Tag: Contemporary Christian Romance

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #418 | A Promise For Her Heart by Elizabeth Marie

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’ve recently finished reading A Harbor For Her Heart by Kiwi author Elizabeth Marie, and next on my list is the second book in the Seacliff Romance series: A Promise for Her Heart. Here’s the first line of Chapter One:

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

 

About A Promise for Her Heart

She’s holding fast to the life she loves. He’s forgotten how to need anything for himself.

Claire Chandler has always believed in showing up for her family, her café, and the seaside town that shaped her. Her roots run deep, her heart generous, and her sense of responsibility unwavering. But loyalty does not pay overdue bills. With the Seabean Café slipping further into debt and a local real estate agent circling with offers she is not ready to consider, Claire begins to wonder how long she can carry everything on her own.

The café was meant to be a legacy. Now it feels like the weight she carries alone.

Elliot James came to Seacliff Shores with a clear sense of purpose. He is there to serve the community as a pastor, drawn to a life of service rather than ambition. A man shaped by loss and hard truths, Elliot knows how to endure. Trusting his own heart, however, feels far riskier than caring for everyone else. When a phone call pulls him back toward a painful past and an estranged, dying father, Elliot is forced to face questions he has avoided for years about forgiveness, family, and what it means to move forward.

Drawn together through quiet moments and shared purpose, Claire and Elliot discover that healing often begins in ordinary places. Late night coffees. Honest conversations. The courage to let someone see the cracks. But as Elliot’s past resurfaces and Claire’s carefully balanced world starts to unravel, both must decide whether opening their hearts is worth the risk.

Set against the charm of a close knit coastal town, this is a clean, emotionally rich romance about loyalty, forgiveness, and the quiet courage it takes to begin again. The story concludes with a deeply satisfying, hope-filled happily ever after.

Find A Promise for Her Heart 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!

Sometimes that's exactly where God meets us, in the stillness. Not in the storm, not in the chaos, but in those rare moments when we finally stop running and let ourselves be heard.

Book Review | A Harbor for Her Heart by Elizabeth Marie

Journalist Emily Harper has recently lost her sister. Her grief is compounded by her guilt for not making time to say goodbye. She escapes her life, moving to the seaside town of Seacliff Shores, where she signs up for a surf live saving class. Her trainer is Luke Chandler, for whom she feels an immediate connection. Luke is battling his own grief and guilt, and sees the same in Emily.

This is the first Elizabeth Marie book I’ve read and I was impressed. I enjoy finding new authors who write strong Christian romance, and A Harbor for Her Heart definitely falls into that category. I loved the way the townspeople embraced Emily.

I loved the way both Emily and Luke searched for healing and for God.

There were a couple of minor frustrations about the writing and the plot, but these were easily overshadowed by a compelling plot, believable characters, and by the way their Christian faith (and doubts) were woven into the story.

Recommended for fans of small-town contemporary Christian romance.

About Elizabeth Marie

Elizabeth Marie lives in the Northern part of the Southern Island of New Zealand on a farm with her husband. She has three grown children. She loves all things related to stories and devours books and movies. She loves to walk in the hills and hang out with her dog and friends. She also loves music singing and playing the guitar. She attends the local New Life church.

Find Elizabeth Marie online at:

Website

About A Harbor for Her Heart

She came to the sea to escape her grief. He is the one man who makes her face it.

Cover image - A Harbor for Her Heart by Elizabeth Marie

Emily Harper believed she could outrun pain. After the sudden loss of her sister, silence feels safer than belief, and the ocean is the only place vast enough to hold her sorrow. So she runs from the memories and into a small coastal town where no one knows her name. Training as a surf rescue trainee is meant to be a fresh start, not a reminder of everything she has lost.

Luke Chandler once believed he could fix what was broken. Until the day he could not. Now structure keeps him steady, discipline keeps him focused, and emotional distance feels safer than hope. He trains others to face the waves while keeping his own wounds carefully hidden.

When Emily steps into Luke’s training program, fragile yet fiercely determined, he recognizes the same haunted look he sees in his own reflection. Against his better judgment, the walls he has built begin to crack. What neither of them expects is a connection that feels both risky and impossible to ignore.

As long days on the sand turn into quiet conversations beneath starlit skies, attraction grows alongside fear. Then the threatening notes begin. Someone in town wants Emily gone. Luke’s instinct is to protect. Emily’s instinct is to run.

When danger rises and secrets surface, both must decide whether love is worth the risk and whether healing can begin where everything once fell apart.

Find A Harbor for Her Heart online at:

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First Line Friday

First Line Friday #416 | Marrying the Accidental Groom by Tara Grace Ericson

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Marrying the Accidental Groom by Tara Grace Ericson, another one of the Redemption Ranch stories. Here’s the first line from Chapter One:

Juliana stood at the top of the airplane steps, clutching her leather-bound itinerary to her chest.

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

 

About Marrying the Accidental Groom

She color-codes her planner. He barely plans the next fifteen minutes.
Neither planned on getting married.

When Juliana Emerson finds herself dumped days before her dream honeymoon, she goes anyway—armed with an iron-clad itinerary and determined not to let her ex-fiance dictate her life.

Gideon Reynolds is all charm, chaos, and mountain-man grins. Crashing Juliana’s vacation wasn’t in his plans—and neither was participating in a symbolic island wedding ceremony.

Now, months later and just before Christmas, Juliana shows up in Colorado at Redemption Ridge Ranch determined to fix their symbolic marriage that turned out to be very real. But between his unpredictable nature, a calendar full of holiday events, and a growing attraction that wasn’t part of anyone’s plan, “fixing it” might not be so simple.

As sparks fly and tempers flare, both will have to confront what they believe about control, commitment, and the kind of love worth surrendering to.

Find Marrying the Accidental Groom online at:

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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!

Time was an overrated convention. And Sage Greene had never been one for conventions.

Book Review | When I Wasn’t Looking by Jennifer Rodewald

Grumpy-sunshine, opposites-attract, friends-to-love …

In When I Wasn’t Looking, Jennifer Rodewald takes a bunch of common romance tropes and turns them into something uncommon, something with a literary and spiritual depth not found often enough in Christian fiction.

When Sage Greene (yes, that’s her real name) learns that she and her mother will inherit her great-grandfather’s property, she heads to Big Prairie to get to know Howard Teller. The family stories don’t have anything good to say about the man, so why is he doing this?

Grant Hillman is a quirky character (he’s definitely on some kind of spectrum) with a strong Christian faith. He’s a relationship counsellor who’s good with his clients but a lot less good with his own life. Which means he needs a date to his ex’s wedding, and one quite literally drops into his life: Sage.

Grant and Sage meet when he “rescues” her from the river (she didn’t need rescuing). It’s a great first meeting: he rescues her because she thinks she’s drowning, and she thinks he’s trying to kidnap her. They’re equally flummoxed with each other, then equally intrigued. It’s a great start to a relationship …

When I Wasn’t Looking is a powerful redemption story, an allegory that reminds us of God’s never-ending love for us and his never-ending desire that we return to him, claim our inheritance, and have a relationship with him. Unlike some allegorical stories, it’s never clumsy or obvious (I didn’t figure parts of the allegory out until I was writing this review), and the allegory never takes over the story.

This is the fourth book in Jennifer Rodewald’s Big Prairie Romance series. It’s definitely a standalone romance – haven’t read any of the other books in the series but didn’t feel I missed anything because of that.

If you’re looking for a Christian romance with the emphasis on “Christian” then I definitely recommend When I Wasn’t Looking.

I think even non-romance readers would enjoy this one, because the romance is less about the relationship between Sage and Grant and more about the eternal romance: God’s love for us.

About Jennifer Rodewald

Author Photograph: Jennifer RodewaldJennifer 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:

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When I Wasn’t Looking

When I Wasn't Looking by Jennifer RodewaldSage Greene loves a good story, especially if it has a dashing and romantic hero.

But her family’s legacy of broken relationships has convinced her that romance is strictly for fiction. Take her great-grandfather Harold Teller, for example—a selfish drunk who rejected his wife and son. But if that were so, why would he leave his house and property to her? Sensing there’s more to his story, Sage heads to Big Prairie determined to discover the truth for herself. Not even a quixotic encounter with a handsome stranger will sway her from her purpose.

Grant Hillman knows what makes for a healthy relationship.

After all, he is a counsellor. But he’s certain that he’s a long way from being anyone’s romantic hero. Quiet, observant, and slightly fastidious seems to translate to boring, quirky, and too different, and he’s just about given up on finding love. So he shouldn’t be surprised when the one time he rescues a damsel in distress, it turns out she didn’t need a hero and she isn’t looking for romance.

Despite their inauspicious meeting—or perhaps because of it—Sage determines she and Grant will become the closest of friends.

As they work together to learn the truth about Grandpa Teller, Sage discovers there’s more to Gramps than the bitter, grumpy old man he presents on the surface. And the more time she spends with Grant, the more she begins to wish she believed in romance after all. But Grant knows that the maxim “opposites attract” doesn’t mean “opposites will have a lasting, healthy relationship.” Especially when one of them doesn’t believe in romance to begin with.

As Sage and Grant work to untangle the threads of Grandpa Teller’s story, is it possible they could unravel a few assumptions of their own and write the beginning of another story altogether?

Find When I Wasn’t Looking online at:

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

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #415 | This Life (Murphy Brothers #4) 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 quoting from This Life, the fourth book in Jennifer Rodewald’s Murphy Brothers series. I’ve found the others to be compelling Christian romances, so I have high expectations.

Here’s the first line from Chapter One:

The emptiness had weight. Solid, sinking and familiar. Kate Murphy hated it.

 

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

 

About This Life

They’ve been stripped of everything but a refurbished bus and each other. And it may be the best thing that’s ever happened to them.
Driven by jealousy, he’s determined to prove himself.

Jacob Murphy always felt like the invisible brother, until he fell in love with and married the woman who’d dated his younger brother. Then he became the despised brother. Driven to prove himself worthy of respect, he gambled everything on becoming the successful brother, but with his property speculation business falling apart, he’s ready to admit defeat. He’s lost nearly every worldly good, and after years of disappointments and heartache, it looks like his marriage is about to go the same way.

Ashamed of her background, she will do anything to keep it a secret.

Kate Murphy lied her way out of life in a trailer park—a life she felt both trapped in and ashamed of. Only Jacob knows the truth about her background. But keeping up appearances has strangled her life and relationships, and even her marriage is troubled. In desperation, she makes a plan to escape from it all—ironically, in a skoolie. But there’s still a tender place in her heart for the man she married, and in a moment of compassion, she offers to take Jacob with her.

Stripped of pride and pretension and struggling to adjust to their new 160-square-foot mobile lifestyle, Jacob and Kate are forced to confront the deception, hurt, and loneliness that have plagued them both.

Will their strained circumstances be the death knell for their marriage, or will they allow humility to usher in the healing they need to rebuild?

Find This Life online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

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

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

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How did she explain she wasn't ready to step across the line of long-established friendship?

Book Review | It’s Always Been You by Sara Beth Williams

Renee Somers has just lost her volunteer role at the Trinity Lakes Ski Resort ski patrol, so she and her two friends leave the ski lodge in the middle of a snow storm and find themselves in a bank of snow halfway down the mountain.

Jesse Hernandez hears Renee is stuck not far from him, and ventures out to rescue Renee and her two friends and bring them back to his mountain cabin. He sets out to rescue her, and not just because they’ve been friends for years and he has a huge crush on her. But he’s not expecting to also rescue Blaire, the woman behind his estrangement from his one-time best friend, who also happens to be Renee’s older brother.

Renee was an interesting character.

She’s tiny (five foot nothing) and looks considerably younger than her twenty-four years due to a growth hormone deficiency (something that works against her now, when people look at her and see a teenager, but something she may come to appreciate once she hits forty). Looking sixteen means people treat her like a child–which wouldn’t be so bad if that didn’t include her own family.

She’s therefore understandably irritated when her own father appears to favour hiring Jesse over promoting his own daughter, despite her being more than adequately qualified for the role. Renee is being gaslit by the school board and by her own father, which she finds frustrating (and I have to agree).

I initially didn’t like Jesse because he came across as having a hero complex, illustrated by his impulsive actions in the fire then in rescuing Renee and her companions. However, the more I read, the more I understood and empathized with him, and decided he was a worthy hero.

What I did like was the way Renee and especially Jesse drew closer to God as the story progressed. This felt natural, not forced, which is always important in Christian fiction.

Friendship to more is one of my favourite tropes.

Especially when it’s combined with sibling’s best friend/best friend’s sibling. It’s Always Been You did both tropes well, showing what pulled Renee and Jesse together as well as what was keeping them apart.

I’m also a fan of low-angst romances.

(Stories where the main characters possibly don’t have much to lose but do have everything to gain.)

What I liked about It’s Always Been You is it brought out the tension in a friends-to-more trope: if the relationship goes wrong in any way (including one person not wanting to move from friends to more), then the friendship is over. Because Renee and Jesse have been estranged for months, this is less of an issue. The question is more about how they’re going to rebuild their relationship.

Recommended for contemporary Christian romance readers who enjoy friends-to-more plots.

About Sara Beth Williams

Sara Beth Williams is a published author of Contemporary Christian romance, an ACFW and CIPA member and freelance writer. She has a background in freelance publicity, blog managing, newspaper journalism and nine years in the field of education. Two of her three novels have been nominated for a Selah Award. A Worthy Heart (2020) and Anchor My Heart (2022). She lives in Northern California with her husband and two daughters. When she’s not held hostage by the keyboard, she enjoys playing guitar, reading, gardening and spending time with her family.

Find Sara Beth Williams at:

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About It’s Always Been You

She’d always been the still mountain beneath his changing skies. He was a fool for thinking he could stay away.

After suffering severe burns, avid outdoorsman Jesse Hernandez faces a long recovery, and the longer it takes, the more he questions his purpose in life. Seeking solace, he returns to the hills above Trinity Lakes to settle his late grandfather’s property, but soon finds himself torn between family pressure to sell and his longing to hold on to the only place that felt like home.

Renee Somers has spent her life fighting to be seen. As a master’s student and after-school program director living with a growth hormone deficiency, she’s used to being underestimated. But she finds rejection stings most when it comes from those she highly respected.

When a sudden blizzard traps Renee and her friends on a lonely mountain road. She never expects her rescuer to be the childhood friend who once promised he’d always look out for her. As they reconnect and unexpected attraction surfaces, both must confront past wounds and buried secrets that threaten to pull them apart.

With family tensions rising and harbored secrets revealed, Jesse must decide whether to cling to the past, or embrace the future God has been preparing all along.

Find It’s Always Been You online at:

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

 

 

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #413 | Waves of Endless Love by TK Chapin

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Waves of Endless Love by new-to-me author TK Chapin. Here’s the first line of Chapter One:

The last nine months felt like someone had thrown a bucket of hand grenades in the center of Samantha's life.

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

 

About Waves of Endless Love

Be swept away to North Carolina’s Emerald Isle with this romantic beach read…

Samantha Richardson bolts from Orlando, her life a tangle of hurt, seeking refuge in Emerald Isle at her sister Janet’s house. In this poignant Christian romance, the sunset over the waves soothes her restless soul—until Chase steps into her path, stirring echoes of what she thought she had outrun.

Chase is reeling. Word of his old friend Lance serving far-off in Africa twists something deep, pulling him away from the life he knows and to the family beach house in Emerald Isle. This inspirational fiction tale finds him off-balance, haunted by what’s been lost—until Samantha’s presence cracks open a part of him he thought was closed.

She didn’t expect his quiet strength to steady her. He didn’t think her nearness would wake old hopes. In Waves of Endless Love, a stirring Christian coastal beach romance, the coast becomes more than a hideaway—faith glimmers, grace calls, and a second chance whispers through the salt air.

Is this God rewriting their story? Perfect for lovers of Christian romance and second chance romances, this tale of broken pasts and tender possibilities beckons you to the water’s edge.

Find Waves of Endless Love 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!

There's got to be a happy medium between love at first sight and ten plus years of mutual pining.

Book Review | Risking His Heart by Emily Conrad

Neenah’s life plan was to be a cop and steer well clear of romance.

She’s forced to reconsider her plans at the age of thirty-two, when an injury forces her out of her job and when she becomes guardian to a teenager on the same day. Fortunately, her best friend, Cody is around to help … (yes, it’s pretty obvious where this is going, and isn’t that the fun of reading friends-to-love romances?)

Cody has had feelings for Neenah for years but she turned him down flat the one time he dared ask her on a date.

Worse, she told him never to ask again. He’s honoured her request and instead the two are partners and best friends. At least, until she was forced out of the police force. Meanwhile, Cody has his own problems, involving this boss and father, who doesn’t want to promote him to detective no matter how hard he tries, and his latest case: the mysterious yeti stealing Christmas decorations from homes around Redemption Ridge.

Risking His Heart is a quick and easy read that gets into a surprising amount of depth considering the relatively short length (or maybe that’s more a reflection on how quickly I read it). Neenah and Cody both have issues they need to work through separately and together, and throwing a mourning fifteen-year-old and a yeti (!) into the mix makes that easier and harder.

I’m a big fan of friends-to-love stories, especially when the guy falls first.

Risking His Heart delivers on what fans of this trope expect, with a little more. It really shows what both Neenah and Cody have to lose if their relationship fails, but it also has a beautiful scene that convinced me (and Neenah) that’s not going to happen.

I especially liked the fact that both Neenah and Cody were Christians, and their faith was an important part of their romance.

Risking His Heart is part of the Redemption Ridge multi-author series set in and around the town of Redemption Ridge. The books are all standalone contemporary Christian romances featuring some common characters.

Recommended for contemporary Christian romance fans, especially those who like law enforcement or friends-to-love plots.

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

About Emily Conrad

Author Photo - Emily Conrad

Emily Conrad writes Christian fiction. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two 60+ pound rescue dogs. Some of her favorite things (other than Jesus and writing, of course) are coffee, walks, and road trips to the mountains.

Find Emily Conrad online at:

Website | Facebook | InstagramX

About Risking His Heart

Falling for her best friend is not on her (forced, way-too-early, medical) retirement bucket list.

Risking His Heart by Emily ConradCareer-driven cop Neenah Casper is forced by an injury to turn in her badge at age thirty-two. The same day she’s named guardian of an orphaned fifteen-year-old girl. With all her plans in pieces, it’s no wonder she starts feeling more than friendship for her supportive best friend Cody. But life’s taught her nothing lasts forever, and surely these feelings will pass once she finds a new life’s purpose.

Though Neenah friend-zoned him years ago, Officer Cody Adams has never stopped watching her back and hoping for more. Helping with her new ward could be just the opportunity to show her how much more he could be. Meanwhile, he’s also fighting to earn a promotion and impress his unpleasable police chief father by catching a home burglar and a Christmastime prankster. Neenah’s newly minted neighborhood watch might help him save Christmas and earn the job, if only the group didn’t bring complications of its own.

As Neenah and Cody wrangle octogenarian vigilantes, Christmas bandits, and complicated families, the chemistry between them only grows. But if they act on it, they won’t be able to go back. With their friendship and careers on the line, is love worth the risk?

Find Risking His Heart online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

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

I want you to stop seeing emotion as something that compromises technique and start seeing technique as something that serves emotion.

Book Review | Old Town Symphony by Milla Holt

Kezia Blair is a professional session singer who dreams of making it big and proving to her parents that music is a real career. Zach Falconer is about to launch Starbound, a reality TV show looking for Britain’s next great singing talent.

Old Town Symphony is the very definition of a slow-burn romance. Kezia isn’t interested in someone as popular as Zach, especially not after he delivers a stinging critique of her Starbound audition. Zach isn’t interested in another relationship with a musician who just wants to use him to climb the ladder to success, especially not one who’s performing on his show.

As the story progresses, the two slowly (oh, so slowly!) thaw towards each other.

That’s where the romance arc really gets interesting, because it’s clear Zach isn’t going to make a move until Kezia is out of the contest … which puts the focus of the story clearly on the music, and on the relationships between the contestants and their mentors.

Kezia, meanwhile, has to work out what Zach really thinks of her, and what she thinks of Zach. This is a romance, so we know she’s going to change her mind, and watching her emotional journey makes for compelling reading. There’s plenty of tension, and that kept me flicking the virtual pages. There were also enough mentions of other members of the Falconer family (especially Ezra and Martha) to keep series readers happy.

Old Town Symphony is the third book in Milla Holt’s Rhapsody of Grace series, following Home Town Melody and Small Town Harmony, and I loved them all.

Recommended for fans of contemporary Christian romance, especially those who like reality TV and slow-burn or forbidden romances.

About Milla Holt

Author Photo - Milla HoltI write inspirational romance with an international twist, with stories that uplift and encourage. Heroes with honor and integrity and strong, can-do heroines are my thing. And the good guys always get their happy ending. My fiction reflects my Christian faith.

I’m not a fan of writing about myself, but here goes. I used to be a lot of things: a journalist, a communications manager for a health activist group, and a freelance copywriter.

Before all that, I was a diplomatic brat, trailing along as my mother’s job took us to various diverse locations around the world.

Now, I’m homeschooling my children in the east of England and devoting every spare moment to writing.

Find Milla Holt online at:

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About Old Town Symphony

He created stars. She became his universe.

Old Town Symphony by Milla HoltKezia Blair believes true talent shouldn’t need shortcuts. But after years of singing backup and recording anonymous jingles, her shot at a real music career is slipping away. When a last-ditch audition lands her on Starbound, TV’s biggest reality show, Kezia faces a painful choice: chase stardom on someone else’s terms—or walk away for good.

Zach Falconer created Starbound to launch fresh talent—not get tangled up with it. Burned by a fame-hungry ex, he’s determined to protect his show from scandal and his heart from pain.

But Kezia’s passion, honesty, and refusal to play the game shake his carefully controlled world. And the deeper their connection grows, the harder it becomes to protect the lines between love, loyalty, and career.

In an industry where image is everything, can they hold onto what matters most… or will success cost them the truth—and each other?

A soulful, slow-burn Christian romance about integrity, ambition, and the price of staying true.

Find Old Town Symphony online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads

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

First Line Friday

First Line Friday #411 | Risking His Heart by Emily Conrad

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. I’m quoting from Risking His Heart by Emily Conrad, another standalone romance in the multi-author Christmas in Redemption Ridge series.

Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

If good things come to those who wait, Cody was doing something wrong.

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

 

About Risking His Heart

Falling for her best friend is not on her (forced, way-too-early, medical) retirement bucket list.

Risking His Heart by Emily ConradCareer-driven cop Neenah Casper is forced by an injury to turn in her badge at age thirty-two. The same day she’s named guardian of an orphaned fifteen-year-old girl. With all her plans in pieces, it’s no wonder she starts feeling more than friendship for her supportive best friend Cody. But life’s taught her nothing lasts forever, and surely these feelings will pass once she finds a new life’s purpose.

Though Neenah friend-zoned him years ago, Officer Cody Adams has never stopped watching her back and hoping for more. Helping with her new ward could be just the opportunity to show her how much more he could be. Meanwhile, he’s also fighting to earn a promotion and impress his unpleasable police chief father by catching a home burglar and a Christmastime prankster. Neenah’s newly minted neighborhood watch might help him save Christmas and earn the job, if only the group didn’t bring complications of its own.

As Neenah and Cody wrangle octogenarian vigilantes, Christmas bandits, and complicated families, the chemistry between them only grows. But if they act on it, they won’t be able to go back. With their friendship and careers on the line, is love worth the risk?

Find Risking His Heart 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!