Happy Tuesday everyone! Summer is indeed in full swing, and what better way to celebrate than with some summer-y book covers. I have a dozen for you to choose featuring what I think of when I hear the word summer. There are covers with summer foods, weddings (bonus points for those set at the beach), front porches, and of course those with summer in the title. I hope you find one to love.
Today’s Top 10 Tuesday topic is favorite places to read. Since I will read anywhere, I thought it would be a fun twist to match books to the Dr. Seuss-style poem about reading (many thanks to Seuss’ Green Eggs And Ham for the poet’s inspiration). While I had to stretch some of the connections, I think you will forgive me as the books I am sharing are awesome!
While I say I am an eclectic reader (I read almost all genres), I do limit myself to fiction. Why? I love a good story. And with my advanced years š I need to make sure I read books I enjoy. Itās like eating dessert first! Todayās Top 10Tuesday prompt is Why I Love Reading ā I hope you like my reasons and the books that go along with them.
Hearing the words you have cancer is truly devastating. Gut-punched is really the only way to describe it. Even when you think you have prepared yourself, the reality is much worse. As I shared last week, I have breast cancer. Being such a book nerd, I immediately thought about the novels I have read that seem to faithfully capture the emotions and truths of this fearsome journey. So I decided to compile a Cancer Reading Road Trip.
Please note: these ARE NOT books you run out and purchase for your loved one who has just received their diagnosis. While I loved these insightful books and am glad I read them, they may be too close to home for those with the tender and wounded hearts of the recently diagnosed. Instead, I recommend these stories to those wanting to understand a bit more what their loved ones are facing. If you feel the need to get a book for someone facing their own cancer journey, stick to laugh-out-loud books that donāt include a character with cancer. Laughter may not be the best medicine, but it surely helps!
Reading Road Trip — A Cancer Journey or Cancer Sucks!
Grace in Strange Disguise by Christine Dillon
Physiotherapist Esther Macdonald is living the Australian dream, and it doesnāt surprise her. After all, her father has always said, āFollow Jesus and be blessed.ā But at twenty-eight, her world shatters. Everyone assures her God will come through for her, but what happens when he doesnāt? Has she offended God? Is her faith too small? So many conflicting explanations. Will finding the truth cost her the people closest to her heart?
Moments We Forget by Beth Vogt
Jillian Thatcher has spent most of her life playing the family peacemaker, caught in the middle between her driven, talented older sister and her younger, spotlight-stealing twin sisters. Then on the night of her engagement party, a cancer diagnosis threatens to once again steal her chance to shine.
Now, Jillianās on the road to recovery after finally finishing chemo and radiation, but residual effects of the treatment keep her from reclaiming her life as sheād hoped. And just when her dreams might be falling into place, a life-altering revelation from her husband sends her reeling again.
Will Jillian ever achieve her own dreams, or will she always be ājust Jillian,ā the less-than Thatcher sister? Can she count on her sisters as she tries to step into a stronger place, or are they stuck in their childhood roles forever?
The Secret to Hummingbird Cake by Celeste Fletcher McHale
When all else fails, turn to the divine taste of hummingbird cake.
In the South you always say āyes, maāamā and āno, maāam.ā You know everybodyās business. Football is a lifestyle not a pastime. Food ā especially dessert ā is almost a religious experience. And you protect your friends as fiercely as you protect your family ā Ā even if the threat is something you cannot see.
In this spot-on Southern novel brimming with wit and authenticity, youāll laugh alongside lifelong friends, navigate the sometimes rocky path of marriage, and roll through the outrageous curveballs that life sometimes throws . . . from devastating pain to absolute joy. And if youāre lucky, you just may discover the secret to hummingbird cake along the way.
A Thousand Sleepless Nights by Michael King
A family torn apart by neglect and hurt . . . and brought together again by a most unlikely force
In the 1970s, escaping a home where he knew nothing but violence and hate, Jim Harding found work, and love, on the largest horse ranch in Virginia. The object of his affections, Nena St. Claire, is the daughter of the owner, a man who ruled his ranch with an iron fist and would do whatever it took to keep Nena and Jim apart. Against the wishes of her family, Nena marries Jim, and after her father dies, she sacrifices everything — including her family — to keep the ranch alive.
Now their three grown children have lives of their own and want nothing to do with Nena. She was never the mother they needed. When cancer strikes and Nena is given a devastating diagnosis, can Jim reconcile the family before it is too late?
When He Found Me by Victoria Bylin
Once a strong Christian, third baseman Shane Riley lost his faith the night he injured his knee in a freak car accident. Determined to return to professional baseball and to find the sister he treated badly, Shane retreats to Refuge, Wyoming. There he meets Melissa June āMJā Townsend, a single mom battling the virus that causes cervical cancer.
MJ wants nothing to do with the handsome athleteāno doubt a womanizer considering the stories in the news. But when a mistake results in Shane renting her garage apartment, they become friends. That friendship blossoms into something deep and pure, leaving MJ with a painful secret to tell. Even more complicated, she discovers an unexpected tie to Shaneās missing sister ā a wounded woman who wants nothing to do with the perfect brother who scorned her.
I traveled to Colorado three summers ago — wow, was it beautiful! Crisp, clean air, breathtaking views, crystal lakes — what’s not to like? Although it was my first trip there, I certainly don’t want it to be my last. I am especially looking forward to seeing the Aspens in all their autumn splendor.
Today I am featuring a few books set in The Centennial State. If you are yearning to visit, even virtually, they are a sure bet!
Baker and pastry chef Melody Johansson has always believed in finding the positive in every situation, but seven years after she moved to Denver, she canāt deny that sheās stuck in a rut. One relationship after another has ended in disaster, and her classical French training is being wasted on her night job in a mediocre chain bakery. Then the charming and handsome private pilot Justin Keller lands on the doorstep of her workplace in a snowstorm, and Melody feels like itās a sign that her luck is finally turning around.
Justin is intrigued by the lively bohemian baker, but the last thing heās looking for is a relationship. His own romantic failures have proven that the demands of his job are incompatible with meaningful connections, and heās already pledged his life savings to a new business venture across the countryāan island air charter in Florida with his sister and brother-in-law.
At eighteen, popular Ivy Griffith likes nothing better than getting stoned with her boyfriend, Pete, and his basketball buddiesāuntil one afternoon when a nightmare unfolds. Ivy watches in horror as her boyfriend and his friends murder a teammate and bury his body in a remote location. The four friends make a pact to keep the killing quiet, and Ivy flees her parentsā Colorado home for college and never looks back.
Now, after ten years of numbing her guilt with drugs, sheās finally clean. The single mom of a seven-year-old son, Montana, Ivy returns home to the tiny town of Jacobās Ear, hoping for courage to reveal the shocking truth of her past and be rid of this baggage forever.
But when disaster strikes at her high school reunion, sheās the only one left alive who witnessed that fateful night so long agoā¦Or is she? Who else couldāve known about the pact and who would want Pete and his co-conspirators dead? As the investigation heats up and the death toll rises, Ivy is forced to decide if confessing the truth is really worth risking her own life.
Indelible by Kristen Heitzmann
In a clash of light and darkness, can courage prevail? Ā Rescuing a toddler from the jaws of a mountain lion, Trevor MacDaniel, a high-country outfi tter, sets in motion events he canāt foresee. His act of bravery entwines his life with gifted sculptor Natalie Reeveāand attracts a grim admirer. Ā Trevorās need to guard and protect is born of tragedy, prompting his decision to become a search and rescue volunteer. Natalieās gift of sculpting comes from an unusual disability that seeks release through her creative hands. In each other they see strength and courage as they face an incomprehensible foe. Ā When a troubled soul views Trevor as archangel and adversary, Redfordās peaceful mountain community is threatened. Together with Police Chief Jonah Westfall, Trevor presses his limits to combat the menace who targets the most helpless and innocent.
Long Way Gone by Charles Martin
“No matter where you go, no matter whether you succeed or fail, stand or fall, no gone is too far gone. You can always come home.”
At the age of 18, musician and songwriter Cooper O’Connor took everything his father held dear and drove 1,200 miles from home to Nashville, his life riding on a six-string guitar and the bold wager that he had talent. But his wager soon proved foolish.
Five years after losing everything, he falls in love with Daley Cross, an angelic voice in need of a song. But just as he realizes his love for Daley, Cooper faces a tragedy that threatens his life as well as his career. With nowhere else to go, he returns to his remote home in the Colorado mountains, searching for answers about his father and his faith.
When Daley shows up on his street corner 20 years later, he wonders if it’s too late to tell her the truth about his past – and if he is ready to face it.
A radical retelling of the story of the prodigal son, Long Way Gone takes us from tent revivals to the Ryman Auditorium to the tender relationship between a broken man and the father who never stopped calling him home.
Moments We Forget by Beth K. Vogt
Jillian Thatcher has spent most of her life playing the family peacemaker, caught in the middle between her driven, talented older sister and her younger, spotlight-stealing twin sisters. Then on the night of her engagement party, a cancer diagnosis threatens to once again steal her chance to shine.
Now, Jillianās on the road to recovery after finally finishing chemo and radiation, but residual effects of the treatment keep her from reclaiming her life as sheād hoped. And just when her dreams might be falling into place, a life-altering revelation from her husband sends her reeling again.
Will Jillian ever achieve her own dreams, or will she always be ājust Jillian,ā the less-than Thatcher sister? Can she count on her sisters as she tries to step into a stronger place, or are they stuck in their childhood roles forever?
Jillian Thatcher has spent most of her life playing the family peacemaker, caught in the middle between her driven, talented older sister and her younger, spotlight-stealing twin sisters. Then on the night of her engagement party, a cancer diagnosis threatens to once again steal her chance to shine. Now, Jillianās on the road to recovery after finally finishing chemo and radiation, but residual effects of the treatment keep her from reclaiming her life as sheād hoped. And just when her dreams might be falling into place, a life-altering revelation from her husband sends her reeling again. Will Jillian ever achieve her own dreams, or will she always be ājust Jillian,ā the less-than Thatcher sister? Can she count on her sisters as she tries to step into a stronger place, or are they stuck in their childhood roles forever?
Moments We Forget is the second book in Beth Vogt’s Thatcher Sisters series. I somehow missed book 1, but that did not keep me from fully engaging in this touching story of loss and hope. The novel is contemporary women’s fiction at its best. Vogt’s characterization is spot-on as she develops the sometimes uneasy relationship between sisters Jillian, Johanna, and Payton. The book is told in Jillian’s first person voice with third person POV glimpses into Johanna and Payton’s lives. And while the story focuses mostly on Jillian, Vogt does a great job of advancing the other two’s story lines. Jillian has come out on the other side of breast cancer clinging to the hope for a return to normal. Unfortunately, there is a new normal. I am the daughter of a breast cancer survivor and have several close friends who have come through that fight, but (to my shame) I never realized the struggles that survivors face even as they get a cured report. Moments We Forgetreally opened my eyes. But while Jillian’s breast cancer journey is part of the story, it is not the final word. Her search for identity and turn towards God are more than believable. This middle daughter who has always lived with the label of just Jillian, learns a lot about herself, her marriage, her family, and the relationship she can have with God who impacts all those things.
Complex family dynamics, well-written dialog, believable characterization, relevant themes — you will find all these and more in Moments We Forget. I flew through this book and am eager to go back and read book 1, Things I Never Told You (it’s already waiting on my Kindle). I highly recommend this book — it is one of the best I have read this year.
Highly Recommended.
Audience: adults.
(Thanks to Celebrate Lit for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
About The Author
Beth K. Vogt is a nonfiction author and editor who said sheād never write fiction. Sheās the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said sheād never marry a doctorāor anyone in the military. Sheās a mom of four who said sheād never have kids. Now Beth believes Godās best often waits behind the doors marked āNever.ā A womenās fiction novelist, Bethās first novel for Tyndale House Publishers, Things I Never Told You, released May 2018.
Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015āÆRITAĀ®āÆfinalist. Her 2014 novel,āÆSomebody Like You, was one of Publishers Weeklyās Best Books of 2014. A November Bride was part of the Year of Wedding series by Zondervan. Having authored nine contemporary romance novels or novellas, Beth believes thereās more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us.
An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Novel Rocket and also enjoys speaking to writersā groups and mentoring other writers. She lives in Colorado with her husband, Rob, who has adjusted to discussing the lives of imaginary people, and their youngest daughter, Christa, who loves to play volleyball and enjoys writing her own stories. Connect with Beth at āÆbethvogt.com.
More from Beth
āA sister is like yourself in a different movie, a movie that stars you in a different life.ā
Deborah Tannen (1945-), sociologist
Iām launching Moments We Forget, book two in the Thatcher Sisters series, and Iāve just turned in the final book in the series. Iād love to share book threeās title with you, but I donāt know what it is. (Of course, book three might have a final title by the time you read thisāthatās part of the fun of prerelease deadlines.)
One thing I do know: the theme of āLittle Women gone wrongā is woven through all of the books . . . thanks to the Thatcher sisters: Payton, Pepper, Jillian, and Johanna.
Sisters, be they real or imaginary, can be complicated.
Of course, there are sisters who have close relationships. They āgetā each other and love doing life together.
But then there are the sister relationships that are like mismatched socks. Or those expensive jeans you loved in the store, but when you bring them home, they never quite live up to those moments in the dressing room.
Such are the Thatcher sisters. Johanna, Jillian, Payton, and Pepper grew up in the same family. Theyāre all tall. They love Broncos football and board games. But in so many ways their lives are like different movies because they each made different choices. Choices that changed and separated them. Moments We Forget continues to explore whether the Thatcher sisters can find a way to understand each other enough to bridge the distance between them.
I started a new book last night ā Moments We ForgetbyBeth K. Vogt ā and could not put it down. This family drama soon captured my attention and imagination. So, I just had to share it today for First Line Friday. What about you? Are you reading a book you cannot get enough of? Iād love you to share its first line.
For more fabulous first lines, head over to Hoarding Books.
Jillian Thatcher has spent most of her life playing the family peacemaker, caught in the middle between her driven, talented older sister and her younger, spotlight-stealing twin sisters. Then on the night of her engagement party, a cancer diagnosis threatens to once again steal her chance to shine.
Now, Jillianās on the road to recovery after finally finishing chemo and radiation, but residual effects of the treatment keep her from reclaiming her life as sheād hoped. And just when her dreams might be falling into place, a life-altering revelation from her husband sends her reeling again.
Will Jillian ever achieve her own dreams, or will she always be ājust Jillian,ā the less-than Thatcher sister? Can she count on her sisters as she tries to step into a stronger place, or are they stuck in their childhood roles forever?
Beth K. Vogt is a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor — or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. Now Beth believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” As a contemporary romance novelist, Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2015 RITAĀ® Finalist and a three-time ACFW Carol Award finalist.
Beth enjoys writing contemporary romance because she believes there’s more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us. Find out more about her books at bethvogt.com. An established magazine writer and former editor of Connections, the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth is also part of the leadership team for My Book Therapy, the writing community founded by best-selling author Susan May Warren. She lives in Colorado with her husband Rob, who has adjusted to discussing the lives of imaginary people, and their youngest daughter, Christa, who loves to play volleyball and enjoys writing her own stories.
Connect with Beth on her website (bethvogt.com) and her blog on quotes, In Others’ Words, or on any of these social media platforms: Facebook.com/AuthorBethKVogt Twitter.com/bethvogt Instagram.com/bethkvogt
Ok, I am going literal today with my Top 10 Tuesday post, Rainy Day Reads. Not sure if it’s pure genius or laziness that inspired my choices. š The books on my list either have a storm as part of the action or impetus for the story, or the title includes rain/storm. This may or may not be what the post should be about, but you can be assured that the books, which include a variety of genres, Ā are great reads — rain or shine!
To find out how others interpreted this week’s challenge, head over to That Artsy Reader Girl.
Rain Is In The Forecast — Books with Storms As Part of the Story Line
Wedding bells and storm clouds collide in the first engaging novel in a brand-new series about destination weddings, the power of love, and the possible mishaps and missteps that happen on a coupleās journey down the aisle to āI do.ā
As a professional storm chaser, Logan Hollister is used to taking risks. However, a reckless decision during the last tornado season has him questioning the future of his team, the Stormmeisters. Coming face to face with his ex-wife eight years after their divorce compels him to confront his greatest regret: losing Vanessa. Does their past give him the right to interfere with her future?
A fast-moving, powerful hurricane throws Vanessa and Logan together as they evacuate to a stormshelter along with other residents of the Florida Gulf Coast. Forced to spend time together, the pair battles unexpected renewed feelings for each other.
Vanessa and Logan are faced with a choice: Should they accept, once and for all, their teenage marital mistake? Or is God offering them a second chance at happily ever after?
TennysonKent is trapped on the isolated island of her childhood by a storm surge, and she is shocked when the typically idyllic community turns into the hunting grounds of a murderer. Cut off from any help from the mainland, will she and first love Callen Frost be able to identify and stop a killer bent on revenge before they become the next victims?
(This book is a novella and part of the Cost of Betrayal collection)
Elevator by Angela HuntĀ
In the path of a devastating hurricane, three very different women find themselves trapped in the elevator of a high-rise office building. All three conceal shattering secrets-unaware that their secrets center on the same man. The betrayed wife, eager to confront her faithless husband, with rage in her heart and a gun in her pocket… The determined mistress, finally ready to tell her lover she wants marriage and a family… The fugitive cleaning woman, tormented by the darkest secret of all…
Betsy and Ty Franklin, owners of Franklin Dairy Farm in southern Alabama, have long since buried their desire for children of their own. While Ty manages their herd of dairy cows, Betsy busies herself with the farmās day-to-day operations and tries to forget her dream of motherhood. But when her free-spirited sister, Jenna, drops off her two young daughters for ājust two weeks,ā Betsyās carefully constructed wall of self-protection begins to crumble.
As the two weeks stretch deeper into the Alabama summer, Betsy and Ty learn to navigate the new additions in their worldāand revel in the laughter that now fills their home. Meanwhile, record temperatures promise to usher in the most active hurricane season in decades.
Attending an art retreat four hundred miles away, Jenna is fighting her own battles. She finally has time and energy to focus on her photography, a lifelong ambition. But she wonders how her rediscovered passion can fit in with the life sheās made back home as a single mom.
When Hurricane Ingrid aims a steady eye at the Alabama coast, Jenna must make a decision that will change her familyās future, even as Betsy and Ty try to protect their beloved farm and their hearts. Hurricane Season is the story of one familyās unconventional journey to healing ā and the relationships that must be mended along the way.
Thirty-year-old Remembrance āMemā Wilkins loves her solitary life running the farm and orchard she inherited from her father and has no plans to give up her independence. Especially not for the likes of Mr. Graham Lott. But when Mem is unable to harvest the apples on her own, she accepts the help of the man she despises.
Fresh off a boat from Ireland with his four-year-old son in tow, Simon Brennan secures a building in which to ply his trade as a cobbler. Still healing from the grief of his wifeās death a year earlier, he determines to focus only on providing a good life for his son. But when he intervenes in an argument on behalf of the intriguing Miss Wilkins, sister-in-law of the tavern owner who befriends him, he suddenly finds himself crossways with his landlord, Mr. Lott, and relieved of his lease and most of his money.
With no means of support, Simon takes a job helping Mem with her harvest, relieving her of the need of Lottās help. But their growing attraction to each other makes them both uneasy. Mem gladly escapes to town when her sister begins labor, and Simon, believing it best to distance himself from Mem, takes his son and leaves.
But neither anticipates the worst gale New England has ever seen ā or that the storm will threaten all they hold dear.
One plucky female pharmacist + one high-society naval officer = romanceāand danger.
For plucky Lillian Avery, Americaās entry into World War II means a chance to prove herself as a pharmacist in Boston. The challenges of her new job energize her. But society boy Ensign Archer Vandenbergās attentions only annoyāeven if he is her brotherās best friend.
During the darkest days of the war, Archās destroyer hunts German U-boats in vain as the submarines sink dozens of merchant ships along the East Coast. Still shaken by battles at sea, Arch notices his men also struggle with their nervesāand with drowsiness. Could there be a link to the large prescriptions for sedatives Lillian has filled? The two work together to answer that question, but can Arch ever earn Lillianās trust and affection?
They say that what you donāt know canāt hurt you. Theyāre wrong.
Colom had the perfect childhood, the much-loved only child of a church pastor. Yet he wakes screaming from dreams in which his sister is drowning and he canāt save her.
Fiona turns to her husband, desperate to help their son. But David will not acknowledge that help is neededāand certainly not help from beyond the church.
Then they find the suicide pledge.
Fiona, in panic, takes Colom and fleesā¦ but when will she acknowledge that the unnamed demons Colom faces might be of her and Davidās own creation?
When your life is built around a fatherās wrath, how can you trust in the love of Father God?
Mercy Roller knows her name is a lie: there has never been any mercy in her young life. Raised by a twisted and abusive father who called himself the Pastor, she was abandoned by the church community that should have stood together to protect her from his evil. Her mother, consumed by her own fear and hate, wonāt stand her ground to save Mercy either.
The Pastor has robbed Mercy of innocence and love, a husband and her child. Not a single person seems capable of standing up to the Pastorās unrestrained evil. So Mercy takes matters into her own hands.
Her heart was hardened to love long before she took on the role of judge, jury, and executioner of the Pastor. She just didnāt realize the retribution she thought would save her, might turn her into the very thing she hated most.
Sent away by her angry and grieving mother, Mercyās path is unclear until she meets a young preacher headed to counsel a pregnant couple. Sure that her calling is to protect the family, Mercy is drawn into a different life on the other side of the mountain where she slowly discovers true righteousness has nothing evil about itāand that there might be room for her own stained and shattered soul to find shelter. . . and even love.
Mercyās Rain is a remarkable historical novel set in 19th century Appalachia that traces the thorny path from bitterness to forgiveness and reveals the victory and strength that comes from simple faith.
It took Lauren and her husband ten years to achieve their dreamāreaching primitive tribes in remote regions of Nepal. But while Sam treks into the Himalayas for weeks at a time, finding passion and purpose in his work among the needy, Lauren and Ryan stay behind, their daily reality more taxing than inspiring. For them, what started as a calling begins to feel like the familyās undoing.
At the peak of her isolation and disillusion, a friend from Laurenās past enters her life again. But as her communication with Aidan intensifies, so does the tension of coping with the present while reengaging with the past. Itās thirteen-year-old Ryan who most keenly bears the brunt of her distraction.
Intimate and bold, Of Stillness and Storm weaves profound dilemmas into a tale of troubled love and honorable intentions gone awry.
Third generation Texas Ranger Tyler Steele is the last of a dying breed ā Ā a modern day cowboy hero living in a world that doesnāt quite understand his powerful sense of right and wrong and instinct to defend those who canāt defend themselves. Despite his strong moral compass, Ty has trouble seeing his greatest weakness. His hard outer shell, the one essential to his work, made him incapable of forging the emotional connection his wife Andie so desperately needed.
Now retired, raising their son Brodie on his own, and at risk of losing his ranch, Ty does not know how to rebuild from the rubble of his life. The answer comes in the form of Samantha and her daughter Hope, on the run from a seemingly inescapable situation. They are in danger, desperate, and alone. Though they are strangers, Ty knows he can help ā Ā protecting the innocent is what he does best. As his relationship with Sam and Hope unfolds, Ty realizes he must confront his true weaknesses if he wants to become the man he needs to be.
I am very excited about the books I have coming up this Spring — lots of favorite authors with new releases! There’s a little something for everyone on my list — romance, suspense, history, women’s fiction. All are new releases and have the loveliest, Spring-y covers. I hope you find a new book you can add to your Spring TBR List!
For more of what bloggers are reading in the coming months, visit That Artsy Reader Girl.
Top 10 Books on My Spring TBR
Driftwood Bay by Irene Hannon
After tragedy upends her world, Jeannette Mason retreats to the tiny Oregon seaside town of Hope Harbor to create a new life. Vowing to avoid emotional attachments, she focuses on running her lavender farm and tea-room — until a new neighbor with a destructive dog and a forlorn little girl invades her turf. But she needn’t worry. Dr. Logan West is too busy coping with an unexpected family, a radical lifestyle change, and an unruly pup to have any interest in his aloof and disagreeable neighbor.
Yet when both Jeanette and Logan find themselves pulled into the life of a tattered Christian family fleeing persecution in war-torn Syria, might they discover that love sometimes comes calling when it’s least expected?
Bestselling and award-winning author Irene Hannon invites readers back to the charming seaside town of Hope Harbor, where they are sure to find peace, healing, and a second chance at happiness.
The Edge of Mercy by Heidi Chiavaroli
Two women, three hundred years apart, must face the devastation of all they hold dear…
Suspecting her husband is having an affair, Sarah Rodrigues fights to appear unbroken while attempting to salvage her family. Though distracted by her own troubles, Sarah is summoned to an elderly friendās deathbed for an unusual requestāfind a long-lost daughter and relay a centuries-old family story.
Determined not to fail her friend, Sarah pieces together the story of her neighborās ancestor, Elizabeth Baker, a young colonist forced into an unwanted betrothal but drawn to a man forbidden by society.
While Sarahās family teeters on the edge of collapse, her world is further shaken by the interest of a caring doctor and a terrible accident that threatens a life more precious than her own.
Inspired by the unconditional love she uncovers in Elizabethās story, Sarah strives to forgive those whoāve wounded her soul. But when light shines on the dark secrets of her neighborās past and the full extent of her husbandās sins, will looking to a power greater than herself rekindle lost hope?
The Far Side of The Sea by Kate Breslin
In spring 1918, Lieutenant Colin Mabry, a British soldier working with MI8 after suffering injuries on the front, receives a message by carrier pigeon. It is from Jewel Reyer, the woman he once loved and who saved his life–a woman he believed to be dead. Traveling to France to answer her urgent summons, he desperately hopes this mission will ease his guilt and restore the courage he lost on the battlefield.
Colin is stunned, however, to discover the message came from Jewel’s half sister, Johanna. Johanna, who works at a dovecote for French Army Intelligence, found Jewel’s diary and believes her sister is alive in the custody of a German agent. With spies everywhere, Colin is skeptical of Johanna, but as they travel across France and Spain, a tentative trust begins to grow between them.
Glory Road by Lauren K. Denton
Nearly a decade after her husbandās affair drove her back home to South Alabama, Jessie McBride has the stable life she wants ā operating her garden shop, Twig, next door to her house on Glory Road, and keeping up with her teenage daughter and spunky mother. But the unexpected arrival of two men makes Jessie question whether sheās really happy with the status quo.
When handsome, wealthy businessman Sumner Tate asks her to arrange flowers for his daughterās lavish wedding, Jessie finds herself drawn to his continued attention. Then Ben Bradley, her lingering what-could-have-been from high school, moves back to the red dirt road, and she feels her heart pulled in directions she never expected.
Meanwhile, Jessieās fourteen-year-old daughter, Evan, is approaching the start of high school and navigating a new world of emotions ā particularly as they relate to the cute new guy whoās moved in just down the road. At the same time, Jessieās mother, Gus, is suffering increasingly frequent memory lapses and faces a frightening, uncertain future.
In one summer, everything will change. But for these three strong Southern women, the roots theyāve planted on Glory Road will give life to the adventures waiting just around the curve.
The Governess of Penwythe Hall by Sarah A. Ladd
Cornwall, England, 1811
Blamed for her husbandās death, Cordelia Greythorne fled Cornwall and accepted a governess position to begin a new life. Years later her employerās unexpected death and his last request to watch over his five children force her to reevaluate. She canāt abandon the children now that theyāve lost both parents, but their new guardian lives at the timeworn Penwythe Hall . . . back on the Cornish coast she tries desperately to forget.
Jac Trethewey is determined to revive Penwythe Hallās once-flourishing apple orchards, and heāll stop at nothing to see his struggling estate profitable again. He hasnāt heard from his brother in years, so when his nieces, nephews, and their governess arrive unannounced at Penwythe Hall, he battles both grief of this brotherās death and bewilderment over this sudden responsibility. Jacās priorities shift as the children take up residence in the ancient halls, but their secretive governess ā and the mystery shrouding her past ā proves to be a disruption to his carefully laid plans.
Rich with family secrets, lingering danger, and the captivating allure of new love, this first book in the Cornwall Novels series introduces us to the Twethewey family and their search for peace, justice, and love on the Cornish coast.
The Memory House by Rachel Hauck
When Beck Holiday lost her father in the North Tower on 9/11, she also lost her memories of him. Eighteen years later, sheās a tough New York City cop burdened with a damaging secret, suspended for misconduct, and struggling to get her life in order. Meanwhile a mysterious letter arrives informing her sheās inherited a house along Floridaās northern coast, and what she discovers there will change her life forever. Matters of the heart only become more complicated when she runs into handsome Bruno Endicott, a driven sports agent who fondly recalls the connection they shared as teenagers. But Beck doesnāt remember that, either.
Decades earlier, widow Everleigh Applegate lives a steady, uneventful life with her widowed mother after a tornado ripped through Waco, Texas, and destroyed her new, young married life. When she runs into old high school friend Don Callahan, she begins to yearn for change. Yet no matter how much she longs to love again, she is hindered by a secret she can never share.
Fifty years separate the women but through the power of love and miracle of faith, they each find healing in a beautiful Victorian known affectionately as The Memory House.Ā
Moments We Forget by Beth Vogt
Jillian Thatcher has spent most of her life playing the family peacemaker, caught in the middle between her driven, talented older sister and her younger, spotlight-stealing twin sisters. Then on the night of her engagement party, a cancer diagnosis threatens to once again steal her chance to shine.
Now, Jillianās on the road to recovery after finally finishing chemo and radiation, but residual effects of the treatment keep her from reclaiming her life as sheād hoped. And just when her dreams might be falling into place, a life-altering revelation from her husband sends her reeling again.
Will Jillian ever achieve her own dreams, or will she always be ājust Jillian,ā the less-than Thatcher sister? Can she count on her sisters as she tries to step into a stronger place, or are they stuck in their childhood roles forever?
No Ocean Too Wide by Carrie Turansky
Between the years of 1869 to 1939 more than 100,000 poor British children were sent across the ocean to Canada with the promise of a better life. Those who took them in to work as farm laborers or household servants were told they were orphans — but was that the truth?
After the tragic loss of their father, the McAlister family is living at the edge of the poorhouse in London in 1908, leaving their mother to scrape by for her three younger children, while oldest daughter, Laura, works on a large estate more than an hour away. When Edna McAlister falls gravely ill and is hospitalized, twins Katie and Garth and eight-year-old Grace are forced into an orphans’ home before Laura is notified about her family’s unfortunate turn of events in London. With hundreds of British children sent on ships to Canada, whether truly orphans or not, Laura knows she must act quickly. But finding her siblings and taking care of her family may cost her everything.
Andrew Fraser, a wealthy young British lawyer and heir to the estate where Laura is in service, discovers that this common practice of finding new homes for penniless children might not be all that it seems. Together Laura and Andrew form an unlikely partnership. Will they arrive in time? Will their friendship blossom into something more?
Inspired by true events, this moving novel follows Laura as she seeks to reunite her family and her siblings who, in their darkest hours, must cling to the words from Isaiah: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God”.
The Sky Above Us by Sarah Sundin
Numbed by grief and harboring shameful secrets, Lt. Adler Paxton ships to England with the US 357th Fighter Group in 1943. Determined to become an ace pilot, Adler battles the German Luftwaffe in treacherous dogfights in the skies over France as the Allies struggle for control of the air before the D-day invasion.
Violet Lindstrom wanted to be a missionary, but for now she serves in the American Red Cross, where she arranges entertainment for the men of the 357th in the Aeroclub on base and sets up programs for local children. Drawn to the mysterious Adler, she enlists his help with her work and urges him to reconnect with his family after a long estrangement.
Despite himself, Adler finds his defenses crumbling when it comes to Violet. But D-day draws near. And secrets can’t stay buried forever.
Bestselling author Sarah Sundin returns readers to the shores of Normandy, this time in the air, as the second Paxton brother prepares to face the past — and the most fearsome battle of his life.
When He Found Me by Victoria Bylin
Once a strong Christian, third baseman Shane Riley lost his faith the night he injured his knee in a freak car accident. Determined to return to professional baseball and to find the sister he treated badly, Shane retreats to Refuge, Wyoming. There he meets Melissa June āMJā Townsend, a single mom battling the virus that causes cervical cancer.
MJ wants nothing to do with the handsome athlete ā no doubt a womanizer considering the stories in the news. But when a mistake results in Shane renting her garage apartment, they become friends. That friendship blossoms into something deep and pure, leaving MJ with a painful secret to tell. Even more complicated, she discovers an unexpected tie to Shaneās missing sister ā a wounded woman who wants nothing to do with the perfect brother who scorned her.
Thanks to the folks at The Broke And The Bookish for weekly hosting Top 10 Tuesday. This week is the Back To School Top 10. To find out what other bloggers are posting, click HERE.
School has been back in session since the last week in July here in middle Georgia. So, so glad that I don’t have any more kids in school! Oh wait, I do! My youngest son started his first year of Law School two weeks ago. My other two children have both completed Master’s degrees and on their way to outstanding careers. Yeah, I’m a bit proud!
When I read this week’s theme, I just couldn’t get the classic song Don’t Know Muchout of my head. Here’s my list in tribute to that Sam Cooke classic.
The Don’t Know Much, Back To School Top 14
Don’t know much about Ā . . .
History. I really liked European history in school. American history, not so much. So here are a few books that feature those things I didn’t pay attention to in class.
Though Waters Roar by Lynn Austin (Civil War, Women’s Suffrage, Prohibition)
Biology. When I think of biology, I think of the birds and bees. When I think of the birds and bees, I think great romances. Here are some that fit that title.
Science Books. Science? Yick! I glazed over in my HS Chemistry class and I didn’t even attempt Physics. Here are four novels that involve science but didn’t make me glaze over!
The French I Took. This may be because I took Spanish. LOL! The only French word I can say with confidence isĀ oui! These books set in France deserve a definite oui, oui!
My Brother’s Crown by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould (17th century)
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