Tag Archives: women's fiction

Happy Release Day! — The Stories We Carry

7 Oct

Happy release day to Christy Award-winning author Robin W. Pearson! Her latest book, The Stories We Carry, is now available! If you love thought-provoking books with characters you will fall in love with, then this Southern fiction novel is for you. Find out the details below.

A small-town bookstore owner finds herself at odds with a newcomer bent on disrupting her quiet life in this Southern women’s fiction novel by award-winning author Robin W. Pearson.

Glory Pryor has carved out a life for herself in Gilmore, North Carolina, cultivating a community around her bookstore, By the Book. While her business is a success, she carries the weight of stories of her own she’s never told anyone. She holds out hope that one day her estranged brother will turn up on her doorstep so she can finally learn where he’s been all these years. Glory’s husband Eli thinks she has her arms wrapped too tightly around the could-have-beens, and that it’s time for them to let go of the store as they head into their retirement years. Glory has different opinions on that—she’s not ready to give up the dream she’s built just yet. Then Adelle Simonette shows up with her young son, Bennett, and Glory’s carefully controlled life begins to crumble.

Newly widowed Adelle Simonette is a single mother trying to find her footing and navigate parenting her young son. Lost in her grief, one thing she’s certain of is that she needs to confront Glory Pryor and everybody who knows her because the woman’s been living a lie. Adelle thinks it’s high time Glory made things right. But Adelle’s finding it hard to tell the truth . . . and there will be no going back once she does.

In the wake of deeply personal grief and loss, two women reckon with a lifetime of silence and secrets to find a path forward toward healing, hope, and restoration.

  • Contemporary women’s fiction for fans of Denise Hunter, Vanessa Miller, Rachel Hauck, and Rhonda McKnight.
  • A small-town Southern saga that features bookish heroines and themes of family, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
  • Includes discussion questions for book clubs.

Robin W. Pearson’s writing sprouts from her Southern upbringing, her belief in Jesus Christ, and her love of her husband, seven children, and their dog, Oscar. Her novels are “rooted in the soul of the story” and include her Christy Award–winning debut, A Long Time Comin’, as well as ’Til I Want No More, Walking in Tall Weeds, and her latest, Dysfunction Junction. Robin has corrected grammar up and down the East Coast in her career as an author and editor and in her calling as a homeschooling mama of many. She loves to share about her faith and her family through her fiction; her blog, Mommy Concentrated; and at conferences such as Breathe, Fiction Readers Summit, and Vision Christian Writers; and with her friends and followers. These people and experiences are the source of all the characters living and breathing in the stories waiting to be told about her belief in Jesus Christ and the experiences at her own kitchen sink. Learn more on her website.

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October Book Club Pick — The Words We Lost

1 Oct

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book by Nicole Deese. Big omission on my part, I assure you! She is an excellent author of women’s fiction/contemporary romance. Her books just have more! My book club is reading The Words We Lost this month. I cannot wait to discuss it! Have you read it? We’d love to know your thoughts.

Three friends. Two broken promises. One missing manuscript. 

As a senior acquisitions editor for Fog Harbor Books in San Francisco, Ingrid Erikson has rejected many a manuscript for lack of defined conflict and dramatic irony–two elements her current life possesses in spades. In the months following the death of her childhood best friend and international bestselling author Cecelia Campbell, Ingrid has not only lost her ability to escape into fiction due to a rare trauma response, but she’s also desperate to find the closure she’s convinced will come with Cecelia’s missing final manuscript.

After Ingrid jeopardizes her career, she fears her future will remain irrevocably broken. But then Joel Campbell–the man who shattered her belief in happily-ever-afters–offers her a sealed envelope from his late cousin, Cecelia, asking Joel and to put their differences aside and retrieve a mysterious package in their coastal Washington hometown.

Honoring Cecelia’s last request will challenge their convictions and test their loyalties, but through it all, will Ingrid and Joel be brave enough to uncover a twice-in-a-lifetime love?

Nicole Deese is a Christy and Carol Award-winning, bestselling author of hope-filled, humorous, and heartfelt contemporary romance novels. When she’s not sorting out character arcs and story plots of her own, she can usually be found listening to an audiobook and multitasking at least four different chores at once. She’s a hoarder of sparkling water, a lover of long walks and even longer talks with friends, and a seeker of fun and adventure at all times. She lives in small-town, Idaho with her happily-ever-after hubby, two freakishly tall teenage sons, and one princess daughter with the heart of a warrior.

Find her online at http://www.nicoledeese.com.

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First Line Friday — The Stories We Carry

26 Sep

Happy Friday! I am reading a wonderful book this week — The Stories We Carry by Robin W. Pearson. The main character owns a charming bookstore — I’m in! She also has lots of secrets and baggage and past wounds that are being slowly revealed. I have already highlighted A LOT of passages. The novel releases in October, so stay tuned for my review.

Here’s the first line:

It was Glory’s childhood friend who introduced her to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, her all-time favorite book.

A small-town bookstore owner finds herself at odds with a newcomer bent on disrupting her quiet life in this Southern women’s fiction novel by award-winning author Robin W. Pearson.

Glory Pryor has carved out a life for herself in Gilmore, North Carolina, cultivating a community around her bookstore, By the Book. While her business is a success, she carries the weight of stories of her own she’s never told anyone. She holds out hope that one day her estranged brother will turn up on her doorstep so she can finally learn where he’s been all these years. Glory’s husband Eli thinks she has her arms wrapped too tightly around the could-have-beens, and that it’s time for them to let go of the store as they head into their retirement years. Glory has different opinions on that—she’s not ready to give up the dream she’s built just yet. Then Adelle Simonette shows up with her young son, Bennett, and Glory’s carefully controlled life begins to crumble.

Newly widowed Adelle Simonette is a single mother trying to find her footing and navigate parenting her young son. Lost in her grief, one thing she’s certain of is that she needs to confront Glory Pryor and everybody who knows her because the woman’s been living a lie. Adelle thinks it’s high time Glory made things right. But Adelle’s finding it hard to tell the truth . . . and there will be no going back once she does.

In the wake of deeply personal grief and loss, two women reckon with a lifetime of silence and secrets to find a path forward toward healing, hope, and restoration.

Robin W. Pearson’s writing sprouts from her Southern upbringing, her belief in Jesus Christ, and her love of her husband, seven children, and their dog, Oscar. Her novels are “rooted in the soul of the story” and include her Christy Award–winning debut, A Long Time Comin’, as well as ’Til I Want No More, Walking in Tall Weeds, and her latest, Dysfunction Junction. Robin has corrected grammar up and down the East Coast in her career as an author and editor and in her calling as a homeschooling mama of many. She loves to share about her faith and her family through her fiction; her blog, Mommy Concentrated; and at conferences such as Breathe, Fiction Readers Summit, and Vision Christian Writers; and with her friends and followers. These people and experiences are the source of all the characters living and breathing in the stories waiting to be told about her belief in Jesus Christ and the experiences at her own kitchen sink. Learn more on her website.

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Top 10 Tuesday — Fall TBR

23 Sep

Happy Tuesday! I’m finally back with another TTT post. It has been crazy the last few months, and I haven’t had the mental bandwidth to come up with lists that I think anyone would want to read. 😉 I have a few days to breathe and this week’s topic, Fall TBR, should be a no-brainer, so here is my list. I don’t have a lot of mandatory reading so this list is fairly loose — books that have caught my eye and I hope to read them in the coming weeks. Let me know which ones you have enjoyed.

For more Fall Reading Lists, please visit That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top 10 Books on My Fall TBR List

Between The Sound And Sea by Amanda Cox

Canyon of Deceit by DiAnn Mills

Echoes of A Silent Song by Amanda Wen

Final Approach by Lynette Eason

From The Valley We Rise by Elizabeth Musser

The Heart of Bennett Hollow by Joanne Bischof DeWitt

Over The Edge by Irene Hannon

Perilous Tides by Elizabeth Goddard

The Stories We Carry by Robin Pearson

The Words We Lost by Nicole Deese

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Top 10 Tuesday — Random Book Stuff

26 Aug

Happy Tuesday! This week’s TTT prompt is non-bookish freebie. My mind froze when I read this. LOL! I am a book blogger, after all, and I just can’t stop talking books. You should see me in real life. 😉 So of course I am going to ignore this and create my own topic. Sorry, really not sorry. There was an addendum to the prompt that said we could talk about bookish stuff. Whew! My list today is just a bunch of book randomness (or maybe not). Hope you enjoy!

For on topic bloggers, please visit That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Random Book Stuff

Books in translation. Of course if you took any world lit class in high school and/or college, you have read books that have been translated into your own language. But do you ever read contemporarily written books that were originally published in a language not your own. It’s rare, but I have a couple to recommend.

The Girl from The Train by Irma Joubert (Joubert lives in South Africa)

The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escobar (Escobar lives in Spain)

Books written by American authors who live(d) abroad. Building on the last thought, do you read authors who are from your home country, but live and write (at least part time) in another country? Unique perspectives!

From The Valley We Rise by Elizabeth Musser (Musser lives in Lyon, France)

My Hands Came Away Red by Lisa McKay (McKay lives with her family in Australia)

Vendetta by Lisa Harris (Harris lived in Africa for 19 years while serving as a missionary)

Books set in distant lands. The books listed below are in countries I will probably never have a chance to visit. Thanks to the authors who took their readers to a very foreign place.

The Beloved Daughter by Alana Terry (North Korea)

Farewell, Four Waters by KateMc Cord (Afghanistan)

Red Ink by Kathi Macias (China)

Two authors in my backyard (not literally 😉 ). Two Georgia-based authors you need to check out.

The Gardins of Edin by Rosey Lee

The Hunted Heir by Jayna Breigh

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Book Review: The Light on Horn Island

6 Aug

Valerie Fraser Luesse is a favorite of my book club. Her latest multi-generational women’s fiction, The Light on Horn Island, is so good! We all loved it. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you do!

Just when her life comes crumbling down, she discovers secrets that could shape her future–and heal her past. 

When Edie Gardner’s life in New York falls apart, her grandmother Adele “Punk” Cheramie coaxes her back to tiny Bayou du Chêne, Mississippi. Edie spent many happy summers there, a stone’s throw from untamed Horn Island, where she once found love. Can she now demystify the island’s strange new light?

Punk and her colorful friends introduce Edie to the Trove, a fascinating gallery and antique shop. Like Horn Island’s light, The Trove has appeared out of nowhere. Its proprietor, with a gift for discerning his customers’ needs, gives Edie a Victorian parlor game that asks players a series of personal questions, which is harmless fun at first. But Edie and her grandmother’s circle find that the game has a way of uncovering secrets, including a heartbreak that has haunted one of the women for decades. Banding together, this Southern sisterhood is determined to find answers that will bring healing, hope, and happiness–and maybe explain the transcendent illumination of a wild and windswept barrier island.

Valerie Fraser Luesse is the author of novels set in the South. An award-winning magazine writer, Luesse is perhaps best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she wrote major pieces on the Mississippi Delta, Acadian Louisiana, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Her editorial section on the recovering Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, photographed by Mark Sandlin, won the 2009 Travel Writer of the Year award from the Southeast Tourism Society. Luesse earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Auburn University and Baylor University, respectively. Find her online at valeriefraserluesse.com; facebook.com/valeriefraserluessebooks; bakerpublishinggroup.com; bookbub.com/authors/valerie-fraser-luesse; and goodreads.com.

My Impressions:

Valerie Fraser Luesse does it again! Her latest novel, The Light on Horn Island, combines history, mystery, and multi-generational relationships to create a thought-provoking story with characters that will win your heart. Set amidst the backdrop of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the story centers on Edie Gardner, a young woman who has faced a profound loss that sends her back to the comfort of her grandmother’s house and her beloved Horn Island. Luesse captures the region perfectly with the sights and the flavors described. I am very familiar with the area (my husband is a south Mississippi boy) and I felt I was cruising the highway and visiting all the picturesque towns that make up the region. Mystery abounds, including a very mysterious shop owner, as Edie and the other women navigate loss, regret, guilt, and hope for the future. My husband was a child when Hurricane Camille hit Biloxi, and he has shared memories of the devastation. Luesse does a great job of sharing the personal stories of victims and survivors alike. My favorite part of the novel is the relationships the author creates between the women. Long time friendships are heralded and new paths forward are forged — it’s an homage to women of all generations building each other up and having each other’s backs.

I highly recommend The Light on Horn Island. This book can be savored anywhere and at all times, although it would be perfect read on a porch with an ice cold drink and a view of the water. 😉

Highly Recommended.

Great for Book Clubs.

Audience: Adults.

(I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

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If You Liked . . . The Light on Horn Island

31 Jul

The Light on Horn Island by Valerie Fraser Luesse was a big hit with my book club. We all loved it! If you are looking for multi-generational women’s fiction with some mystery and history, then this book is for you! If you have already read it and would like more books like it, here are a few reading recommendations.

On Moonberry Lake by Holly Varni

Cora Matthews’s life is a mess. A broken engagement and the unexpected death of her mother have left her wondering if things will ever return to normal. Whatever “normal” is. 

It certainly isn’t what she finds at Moonberry Lake. After she receives her family’s dilapidated lakefront lodge as an inheritance–with a surprising condition attached–Cora finds her life overrun by a parade of eccentric neighbors who all have something to say and something to teach her. 

As Cora works to put her life back together, she must decide if she is willing to let go of the past, open her heart to love, and embrace the craziest version of family and home she could ever have imagined.

A Place to Land by Lauren K. Denton

Violet Figg and her sister Trudy have lived a quiet life in Sugar Bend, Alabama, since a night forty years ago that stole Trudy’s voice and cemented Violet’s role as her sister’s fierce and loyal protector. Now Trudy spends her days making sculptures from found objects and speaking through notes written on scraps of paper, while Violet runs their art shop, monitors bird activity up and down the water, and tries not to think of the one great love she gave up to keep her sister safe.

Eighteen-year-old Maya knows where everyone else belongs, but she’s been searching for her own place since her grandmother died seven years ago. Moving in and out of strangers’ houses has left her exhausted. After seeing a flyer on a gas station window for a place called Sugar Bend, Maya chooses to follow the strange pull she feels and finds herself on the doorstep of an art shop called Two Sisters.

When a boat rises to the surface of Little River in the middle of the night, the present and no-longer-buried past collide, and the future becomes uncertain for Maya, Violet, and Trudy. As history creeps continuously closer to the present and old secrets come to light, the sisters must decide to face the truth of what happened that night forty years ago, or risk losing each other and those they’ve come to love.

The Songs That Could Have Been by Amanda Wen

After a tailspin in her late teens, Lauren Anderson’s life is finally back on track. Her battle with bulimia is under control, her career is taking off, and she’s surrounded by a loving family. Then a chance meeting with Carter Douglas, her first love and the man who broke her heart, leads to old feelings returning with new strength. And suddenly her well-balanced world is thrown off kilter.

Now a TV meteorologist, Carter is determined to make amends with Lauren. After all, she still owns his heart. But the reasons they broke up aren’t lost–and those old demons are forcing him toward the same decision he faced in the past. He isn’t sure he’s courageous enough to make a different choice this time around. 

When Lauren’s elderly grandmother, Rosie, begins having nightmares about a man named Ephraim–a name her family has never heard before–a fascinating and forbidden past love comes to light. As Lauren and Carter work to uncover the untold stories of Rosie’s past in 1950s Wichita, they embark on a journey of forgiveness and second chances that will change their lives–and Rosie’s–forever. Along the way they’ll learn that God wastes nothing, his timing is perfect, and nothing is beyond his grace and redemption.

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First Line Friday — The Light on Horn Island

18 Jul

Happy Friday! If you are looking for a beach-y read, look no further than The Light on Horn Island by Valerie Fraser Luesse. Set in the early 2000s on the Mississippi coast, it also highlights devastating Hurricane Camille that hit that state in 1969. It is pure southern and pays homage to all that is great about the Mississippi gulf coast. I loved the multigenerational cast of characters and the magical element that Luesse introduces. Or is it supernatural? You decide!

Here’s the first line:

Good pimento cheese is a reason to live.

Just when her life comes crumbling down, she discovers secrets that could shape her future–and heal her past. 

When Edie Gardner’s life in New York falls apart, her grandmother Adele “Punk” Cheramie coaxes her back to tiny Bayou du Chêne, Mississippi. Edie spent many happy summers there, a stone’s throw from untamed Horn Island, where she once found love. Can she now demystify the island’s strange new light?

Punk and her colorful friends introduce Edie to the Trove, a fascinating gallery and antique shop. Like Horn Island’s light, The Trove has appeared out of nowhere. Its proprietor, with a gift for discerning his customers’ needs, gives Edie a Victorian parlor game that asks players a series of personal questions, which is harmless fun at first. But Edie and her grandmother’s circle find that the game has a way of uncovering secrets, including a heartbreak that has haunted one of the women for decades. Banding together, this Southern sisterhood is determined to find answers that will bring healing, hope, and happiness–and maybe explain the transcendent illumination of a wild and windswept barrier island.

Valerie Fraser Luesse is the author of novels set in the South. An award-winning magazine writer, Luesse is perhaps best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she wrote major pieces on the Mississippi Delta, Acadian Louisiana, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Her editorial section on the recovering Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, photographed by Mark Sandlin, won the 2009 Travel Writer of the Year award from the Southeast Tourism Society. Luesse earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Auburn University and Baylor University, respectively. Find her online at valeriefraserluesse.com; facebook.com/valeriefraserluessebooks; bakerpublishinggroup.com; bookbub.com/authors/valerie-fraser-luesse; and goodreads.com.

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Spotlight on Romantic Suspense/Women’s Fiction — The Ties That Loose

18 Jun

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for The Ties That Loose by Felicia Ferguson, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About The Book

The Ties That Loose

Title: The Ties That Loose
Author: Felicia Ferguson
Publisher: Salt & Light Publishing
Release Date: May 23, 2025
Genre: military romantic suspense / women’s fiction

Can you really trust God when life plummets out of your control?

While clearing out her mother’s estate, Dani Robicheau Kirkland makes a shocking discovery: a box containing pieces of her parents’ life hidden away after her father was declared Killed in Action in the Vietnam War. Inside she finds her mother had once clung to faith and the desperate certainty her husband was alive before she spiraled into the devastated alcoholic Dani has known.

Dani’s F-15 pilot husband, Chris, chafes under his father’s expectations to live up to his granddad’s legacy as WWII pilot. While the Bosnian War rages, Chris is tasked with a clandestine mission: flying an unsanctioned diplomat into Bosnia. But when his plane goes down due to a bird strike, Chris is trapped behind enemy lines with little hope of rescue.

Dani is terrified she’ll nosedive like her mother did, but still clings to hope and a certainty that Chris remains alive despite the Air Force’s doubts. As she searches for a way to bring Chris home and he strives to stay alive, they each battle their family histories desperate to find God’s future for them both.

Family ties ensnare them. Can God loose their grip forever?

Excerpt

Danielle Robicheau Kirkland spewed a huff, hoping to loosen her sweat-lodged bangs from her forehead. Swampy Louisiana humidity saturated Mama’s attic, thickening air already soaked with memories. Though the ladder access remained open, it offered no escape from either the heat or her duty. 

She rubbed her cheek against her shoulder, hoping to soothe the abrasive tingle from the mounds of pink insulation, an irritating result from a prior swipe with her fiberglass-covered gloves. But the prickling itch continued. Sighing, she surrendered her battle and stared at the stacks of boxes near the attic entrance. 

Christmas decorations, high school memorabilia, and childhood clothes. Nothing of earth-shattering importance, not that she’d expected it to be. Mama was neither a hoarder nor a collector. Any things of value had long been sold to finance her drinking. 

Dani smothered the flare of anger. The woman was dead. Yet here Dani was, still responsible for her. Once she finished cleaning out Mama’s house, though, she’d be free.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

About The Author

Felicia Ferguson

Felicia Ferguson achieved master’s degrees in Healthcare Administration and Speech-Language Pathology, but has written since childhood and dreamed of authoring books that teach and inspire others. An award-winning fiction and non-fiction freelance writer, she has published several devotions and sweet romance short stories. Her passion, however, is writing women’s fiction and romantic suspense with strong female characters who work through their traumas and tragedies using biblical principles and counseling techniques.

As a child, Felicia lived in Kansas, Texas, and Louisiana before her family settled on a horse and cattle farm in Kentucky. As an adult, she lived in Tennessee for two years and later spent ten years in the Florida panhandle soaking up the sand and sun. But then God moved her once again. This time out of the South and into the mountains of Colorado. When she’s not glued to her laptop, Felicia enjoys hiking, Bible studies with friends, and looking forward to the next story.

Connect with Felicia by visiting feliciafergusonauthor.com to follow her on social media and subscribe to email updates.

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a That’s So 90s Trivia Game, in honor of the book being set in the 1990s!

The Ties That Loose JustRead Tours blog giveaway

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight June 16, 2025 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on June 23, 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 JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

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

JustRead Publicity Tours

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Top 10 Tuesday — Summer TBR

17 Jun

Happy Tuesday! Is it hot where you are? It is here in the sunny South, so that means it is officially Summer! of course, it is often hot here in the Spring and Autumn as well, but Summer is a special kind of hot. Some refer to it as Satan’s front porch. 😉 And let’s not even talk about the humidity! But the AC and ceiling fans that are obligatory here keep our reading environment cool and dry, so don’t feel too bad for us. Today bloggers are listing their Summer TBRs. I have a few projects that are keeping my pleasure reading at a minimum, but I do have a few books that will be well deserved breaks. I’ve only listed a few, but they are highly anticipated.

What are you reading this Summer?

For more Summer TBRs, check out That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Books on My Summer TBR

Becoming Madame Secretary by Stephanie Dray

For A Lifetime by Gabrielle Meyer

The Highland Heist by Pepper Basham

The Light on Horn Island by Valerie Fraser Luesse

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