Category: Book Review

The summer of '77 still defined her. Maybe because the summer of '77 had broken her.

Book Review | The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauck

High school graduates Spring Duval, Summer Wilde, Margaret “Snow” Snowden, and Autumn Child are the Four Seasons, best friends from kindergarten who are now spending the summer of 1977 together as camp counsellors in Tumbleweed, Oklahoma.

It’s going to be the best summer of their lives.

But The Best Summer of Our Lives is a dual timeline novel, and 1977 is the past timeline. In the more recent 1997 timeline, Summer has just arrived back in Tumbleweed for the first time since the summer that broke their “forever” friendship.

The Best Summer of our Lives moves between both timelines to show the story of the summer of 1977 from the perspectives of each of the four teenage girls, then moving to 1997 to show where they are now, and how the secrets of 1977 moulded them into their 1997 selves.

I did find the story a little hard to get into because we were moving between four points of view and two timelines, which felt like eight different characters to keep track of mentally (and I imagine it would be even harder with an audiobook).

But I persevered, and the results were worth the effort.

There were hints of secrets and withheld information from the get-go. Spring’s secret was relatively easy to figure out, as was part of the underlying conflict between the friends. Other information was harder to figure out, perhaps because it was more important to the teenager characters than to the reader. (Although that still felt realistic, given teenage girls and our/their habit of misinterpreting motive and over-dramatizing events.)

But there were times when I mixed up the characters, forgetting their histories, and that did mean the Big Reveal of one secret fell flat, because I’d lost track of the character. There were also times when I wasn’t sure who the main character was, or even if there was supposed to be a main character.

There is: Summer Wilde.

In 1977, Summer is an opinionated and impetuous teenager with father issues. In 1997, Summer is a wannabe country music composer and singer who has never achieved the success she dreamed of (and who still has father issues). The beginning of the story belonged to Summer, and the end did as well. But, like Summer, it kind of got lost in the middle.

Despite the hormones of four teenage girls, The Best Summer of Our Lives in Christian women’s fiction rather than romance. The Christian element grows as the novel progresses … which potentially makes this a good novel to loan to non-Christian friends who are seeking God in the midst of their hurts, past and present.

The Four Seasons are excellent characters, and will remind many readers of the friendships and insecurities of their own teenage years (I’ll leave it to you to decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing).

The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauck is a strong coming-of-age story that builds in some of the wisdom that only comes with the passing of time. #BookReview #WomensFiction Click To Tweet

Overall, The Best Summer of Our Lives is a strong coming-of-age story that builds in some of the wisdom that only comes with the passing of time.

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

About Rachel Hauck

Author Photo Rachel HauckRachel Hauck is an award winning, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

Her book The Wedding Dress was named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times. She is a double RITA finalist, a Christy and Carol Award Winner.

Rachel sits on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers, and is the comical sidekick to Susan May Warren at the amazing My Book Therapy. She is a worship leader and speaker.

A graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism, Rachel is a devoted Ohio State football fan. She lives in sunny central Florida with her husband and ornery cat.

Find Rachel Hauck online at:

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About The Best Summer of Our Lives

Twenty years ago, the summer of ’77 was supposed to be the best summer of Summer Wilde’s life. She and her best friends, Spring, Autumn, and Snow–the Four Seasons–had big plans.

But those plans never had a chance. After a teenage prank gone awry, the Seasons found themselves on a bus to Tumbleweed, “Nowhere,” Oklahoma, to spend eight weeks as camp counselors. All four of them arrived with hidden secrets and buried fears, and the events that unfolded in those two months forever altered their friendships, their lives, and their futures.

Now, thirtysomething, Summer is at a crossroads. When her latest girl band leaves her in a motel outside Tulsa, she is forced to face the shadows of her past. Returning to the place where everything changed, she soon learns Tumbleweed is more than a town she never wanted to see again. It’s a place for healing, for reconciling the past with the present, and for finally listening to love’s voice.

Find The Best Summer of Our Lives online at:

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I keep wondering if Samuel 2.0 is going to reboot to his original factory settings.

Book Review | Julia Monroe Begins Again by Rebekah Millet

Julia Monroe is the widowed mother of two college-aged sons. She supports herself as a self-employed cleaner, and volunteers for the church cleaning ministry she established before her husband dies.

Ex-Green Beret Samuel Reed was Julia’s first love and first heartbreak. He’s back in town after an injury forces him out of the army. They meet at church, and it immediately obvious that Samuel wants to reconnect romantically with Julia. It’s equally obvious she has no interest in reestablishing any kind of relationship, even though it’s more than ten years since her husband died.

I could well understand Julia’s reluctance.

Having said that, I thought her big excuse (that her children were upset the last time someone asked her out) was a little weak given how much time had passed. I could also understand her reaction to Samuel’s over-confidence (which came across as almost arrogant). I get that he’s a Green Beret so his career has taught and required competence and confidence. But I did think a dose of humility might have helped his cause.

I’m amazed and impressed that Julia could support herself and two sons while working as a self-employed house cleaner. I’m also impressed that Samuel could go so long without a job. That speaks well to his financial sense – he’s a saver, not a spender.

The story is written in first person, and entirely from Julia’s point of view. While it might have been nice to get into Samuel’s head sometimes, we didn’t need to as there was no doubt about Samuel’s feelings or what he wanted from Julia. Being in Julia’s perspective meant we could journey with her on her journey from aversion and suspicion to friendship to more.

Yes, this is a romance.

There is definitely a “more” although it’s definitely on the slow-burn low-angst end of the scale. I liked that, because anything else wouldn’t have felt true to her character (and because there is enough angst in real life. I read to escape real life). I especially liked the Christian aspects of the story – the way Julia does (and doesn’t) pray about her problems (which felt realistic and believable), and the way she sees Samuel has changed since he became a Christian.

Julia Monroe Begins Again is an excellent second-chance #ChristianRomance from Rebekah Millet, and features an older couple. Recommended. #BookReview Click To Tweet

Julia Monroe Begins Again is an excellent second-chance romance featuring an older couple. The cover gives off a bit of a rom-com feel, but it’s more romance than rom-com (apart from regular appearances from Chewy, Julia’s dog. He’s named for Chewbacca, but the other meaning also holds true). This is Rebecca Millet’s debut novel, and I look forward to reading more from her.

Recommended for fans of first-person contemporary romance and authors such as Jan Thompson, Liwen Ho, and Courtney Walsh.

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

About Rebekah Millet

Rebekah MilletRebekah Millet is a Cascade Award and ACFW First Impressions Award-winning author of contemporary Christian romance novels. A New Orleans native, she grew up on beignets and café au lait, and she loves infusing her colorful culture into her stories. She exasperates her husband by rearranging their furniture and being a serial plant killer, while her two sons keep her laughing and share her love of strawberry Pop-Tarts.

Find Rebekah Millet online at:

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About Julia Monroe Begins Again

Samuel was back. It seemed unfair to be blindsided. And in church no less. Shouldn’t there be a commandment about that? Thou shalt not step foot inside thy ex’s place of worship.

Julia Monroe has just turned forty and has high hopes for a fresh start after the last decade of her life abruptly left her a young widow and a single mom. With both her boys off to college, she can finally focus on expanding her New Orleans-based cleaning business. Julia is ready for new beginnings–but God has other plans. Samuel Reed, the ruggedly handsome Green Beret who shattered her heart over twenty years ago, has returned to town and is the kind of distraction she never saw coming.

After their first interaction in years leaves her mind spinning and her emotions out of control, Julia knows she needs to avoid him if she wants any chance of preventing history from repeating itself, but her meddling best friend keeps throwing them together. And now it seems inevitable that the man who was hard to forget might just be impossible to resist.

Find Julia Monroe Begins Again online at:

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I’m Cat Cranwell. Half owner of the platform about to take the world by storm. And famous for a living.

Book Review | Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson

Cat Cranwell is an online influencer who is unceremoniously cancelled when the new social network she’s promoting is found to be selling data.

My first impression of Cat was shallow.

My second impression was that she was clever enough to know she really should read a contract before signing it … but not clever enough to stand up for herself and insist that she (or her lawyer) actually read the contract. I almost stopped reading at this point. In fact, I did stop reading, only to return to the book several months later.

Anyway, Cat’s uncle invites her to his small town in Montanna, where he has a job she can do while she waits for the hullabaloo to die down. He’s the head Park Ranger for Kannery National Park, and hires Cat to reenergise their social media profiles and marketing in general.

So Cat catches a flight to the middle of nowhere, taking more suitcases than she should reasonably have been allowed to check in. (Who needs six suitcases to go anywhere?) She meets her uncle’s quirky colleagues, including the elusive Zaiah Smith.

Famous for a Living had the same city-girl-meets-country-boy grumpy sunshine plot and overall vibe as Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other. Brynn and Sebastian’s story had them both as point of view characters, while Cat’s story is told entirely in first person from her point of view.

I found that a little hard going … and I say that as someone who usually loves first person.

I think my problem was that I found Cat annoying and unlikeable for the first third of the book. She mellowed slightly in the middle third and was quite likeable by the end (although I still don’t see what Zaiah saw in her, or vice versa).

The cover gives off definite rom-com vibes, and there were some funny lines and even funny scenes. The writing was good and occasionally great, although there were a few times I had to backtrack because it felt like I’d missed something important (like Zaiah giving any indication he was romantically interested in Cat. Or vice versa). As such, the story was definitely more com than rom.

The story did make some solid points about social media use and addiction.

However, I would have liked to have seen that spread more evenly throughout the story. I guess it could be argued that the whole story was a warning against social media addiction, but that wasn’t the impression I got.

Famous for a Living is categorised as Christian fiction, and I kept waiting for Cat–or Zaiah, or anyone–to show some kind of Christian message (like how we, as Christians, should look to God rather than social media for love). But it never came. Yes, I guess it was a clean and wholesome romance, but I would have liked to have seen more of a faith element, and much more of a romance.

If you enjoy rom-coms from authors like Bethany Turner, then you may enjoy Famous for a Living.

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

About Melissa Ferguson

Melissa Ferguson

Find Melissa Ferguson online at:

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About Famous for a Living

She’s Insta-famous. He uses a flip phone.

When her business partner is accused of serious financial crimes, superstar influencer Cat Cranwell—an engineered marvel of beauty, energy, and fun—falls from her penthouse perch. Des­perate to get away from the online trolls and paparazzi docu­menting her disgrace, Cat accepts her uncle’s offer to work with him in Kannery National Park, Montana. About as far as possible from life as she’s known it.

Cat’s world shifts from the swirling haze of likes and comments to lit­eral blizzards of frostbite temperatures and waist-deep snow. In place of negotiating brand deals, she finds herself negotiating at the ledge of a frozen lake with her die-hard Polar Bear Plunge coworkers. Instead of padding through the marble kitchen of her Manhattan loft, she’s sharing a tent-sized cabin with a roommate eager to bond like characters in sitcoms. But something curious is also happening in this overwhelming breath of fresh air as she reacquaints with the most honest parts of her­self and begins to ask the hard questions. Can Cat love herself with, and without, the world watching?

Then there’s that other tiny problem—she’s falling for Zaiah, the ruggedly handsome park ranger—and he hates anything remotely connected to social media, quite possibly her included.

Written with bestselling author Melissa Ferguson’s signature wit and charm, this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy of opposites attract is full of hilarious romp and a romance that will melt readers’ hearts.

Find Famous for a Living online at:

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It’s interesting people think they have a God-given right to be happy. Like ... as though happiness is a birthright.

Book Review | The Secret to Happiness by Suzanne Woods Fisher

The Secret to Happiness is the sequel to The Sweet Life, which brought mother and daughter duo Marnie and Dawn to the seaside town of Chatham, where they own and run the Main Street Creamery. I had mixed feelings about The Sweet Life—the cover had led me to expect a romance, but it was more women’s fiction, and while I liked Marnie, I wasn’t so sure about Dawn.

I have some of the same mixed feelings about The Secret to Happiness.

It started with a Cast of Characters list, which I rarely find to be a good sign in contemporary fiction. It’s fine in historical fiction, where it can be important to know which characters are real historical people and which are products of the author’s imagination. In contemporary fiction, I find it’s often an excuse for the author to dump a bunch of characters on the reader without proper introduction. It’s not—Fisher does a great job with bringing each new character into the story—so I don’t know why the Cast of Characters was included.

While both Marnie and Dawn are point of view characters in The Secret to Happiness, this is Callie Dixon’s story.

Callie is Marnie’s niece and Dawn’s cousin, and she is currently unemployed after giving two hundred people food poisoning (oops). Two hundred people attending the annual Food Safety Conference (big oops). Callie has always been an overachieving perfectionist–she had to be, to be offered a role as executive chef in a top Boston hotel while still in her twenties. But she’s changed, and now she barely leaves her bed, which spurs Dawn into forcing her to attend a free class at the local community centre: The Secret to Happiness.

The class is taught by a local author and college professor, and while Callie is convinced she is happy and not depressed, she does find the class interesting. It’s pretty obvious Callie is depressed, so my biggest bugbear is that Dawn’s solution to Callie’s mental health issues was a free community centre class, not professional medical attention.

Mind you, that did fit with Dawn’s character.

Dawn is single-minded in her focus to the point of being self-centered, and she’s not great at seeing or considering other points of view. I also did not appreciate her “revelation” that moving to a (fictional) seaside town was the cure that “changed her life”. I live in a town by the sea, and people here need Jesus as much as anyone. From a secular point of view, Dawn’s advice is an irresponsible diagnosis. From a Christian point of view, it negates the need for Jesus. 

But I like Callie’s character. It’s good to see a character who is struggling, and it’s good to see her come out the other side (even if I did question Dawn’s methods). And I loved Leo the Cowboy, the six-year-old who has made the ice cream store his second home (Leo was my favourite character in The Sweet Life.)

Despite my initial negative feelings about Callie’s diagnosis and treatment, the story did offer some good advice on happiness.

As such, I much preferred the second half of the novel to the first (perhaps because I guessed a major plot twist around halfway thought, so was waiting to see how and when the reveal would come).

The Secret to Happiness is women’s fiction rather than romance. I expect women’s fiction to tackle some tough issues—which it did. I also expect those tough issues to be dealt with in a mature and responsible way—which I’m not convinced it did.

I did enjoy the story overall but would have enjoyed it more if the mental health issues (which were central to the plot) had been treated a little more seriously i.e. with professional help. After all, if someone thought they had a broken arm, we’d suggest they go to a clinic, get an ex-ray, and have an expert decide if they need treatment. Why wouldn’t we do the same if we suspect someone has a mental health problem?

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

As it happens…

I’d just finished scheduling this review when I received an email from Christian author Ginny Yttrup talking about her experiences with depression … which read as very similar to Callie’s experience. Ginny says:

When prescribed by a knowledgeable physician or psychiatrist, medications have helped many, many others who fight depression. If you struggle, please don’t allow stigmas and shame to keep you from seeking help.
I have found therapy with Christian counselors very helpful. I’ve learned techniques I can apply when the darkness looms. I’ve also found nutrition counseling very helpful. My moment-by-moment relationship with Jesus is most helpful, reminding me there is more. . . . More than myself, more than what I feel in this moment, more than what I attempt to control. There is the Spirit’s strength through my weakness. There is hope.
If you’re struggling with depression or other forms of mental illness, there are people who want to help, who are trained to help. Please reach out for help.
The American Association of Christian Counselors can help you find a counselor in your area. Search their database here.
Or visit the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

You can follow Ginny Yttrup at her website or on Substack.

About Suzanne Woods Fisher

Suzanne Woods FIsherSuzanne Woods Fisher is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than 30 books, including On a Summer Tide and On a Coastal Breeze, as well as the Nantucket Legacy, Amish Beginnings, The Bishop’s Family, The Deacon’s Family, and The Inn at Eagle Hill series, among other novels. She is also the author of several nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace and Amish Proverbs.

Find Suzanne Woods Fisher online at:

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About The Secret to Happiness

Escape to Cape Cod–where you just might find the secret to happiness

Callie Dixon had the world by the tail . . . until it all slipped away. Fired from her dream job after making a colossal mistake, she’s escaped to her aunt’s home on Cape Cod for time to bounce back. Except it isn’t a home, it’s an ice cream shop. And time isn’t going to help, because Callie’s bounce has up and left. There’s a reason she made that mistake at work, and she’s struggling to come to terms with it.

Things go from bad to worse when Callie’s cousin Dawn drags her to a community class about the secret to happiness. Happiness is the last thing Callie wants to think about right now, but instructor Bruno Bianco–a curiously gloomy fellow–is relentless. He has a way of turning Callie’s thoughts upside down. Her feelings, too.

Bruno insists that hitting rock bottom is the very best place to be. But if that’s true, how is it supposed to help her figure out what–or who–has been missing from her life all along?

Find The Secret to Happiness online at:

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Her name is Beth, but she’s engaged. She’s part of a weathly family who would disown her if she were with me, and I’m not sure if she's a Christian.

Book Review | Moonlight and Mystery by Karen Malley

Beth Torrington is the pampered daughter of a prominent lawyer with the almost-perfect life. She has a great marketing job, a handsome fiancé, drives a late-model luxury car, and lives in a high-end condo. But when she meets Jason, at a schoolteacher who moonlights as a magician, at a children’s birthday party, she wonders if her life might be missing something important.

Beth signs up to act in a local community theatre production, to the dismay of her fiancé, only to find the lead actor is Jason, the handsome magician who also happens to be good friends with her older brother. She’s attracted to Jason … yet she’s engaged to Blaine.

It’s obvious from the get-go that Jason is the hero, which means Beth and Blaine are going to have to break up.

This is good news.

There are red flags around Blaine from his very first line, and they add up until the man is flying more red flags than a circus. Blaine doesn’t respect Beth or her opinions, and it’s obvious he will be a controlling and possibly abusive husband. The only question is when Beth will realise Blaine’s true nature and stand up for herself. (And we know she will, because this is contemporary Christian romance, not a historical novel where the woman is married off to her father’s choice, regardless of her own feelings).

I loved the way Beth developed some sass and personality as the story progressed. I especially liked her openness to feedback and her realisation that her life—and faith—might not be as perfect as she assumed.

Jason was a perfect Christian hero.

In fact, that’s my main criticism with Moonlight and Mystery—Jason is possibly too perfect. He realises Beth isn’t a Christian, so focusses on developing a friendship with her that shows Jesus. He honours Beth and respects her relationship with Blaine, even though he is attracted to her. In that, Jason highlights Blaine’s disrespect towards Beth.

The addition of the play is brilliant.

I’ve read several novels where the hero or heroine is an author and where there are clear parallels between the main plot and the plot of the fictional writer’s story. But this is the first novel I’ve read where the plot followed a fictional play. The playwright is still writing (probably not aged way to stage a production), so we see the characters rehearsing the play as part of the story, and the story and the play track in a pleasing parallel.

There were a lot of things to like about Moonlight and Mystery as a contemporary Christian romance—Jason, the play, Beth’s faith journey, Beth’s brother and family, Jason (yes, the repetition is deliberate).

Yet, in some respects, Blaine offers the greater lesson.

Blaine says and does all the right things, and Beth is initially fooled. Moonlight and Mystery would make a good read for a young adults group so young women can see Blaine’s controlling and manipulative behaviours, and learn to avoid those men in their own lives. Instead, seek the Jasons of this world, the men who perhaps don’t look as polished, but who put God first.

Thanks to Pelican Book Group for providing a free ebook for review.

About Moonlight and Mystery

Beth Tarrington has it all: a gorgeous fiancé , a lucrative career, the latest model car, and a high-priced condo. On top of that, the Tarrington name opens every door in town. So why is she so discontent? When everything falls apart in Beth’ s life, will she finally find the strength to stand on her own two feet?

Is God really willing to stand by her side, even after she’s ignored Him for so long?

When Jason Brooks meets Beth, his head tells him to run in the opposite direction. Beth is a high-society snob engaged to another man, and he’ s not sure where she stands with God.

So why does God keep bringing the two of them together?

Can these two find love, in spite of everything that stands in their way?

Find Moonlight and Mystery online at:

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About Karen Malley

Karen MalleyFaith, Encouragement, and Happily-Ever-Afters.

Karen is an author of Christian fiction. She lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons. She works full time as a scientist, but enjoys writing in her spare time. When not writing (with her left hand), she enjoys camping, hiking, playing board games, and especially reading! She loves reading faith-based stories, because we can all use a happy ending.

Karen loves to hear from her readers.

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Don’t be afraid to fall because you can always get back up.

Book Review | Remembering the Rancher by Liwen Ho

High school sweethearts Arabella and Maverick Knight married after Bella fell pregnant in her final year in high school. Their son, Hesse, is now twelve and thriving, but their relationship hasn’t done so well. In fact, Bella has just been served with divorce papers when she has a car accident.

She forgets her entire relationship with Mav.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to wake up thinking you’re a high school senior with a crush on your best friend, then wake up to find you’re married to him. I thought Liwen Ho did a great job of showing Bella’s surprise, confusion, and joy at that discovery. It’s fun to read.

But Bella only knows they’re married, not that they’ve been having troubles, so that provides the tension for most of the rest of the plot. Will she find out the truth about her marriage? If so, how will she react? Can Bella and Mav redeem their relationship?

Some readers don’t like reunion romance because they don’t like reading stories about relationships gone wrong. While I can relate to that, we can all see how and why the relationship has gone wrong, and want to see a happy reunion.

I don’t want to give spoilers, but I will say Maverick by name and maverick by nature.

He has a problem and figures out a (bad) solution when he should be admitting his problems to his wife and turning them over to God. But he doesn’t – and that’s (unfortunately) true to life.

I enjoyed seeing Bella and Mav re-establish their relationship, and I loved their son, Jesse. He’s kind, mature for his age, and a solid Christian who wants to see his parents reunited. His faith was an example to his parents, and to the readers.

Recommended for fans of contemporary Christian romance, especially those who like amnesia and/or reunion romance plots.

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

About Liwen Y Ho

Author Photo: Liwen HoLiwen Y. Ho works as a chauffeur and referee by day (AKA being a stay at home mom) and an author by night. She writes sweet and inspirational contemporary romance infused with heart, humor, and a taste of home (her Asian roots).

In her pre-author life, she received a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Western Seminary, and she loves makeovers of all kinds, especially those of the heart and mind. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her techie husband and their two children, and blogs about her adventures as a recovering perfectionist

You can find Liwen Y Ho online at:

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About Remembering The Rancher

Will her forgotten memories of the past be the key to healing their future?

Annabella Knight would be the first to admit that her marriage has been on the rocks for a while, but she never expected to be served divorce papers at work. Already feeling like a disappointment to God and to her family, there’s plenty that she would like to change about her past. But for now, she needs to find a way to salvage her relationship with her high school sweetheart for the sake of their son.

Since giving up his football dream to support his young family, Maverick Knight has tried his best to be the husband and father they deserve. Poor money decisions, however, have gotten him mixed up with dangerous men. When Annabella’s life is threatened, the only way he sees to protect his wife and son is to distance himself, even if it means breaking up their home.

When a car crash leaves Annabella in the hospital with amnesia, Maverick realizes his family needs him now more than ever. As they learn how to live together as husband and wife, will this loss of the past be an unexpected chance to start over? Or is it just the calm before the storm before old memories surface to tear them apart again?

Visit Redemption Ridge, Colorado and enjoy the faith, friendships, and forever-afters of the Christmas in Redemption Ridge series of Christian romance.
This series is a spin-off continuation of the best-selling Heroes of Freedom Ridge Series with all new characters and traditions, but the same magic of community and romance readers love.

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Charlotte Simpson had never stalked a man before.

Book Review | Wildflower Falls (Riverbend Romance #4) by Denise Hunter

Charlotte Simpson has never known the identity of her biological father.

After her mother died, she discovered newspaper clippings that gave her a clue: she’s related to the Robinson family. She hires Gavin Dawson to build her a new barn, both because she wants to turn the family ranch back into a profitable business, and so she can get to know her half-brother. She’s torn between wanting to connect with her newfound family, and worrying about their reaction to a half-sibling who is obviously the result of an extra-marital affair.

Gunner Dawson takes a six-month job as a horse trainer at the Simpson ranch but has no plans to stay.

Charlotte tells him the truth about her relationship with the Robinsons after he catches her spying on Gavin then Cooper Robinson. He’s relieved, because he’s attracted to Charlotte … which is awkward, because she’s his boss. And (predictably) he’s hiding his own insecurities and secrets.

I enjoyed watching the relationship between Charlotte and Gunner unfold against the backdrop of Charlotte’s desire to rebuild the ranch, her relationship with her stepsister, and her growing friendship with the Robinson family. As such, I think it’s one of Denise Hunter’s better stories. However, I would have liked to see more of a Christian thread in the story.

Wildflower Falls is the fourth book in the Riverbend Romance series but is a standalone romance.

I read the first in the series (Riverbend Gap) and didn’t much like the underlying premise, so didn’t read the next two. While Riverbend Gap and Wildflower Falls both centre around lies (or withholding the full truth), the difference was the source of the lies. In Riverbend Gap, the characters caused their own problems (which annoyed me and other reviewers).

In Wildflower Falls, Charlotte’s parents caused the problem, leaving Charlotte the unenviable task of determining the right time to reveal the secret. There’s never a right time to spill the beans a father’s infidelity, so there was always going to be a degree of tension and uncertainty about that.

Overall, I enjoyed Wildflower Falls.

Charlotte and her predicament engaged me from the beginning and I read it in almost one sitting. I loved Gunner. After all, what’s not to love about a wounded hero who’s great with children and animals, especially emotionally wounded animals?

Wildflower Falls by Denise Hunter is a strong contemporary romance, recommended for fans of authors such as Carla Laureano and Becky Wade. #ChristianRomance #BookReview Click To Tweet

Recommended for fans of clean contemporary romance from authors such as Carla Laureano, Becky Wade, and Courtney Walsh.

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

About Denise Hunter

Denise HunterDenise Hunter is the internationally published bestselling author of more than 30 books, including “The Convenient Groom” and “A December Bride” which have been made into Hallmark movies. She has appeared on the The 700 club and won awards such as The Holt Medallion Award, The Carol Award, The Reader’s Choice Award, The Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist.

Denise writes heartwarming, small-town love stories. Her readers enjoy the vicarious thrill of falling in love and the promise of a happily-ever-after sigh as they savor the final pages of her books.

In 1996, inspired by the death of her grandfather, Denise began her first book, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she’s been writing ever since. Her husband says he inspires all her romantic stories, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

When Denise isn’t orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling with her family, drinking good coffee, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana where she and her husband raised three boys and are currently enjoying an empty nest.

Find Denise Hunter online at:

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About Wildflower Falls

He’s here to train her horses, and then he’s moving on. She’s keeping her true identity a secret. But their spark complicates both of their plans.

When her mother’s death leaves Charlotte Simpson bereft, she hopes the Robinson clan will accept her as one of their own and help fill the void. But a startling discovery dashes her hopes and leaves her wondering if she will ever know the father she’s always longed for.

Horse trainer Gunner Dawson has experienced profound loss and intends to avoid it. So he lives on the move without forming close bonds or putting down roots. When Charlotte hires him to work with her horses and help expand her ranch, he commits to staying for a few months. But he doesn’t count on getting caught up in Charlotte’s search for her biological father. Or on falling in love—with Riverbend Gap or with Charlotte. This time, he’s not sure if he’ll be able to move on—or if he even wants to.

The queen of heartwarming, small-town love stories returns to Riverbend Gap with a deeply satisfying tale of love’s healing power.

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Shame. Like cancer, unseen from the world, it can eat away at the good. It spreads and ruins everything in its path.

Book Review | Not Quite Mr Darcy by Kim Griffin

Grieving widow Kate Thomas has moved from her US home to Kent, England, to take a role as an in-home nurse for a lady with Alzheimer’s. Kate thinks she’s a Christian when she arrives in England, but soon realises there’s a difference between the faith she’s grown up with and Margaret’s faith.

I enjoyed seeing Kate’s journey to Christian faith, as that’s something I don’t think we see enough of in Christian fiction.

I also enjoyed seeing Kate’s faith develop as she was faced with some difficult situations and calls to forgiveness. This spiritual depth was one of the strengths of the novel. Kate is put in some difficult situations and has to call on her newfound faith to guide her.

There are shades of The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs Kip in Not Quite Mr Darcy, although Mr Darcy doesn’t have the same level of polish. In particular, I found some of the dialogue overly formal to the point of being awkward, and not at all how people from London or Kent speak. I did enjoy reading about the location, as my grandmother was born only a few miles up the road.

Not Quite Mr Darcy is Kim Griffin’s first published novel, which she describes as women’s fiction with romance.

That fits the story well. It certainly starts as women’s fiction, as Kate arrives in England and settles into her new role. The romance was also present from early on, but I was less impressed with the romantic aspects. I am not a fan of the “other woman” plotline, particularly as it seemed like it was an issue that could have been solved with a simple conversation. (It was, but far too late in the plot for my taste.) I had the same misunderstanding as Kate (not surprising, as the whole story was told from her point of view). That meant I misjudged one of the characters, to the detriment of my enjoyment of the story.

Overall, Not Quite Mr Darcy was a solid first novel, recommended for readers looking for Christian women’s fiction which considers tough issues like infidelity and Alzheimer’s.

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

About Kim Griffin

Kim GriffinKim Griffin is a former interior designer and homeschool mom who has been leading Bible studies for over 35 years and working in Women’s Ministry for over 25.  Several years ago, God led her to begin writing words of hope.  She writes Christian women’s fiction with clean romance. Her desire is that her books will draw readers closer to the God who sees all of their imperfections and loves them still.

Find Kim Griffin online at:

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About Not Quite Mr Darcy

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that Mr. Darcy does not exist.”

Many a young woman has spent years looking for her perfect Mr. Darcy, but Kate Thomas knows better. A 29-year-old recently widowed southerner, Kate sets off to find herself on the other side of the ocean in the very country where Mr. Darcy’s life was penned. Looking only to escape reminders of her heartache, Kate journeys to places she never thought she’d go—finding faith, love, and family along the way.

Not Quite Mr. Darcy is not a P&P retelling but the story of a woman’s journey to discover what real love is.

An ocean … it’s vast and powerful. The water that fills it can bring death, or offer life. Kate Thomas moves her life across an ocean to conquer the hold of her past and find new life for her future.

Not Quite Mr. Darcy is women’s fiction with clean romance (kisses only). It tackles forgiving the seemingly unforgivable and the disillusionment many a woman has faced upon realizing that the perfect husband they’ve been raised to look for doesn’t exist. Kate, a recent widow, leaves her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. Seeking distance from her past she takes a job in Kingsdown, England, working with a dementia patient in a cottage overlooking the English Channel. What she finds there is much more than she anticipated. Kate learns to find joy even in the hardest circumstances.

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The more time he spent at the palace, the more he lost sight of who he really was.

Book Review | The Cost of the Crown by Joy Crain

Melissa Hanson has been living with her aunt in Los Angeles for the last ten years, since her mother died and her father’s short trip to the small Asian island Kingdom of Andelar turned into a permanent role as US ambassador. She’s shocked when her father invites her to spend the summer in Andelar as a guest of the royal family while her father negotiates a new trade deal.

Missy accepts both to reestablish her relationship with her father, and to hopefully connect with the Chinese part of her heritage. She meets Aiden Waverly on the flight to Andelar, and they bond over the challenges of growing up in a biracial family.

But Aiden has a secret.

He’s actually Rupert Spencer, the unknown Crown Prince of Andelar. Now it’s time for him to make a choice: take on the mantle or royalty, or abdicate the throne so he can continue traveling and volunteering for charities around the world.

Royalty romances can feel contrived at times.

The reader has to be prepared to suspend disbelief and allow for an imagined constitutional monarchy that meets most of our expectations for a modern monarchy while still having the history and flexibility to allow for a story that probably wouldn’t happen in a real-life monarchy. While I was willing to suspend disbelief and accept a created Asian kingdom in the South Pacific, it was a little harder to believe no one outside the Royal Family knew of Rupert/Aiden’s existence. (But I got over that.)

I enjoyed the developing relationship between Missy and Aiden as they explored Andelar, and I especially enjoyed the way both Missy and Aiden genuinely prayed about their problems. Their relationship developed in a natural way, which made for an easy and enjoyable read. I did find the last quarter didn’t match up to the promise of the first three-quarters. It was a little slow, and a little too predictable … which was a shame, given the original setup.

The Cost of the Crown is both a romance and a search for identity.

Both Missy and Aiden have to consider how their biracial heritage has impacted on the people they are, and consider how that will affect the choices they make about their future.

If you enjoy stories like The Princess Diaries or Toni Shiloh’s brilliant In Search of a Prince and To Win A Prince, then you’ll want to read The Cost of the Crown.

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

About Joy Crain

Joy CrainJoy Crain was adopted and raised in southern China by an American missionary couple. At an early age, her fondness for books and vivid imagination gave her a genuine love for storytelling. Joy started writing her own stories as a teenager and the journey has just continued from there.

Joy’s novels contain strong romantic elements with inspirational undertones which will make you fall in love if you’re not careful. And Joy feels that if a reader doesn’t walk away from her novels with a smile, she hasn’t done her job.

Currently, Joy lives with her sister and her toy poodle, Raisin. When she is not traveling internationally, she spends her time teaching English and pursuing her passion for writing.

You can find Joy Crain online at:

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About The Cost of the Crown

Missy Hanson never dreamed of falling in love and living happily ever after. In fact, she doesn’t know what she wants to do after she graduates from college; nevertheless, she’s content working as a journalist for her local newspaper and assisting at her aunt’s California bakery. When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity emerges for her to visit the southeast Asian country of Andelar, Missy is thrown into the world of royalty as the special guest of the king and queen—and it’s clear she doesn’t belong, despite her family ties to the area. But the royal family isn’t without its mysteries. Rumors abound that a secret prince is hiding amid Andelar’s society, and Missy is determined to find out who he is.

Aiden Waverly never wanted a crown or a title. He craves a normal life, but being a secret prince of biracial background is difficult enough and would create chaos amid the tabloids if the press learned about his parentage. After years of traveling the world to help those in the greatest of need, he’s faced with a life-altering decision: take his place as crown prince or walk away as a commoner. With no clear path that will satisfy him and the royal family, the tug between following his heart and doing his duty to Andelar becomes harder every day.

When a chance encounter throws Missy and Aiden together, neither of them are prepared to challenge what they thought they knew about themselves. And when an ancient royal law threatens to tear them apart, they must decide how much they are willing to risk for love.

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