when he learns one of the targeted witnesses is Emily, a Canadian Border Services Agency officer … and his widowed sister-in-law. Emily and her daughter, Sierra, are in danger from the criminal Luther family after she put the father in jail.

Safe House Exposed has a strong suspense thread.

I didn’t find the romance element as compelling. There’s always a should-they-shouldn’t-they element with siblings interested in the same person, even if the other sibling is dead. My main issue was that I simply didn’t see the romance. Sure, I could see they should have a relationship—Mason should have been around to support his sister-in-law and niece since she lost her husband—but I didn’t see the underlying emotion to make that relationship romantic.

But maybe I was focussing too much on the suspense. While I’m not a fan of dirty-cop plots, this one was well done. There were a couple of great twists that I didn’t see coming, and while I guessed a couple of vital clues in advance, I had no idea who would turn out to be the evildoer. yes, it was obvious in hindsight (as it should be), but I had no idea.

I do have a content warning:

Emily’s marriage to Brady wasn’t the rainbows and unicorns relationship Mason or Seth (Mason’s father and boss) thought it was. Emily is one of many law enforcement spouses who is a domestic violence survivor. While there were no detailed descriptions, I do know that’s a topic some readers would prefer to be aware of ahead of time. Also, (spoiler alert), I was disappointed in Mason’s reaction to learning about his brother’s behaviour, even though Mason’s reaction was probably the most true to real life.

Overall, Safe House Exposed ticks all the Love Inspired Suspense boxes.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

About Darlene L Turner

Darlene L TurnerDarlene L. Turner is an award-winning author and lives with her husband, Jeff in Ontario, Canada. Her love of suspense began when she read her first Nancy Drew book. She’s turned that passion into her writing and believes readers will be captured by her plots, inspired by her strong characters, and moved by her inspirational message.

Find Darlene L Turner online at:

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About Safe House Exposed

Witness protection should have kept them safe.

Instead, it left them completely exposed…

Canadian border patrol officer Emma James has only one concern after putting a crime boss behind bars: keeping her daughter safe. But witness protection has a leak, and Emma’s enemies know exactly where to find her. Now on the run with no safe haven, trusting her estranged former brother-in-law, police constable Mason James, to shield them is her only hope…

You can find Safe House Exposed online at:

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Under a Sky of Memories

Book Review | Under a Sky of Memories by Soraya M Lane

Under a Sky of Memories is the story of Vita, Dot, and Evelyn, three American nurses who sign up to serve in World War II. As members of the Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron, they will be the nurses on board air ambulances, transporting injured soldiers away from the front lines so they can recover in proper hospitals.

They are posted to Catania in Sicily, where they find the work difficult but satisfying. Soon, they are all assigned to the same mission, a super flight with multiple doctors and nurses on board. A series of mishaps leads them to crash-land in Armenia … enemy territory.

The story then becomes a tale of survival: will the pilots, nurses, and medics survive?

Under a Sky of Memories is a gripping story with excellent characters. The writing is excellent, with plenty of suspense, made all the more engaging once I realised this was based on a true story. That’s actually an important fact, because otherwise it would be easy to complain the mistakes leading to the crash weren’t realistic!

The author has obviously done a heap of research, which is great, but it never overwhelms the story. Instead, the story very much focuses on the three nurses.

Recommended for historical fiction fans, especially those who enjoy World War II fiction.

Under a Sky of Memories isn’t Christian fiction but it doesn’t have any explicit sex or language, and I think it would appeal to fans of authors like Lynn Austin or Sarah Sundin.

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

About Soraya M Lane

Soraya M LaneSoraya M. Lane graduated with a law degree before realizing that law wasn’t the career for her and that her future was in writing. She is the author of historical and contemporary women’s fiction, and her novel Wives of War was an Amazon Charts bestseller.

Soraya lives on a small farm in her native New Zealand with her husband, their two young sons and a collection of four legged friends. When she’s not writing, she loves to be outside playing make-believe with her children or snuggled up inside reading.

Find Soraya Lane online at:

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About Under a Sky of Memories

From the bestselling author of The Last Correspondent comes the powerful story of three brave women who go to war—and end up fighting for their lives.

Sicily, 1943. Three American women, all nurses in the Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron, are determined to do all they can for their country. Vita is fun-loving, Dot shy and sweet-natured, and Evelyn practical and determined, but for all their differences, a life of military service pulls the three together as firm friends.

When they’re selected for a daring mission, the women are proud to play their part. But disaster strikes when their plane crash-lands behind enemy lines in occupied Albania. Together with twenty-three other medics, they find themselves trapped, cut off from all communication with the squadron, and in terrifying and unimaginable danger.

As days and nights pass without hope of rescue, the group must travel on foot across unfamiliar terrain thick with Nazis and their violent local allies. Can Evelyn, Vita, and Dot survive the perilous journey through enemy territory—and finally find their way home?

Find Under a Sky of Memories online at:

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What's Your Favourite Book with a Four-Word Title?

Bookish Question #215 | What’s Your Favourite Book with a Four-Word Title?

A few weeks back, I looked at books with one-word titles. That was a much easier question to answer, as a one-word title is obvious. You don’t have to count the words: the title is either one word, or it’s not.

Four-word titles are a little harder. It’s not a natural way of categorising books (e.g. like categorising by author, genre, or the year of publication).

However, one favourite novel did immediately come to mind and it actually did have a four-word-title:

Then There Was You by Kara Isaac

I love Then There Was You because it’s from one of my favourite authors, because it’s set in Australia and New Zealand, and because it’s got absolutely the best last chapter of any romance I’ve ever read. The rest of the book is excellent, but that last chapter gets me every time I read it (in a good way!).

Full disclosure: I copyedited Then There Was you, which later went on to win a RITA Award from Romance Writers of New Zealand for books with Religious or Spiritual Elements (and I have a plaque on my wall to prove it). So it’s not just me who thinks it’s a great book 🙂

What about you? What’s your favourite book with a four-word title?

If God is real, then he's in this with me and it'll all work out. I can feel it.

Book Review | My Heart Went Walking by Sally Hanan

Una Gallagher is seventeen and pregnant, the result of a single drunken night with the best friend she’s fancied forever. But she can’t tell Cullen he’s going to be a father. They’re in their final year of school, and he’ll feel honour-bound to do the right thing and marry her and work two jobs to keep them, and that will be the end of his dreams.

Una knows she wants to keep her baby.

So when Mam says she has to go and live with the nuns then give her baby up for adoption, she runs away from her tiny home town of Donegal and heads to Dublin, the big city. There she meets an Anglican minister who helps her find a home and a job, and is able to create a new life. But that leaves her family and best friend back in Donegal, trying to work out why she left and where she’s gone.

My Heart Went Walking starts in 1983, and is set entirely in Ireland.

I loved the setting, and I especially loved the way the Irish accents came through in the character’s vocabulary and even the way they talk and think. (There is an extensive glossary for those who aren’t familiar with Irish colloqualisms.)

I loved the realism of the story, the way Una compounds one bad decision (to get drunk) with another (to sleep with Cullen) and another (to run away rather than be forever seen as “that girl” in her small town home). As the oldest daughter in a large Irish family, she knew more than most first-time mothers do about childrearing, even if she was only a teenager.

The story was told in first person from three points of view: Una, Cullen, and Ellie (Una’s next-youngest sister, only eighteen months younger). Una and Cullen both have strong and unique character voices, and that’s much of the strength of the novel. If I had one complaint, it was that Ellie’s voice was too similar to Una’s, and I sometimes confused the two.

Sally Hanan is a Christian writer, but I wouldn’t classify My Heart Went Walking as Christian fiction.

The strength—that’s the novel is authentically Irish—means the language is a little too raw for the more conservative ends of the Christian market. And while the tagline is “An Irish tale of love, loss, and redemption”, the redemption isn’t a come-to-Jesus type of redemption. It’s more subtle, which fits with the characters, the setting, and the time. It feels all the more authentic for not being obvious.

Finally, despite the fact the main character is a teenager, I wouldn’t class this as Young Adult fiction. Sure, teenagers could read it and may well enjoy it. But I think the true fans are going to be women who remember being teenagers in the eighties (or perhaps nineties), in a time before Facebook and mobile phones, a time when running away to the big city so your family wouldn’t find you was entirely possible and believable.

Writers …

If you’ve ever wondered how to use vocabulary and sentence structure to construct realistic dialogue without resorting to nonstandard spelling to show accents, read this book as a text.

Readers …

If you’re a fan of Irish authors such as Maeve Binchy or you’re looking for fiction with underlying Christian values but which steps outside the boundaries of most modern Christian fiction, I think you might enjoy When My Heart Went Walking.

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

About Sally Hanan

Sally Hanan grew up in Ireland and became a nurse, but she left all the big family dinners, rain, and cups of tea when she and her husband won a green card lottery and moved to Texas. Her family now raised, she works as a book editor and occasional lay counselor and life coach. Sally lives near Austin, Texas, in a gorgeous 1930s home with her hunk of burning love husband and their spoiled-rotten doggie.Also a writer of flash fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, she has won numerous awards for her writing from publishers like iParenting magazine and Faithwriters.

Find Sally Hanan online at:

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About My Heart Went Walking

“I can’t bear to keep walking. But you can’t keep a secret in this town unless you leave with it.”

Kept apart by their love for one man, two sisters embark on their own paths towards survival, love, and understanding, until they finally meet again in the worst of circumstances. And the reality might break them all.

My Heart Went Walking is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that sweeps from the small Irish town of Donegal to the “big smoke” of Dublin City; a book that celebrates the pull of family and the chance of redemption. It is a novel for everyone who feels connected to the Irish approach to life—that of grit and laughter—and also for everyone who loves an overriding message of hope and restoration in all things.

Find My Heart Went Walking online at:

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Read the introduction to My Heart Went Walking below:

"What do you want in a dream man?" "For him to love God, love me, and any children we might have"

Book Review | In Search of a Prince by Toni Shiloh

Brielle Bayo is happy in her life as a middle school civics teacher in New York.

But one day her mother shares a bombshell: her long-dead father was the Crown Prince of Ọlọrọ Ilé, a small island kingdom off the coast of Africa. And that means Bri is actually Princess Brielle Adebayo, heir to the throne.

Bri and her best friend travel to Ọlọrọ Ilé to meet Bri’s grandfather and decide whether she will accept her role, or abdicate. But when she decides to step into her heritage and future, there’s one more challenge ahead … finding a husband.

The setup and the characters got me engaged from the very first page.

I’m not usually a fan of princess stories or made-up kingdoms, but the author has done a great job in creating a believable setting and history of Ọlọrọ Ilé.

I liked the fact that the story also had a minor suspense thread, which was enough to add interest to the plot without turning it into a nail biter. (I also liked the fact that I didn’t guess the identity or the motive of the evildoer, but that it still made perfect sense).

I especially liked the fact that the characters were all strong Christians.

Bri prayed about her problems and did her best to seek and follow God’s will in making her big decisions.

One thing that bugged me was the odd speech tags (stated, ordered, censured, requested). I will admit that I started skimming the tags.

This novel would be a great choice for anyone who likes princess stories like The Princess Diaries and is looking for a Christian version.

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

About In Search of a Prince

It seems like a dream come true . . . until it forces her to question everything.

Brielle Adebayo is fully content teaching at a New York City public school and taking annual summer vacations with her mother to Martha’s Vineyard. But everything changes when her mom drops a bombshell–Brielle is really a princess in the island kingdom of Ọlọrọ Ilé, off the coast of Africa, and she must immediately assume her royal position, since the health of her grandfather, the king, is failing.

Distraught by all the secrets her mother kept, Brielle is further left spinning when the Ọlọrọ Ilé Royal Council brings up an old edict that states she must marry before her coronation, or the crown will pass to another. Brielle is uncertain if she even wants the throne, and with her world totally shaken, where will she find the courage to take a chance on love and brave the perils a wrong decision may bring?

You can find In Search of a Prince online at:

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Novels are about looking through someone else's eyes,seeing what someone else sees when they look at the world.

Book Review | The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water by Erin Bartells

I am not a fan of novels about novelists. It feels a little self-serving … and do we trust them to tell the truth? Is being a writer really like writers portray their profession in fiction? I think not.

But I am a fan of Erin Bartels. I thought The Words Between Us was absolutely brilliant, so when I saw The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water available as a review copy, I immediately clicked. With that title and that cover image, wouldn’t you?

Then I read the book description and I wasn’t so sure:

The best fiction simply tells the truth.
But the truth is never simple.

When novelist Kendra Brennan moves into her grandfather’s old cabin on Hidden Lake, she has a problem and a plan. The problem? An inflammatory letter from A Very Disappointed Reader. The plan? To confront Tyler, her childhood best friend’s brother–and the man who inspired the antagonist in her first book. If she can prove that she told the truth about what happened during those long-ago summers, perhaps she can put the letter’s claims to rest and meet the swiftly approaching deadline for her next book.

But what she discovers as she delves into the murky past is not what she expected. While facing Tyler isn’t easy, facing the consequences of her failed friendship with his sister, Cami, may be the hardest thing she’s ever had to do.

Plumb the depths of the human heart with this emotional exploration of how a friendship dies, how we can face the unforgivable, and how even those who have been hurt can learn to love with abandon.

But I gave it a go because, well, Erin Bartels. And that cover. And the title.

And I’m glad I did.

The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water was brilliant. It’s a compelling story about a wounded character who doesn’t give up her secrets easily, or the secrets she knows about other people. It’s a multi-layered story that is good on the outside and even better underneath. It’s a (mostly) made-up story that rings true because it’s anchored in truth, in the way real people think and feel and act.

It’s a story that reminds us that our truth is not the only truth, and reminds us that our past makes our present, and sometimes we have o to overcome that past in order to have a future.

What it isn’t is “classic” Christian fiction with nice Christian characters who pray and read their Bibles and go to church. But it is a powerful examination of truth, and it’s a story you won’t soon forget.

Thanks to Revell and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Erin Bartels

Erin BartelsErin Bartels is the award-winning author of We Hope for Better Things, The Words between Us, All That We Carried, and The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water (coming January 2022). Her short story “This Elegant Ruin” was a finalist in The Saturday Evening Post 2014 Great American Fiction Contest and her poetry has been published by The Lyric. She lives in the capital city of a state that is 40% water, nestled somewhere between angry protesters on the Capitol lawn and couch-burning frat boys at Michigan State University. And yet, she claims it is really quite peaceful.

You can find The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water online at:

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You train for it, you know what to do should you have to do it, but you never actually expect to have to use the training.

Book Review | Life Flight (Extreme Measures #1) by Lynette Eason

Penny Carlton is a helicopter ambulance pilot who gets caught up in the investigation when a serial killer escapes from a nearby prison. Holt Satterfield is her ex-boyfriend, and leading the search for the killer.

I found the opening chapters of Life Flight an awkward combination of annoying and thrilling.

Thrilling, because they are fast-paced and placing the characters in a life and death situation (yes, the clue is in the title). But annoying, because of the situation they’d been placed in—forced to undertake a rescue in bad weather, and without a satellite phone to communicate with. Yes, the phone issue was resolved (but even the resolution left a loose end), but it still left me wondering if these characters were competent.

There were also a couple of frustrations as the story progressed. For example, if a serial killer who is known to use disguises disappears into a stairwell, wouldn’t it make sense to check everyone who exits the stairwell i.e. don’t ignore people just because they’re not dressed the same as the killer?

(Yes, I wanted the good guys to win even if I wasn’t convinced they deserved to.)

You may wonder why I’m sharing these moans, given I enjoyed the book overall. It’s because these are the things I would have liked to have known before I read the book. I find it much easier to ignore issues that pull me out of the story or force me to suspend disbelief if I know the issues in advance … because then I’ve made the decision in advance to not be annoyed by the problems.

I enjoyed the will-they-won’t-they chase to catch the serial killer before he found his next victim … especially once it became obvious Penny was going to be the next victim. It was a fast-paced novel with excellent characters, and kept me turning the pages to find out what happened.

Life Flight by Lynette Eason was a fast-paced #Christian novel with excellent characters, and kept me turning the pages to find out what happened. #BookReview Share on X

I also liked the fact Life Flight was clearly Christian fiction. Holt and Penny are both Christians who believe God is in control and seek to follow Him. If a novel is categorised as Christian fiction, then I want to see that play out in the characters. They did in Life Flight, which is a definite positive.

Overall, I enjoyed Life Flight, and I’ll look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Thanks to Revell Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Lynette Eason

Lynette EasonLynette Eason is the bestselling author of the Women of Justice series, the Deadly Reunions series, and the Hidden Identity series, as well as Always Watching, Without Warning, Moving Target, and Chasing Secrets in the Elite Guardians series. She is the winner of two ACFW Carol Awards, the Selah Award, and the Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award. She has a master’s degree in education from Converse College and lives in South Carolina.

Find Lynette Eason online at:

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About Life Flight

EMS helicopter pilot Penny Carlton is used to high stress situations, but being forced to land on a mountain in a raging storm with a critical patient–and a serial killer on the loose–tests her skills and her nerve to the limit. She survives with FBI Special Agent Holt Satterfield’s help. But she’s not out of the woods yet.

In the ensuing days, Penny finds herself under attack. And when news reaches Holt that he may not have gotten his man after all, it will take all he and Penny have to catch a killer–before he catches one of them.

Bestselling and award-winning author Lynette Eason is back with another high-octane tale of close calls, narrow escapes, and the fight to bring a nefarious criminal to justice.

Find Life Flight online at:

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Book Review and Giveaway | Harmony on the Horizon by Kathleen Denly

In celebration of the release of Harmony on the Horizon, book 3 in the Chaparral Hearts series, Kathleen Denly is offering a giveaway!

One winner* will receive:

  • 1 Handmade tag-style bookmark – Darcy Quote

  • 1 Sing in the Sunlight Bookmark

  • 1 Harmony on the Horizon Sticker

To enter, leave a comment on this blog and sign up for Kathleen’s Readers’ Club here: http://bit.ly/KRCMemberSignUp 

Deadline to enter is 11:59pm NZT on Monday 17 January. Winner will be announced in the comments for this post and contacted via email.

*Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

Book Review

Margaret Foster has come to San Francisco to find work as a teacher. However, she has an unfortunate incident on her way to her interview and is rescued by the handsome Fletcher Johnson but is turned down for a job. She then travels to San Diego at the suggestion of businessman Everett Thompson. Everett doesn’t let on, but his business is in trouble … including his property and businesses in San Francisco.

Back in San Francisco, Fletcher Johnson is a kind of Robin Hood figure, gambling and forging documents to help keep vulnerable women out of harm’s way. One of them is Katie, who has trouble holding down a job (a result of a violent and abusive background).

I got  little confused when the novel didn’t go in the direction I’d expected. The story had two couples in two different locations (something that wasn’t made clear in the book description). Once I worked that out, I was able to settle in and enjoy the novel.

The research was a definite strength of the novel.

I enjoyed the insights into early San Diego, and thought the author did an excellent job of integrating actual historical events into the plot. While the research was evident, it never overpowered the storyline.

The novel also did an excellent job of showing the explicit and implicit racism of the white settlers in San Diego and their interactions with those of other races. I was unpleasantly surprised to learn that the event I thought didn’t seem realistic was an event based on an actual court case in San Diego. If only this kind of behaviour was only historical …

The San Francisco-based part of the plot was equally well researched, and showed the depravity of many of the powerful players in the poor areas, as well as the racism against the Chinese.

Mama says the closer she is to God, the more she wants to spend time with Him

The other strength of the novel was the Christian element. Both women were Christians and were able to live out their faith in a way that influenced others, including the men in their lives, to reconsider their views on faith as the novel progressed.

Overall, Harmony on the Horizon had strong female characters, a solid Christian thread, and excellent research. It’s a solid end to Denly’s debut trilogy.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

About Kathleen Denly

Kathleen DenlyKathleen Denly lives in sunny Southern California with her loving husband, four young children, and two cats. As a member of the adoption and foster community, children in need are a cause dear to her heart and she finds they make frequent appearances in her stories. When she isn’t writing, researching, or caring for children, Kathleen spends her time reading, visiting historical sites, hiking, and crafting.

 

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About Harmony on the Horizon

Her calling to change the world may be his downfall.

On the heels of the Great Rebellion, Margaret Foster, an abolitionist northerner, takes a teaching position in 1865 San Diego—a town dominated by Southern sympathizers. At thirty-seven years of age, Margaret has accepted spinsterhood and embraced her role as teacher. So, when Everett Thompson, the handsomest member of the School Board, reveals his interest in her, it’s a dream come true. Until her passionate ideals drive a wedge between them.

After two decades of hard work, Everett Thompson is on the verge of having everything he’s dreamed of. Even the beautiful new teacher has agreed to his courtship. Then two investments go south and a blackmailer threatens everything Everett has and dreams of.

As Everett scrambles to shore up the crumbling pieces of his life, Margaret unwittingly sets off a scandal that divides the small community and threatens her position as teacher. With the blackmailer still whispering threats, Everett must decide if he’s willing to risk everything for the woman still keeping him at arm’s length.

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She'd had exactly four dates since high school, all of them forgettable.

Book Review | Much Ado About a Latte by Kathleen Fuller

Anita Bedford is happy in her job as a waitress at the Sunshine Diner in the small town of Maple Falls, even if it means working with Tanner Castillo, her high school crush and first kiss. But she wants to prove to her family and herself that she can do more, by buying the abandoned building next door to the diner and opening a cafe that sells proper barista coffee.

(I can only assume both rent and property are extremely cheap in Maple Falls, because every other novel I’ve read with a waitress as the heroine has shown her living paycheck to paycheck and barely able to afford rent, let alone buy a building. Or perhaps she’s got the only waitressing job in North America that pays a living wage).

Tanner Castillo’s father died when he was a child, so he and his mother have been working two jobs since forever to make ends meet and to give Tanner’s younger brother the opportunity to go to college. But he’s managed to save some money as well, because he wants to buy the Sunshine Diner and drag it into the twenty-first century with new decor and proper coffee.

Well, it’s not hard to see where the story is going and that there are problems ahead.

There’s plenty of room for tension—romantic and otherwise. The story delivers that in spades, helped by two compelling main characters who can’t both succeed …

I had a couple of reservations about the novel. First, there is a scene where a character drinks three cocktails in a very short space of time, and there are the obvious consequences. I know many Christians drink and I’m sure some drink too much, but this scene felt out of place in what I thought was a Christian rom-com. Such a scene might have fit in a novel with a theme around the dangers of excess alcohol, but I didn’t think it fit here. Of course, that statement assumes the novel is Christian fiction. While it’s categorised as Christian romance, there was nothing especially Christian about it except one character who teaches Sunday School.

The other thing I didn’t like was the ending. It felt rushed, and I thought the epilogue felt forced.

Much Ado About a Latte by Kathleen Fuller delivers romantic tension in spades, helped by two compelling main characters who can't both succeed. #BookReview #ChristianRomCom Share on X

But the other 90% of the novel was great fun, with plenty of humour and several excellent side characters. The romance builds well, and all the tension only makes the eventual payoff sweeter.

This is the second book in the Maple Falls series. I haven’t read the first, but this was a standalone novel and I didn’t feel like I’d missed anything.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Kathleen Fuller

Kathleen Fuller

With over a million copies sold, Kathleen Fuller is the author of several bestselling novels, including the Hearts of Middlefield novels, the Middlefield Family novels, the Amish of Birch Creek series, the Amish Letters series, the Brides of Birch Creek series, the upcoming Mail Order Brides of Birch Creek, as well as a middle-grade Amish series, the Mysteries of Middlefield. She has also contributed to numerous novella collections.

She and her husband James live in Arkansas and have three adult children. When she’s not writing, Kathleen is avidly crocheting, reading, and traveling, sometimes all at the same time. She runs the Facebook group Books & Hooks, which combines her love of books, crochet, and collecting recipes that she’ll never have enough time to make.

Find Kathleen Fuller online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

About Much Ado About a Latte

A coffee war is brewing in Maple Falls, where Anita and Tanner are serving up plenty of steam to keep the town buzzing.

Anita Bedford needs to face reality. It’s time to decaffeinate the dream that she and Tanner will ever be more than friends. Growing up in small-town Maple Falls, she’s had a crush on Tanner for years. But he’ll only ever see her as good, old, dependable Anita. Now she’s finally ready to make her own goals a reality. In fact, that deserted building next door to Sunshine Diner looks like a promising location to open her own café.

Tanner Castillo may know how to operate a diner, but he doesn’t know beans about love. After pouring his life savings into buying the Sunshine Diner, he needs to keep his mind on making a success of it and supporting his widowed mother, not on kissing Anita Bedford. First order of business: improve his customers’ coffee experience. Next, he should probably find out who bought the building next door.

It’s a bitter cup to swallow when ambition turns longtime friends and coworkers Anita and Tanner into rivals. Now that they own competing businesses, how could they ever compete for each other’s hearts? Or will the two of them come to see what’s obvious to the whole, quirky town of Maple Falls: potential for a full-roast romance, with an extra splash of dream?

Welcome to Maple Falls, where everyone knows your name and has thoughts on your love life.

Find Much Ado About a Latte online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

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