By The Book

2026 Christy Award Takeover Blitz

The 2026 Christy Awards JustRead Takeover Blitz

Welcome to the Takeover Blitz for The Christy Award Finalists 2026 organized by ECPA and hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! We extend our sincere and enthusiastic congratulations to The Christy Award 2026 Finalists & Winners (announced on November 6th)!

You are Invited

The Christy Award Gala
Friday, November 6, 2026 | 7:00 PM
Sonesta Nashville Airport Hotel
Nashville, Tennessee
Featuring Michelle Shocklee, Amanda Cox, Nicole Deese, Amanda Dykes, Susie Finkbeiner, J.J. Fischer, Rhonda McKnight, Jamie Ogle, Amanda Wright, Jaime Jo Wright, and other distinguished 2025 winners—bringing a meaningful connection between past and present excellence.

This is our year to gather together in person to celebrate and honor the best Christian fiction of the year. The Christy Award Gala will be held the evening of Friday, November 6th and will feature a premiere cast of the industry’s authors to announce The Christy Award winners in nine categories, The Christy Book of the Year, and The Amplify Award for Christian Fiction.

This year’s gala features a keynote address from Michelle Shocklee, recipient of The Christy Book of the Year for her acclaimed novel All We Thought We Knew. Her story and perspective will set the tone for an evening rooted in faith, creativity, and impact. Continuing Christy tradition, recent honorees will present category awards, including Amanda Cox, Nicole Deese, Amanda Dykes, Susie Finkbeiner, J.J. Fischer, Rhonda McKnight, Jamie Ogle, Amanda Wright, Jaime Jo Wright, and other distinguished 2025 winners—bringing a meaningful connection between past and present excellence.

The Christy Award Finalists 2026

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE – tie

Echoes of a Silent Song Hearts on the Fly Kate Landry Has a Plan The Voices We Find

Echoes of a Silent Song by Amanda Wen (Kregel Publications)
Hearts on the Fly by Toni Shiloh (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
Kate Landry Has a Plan by Rebekah Millet (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
The Voice We Find by Nicole Deese (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)

FIRST NOVEL

In the Light of the Sun The Lawyer and Laundress Where Stillness Speaks

In the Light of the Sun by Angela Shupe (WaterBrook, an imprint of PRH Christian))
The Lawyer and the Laundress by Christine Hill Suntz Tyndale House Publishers)
Where Stillness Speaks by Chelsey Welwood (Chelsey Welwood)

GENERAL FICTION

South of Somewhere The Bitter End Birding Society When the Road Comes Around

South of Somewhere by T.I. Lowe (Tyndale House Publishers)
The Bitter End Birding Society by Amanda Cox (Revell/ Baker Publishing Group)
When the Road Comes Around by Katie Powner (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)

HISTORICAL – tie

From the Valley We Rise Splendor of the Land The Daughter of Rome The French Kitchen

From the Valley We Rise by Elizabeth Musser (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
Splendor of the Land by Connilyn Cossette (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
The Daughter of Rome by Angela Hunt (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
The French Kitchen by Kristy Cambron (Thomas Nelson Fiction)

HISTORICAL ROMANCE – tie

Mists Over the Channel Islands the Belle of Chatham The Collector of Burned Books Through Water and Stone

Mists Over the Channel Islands by Sarah Sundin (Revell/Baker Publishing Group)
The Belle of Chatham by Laura Frantz (Revell/Baker Publishing Group)
The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna M. White (Tyndale House Publishers)
Through Water and Stone by Karen Barnett (Kregel Publications)

MYSTERY/SUSPENSE/THRILLER – tie

Final Approach Girl Lost Tempest at Annabel's Lighthouse The Accused

Final Approach by Lynette Eason (Revell/Baker Publishing Group)
Girl Lost by Kate Angelo (Revell/Baker Publishing Group)
Tempest at Annabel’s Lighthouse by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
The Accused by Cara Putman (Kregel Publications)

SHORT FORM – tie

A Very Merry Matchup One Nine Planning for Nickie To Reveal a Reckless Love

A Very Merry Matchup by Becca Kinzer (Tyndale House Publishers)
One Nine by Sara Davison (Sara Davison)
Planning for Nickie by Tasha Hackett (Tasha Hackett)
To Reveal a Reckless Love by Robin Lee Hatcher (RobinSong, Inc.)

SPECULATIVE – tie

Every Hour Until Then Heir of Light Maxine Justice: Public Offender Of Dawn and Embers

Every Hour until Then by Gabrielle Meyer (Bethany House/Baker Publishing Group)
Heir of Light by Niki Florica and Jill Williamson (Sunrise Publishing)
Maxine Justice: Public Offender by Daniel Schwabauer (Enclave, a division of Oasis Family Media)
Of Dawn and Embers by Gillian Bronte Adams (Enclave Escape, a division of Oasis Family Media)

YOUNG ADULT – tie

Illuminary Sons of Day & Night The Outsider

Illuminary by Chawna Schroeder (Enclave Escape, a division of Oasis Family Media)
Sons of Day and Night by Mariposa Aristeo (Enclave Escape, a division of Oasis Family Media)
The Outsider by Katy Morgan (The Good Book Company)
The Star-Blessed by Angie Dickinson (Enclave Escape, a division of Oasis Family Media)

Register for The Christy Award 2026 Events

Join us in Music City for a vibrant, can’t-miss gathering of the Christian fiction community.

Beyond the Books Add-On: Meet the finalist authors at this special morning gathering of authors and readers.

The Art of Writing conference will bring together writers, storytellers, and publishing professionals for an afternoon of relevant topics and networking.

The Christy Award Winners Gala celebrates this year’s finalists and winners with authors, editors, publishers, and readers!

REGISTER

The Christy Award® is a program of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) and is the foremost award honoring and promoting excellence in Christian fiction since 1999. For more information about ECPA, visit ECPA.org. For more information about the Christy Awards and Art of Writing conferences, visit ChristyAwards.com or email TheChristyAward@ecpa.org

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive their choice of The Art of Writing registration OR print copies of The Christy Award finalist titles for one category!

Christy Award Finalists 2026 JustRead Giveaway

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight September 25, 2025 and lasts through 11:59 PM EST on October 2, 2025. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

Enter Giveaway

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

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Categories Uncategorized

First Line Friday — Tempest at Annabel’s Lighthouse

25 Sep

Happy Friday! Today I am featuring another 2026 Christy Award nominee — Tempest at Annabel’s Lighthouse by Jamie Jo Wright. This dual timeline novel is a twisty, spooky, gothic mystery/suspense with a married couple in the modern day storyline. I loved that! If you haven’t read it, what are you waiting on?!

Here’s the first line:

This great water will be my sepulcher.

Where the lighthouse no longer illuminates, ghostly lore and legends emerge . . .

1874
A battered woman awakens atop a forgotten gravesite by Lake Superior’s southern shore. Identified only by the locket around her neck inscribed with the name Rebecca, she seeks refuge with an elderly lighthouse keeper. But as Rebecca struggles to remember who she is, she finds herself haunted by the lingering memories of Annabel, a mysterious woman who perished in the lake’s unforgiving waves years earlier. With the spirit of Annabel seemingly reawakened, and an unknown adversary on the hunt to silence Rebecca once and for all, more is at stake than reclaiming her own memories. Rebecca must reclaim Annabel’s as well.

Present Day
Author and researcher Shea Radclyffe escapes to the lighthouse outside a historic Michigan mining town to seek clarity about her failing marriage. Instantly drawn to the lighthouse’s landlord, Shea contends with the legend of Annabel’s vengeful ghost and a superstitious community that has buried the truth about a current murder. As the secrets harbored around Annabel’s lighthouse unravel, Shea must navigate a fight between torn loyalty, self-discovery, and the haunting forces of love.

. . . demanding vengeance for secrets that should have drowned a century before.

Jaime Jo Wright, multi award-winning author–including the Christy and Daphne du Maurier awards–is a coffee-fueled and cat-fancier extraordinaire. She has entwined her life with the legendary Captain Hook, residing serenely in Wisconsin’s rural woodlands. Her literary vocation involves penning chilling Gothic tales, a baffling change from that of Austenites, with a strong preference to the master of dark, Edgar Allan Poe. Two mischievous urchins adorn their family, who keep their mother on her toes – providing an exhilarating amount chaos.

Visit her at: http://www.jaimewrightbooks.com and listen to her podcast MadLit Musings on your favorite podcast player or at http://www.madlitmusings.com.

Tags: dual timeline, Jaime Jo Wright, suspense ficiton

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Categories First Line Friday

Spotlight on Mystery Fiction — Magic City Murder

25 Sep

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Magic City Murder by Bruce Hammack, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About The Book

Title: Magic City Murder
Series: Smiley and McBlythe Mystery Series #16
Author: Bruce Hammack
Publisher: Jubilee Publishing
Release Date: August 6, 2026
Genre: Mystery / Private Detective

A missing husband. A murdered journalist. A city where everyone has something to hide.

Blind former Houston homicide detective Steve Smiley and his partner Heather McBlythe take on what looks like a straightforward case: track down a missing husband so his estranged wife can finally file for divorce.

The simple case turns deadly when the body of the woman the husband has been living with is found in a Miami canal. She wasn’t just the missing man’s companion — she was an investigative journalist silenced before her story could see the light of day.

As Smiley and McBlythe dig deeper, they uncover a trail of political corruption and cartel money that someone powerful is determined to keep hidden. With a growing list of suspects, a city full of secrets, and a killer working in the shadows, Smiley must sort through the tangle of lies before whoever is cleaning up loose ends decides Smiley’s next.

Pick up your copy of Magic City Murder today and follow Smiley and McBlythe from Houston to Miami as they chase down a missing husband and a killer who’s running out of places to hide. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie-style whodunits who love clever plots, professional detective work, and clean reads without the gore, violence, or explicit content.

Excerpt

“That’s not what you told us yesterday. What did you tell Detective Ruiz?”

Kate’s head dipped, and her words seemed to catch in her throat. “I told him Peter cleaned me out. His leaving hurt me. It still stings, so I made it sound like Peter took my money and ran. But that’s not how it happened. I agreed to loan him what I had in savings and my retirement accounts. We were going to build a publishing company together, and we worked like fiends to make the dream come true.”

Steve took a full breath through his nose and blew it out of his mouth. “We need to stop. Call Detective Ruiz right now and set the record straight before you go to jail.”

“Jail? Why would I go to jail?”

Heather explained in her lawyer’s voice. “If he hasn’t already done it, Detective Ruiz will check your financial records and those of Peter. When he sees you and Peter had full access to each other’s accounts, he’ll be back to ask you why you said or implied that he cleaned you out without your knowledge.”

“I don’t think I used those same words.”

Steve shot back, “Quit playing games, Kate. You’re a suspect in a murder case. Go to your room, let the seriousness of your situation sink in for a few minutes, then call Detective Ruiz.”

Tears fell again as Kate made a quick escape to the relative safety of her bedroom.

“At least she didn’t slam the door this time,” said Steve.

More in This Series

About The Author

Bruce Hammack, a native Texan, began his professional writing career in the tenth grade when the local Rotary Club sponsored a writing contest for students in civics class. To the amazement of students and teachers alike, he won the prize of a twenty-five-dollar savings bond.

After retiring from a career in criminal justice, Bruce picked up the proverbial pen again. He now draws on his extensive background with law enforcement (and criminals) to write contemporary, clean read detective and crime mysteries.

An avid Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes fan, Bruce firmly believes the world can’t have enough whodunits. When not writing, he enjoys travel, classic whodunits and a quiver full of children and grandchildren. Having lived in eighteen cities around the US and the world, he now makes his home in the Texas Hill Country with his wife of thirty-plus years.

Connect with Bruce by visiting brucehammack.com to follow him on social media and subscribe to email newsletter updates.