By The Book

Indigo Isle by T. I. Lowe is billed as a contemporary romance novel, but it is so much more! Complex, flawed, and lovable characters, a strong faith element, and an HEA that had my whole book club smiling, make this book highly recommended. If you liked it too, check out the following books. They have thought-provoking themes and compelling plots perfect for buddy reading.

Before I Saw You by Amy Sorrells

An injured athlete with a chip on his shoulder. A single mom with a devastating secret. Will history haunt them, or can love set them free? 

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 “MJ” Townsend, a single mom with an adorable son and a troubled heart.

MJ wants nothing to do with the handsome athlete—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, MJ discovers an unexpected tie to Shane’s missing sister—a wounded woman facing a life-or-death decision of her own.

The Rhythm of Fractured Grace by Amanda Wen

Is Siobhan too far gone to respond to the song of a God who’s calling her back to him?

When a new customer brings a badly damaged violin into Siobhan Walsh’s shop, it is exactly the sort of challenge she craves. The man who brought it in is not. He’s too close to the painful past that left her heart and her faith in shambles.

Matt Buchanan has had a rough start as the new worship pastor. A car accident on his way into town left him with a nearly totaled truck, and an heirloom violin in pieces. When he takes it to a repair shop, he’s fascinated with the restoration process–and with the edgy, closed-off woman doing the work.

As their friendship deepens and turns into more, they both discover secrets that force them to face past wounds. And the history of the violin reveals more about their current problems than they could have ever expected.

On the nineteenth-century frontier, a gruesome tomahawk attack wiped out most of Deborah Caldwell’s family. Her greatest solace after the tragedy is the music from her father’s prized violin. Given her horrendous scars, she’d resigned herself to a spinster’s life. But Levi Martinson’s gentle love starts to chip away at her hardened heart, until devastating details about the attack are revealed, putting their love–and Deborah’s shaky faith–to the ultimate test.

Full of forgiveness and the message that no one is too damaged for God’s healing touch, the final book in the split-time Sedgwick County Chronicles will thrill fans of Rachel Hauck, Lisa Wingate, and Kristy Cambron.

When He Found Me by Victoria Bylin

An injured athlete with a chip on his shoulder. A single mom with a devastating secret. Will history haunt them, or can love set them free? 

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 “MJ” Townsend, a single mom with an adorable son and a troubled heart.

MJ wants nothing to do with the handsome athlete—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, MJ discovers an unexpected tie to Shane’s missing sister—a wounded woman facing a life-or-death decision of her own.

Tags: Amanda Wen, Amy Sorrells, general fiction, historical fiction, romance fiction, Victoria Bylin, women's fiction