Tag: Christian Romance

5 September 2022

Book Review | Midnight’s Budding Morrow by Carolyn Miller

I almost didn’t request this book to review because the cover didn’t appeal to me. It felt too dark, although I could see it reflected the title (actually, I wasn’t too keen on the title, either). But it’s by Carolyn Miller, and I’ve enjoyed every one of her novels so far … so I decided to give it a go.

Sarah Drayton is single and of “advanced age” (about twenty-eight) in a time when ladies are supposed to be married much younger. She goes to stay with Beatrice Langley, an old school friend, but is tricked into a marriage of convenience with Beatrice’s badly behaved brother, Captain James Langley.

We see James from Sarah’s point of view at first, and he doesn’t come across as a likeable person. But we get to know him better as the story progresses, and have more sympathy for him as we understand him better.

For his part, James has no desire to marry Sarah—but has even less desire to see his estate go to a distant cousin. But if he wants an heir, he’s going to have to spend time with his bride and court her properly.

Midnight’s Budding Morrow is darker than many of Carolyn Miller’s previous books.

The combination of the decaying old house, unhelpful servants, and overbearing patriarch give the story a gothic feel, like old Victoria Holt or Mary Stewart stories. The age-old rumours of a hidden treasure in the house only reinforce that feeling.

While the start is somewhat dark and a little contrived (aren’t all marriage of convenience stories? Isn’t that why we love them?), the novel progresses well. It is yet another strong novel from Carolyn Miller, with excellent characters, a unique setting, and a strong Christian faith arc.

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

About Carolyn Miller

Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. She is married, with four gorgeous children, who all love to read (and write!).

A longtime lover of Regency romance, Carolyn’s novels have won a number of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) contests. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Australasian Christian Writers. Her favourite authors are classics like Jane Austen (of course!), Georgette Heyer, and Agatha Christie, but she also enjoys contemporary authors like Susan May Warren and Becky Wade.

Her stories are fun and witty, yet also deal with real issues, such as dealing with forgiveness, the nature of really loving versus ‘true love’, and other challenges we all face at different times.

Find Carolyn Miller online at:

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About Midnight’s Budding Morrow

Can real love grow between a wallflower and an unrepentant rogue?

Sarah Drayton is eager to spend time with her best friend at her crumbling Northumberland castle estate. Matrimony is the last thing on her mind and the last thing she expects to be faced with on a holiday. Yet she finds herself being inveigled into a marriage of convenience with her friend’s rakish brother.

When James Langley returns to his family’s estate, he can’t be bothered to pay attention to his responsibilities as the heir. War is raging and he wants only distraction, not serious tethers. But his roguish ways have backed him into a corner, and he has little choice but to obey his father’s stunning decree: marry before returning to war, or else. Suddenly he finds himself wedded to a clever and capable woman he does not love.

Sarah craves love and a place to belong, neither of which James offered before returning to the battlefront. Now everyone around her thinks she married above her station, and they have no intention of rewarding her for such impertinence. It isn’t until her husband returns from war seemingly changed that she begins to hope they may find real happiness. But can she trust that this rake has truly reformed?

When tragedy strikes, this pair must learn to trust God and his plans. Will they be destroyed . . . or will they discover that even in the darkest depths of night, the morning still holds hope?

Find Midnight’s Budding Morrow online:

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Read the introduction to Midnight’s Budding Morrow:

26 July 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wait. A. Minute.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

20 May 2022

First Line Friday | Week #237 | Cake That! by Heather Greer

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from Cake That! by Heather Greer, a Christian rom-com from a new-to-author. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

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

About Cake That!

You can find Cake That! online at:

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

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

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18 February 2022

First Line Friday | Week #224 | Happily Ever After by Jenn Faulk

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from Happily Ever After by Jenn Faulk, which I found free on Kindle. Here’s the first line:

I don’t always download free books, but this one had a critical review right at the top of the page which intrigued me so much that I had to find out if I agreed with the reviewer or not (so far, I disagree).

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

About Happily Ever After

Cammie Evans was a girl with a plan from the moment God called her to be a foreign missionary. After several years spent all over the world, though, she finds herself with a new assignment that leaves her questioning all that she once thought to be true about life, love, and calling.

David Connor was always the weird kid in the youth group, never destined to live up to his father’s expectations. After several years of working to find his own significance in Christ and his calling as a foreign missionary, he finds himself asking hard questions about who he is and what God wants from him.

As their lives change and the past becomes part of the present, can Cammie and David help one another find their own happily ever after?

You can find Happily Ever After online at:

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

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

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

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

15 February 2022

Bookish Question #216 | Do Romance Novels give Women Unrealistic Expectations of Men and Marriage?

Critics of romance novels often say romance novels aren’t realistic, that they give women unrealistic expectations of men and of marriage.

In fairness, there is some truth in the argument that romance novels aren’t realistic.

But romance isn’t the least realistic genre on the fiction shelves:

Fantasy would have us believe that the world is (or perhaps was) filled with dragons and supernatural creatures such as werewolves, dwarves, and elves.
Science Fiction shows faster-than-light space travel, civilizations that are almost entirely mechanical (and no one ever seems to grow food), and untold different species, most of which are humanoid and speak English.
Cozy mysteries show us that all small villages (and many small towns) are hotbeds or murder and intrigue, and that the police are incompetent (because it always seems to be the local amateur detective who solves the crime, not the professionals).
Adventure stories show us that archaeology is a race to find a previously unknown artifact and keep it from the evildoers, not painstakingly removing dirt a teaspoonful at a time in the hope of understanding life in a bygone era.
Action stories confirm that bullets are only dangerous if the good guy is holding the gun, and that car chases through big cities are perfectly safe (because it’s only the bystanders who get hurt).

Given those comparisons, is “unrealistic” really the right word for a story where two people to meet, fall in love, and decide they want to build a life together? I’d say that is the definition of hope.

But do romance novels set unrealistic expectations about men and marriage?

Let’s look at men first, then marriage.

In romance novels, the hero would do anything for his heroine. He will love her unconditionally. He will support her dreams. He will sacrifice for her. He sees her potential and pushes her towards her dreams while she’s still mired in self-doubt.

(Incidentally, the heroine will do the same for the hero. Romance is very much an equal-opportunity genre. Perhaps that’s what some people don’t like.)

Now, I do understand unconditional, sacrificial love isn’t the reality for everyone. But that doesn’t make it wrong. In fact, it’s biblical:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. (Eph 5:25, NIV)

But do romance novels set unrealistic expectations for marriage?

This is a non-argument. Romance novels are about the journey to the happy-ever-after, not the story of the happy-ever-after. That would be women’s fiction—and there are hundreds of women’s fiction novels inside and outside the Christian market which address these issues.

There are many Christian novels which show strong marriages, from the Love Comes Softly series by Janette Oke to the Baxter Family saga by Karen Kingsbury. There are also Christian novels which show marriages in trouble, and become an object lesson in how not to go through life.

This is also biblical: many of the stories in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, aren’t there to show us how to live. They’re there to show us how not to live. David was a great man of God, but no right-minded person is ever going to condone his treatment of Uriah (or even Bathsheba).

So while some people may say romance novels are setting unrealistic expectations, I say romance novels set a standard. They show us that a good marriage—a God-centred marriage— is one where both parties love God, love each other, and will support each other no matter what.

Yes, that might be unrealistic. But that’s the result of sin in the world.

Not romance novels.

27 December 2021

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

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:

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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:

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23 November 2021

Bookish Question #204 | Do you like weddings in Christian romance?

The whole point of a romance novel is that the two main characters end up with their “Happy Ever After” ending.

As such, many readers want and even expect the novel to end on a proposal or wedding scene.

I am not that reader.

I’m perfectly happy to read a proposal scene or a wedding scene, but only if it fits the story. As a general rule, this means I want to see the couple are emotionally and spiritually mature enough to make that decision. I don’t like proposal or wedding scenes that feel rushed, as though the characters don’t know each other well enough yet to make that kind of decision.

This is especially important in shorter books—novellas and short novels—which tend to take place over a condensed period of time. Yes, I know some people meet and marry within months or even weeks and go on to have long and successful marriages. But divorce statistics suggest these people are the minority, not the norm.

The other reason I don’t like the novel that ends with a proposal or marriage is because it often feels contrived. It feels as though the author has decided the book must end with a marriage, rather than the marriage being the logical emotional conclusion for the couple. It can feel manipulative, and I don’t like that. It feels like the characters are being forced into marriage rather than making that decision themselves.

This is one of the reasons why I enjoy reading books in a series.

While I don’t want the couple who first met on page one to be married by page three hundred, I do enjoy a good wedding. the right place for that wedding might be in the second or third book in the series.

A wedding at the beginning of book two or three can be a great way to connect the two stories and introduce the new couple. A wedding in the middle of another book can be a great emotional turning point, where the hero and heroine realise they want to be together.

What about you? Do you like weddings in a Christian romance?

What’s the best proposal or wedding scene you’ve read?

22 November 2021

Book Review | Uncharted Courage (Land Uncharted #10) by Keely Brooke Keith

Bailey Colburn is feeling unsettled, so takes a trip to the village of Good Springs to visit old friends and get advice from the village elder, John Colburn. She visits over spring equinox, the one time of year when a change in atmospheric conditions allows newcomers to enter the Land. And someone does … actually, two people.

Revel is enjoying his role as island courier now he’s had his father’s blessing to take the role and not take over the family inn. Now, if he can only get Bailey to see how he feels about her. But first he has to share the information the newcomer brought.

Both are fiercely independent and love their freedom, Bailey especially. Both have to learn that working alone doesn’t always yeild the best result. Sometimes, it’s better to work together …

Uncharted Courage is an enjoyable romance, and a relatively quick read.

It’s good to see Bailey again—she’s been one of my favourite characters throughout the series. I also enjoyed the underlying spiritual thread, and the way the Christian elements underpin the entire plot without being preachy.

Uncharted Courage is the tenth book in the Uncharted series, about a small community living on a hidden island while World War III rages in the outside world. Keith does an excellent job of reminding readers of the important points from the previous novels by weaving them into the present story in a way that feels natural.

While you could read Uncharted Courage as a standalone novel, it’s probably best to read through the series in order. Having said that, my favourite stories in the series are the stories like Uncharted Courage, where there is a crossover between the Land and the outside world.

Recommended for fans of historical Christian romance or speculative romance with a twist.

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

About Keely Brooke Keith

Keely Brooke Keith writes inspirational frontier-style fiction with a slight Sci-Fi twist, including The Land Uncharted (Shelf Unbound Notable Romance 2015) and Aboard Providence (2017 INSPY Awards Longlist). Keely also creates resources for writers such as The Writer’s Book Launch Guide and The Writer’s Character Journal.

Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Keely grew up in a family that frequently relocated. By graduation, she lived in 8 states and attended 14 schools. When she isn’t writing, Keely enjoys playing bass guitar, preparing homeschool lessons, and collecting antique textbooks. Keely, her husband, and their daughter live on a hilltop south of Nashville, Tennessee.

Find Keely Brooke Keith online at:

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About Uncharted Courage

With the survival of the Land at stake and her heart on the line, Bailey must find the courage to love.

When Bailey accepts John Colburn’s offer for her to visit Good Springs, she leaves the Inn at Falls Creek expecting to spend the autumn relaxing in her favorite seaside village. Upon her arrival, Connor asks her to cover a shift of guard duty on the equinox, and her quiet vacation takes a shocking turn.

Revel Roberts works hard to keep his life commitment-free, making it easy to leave community decisions to men like Connor and John. But when the Land is threatened, Revel sees his chance to prove he is a man worthy of Bailey’s love. Amid the chaos in Good Springs, his unrequited feelings for her preoccupy him. One wrong choice could ruin everything.

As Bailey’s new life in the Land unravels and threats from the outside world loom, a yearning she can’t define surges within her. It distracts her from defending the hidden world she loves, and a tragedy reinforces her need for independence.

With the survival of the Land at stake and their hearts on the line, Bailey and Revel will need more courage than fighting ever required. They will need to find the courage to love.

You can find Uncharted Courage online at:

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

8 November 2021

Book Review | Tacos for Two by Betsy St. Amant

Rory Perez hates cilantro and can’t cook, but she’s inherited a food truck specialising Mexican food and she needs the income from the truck to keep her cousin in her care home. Jude Worthington works for his father’s law firm but doesn’t want to take the bar and be a lawyer. He wants to be a chef.

The two are messaging and falling for each other via an app, but they communicate using pseudonyms, so don’t know it. In real life, they are both competing to win the prize in the local food festival—Rory because she needs the money, and Jude because he wants to get out of law.

There were a few things I didn’t like about Tacos for Two. The first was that I started reading, and I immediately wanted to eat tacos. This is a problem as I had to stop reading and work out if I actually had the ingredients for tacos (yes, I did. Fortunately).

There were a couple of other things I didn’t get. If Jude is twenty-nine years old and hasn’t yet sat the bar exam, what has he been doing since he graduated college? Who is Fiona Stone and why is she mentioned so often (I honestly thought Rory was going to turn out to be Fiona Stone in disguise. She didn’t).

The romance itself was a fun play on You’ve got Mail, a modernised version using an app called Love at First Chat.

It’s a fun romp with plenty of laughs as well as some deeper thoughts on life and faith. As such, it’s an easy read that hits all the right notes and has a satisfying ending.

Tacos for Two by Betsy St. Amant is a fun romp with plenty of laughs as well as some deeper thoughts on life and faith. #BookReview #ChristianRomance Share on X

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

About Betsey St. Amant

Betsy St. Amant Haddox is the author of over fifteen inspirational romance novels and novellas. She resides in north Louisiana with her hero of a hubby, two total-opposite young daughters, a vast collection of coffee mugs, and an impressive stash of Pickle chips. Betsy has a B.A. in Communications and a deep-rooted passion for seeing women restored in Christ. When she’s not composing her next book or trying to prove unicorns are real, Betsy can usually be found somewhere in the vicinity of a white-chocolate mocha–no whip.

Find Betsy St. Amant online at:

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About Tacos for Two

Rory Perez, a food truck owner who can’t cook, is struggling to keep the business she inherited from her aunt out of the red–and an upcoming contest during Modest’s annual food truck festival seems the best way to do it. The prize money could finally give her a solid financial footing and keep her cousin with special needs paid up at her beloved assisted living home. Then maybe Rory will have enough time to meet the man she’s been talking to via an anonymous online dating site.

Jude Strong is tired of being a puppet at his manipulative father’s law firm, and the food truck festival seems like the perfect opportunity to dive into his passion for cooking and finally call his life his own. But if he loses the contest, he’s back at the law firm for good. Failure is not an option.

Complications arise when Rory’s chef gets mono and she realizes she has to cook after all. Then Jude discovers that his stiffest competition is the same woman he’s been falling for online the past month.

Will these unlikely chefs sacrifice it all for the sake of love? Or will there only ever be tacos for one?

You can find Tacos for Two online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

6 September 2021

Book Review | Undercurrent of Secrets by Rachel Scott McDaniel

Undercurrent of Secrets is a dual-timeline novel, part of the new Doors to the Past series from Barbour Publishing (and thanks to Barbour Publishing and NetGalley for providin a free ebook for review).

In the present timeline, Devyn Asbury is mostly over her humiliating breakup from social media mogul Travis Leeman. She’s working as the wedding coordinator on the Belle of Louisville, a traditional paddleboat steamer. She entered the boat in the Once Upon a Wedding contest, and is now a finalist in the Timeless Wedding Venue category.

But she didn’t get the original email .. which means she now has less than six weeks to plan and pull off an award-winning function.

Designer Chase Jones asks Devyn to help with some research. He’s trying to find the identity of the woman in an old photograph that appears to have been taken on board the Belle. Devyn agrees, as long as Chase helps with the invitations for the important event. The two get closer as they work together to track down the mysterious woman and … well, you know. This is a romance novel, after all.

In the past timeline, Hattie Louis is happy on board the Idlewild, the paddleboat steamer that has been her home her entire life. But her happy life is threatened by Jack Marshall, the new first mate, who takes over Hattie’s role and who appears to be hiding a secret.

Even worse, that secret might involve illegal behaviour implicating the Idlewild’s captain, the only father she has ever known.

I did find the opening chapters a little confusing. The opening line was brilliant:

But this brilliant line gave me the impression the relationship had just ended (especially as the novel begins on what would have been Devyn’s wedding day). In fact, I think the relationship had ended months before – perhaps a year. Knowing that up front would have explained why Devyn was open to a relationship with Chase—because she’d moved on.

Once I worked that out, I really got into the story and enjoyed watching Devyn and Chase search for clues to the identity of the mysterious Hattie of Chase’s photograph. The search was even more interesting once it became obvious that Chase’s Hattie was Hattie Louis.

One of the fun parts of reading dual timeline novels is working out how and when the timelines intersect, then trying to predict what’s going to happen in the past to end up with the present we know about. I’m pleased to report that Undercurrent of Secrets had a couple of excellent twists which were a complete surprise to me, and to Devyn (although, in hindsight, one shouldn’t have been a surprise to Devyn …)

Hattie was definitely my favourite character.

She was intelligent and plucky, as well as being multi-talented (and I even found out what a calliope was). The historic parts of the story felt authentic, and the author’s note at the end showed how much of the story was based on fact. (Yes, there really was an Idlewild, and she did survive.)

However, it was the modern heroine, Devyn, who learned the most important spiritual lesson, and I liked the way the author wove that into the plot. And I did like the fact Devyn was prepared to hold out for someone better. While I love reading romance novels, it would be great to see more novels that show marriages—good and less good.

Undercurrent of Secrets by Rachel Scott McDaniel is an enjoyable dual-timeline #ChristianRomance set on a historic steamboat on the Ohio River. #BookReview Share on X

Overall, I very much enjoyed Undercurrent of Secrets, especially the unique setting.

Recommended for fans dual timeline Christian romance.

About Rachel Scott McDaniel

Rachel Scott McDaniel is an award-winning author of historical romance. Winner of the ACFW Genesis Award and the RWA Touched By Love award, Rachel infuses faith and heart into each story. She currently enjoys life in Ohio with her husband and two kids.

Find Rachel Scott McDaniel online at:

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About Undercurrents of Secrets

Two women, a century apart, are bound by a haunting secret aboard a legendary steamboat.

As wedding coordinator for the 100-year-old steamboat The Belle of Louisville, Devyn Asbury takes pride in seeing others’ dreams come true, even though her engagement had sunk like a diamond ring to the bottom of the Ohio River. When the Belle becomes a finalist in the Timeless Wedding Venue contest, Devyn endeavors to secure the prestigious title with hopes to reclaim some of her professional dreams. What she hadn’t planned on was Chase Jones showing up with a mysterious photo from the 1920s.

A century earlier, Hattie Louis is as untamable as the rivers that raised her. As the adopted daughter of a steamboat captain, her duties range from the entertainment to cook. When strange incidents occur aboard the boat, Hattie’s determined to discover the truth. Even if that means getting under First Mate Jack Marshall’s handsome skin.

Find Undercurrent of Secrets online at:

Amazon | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong