Tag: 2026 Release

20 April 2026

Book Review | Mostly Dead by Susan J Bruce

It’s Easter in Pelican Bay, which means it’s time for the Easter Egg treasure hunt. When Ruth Smythe teams up with her new friends, she’s hoping to find the treasure, not another dead body. This time, the victim is Theo, who is none too popular around town.

Unfortunately for Ruth, the main suspect is Dan, her not-so-secret crush.

Add in an incompetent ring-in police inspector, and it’s clear Ruth has another mystery to solve to clear Dan’s name. Dan is a popular man around the small town, which means she has help … except that help isn’t always helpful. This leads to several awkward and funny situations that somehow come across as completely plausible despite being completely unrealistic in real life.

Doug isn’t the only non-human character. Susan J Bruce is an animal lover, and that comes through in lines like this:

It was a universal truth that the more you disliked cats, the more they wanted to sit on your lap.

As any cat lover knows, they are characters in their own right, and something I always enjoy. I loved the town of Pelican Bay, with it’s quirky characters (human, bird and feline), endless banter, and a true community spirit—especially when it comes to solving a murder.

Mostly Dead is the second book of the Ruthless the Killer Mysteries, following Dead Ahead. It’s an excellent cozy mystery in a fun Australian setting, complete with Doug the cockatoo, who delights in embarrassing the locals by repeating their secrets at the most inopportune times.

If you prefer strictly Christian fiction, Mostly Dead may not be the book for you. Having said that, it would still be G-rated if it was a book (or perhaps PG, given there is a rather nasty murder).

But if you’re a cozy mystery fan who doesn’t mind the odd murder in your fiction (along with a little not-quite-Christian content), you’ll enjoy Mostly Dead.

Recommended for fans of cozy mystery authors such as Heather Gilbert and Amanda Ashby.

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

About Susan J Bruce

Susan J Bruce is a former veterinarian turned award-winning author, professional copywriter and animal artist. Susan’s veterinary background invades her writing and animals run, fly, or crawl into nearly all of her tales. When Susan’s writing group challenged her to write a story that didn’t mention any animals—she failed! Susan lives in sunny South Australia with her husband, Marc, and their furred and feathered family. This currently includes a fat tortoiseshell cat, a rescue cockatiel, and an irrepressible ShiChi (Shih Tzu x Chihuahua) who thinks her mission in life is to stop Susan writing.

Running Scared is Susan’s first novel and was awarded the 2018 Caleb Prize for an unpublished manuscript.

Find Susan J Bruce online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | X

About Mostly Dead

Murder and romance. What could possibly go wrong?

Ruth Smythe is still getting used to small-town life when she stumbles on a body at Pelican Bay’s annual Easter egg hunt.

Two bodies in just a few weeks is bad enough—but it gets worse when Dan Rivers is arrested for murder.

Sure, Dan’s a little guarded and hard to read sometimes. But a killer?

No way. He’s kind. Loyal. Brave. And possibly her almost-boyfriend. (Not that she’s admitting it.)

As the case against him builds—and her reputation as Ruthless-the-Killer roars back to life—Ruth throws herself into the investigation.

With loyal friends, a cockatoo with no filter, and more at stake than she dares to admit, she’s determined to clear Dan’s name.

Because Dan could lose everything. She could lose… him.

And the real killer? Still out there.

Find Mostly Dead online at:

Amazon | Goodreads

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

3 April 2026

First Line Friday #425 | Mostly Dead by Susan J Bruce

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m reading Mostly Dead, the second cozy mystery in Susan J Bruce’s Ruthless-the-Killer mysteries. I really enjoyed Dead Ahead, so I have high hopes!

Here’s the first line from Chapter One:

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

About Mostly Dead

Murder and romance. What could possibly go wrong?

Ruth Smythe is still getting used to small-town life when she stumbles on a body at Pelican Bay’s annual Easter egg hunt.

Two bodies in just a few weeks is bad enough—but it gets worse when Dan Rivers is arrested for murder.

Sure, Dan’s a little guarded and hard to read sometimes. But a killer?

No way. He’s kind. Loyal. Brave. And possibly her almost-boyfriend. (Not that she’s admitting it.)

As the case against him builds—and her reputation as Ruthless-the-Killer roars back to life—Ruth throws herself into the investigation.

With loyal friends, a cockatoo with no filter, and more at stake than she dares to admit, she’s determined to clear Dan’s name.

Because Dan could lose everything. She could lose… him.

And the real killer? Still out there.

Find Mostly Dead online at:

Amazon | Goodreads

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

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

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

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

30 March 2026

Book Review | Lake Shore Renewal by Jennifer Rodewald

Charlotte Jensen—Charlee —and Noah meet when they are both invited to the wedding of their respective exes, and Noah makes a drunken toast to the bride and groom. He can’t remember much else until he wakes the next morning, by which time his toast has unfortunately gone viral.

Charlee has some sympathy for Noel, a guest in the run-down motel she’s recently purchased in Luna, Montana. Unfortunately, her co-owner is Mason, her ex and business partner, who has just married Emily, Noah’s ex, who was Charlee’s best friend right up until Emily started dating Mason.

(It’s not as complicated as it sounds. Honest.)

Charlee and Noah are brought together by the common awkwardness of their exes, and a common (temporary) address. When Noah realises how much work needs to be done at the motel, he takes some time off work to help Charlee out, both because he feels he owes her a favour and because he’s in no hurry to return to the house he bought in anticipation of marrying Emily.

Despite the awkward beginning, we soon get to see that Noah isn’t a jerk.

He’s a decent guy with a solid job and lots of great handyman skills who made one mistake (or perhaps two, if you count dating Emily in the first place). All the same, it’s a set-up that provides a lot of natural tension as Charlee and Noah have to work through their feelings towards Mason and Emily, and to consider what their lives will look like. There’s a lot of room for hard conversations, redemption, and renewal, and Jennifer Rodewald nails the delivery in way that feels authentic and true to the characters.

These are the kind of characters I want to see more of, which is one of the reasons I’m enjoying Jenifer Rodewald’s Redemption Shores series. Lake Shores Redemption is the sixth book in the series, so features characters series readers will recognise. Having said that, is definitely a standalone story—you don’t have to read the other books to read and enjoy Lake Shores Renewal. It is perhaps more of a romance than the previous stories in the series.

As Jennifer Rodewald says in the introduction, this is a reminder of the greatest love story: God’s love for us. I love that about her work: her Christian fiction is strong on Christian, with a focus on flawed characters learning to rely on God as they work through tough situations.

Recommended for fans of Christine Dillon or anyone looking for more Christian in their fiction.

About Jennifer Rodewald

Jennifer Rodewald is passionate about the Word of God and the powerful vehicle of story. Four kids and her own personal superman make her home in southwestern Nebraska delightfully chaotic.

Born in Colorado, she experienced both the seclusion of rugged mountain living and the busy streets of a Denver suburb during her growing up years. Somewhere in the middle of college, she married a Husker and found her way back to the quiet lifestyle of a rural area, which suits just fine.

Blessed with a robust curiosity, Jen loves to research. Whether she’s investigating the history of a given area, the biography of a Christian icon, or how nature declares the glory of God, her daily goal is to learn something new. Aiming to live with boundless enthusiasm, her creed is vision, pursuit, and excellence.

Jen lives and writes in a lovely speck of a town where she watches with amazement while her children grow up way too fast, gardens, and marvels at God’s mighty hand in everyday life.

You can find Jennifer Rodewald online at:

Website | Facebook | X

About Lake Shore Renewal

Sometimes the roughest roads in life lead to the most beautiful places. But to get there, one needs faith to let go.

Charlee Jensen walked herself straight into heartbreak. Now she is left questioning her ability to make good choices—especially since she’s not only not married to Mason, the man she’d planned her forever with, but she’s also the joint owner of the Creek View Inn—a run-down hotel in Luna, Montana that needs way more work than she’d anticipated. The best part of that disaster? Her partner in this misadventure is the very same man who broke her heart.

Yeah. In two short years, Charlee had made a real mess of her life. Now she’s back in Luna—the small, picturesque mountain town she grew up in, failure and shame her new companions. Somehow, she needs figure out how to make the Creek View Inn something that doesn’t summon Bates Hotel vibes—and to pay off the debt to her ex.

Noah Newellen’s life plans were hijacked the moment his fiancée returned the diamond he’d given her. But that wasn’t the worst day ever. Nope, not by a longshot. The absolute worst was a beautiful fall evening in Montana when he watched her marry another man—and he has the viral video to memorialize it. A video in which he’s giving a drunken, spiteful, country-song-inspired toast to the bride. Thanks to that drunken folly, and social media, he can never go back home.

Starting over in Luna, Montana isn’t logical. But as one door opens to another, Noah finds it might be exactly the grace he needs. A quiet, small town. An opportunity to pursue an old passion. Gracious, friendly people who help him to hold onto the goodness of God.

And a woman named Charlee, whose friendship sooths the wounds in his heart and inspires him to believe in second chances.

A tender story of love after heartbreak, hope beyond failure—and grace that doesn’t quit.

Find Lake Shore Renewal online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

27 March 2026

First Line Friday #424 | Not Precisely Mr. Knightley by Carolyn Miller

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Not Precisely Mr. Knightley is a modern Emma retelling, and I have to confess that Emma isn’t my favourite Jane Austen novel … but I do enjoy Carolyn Miller’s novels, so I’ll be interested to see if she can convert me into an Emma fan!

Here’s the first line from Chapter One:

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

About Not Precisely Mr. Knightley

Emma-Jane (EJ) Bennett and Jordan Knight are longtime best friends who codesigned the immensely successful dating app, Dream Match. Success starts to go to EJ’s head when she gets caught up in the famous and money-hungry social circles and starts dating the son of a TV mogul.

But Jordan’s feelings have grown from friendship to more. He determines to protect her by exposing Eric Churchill for the two-timer he is, finally agreeing to attend a function with her at the Sydney Opera House. But his best intentions go awry when EJ is embarrassed and runs for the security of home, small-town roots, and The Silver Teapot Café, feeling like Jane Austen’s chastised Emma—only without her Mr. Knightley.

Find Not Precisely Mr. Knightley online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

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

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

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

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

23 March 2026

Book Review | Claire Holloway is Winging It by Angela Ruth Strong

Claire Holloway is Winging It draws on Angela Ruth Strong’s own experiences as a flight attendant, which only adds to the appeal.

After all, didn’t we all want to be a flight attendant (or air hostess) at some point?

True story: I used to work for a recruitment company, and we once received over 12,000 applications when we advertised for airline cabin crew. That was back in the day when everyone posted paper applications, so processing those applications was quite literally all hands on deck to read each application, score them based on a very narrow set of parameters (we had so many applicants that they had to score 10/10 before we could even consider them for an interview), then sent literally thousands of actual paper letters to the thousands we couldn’t even interview).

Anyway, back Claire Holloway is Winging It …

After injury forces Claire to give up her dream career in ballet, she trains as a fight attendant and moves to a “crash pad” in Seattle to take up her first role. That was my first big surprise—eight women crammed into a two-bedroom apartment. How is that even legal? And as for tipping flight attendants? I know I come from a no-tipping culture (pay everyone a living wage!), so that sounds crazy to me (but boy, does it explain the attitudes of some of the flight attendants I’ve had on US airlines). There were a few others surprises, but I’ll let you discover those for yourself.

I loved the story itself.

What I didn’t like were some of the parts that were based on fact, on the author’s own experiences. I work in human resources, and there were so many places—sooo many—where I just couldn’t believe the way the airline was treating their employees.

I loved watching Claire discover herself and regain her confidence. I loved watching her make new friends. I loved watching her reconsider her relationship with Wyatt. Most of all, I loved the way she and Nathan drew closer, yet Nathan honored and respected her relationship with Wyatt even though it was obvious he wanted more.

I don’t usually read the blurbs at the beginning of a book because I want to form my own opinion. But this time, one caught my eye: Sarah Monzon says “Fans of Melissa Ferguson and Courtney Walsh will want to ad this one to their TBR list.” Having recently read rom-coms from Sarah Monzon, Melissa Ferguson and Courtney Walsh, I have to agree.

Claire Holloway is Winging It is a fun rom-com that ticks all my boxes.

It’s got a heroine who’s doing the best she can in the face of a major life change, a loveable hero, and new friends who support her as she finds her way. Most of all, it’s genuinely funny and has a solid Christian subtext.

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

About Angela Ruth Strong

Angela Ruth Strong sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009 then quit writing romance when her husband left her. Ten years later, God has shown her the true meaning of love, and there’s nothing else she’d rather write about. Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been optioned for film, won the Cascade Award, and been Amazon best-sellers.

She also writes non-fiction for SpiritLed Woman. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK.

You can find Angela Ruth Strong online at

Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube

About Claire Holloway is Winging It

After Claire Holloway’s dream of becoming a ballerina plummets, she’s left with her boyfriend as her only support. . . until she decides to become a flight attendant for the free travel. Based out of state, she moves into a crash pad with a gaggle of other flight attendants, and her fear of losing Wyatt seems to become a reality.

First Officer Nathan Stuart — a bit cynical since he and his fiance broke up — meets a somewhat frazzled Claire on her very first day in the Seattle airport. When they end up on the same crew, he takes her under his wing, and they quickly bond.

When Claire’s once-supportive boyfriend’s attitude sours into resentment, she’s left wondering whether her newfound joy is the right way to go. Pulled between two men and her new career, Claire must learn to listen for God’s direction the same way her flight crew follows air traffic control.

In this hilarious rom-com, readers will lift off into the turbulent skies of romantic adventures as Claire navigates God’s plan for her life.

Find Claire Holloway is Winging It online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

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

14 March 2026

Cover Reveal | On the Fence About You by Emily Conrad

Who else is excited about On the Fence About You by Emily Conrad?

She’s one of my favourite contemporary Christian Romance authors, and I’m looking forward to her new release, the first in a new series.

Here’s a little about the story:

If good fences make good neighbors, these former childhood sweethearts are doomed to stay enemies.

Combat veteran Hale Bastian and veterinarian Morgan Reynolds were best friends in childhood, but since a falling out twenty years ago, they’ve become strangers to each other. So much so that they don’t realize Hale bought the house next door to Morgan upon his return to small-town Chimney Creek, Wisconsin. He recognizes his mistake—and her—as soon as his dog jumps her ridiculous little fence and absconds with her dinner. Morgan doesn’t recognize him as anything but an inconvenience.

All but sworn enemies, they’d avoid each other if not for their devotion to the local animal shelter, where Morgan’s animal-loving aunt used to take them as children. If they hope to raise enough funds to save the shelter, the animals in its care, and her aunt’s legacy, Morgan and Hale will need to work together, and that means confronting their painful past.

When their growing connection threatens the peace Hale’s fought so hard to find and Morgan’s carefully crafted plans, it seems they can’t have it all. But what if all they need is waiting just on the other side of the fence?

A warmhearted and faith-filled clean romance about surrendering your plans, finding peace, and, of course, loving your neighbor.

Releasing May 11, 2026. Preorder your copy on Amazon today!

16 February 2026

Book Review | Without a Clue by Melissa Ferguson

Without a Clue starts out as a rom-com, quickly turns into a mystery, and ends up as a fun romance/mystery fusion that ticks all the boxes of both genres.

Twenty-seven year-old Penelope Mae Dupont (Pip) is personal assistant to The Magnificent Seven, seven successful authors in seven different genres who banded together decades ago to jointly promote each other’s books. There have been a couple of new additions to the team as authors have retired, so they’ve been joined by Crystal and Nash, who write YA and cowboys respectively.

Pip, Hugh (her official employer), and the rest of the Magnificent Seven are leading a reader cruise, where fans of the seven authors will be treated to days at sea in the company of their favorite authors.

But all is not well, and the trip of a lifetime faces an unexpected challenge when Pip discovers the body of one of her authors …

The cruise ship is at sea, which sets up a classic closed-room mystery in a modern shipboard twist on an Agatha Christie novel. As Pip tries to keep the death a secret from the passengers while still ensuring all the promised entertainments go ahead, she’s also working with Nash to try and solve the mystery, which leads to more than a few fun moments.

The one thing I don’t necessarily like about rom-coms is the obligatory comedy scenes, which I often find cross the line from comedy into cringe. While Without a Clue started with such a scene (think John Cusack and his boombox standing in the ocean), the rest of the book was worth the effort. I did have a few nagging questions as I read and was pleased to find they were all answered in the big reveal scene.

After all, this is a mystery. The big reveal is compulsory!

It’s also a romance, and the developing relationship between Pip and Nash ticked all the boxes for me. He’s a gentleman in a cowboy hat, a worthy hero, and I loved the way he supported Pip right from the start. I also loved the lack of angst: as the quote above shows, the stakes in romance is the heart willing to get hurt.

In fact, my only complaint about Without a Clue is that despite being published by Harper Collins Christian Publishers, it’s not actually Christian fiction. It’s fun, but there is no faith element. So if you’re looking for Christian romance with emphasis on the Christian, this probably isn’t going to float your boat (pun intended).

Recommended for fans of Sarah Monzon, Angela Ruth Strong, and Courtney Walsh.

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

About Melissa Ferguson

Melissa Ferguson is an adjunct professor for Bible and religion at King University. She lives in the charming town of Bristol, Tennessee, with her husband, twin toddlers, and baby girl. She used to have hobbies like running and backpacking the Appalachian Trail outside her door. Now her hobbies include admiring the Appalachian Trail out her minivan window while singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” en route to the library.

Find Melissa Ferguson online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

About Without a Clue

A laugh-out-loud rom-com wrapped in a whodunit, this high-seas adventure proves that sometimes the best love stories start with a little murder.

Penelope Mae Dupont has one superpower: keeping her cool. Which is essential when you’re the personal assistant to renowned mystery author Hugh Griffin. But when Pip organizes a luxury book cruise featuring The Fabulous Seven–a glittering cast of seven bestselling authors known for both their brilliance and their drama–her trademark composure starts slipping. One boat. Seven egos. Hundreds of fans. What could possibly go wrong?

Well . . . murder, for starters.

On day two, Hugh is found dead–and the cruise security team proves to be utterly incompetent. Stranded in the middle of the Atlantic with no help in sight, Pip realizes if anyone’s going to solve the case, it’ll have to be her. And so, with her friend and ally Nash, the dreamy Western author who’s just as rugged as the cowboys he writes about, she puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test.

As Pip and Nash navigate an ocean of secrets, shocking twists, and one too many red herrings, she’ll have to decide whether she’s meant to stay behind the scenes–or finally step into the spotlight . . . and maybe, just maybe, find love along the way.

In the world of mystery and love, sometimes you have to risk going overboard to find the truth.

Find Without a Clue online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads | Koorong

Click here to find great Christian fiction in my Amazon shop.

13 February 2026

First Line Friday #422 | Claire Holloway is Winging It by Angela Ruth Strong

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m reading Claire Holloway is Winging It by Angela Ruth Strong, which is about a new-on-the-job flight attendant who doesn’t quite know what she’s doing … which means the title is very clever.

Here’s the first line from Chapter One:

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

About Claire Holloway is Winging It

In this hilarious rom-com, readers will lift off into the turbulent skies of romantic adventures as Claire navigates God’s plan for her life.

Find Claire Holloway is Winging It online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

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

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

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

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

9 February 2026

Book Review | An Unconventional Lady by Sarah E Ladd

An Unconventional Lady is a Regency romance featuring Ella Wilde, who wants to open a school for girls in the grounds of her family home … a home she stands to lose if she doesn’t marry before her father dies.

Her father is the current headmaster of the Keatley Hall School for Young Men, and wants Ella to marry a man who could take over as headmaster and so secure her future. Before that, they will again play host to the annual Natural Philosophers’ Society gathering. This year’s guest speaker is Mr. Thomas Bauer, one of the men who labelled her dead mother–and her–as unstable.

Ella is an intelligent woman destined to become a victim of the laws of the age, that a woman must marry to secure her financial future.

I love novels with intelligent heroines.

I liked and admired her tenacity in standing up for what she believed, even when all the men around her didn’t agree with her.

Gabriel Rowe is a lawyer who has his own reasons for distrusting Thomas Bauer. Ella and Gabriel join forces to try and show the other members of the Society that phrenology is fake science, and that Mr. Bauer is a fraud.

The story was excellent.

There was a well-executed balance between the predictable (the romance) and the unpredictable (but saying what would be a spoiler). The romance was nicely done, moving fast enough to be interesting but not so fast as to be unbelievable or inappropriate.

My one criticism of the story is that it’s godless, as illustrated by this quote:

“A true home did not reside in a place, but in loving another person wholeheartedly–and being loved in return.”

As Christians, we believe our true home is heaven, and our true purpose comes in loving God wholeheartedly because that’s how he loves us.

Having said that, the story is a strong historical romance with suspense elements, and I enjoyed reading about an intelligent woman meeting a man who isn’t intimidated by her and doesn’t try to turn her into something she’s not.

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

About Sarah E Ladd

Sarah E. Ladd is an award-winning, bestselling author who has always loved the Regency period–the clothes, the music, the literature, and the art. A college trip to England and Scotland confirmed her interest in the time period, and she began seriously writing in 2010. Since then, she has released several novels set during the Regency era. Sarah is a graduate of Ball State University and holds degrees in public relations and marketing. She lives in Indiana with her family.

Find Sarah E Ladd online at:

Website | Instagram | Pinterest

About An Unconventional Lady

She faces the worst ultimatum possible for a woman–marry a man she detests or lose the future she’s always imagined.

Charming and headstrong, Ella Wilde always knew she was different than other women. Thanks to her unorthodox upbringing as the daughter of Keatley Hall School for Young Men’s headmaster, Ella has long dreamed of opening a school for girls that would meet the needs of inquisitive, brilliant, unconventional young women just like her–girls who longed for the education exclusively reserved for boys. But there’s just one catch: Unless she marries before her father dies, Keatley Hall will pass into the hands of a distant cousin. In that case, Ella will be left destitute, and at this point her only option appears to be an undesirable marriage.

Ella’s family had long been proponents of phrenology, the belief that an individual’s personality and dispositions were predetermined by the shape of their head. Shortly before her death, however, Ella’s mother’s views on phrenology changed, and she endeavored to expose phrenology as nothing more than a fraudulent parlor trick. Consequently, she earned the wrath of phrenologist community, who called her “unstable,” “bizarre,” even “dangerous”–and branded her daughter the same.

Now, renowned phrenologist Thomas Bauer is about to arrive at Keatley Hall to speak at the Natural Philosophers’ Society gathering, and Ella embraces the opportunity to clear her mother’s name–and her own–once and for all. And her partner in crime? None other than her childhood friend Gabriel Rowe, who’s grown into an ambitious, handsome London solicitor.

Gabriel has his own scores to settle, and when he learns that Thomas Bauer is visiting Keatley Hall, he jumps at the chance to prove himself and right past wrongs. As he is drawn deeper into the unusual happenings, it’s clear that he and Ella must work together if they want to unmask the truth. Over time, Gabriel’s attraction to Ella’s beauty and wit becomes impossible to ignore, and as the lines between professionalism and passion blur, they both must decide what they’re willing to risk for happiness.

Find An Unconventional Lady online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

Click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

6 February 2026

First Line Friday #421 | Lake Shore Renewal by Jennifer Rodewald

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m reading Lake Shore Renewal, the sixth book in Jennifer Rodewald’s Redemption Shores series. The clue is in the name: these stories are full-on Christian fiction, showing realistic characters finding forgiveness, redemption and life in God. I’ve loved them all so far, and I’m sure I’ll love this one just as much.

Here’s the first line from Chapter One:

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

About Lake Shore Renewal

Sometimes the roughest roads in life lead to the most beautiful places. But to get there, one needs faith to let go.

And a woman named Charlee, whose friendship sooths the wounds in his heart and inspires him to believe in second chances.

A tender story of love after heartbreak, hope beyond failure—and grace that doesn’t quit.

Find Lake Shore Renewal online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

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

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