When I convinced my friends to join me in a scheme to play the stock market, it paid off beyond our expectations. Honestly, most days I don’t even remember that I’m a billionaire. But it was big news for my family. In fact, my cousin made me guardian of her son in the event something happened to her.
At face value, it sounds kind of nice.
But I never really knew my cousin.
And I only found out about her decision a week before the kid showed up on my doorstep.
Thankfully, the woman who brought the boy out to me on the plane is willing to stay and be his nanny.
Since all the local daycares have a waiting list, I don’t have the luxury of being picky. Maybe I have reservations about sharing my home with a beautiful woman, but it’s a completely professional relationship.
She’s going to look after the kid.
I’m going to look after my heart.
Narelle’s Thoughts:
I loved reading The Billionaire’s Nanny, the first book in Elizabeth Maddrey’s Billionaire Next Door series. Scott is a down-to-earth software developer who recently became a billionaire. His new found wealth from his stock market windfall hasn’t really changed his everyday life. He bought a new car, and his mother enjoys giving his money away via his charitable foundation. Scott still goes to work every day and he lives in a small apartment in the Old Town district of Washington DC by the river.
Scott’s mother wasn’t shy about sharing the exciting news about Scott’s billionaire status with her family. Scott’s cousin passes away, and he discovers the cousin he barely knew has named him the guardian of her three year old son, Beckett.
Whitney is a wannabe actor, originally from Kansas, who lives in L.A. Her best friend unexpectedly passes away while Whitney is babysitting her friend’s son, Beckett. Whitney is attached to the little boy, and she’s shocked when she learns Beckett’s billionaire cousin is now his guardian. Whitney convinces the lawyer handling the custody situation to allow her to accompany Beckett on the flight to the East Coast. Whitney’s plan is to try and convince the billionaire cousin to give her custody of Beckett.
Whitney’s plan is turned upside down, and she ends up being employed by Scott as Beckett’s live-in nanny. Scott has the money to make the necessary changes to accomodate Beckett’s needs, including buying a beautiful townhouse and converting the top level into a self-contained studio apartment for Whitney. Beckett is adorable, and I loved seeing him bond with Scott and Whitney.
A sweet friends-to-more romance unfolds as both Scott and Whitney fight their feelings for each other, and try to maintain a strictly professional relationship. Whitney fits into Scott’s world. They both attend the same church, and Whitney makes friends with the girls connected to Scott’s friend group. The propriety of their living arrangements, in the context of their developing romantic relationship, is also addressed in a realistic way in the story. I recommend The Billionaire’s Nanny to contemporary romance readers who like single dad romances with a humble billionaire hero and a relevant faith element in the story.
A runaway bride and her would-be rescuer cowboy, stranded together in a remote cabin in a rogue snowstorm… Itinerant farrier Noah Cavanagh has driven in some of the worst conditions in western Montana, yet this whiteout has him considering options for holing up until the storm passes. Then he spots a car that slid off the remote highway. A Good Samaritan like him can’t let the stranded woman freeze to death out here on her own.
Taryn Bellamy’s unwelcome discovery had billowed her previous niggles about her fiancé into full-blown doubt, so she’d driven right on by the wedding venue. Instead of Hawaii-bound on her honeymoon, she’s now stuck — literally — in a spring blizzard. When a cowboy in a solid-looking truck stops and suggests she join him at a nearby ranch to wait out the storm, her spidey-senses are on full alert, but what choice does she have?
Can Noah constrain himself before he tries to rescue Taryn from everything else in her life, too? Because some things are beyond the help of a knight in shining armor.
Tied down with family and work responsibilities, Sharpe Winslow has always wondered about the world outside his small Colorado town. When newcomer Emma Fitzpatrick finds herself unsure about caring for the brother she never knew about, Sharpe and his rescue pup, Baloo, step in and take the boy under their wing. Sharpe knows he shouldn’t get close to Emma or Aidan. But maybe they’ll give him a reason to stay…
Neither is looking for a new family. But that may be just what they find in Hope Springs…
After surviving a brain aneurysm, Bethany is happy to simply get through each day without forgetting to pack her daughter a lunch or pick her up from school. She’s been a single mom since Ruby was born, and that’s the way she likes it. She’s found family in the large group of friends who have welcomed her and her daughter in Hope Springs. She doesn’t need a special someone. Especially not one as grumpy as James.
Five years after losing everything, James is perfectly fine. Too bad his boss doesn’t see it that way. When he’s forced to take some time off, James goes to help his sister at her stables in Hope Springs. He has no intention of getting to know anyone else there, least of all the forgetful—albeit intriguing—Bethany and her daughter Ruby. They remind him too much of everything he’s lost.
But between his sister’s matchmaking efforts and Ruby’s hints that she thinks James would make a great dad, both start to long for something more. When a new tragedy looms, they have to decide if love is worth the risk—or if they’d be better off forgetting they’d ever met at all.
Four years after getting the biggest break of his life, Cameron Lee’s music career has taken a nosedive, leaving him two options: become a sellout or give up on his lifelong dream. He reluctantly returns home for his sister’s wedding, hoping to avoid his past and find his love for music again.
Single mom Lexie Walters has suffered her fair share of tragedies and setbacks, but she has finally scraped together the money to achieve her dream of going into business with her cousin as an interior designer. When Lexie’s life is at an all-time high, she runs into her teenage crush, Cameron Lee.
Lost in the emotional turmoil of failure, Cameron is immediately drawn to Lexie and her infectious smile and optimistic spirit. Moreover, he adores her mouthy, no-holds-barred daughter. But fantasies only last so long, and soon Lexie and Cameron must face the real world, the one fraught with heartbreak, disappointment, and questions that sometimes can only be answered by a leap of faith.
When Eli Ross left Prince Edward Island to join the NHL, he left a broken family behind. More than a decade later, he’s broke and headed home to an uncertain welcome. He wants to make things right with the family he wronged, but his mom’s business partner isn’t making it easy. To top it off, the coaching job he’s accepted turns out to be far more difficult than he anticipated.
For years, Violet Donaghy has put everything she had into making Eli’s mom’s ceramics shop a success, and she’s not eager to forgive the man who hurt the family that’s taken her in as one of their own. But when the kiln at the shop starts a fire that nearly destroys the studio, she’ll need all the help she can get to save the business and their summer income.
Can these two strong-willed people come together to mend the broken pieces of the Ross family? Or will the ghosts of the past continue to haunt them?
Return to Prince Edward Island for a romantic story of family, forgiveness, and the power of love.
She’s a high-fashion realtor; he’s a low-maintenance mechanic. What on earth could they have in common?
Dressed in designer labels and cruising around town in her red Mercedes, workaholic realtor Harper Wilson presents the picture of success in charming Maple Falls. But Harper’s carefully cultivated image is resting on a shaky foundation. With a sudden drought in sales, she’s starting to see her professional dreams—along with her posh lifestyle—slipping away.
Car trouble brings her to mechanic Rusty Jenkins, and their unlikely friendship is taken to the next level when the laid-back Rusty allows her to give him a makeover for a charity bachelor auction. Harper soon discovers that beneath the town mechanic’s wild beard and grease-stained clothing lies a true Southern gentleman—someone with a kind heart and dreams of his own. Their chemistry is undeniable, but as they get closer, past fears and relationships start to creep in, reminding them of just how much is at stake when carefully constructed facades fall apart.
Maybe their worlds aren’t so separate after all. And maybe covering up who you really are keeps you from discovering what was always meant to be.
Why do weddings do their best to ruin relationships? Friends, family—even the couple!
Beth Stevens didn’t come to the Independence Islands to find a guy, but thanks to her beloved Gram, she had a place to go and the skills to start a business she loves. Meeting Scott again and getting engaged was a bonus she only dreamed of.
Now, in the final weeks before their Christmas Eve wedding, she can’t imagine not having him in her life. They have endured one hurdle after another in their two-year relationship and have remained devoted through it all.
And then months of wedding planning begins to fall apart as one person continues to undermine Beth’s choices.
Scott has waited for this day to come but as he witnesses Beth unravel, he does everything he knows to do to protect and stand by her.
The question is, will things ever come together enough to get them both to the altar before it’s too late?
This Breakers Head novel is Melissa Wardwell’s final novel in the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters.
Helping her grandmother sell the farm and escaping back to Chicago are all Molly Jansen wants out of this trip—not to reunite with her ex. Single father Jack Behrens will always be the man who broke her heart even if he is the current tenant farmer. But turning Jack and his son out—and not catching feelings for them—might prove more difficult than she realized…
Bridget Connelly dreams of buying her boss’s veterinary clinic and starting her own business—but so does auditor Sawyer Blume. Despite her trust issues toward men, it’s hard to stay rivals when Sawyer’s traumatized daughter bonds with Bridget’s adorable pup. And when another buyer tries to outbid them both, working together might give them everything they want…including each other.
Gloriana Prescott has returned to her Texas hometown to make amends—even if the townsfolk she left behind aren’t ready to forgive. But when her mother’s ranch manager, Justin Broussard, is tasked with saving the struggling rodeo so his teen daughter can compete, Gloriana sees a chance to prove she’s really changed. But can she prove to Justin, and the town, that she’s trustworthy?
After capturing a murder on her camera, photographer Amy Baker becomes the next target—but her identical twin is killed instead. Now on the run with her sister’s newborn, Amy has only one person to turn to—Detective Keith Young, her childhood crush. But when they discover Keith is the baby’s father, can he regain Amy’s trust to keep them safe…before the killer strikes again?
Can an officer and her furry partner survive a killer and the wilderness?
When Rocky Mountain K-9 officer Harlow Zane and her cadaver dog, Nell, join the search for a serial killer, the last thing she expects is that she’ll draw the killer’s obsessive attention. But her former academy rival, FBI Special Agent Wes Grey, notices she matches the victim profile. After another look-alike goes missing, they must work together to catch the criminal…before Harlow’s the next to disappear.
On the run in the Rockies with a deadly storm looming…
With her husband’s killer released from prison, former US Marshal Brianna Thomas’s fake identity is no longer enough to protect her and her little girl. The man’s dead set on killing anyone involved in his arrest, and the only person Brianna can trust is her late husband’s partner, ex-marshal Gideon Stratham. Snowbound in the Rockies, she and Gideon must work together to survive the storm and a convict’s vengeance.
Exposing a gang’s leader… is the only way out of danger
While flying above the Texas border, helicopter pilot Tara Jean “TJ” Baskins witnesses a brutal murder. Now a deadly arms-smuggling gang wants her out of the way. To stay alive, TJ must work with border patrol officer Trace Leyton—her old friend and the man who once betrayed her—to catch the ringleader. But when the search leads to Trace’s family, can TJ trust him to save her?
Two convicts on the loose and threats around every corner…
Pursuing a dangerous bail-jumper has bounty hunter Hayley Ryan barely escaping an attack by the fugitive. Hunting the same escapee compels Hayley to team up with rival Jack Colter until their manhunt results in the discovery of another criminal—one who’s been missing for years. Can they—and their uneasy partnership—survive their search for not one but two notorious escaped felons?
When podcaster Kate McAllister focuses her show on the cold case of a missing teenage girl, Detective Mack Snyder is determined to keep the case his father solved closed. But as Kate’s investigation reveals new clues, she starts to receive death threats. And when the threats increase, Kate and Mack must decide what could be worth more—justice or their lives.
When former Navy SEAL Hudson Carmichael sets out to rescue a woman in danger and bring her to Vanishing Ranch for refuge, he knows exactly what he needs to do. But his plan is thrown off course when he comes face-to-face with his dead fiancée.
When Teagan Murphy unwillingly became entangled in the Farino crime family, she had no choice but to leave Hudson—and her entire life—behind. Now, as the stakes are raised, Teagan must find a way to disappear . . . again. She never expects Hudson, the only man she’s ever loved, to be the one to rescue her. But he’s here, and he has questions that need answers.
As Hudson and Teagan work together to gain her freedom, they once again find themselves hoping for what might have been. But one secret is keeping Teagan alive—a secret that has the power to change everything.
After being forced to kill an FBI agent gone rogue in self-defense while working in the violent crimes unit for the Investigative Services Branch, ranger Madison Thorn is comfortable with her move to the fraud and cyber division. At least numbers don’t lie. So she’s less than thrilled when a white-collar crime investigation in Natchez, Mississippi, turns violent. She could also do without being forced to work with former-childhood-enemy-turned-infuriatingly-handsome park ranger Clayton Bradshaw.
When a woman who looks just like Madison is attacked on the same night Madison’s grandfather is shot, it becomes clear that there is something much bigger going on here and that Madison herself is in danger. Madison and Clayton will have to work together–and suppress their growing feelings for one another–if they are to discover the truth before it’s too late.
USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Patricia Bradley closes out her popular Natchez Trace Park Rangers series with this complex story of family secrets, mixed motives, and learning to trust.
FBI special agent Julianna Jameson is a top-notch negotiator who has never lost a hostage. Surely she can manage to take care of her much younger sister, Dottie, who showed up unannounced to live with Julianna while she finished her senior year of high school.
A former sniper with the 75th Ranger Regiment, Clay Fox left the army after a tragic incident that he can’t get past. Now he’s working as a high school resource officer until he can figure out what to do with the rest of his life.
Their paths cross when Julianna is called in to negotiate a courtroom hostage situation involving Clay’s sister. Impressed and a bit intimidated by the calm, capable woman with the dark hair and blue eyes, Clay invites her to speak at his school. Dottie’s school.
But as the anniversary of a school shooting from Julianna’s past approaches, it becomes clear that her perfect record is about to be tested and that Dottie is at risk. If Julianna and Clay can’t figure out who’s behind the attacks, more innocent people will die–and Dottie is next in line.
This intense story of revenge and redemption from bestselling author and master of suspense Lynette Eason will have you up all night as you race toward the explosive finish.
Risking their hearts and their lives while protecting the innocent . . .
Framed for her ex-husband’s murder…
Detective Maggie Chandler is shocked to stumble across her ex-husband’s dead body, but being a prime suspect is even worse. When her boss takes her badge and gun, she feels helpless. Until a blast from the past, Dallas Hoffman blows into her life. The former Navy SEAL, and biological father to her daughter is the last thing she needs. Until a gunman takes a shot at her, nearly hitting their daughter, leaving Maggie little choice but to accept Dallas’s help in protecting them.
Dallas is shocked to discover he had an eight-year-old daughter, but his anger toward Maggie quickly fades in the face of danger. Whoever had killed her ex-husband is now coming after her. His primary goal is to keep Maggie and their daughter safe. His chocolate lab K9, Romeo is more than willing to help in that regard. And when Laney is kidnapped, Dallas and Romeo will risk everything to save her. Reunited as they fight for the truth, will Dallas convince Maggie to give their love another chance?
When a baby goes missing… The ink was barely dry on the contract Bristol Steele had signed for Steele Guardians to provide security for a metro hospital when a baby is abducted from the birthing center. Horrified and devastated for the family, Bristol puts everything in her life aside to find the abducted child and return the baby to her devastated parents. But when FBI Agent Jared Wolfe steps in and tries to shut down her efforts, Bristol isn’t prepared for the emotions that resurface from their long-ago summer romance.
She’ll risk everything, even her life. Bristol can’t back down and soon finds herself working alongside Jared. She struggles to make sure her growing feelings for him aren’t a distraction, but as she tugs at Jared’s heart and he makes his feelings clear, she’s not sure she’s succeeding. Maybe she does need to back off for the good of the missing baby, but that might leave her company’s reputation in the dirt and proving her abilities to her father has always been her driving force.
A prophet’s heart broken, a woman’s joy gone. What does Yahweh have planned for His people?
On the brink of Jerusalem’s demise, devoted priest, Ezekiel, sees the insincerity of Judah’s worship. Despite his efforts to call the people back to true worship of Yahweh, priests, artisans, valiant warriors, and royals are exiled to Babylon. When God gives him messages of continued judgment for the people in his homeland, his heart breaks. How can he minister to the people from so far away?
The presence of the Lord is tangible when Shiriel sings in the temple, and her voice prepares the hearts of many to worship. When she is exiled to Babylon, her faith is shaken. Does the Lord’s presence extend beyond Jerusalem and His holy temple?
Ezekiel is struck mute and paralyzed as he begins his prophetic ministry, and Shiriel devises a plan to get the Lord’s message back to the unfaithful people of Judah. Shiriel struggles with discontentment as serving the Lord looks nothing like she’d imagined. Can she provide for her family and carry out her husband’s ministry when her joy is gone, and her own dreams are placed on hold?
How will Yahweh save His people from themselves? Find out in Ezekiel’s Song!
When an engagement of convenience becomes anything but convenient . . .
Forced into a betrothal with a widower twice her age, Charleston socialite, Sophia Fairfield is desperate for an escape. But, while her fiancé is away on business, he assigns his handsome stepson, Carver, the task of looking after his bride-to-be. Much to her dismay, Sophia finds herself falling in love with the wrong gentleman—a man society would never allow her to marry, given Sophia was supposed to be his new stepmother. The only way to save Carver from scandal and financial ruin is to run away, leaving him and all else behind to become a Harvey Girl waitress at the Castañeda Hotel in New Mexico.
Carver Ashton has had his life planned out for him since birth, but when he encounters Sophia Fairfield, he glimpses a new life—apart from his overbearing stepfather’s business. But, when the woman he loves disappears before he can express his devotion, Carver abandons all to find her. However, his stepfather has other intentions for Sophia and will stop at nothing until she is his bride . . . even if it is against her will.
She needs a new start…He knows a reckoning is coming.
Banished from Charleston for his misdeeds years earlier, Joshua Becket built a new life on both sides of the law in Jamaica. As sugar plantation owner and member of the governing British Assembly, he’s known and respected on the island. But he guards a secret identity. As swashbuckling Captain Jay, he leads daredevil privateering exploits on his ship, the Eagle, when the mood suits him. Currently, he needs a governess for his young daughter whose mother has passed.
Widowed gentlewoman Abigail Welch accepted the governess position, leaving behind her disintegrated life in Charleston. This new start in Jamaica might finally help her find healing for her broken heart after losing her husband in the Revolution and their infant son to yellow fever.
Joshua’s precocious, undisciplined daughter is the drawing card that brings him and Abigail together like clashing cymbals of disagreement…and fiery attraction. Can love and the miracle power of God give them a new beginning and a happily ever after?
Visit historic American landmarks through the Doors to the Past series. History and today collide in stories full of mystery, intrigue, faith, and romance.
De Smet, South Dakota—1890 Young women growing up in DeSmet live by two rules: don’t go out in a snowstorm and don’t give your heart to Cap Garland. Young Mariah Patterson only managed to obey one. Orphaned and having devoted her youth to scrapping out a life with her brother Charles, Mariah finds herself with no interesting suitors or means of support. Throwing caution to the wind, she seizes an opportunity to lay her feelings at Cap’s feet, even though she knows Cap sees the world through the torch he carries for Laura Ingalls. Mariah is certain her love for Cap will be strong enough to break both bonds, and she’s willing to risk everything to prove it.
De Smet, South Dakota—1974 Trixie Gowan is the fourth generation of living Gowan women residing in the sprawling farmhouse on the outskirts of De Smet. Well, former resident. She’s recently moved to Minneapolis, where she writes ads for a neighborhood paper edited by Ron Tumble. She might live and work in the city, but her co-workers still call her Prairie Girl. Thus the inspiration for her comic strip—“Lost Laura”—in which a bespectacled girl in a calico dress tries to make her way in the city. The name is a quiet rebellion having grown up in a household where she’d been forbidden to mention the name, Laura Ingalls. But when her great-grandmother Mariah’s declining health brings Trixie home for a visit, two things might just keep her there: the bedside manner of Dr. Campbell Carter and the family secret that seems to be spilling from GG’s lips one conversation at a time.
Prince Everett and Princess Abigail have enjoyed over twenty years of marital bliss. After receiving tragic news from the palace, their lives will be changed forever. While their marriage is in distress, another problem arises. Prince Adrien, heir to the throne, has made a decision that could impact both the future of his family as well as the kingdom. With the help of old friends, Abigail attempts to secure the future of both her son and kingdom. As the plan is set in motion it quickly begins to unravel. Torn between love and duty, will Adrien rise to the challenge and prove that he’s worthy of the crown?
The Wyoming Territory is rife with lawlessness and disorder, something Annie Ledbetter and her parents discover when their wagon train is robbed. Seven years later, Annie settles into her lifelong dream as a teacher in the small town of Willow Falls. When she meets handsome rancher Caleb Eliason through a humorous misunderstanding, she is quickly drawn to his kind heart and charming smile.
Former outlaw Caleb Eliason embraces his chance at a fresh start. Gone are the days of robbing stagecoaches and wagon trains. When he falls in love with the new Willow Falls teacher, he doesn’t realize they’ve met before—under much different circumstances. When his past comes to light, will it put the growing love between them at risk?
Can forgiveness and redemption heal two broken hearts or will the past keep them from sharing a future?
For eighteen years, she tried to believe she had made the right decision—for him.
But if she never saw him again, how could she ever be sure?
Melissa had clung to the thin thread of hope given by the adoption agency that someday her newborn son might want to connect with her. When his eighteenth birthday arrived, she called the agency to simply update her contact information, not expecting a response.
Susan and Jimmy Colton had raised their boy with openness about his adoption. After the heartbreaking loss of two infant sons that marked their early years of marriage, they promised themselves they would try not to hold too tightly to David or hold back any information he wanted about his birth. And so they waited on him.
David was hesitant to talk about the questions and curiosities about his birth story that often haunted him. But as he neared adulthood, his need to know the full story of his life became something he couldn’t shake. Until the call came to the Coltons from the adoption agency, and the first tentative bits of communication and connection set in motion a story that would change all their lives forever.
From the team that brought you the movies Courageous and War Room comes Lifemark, the novelization of the new film inspired by a true story of adoption, redemption, and hope.
Two courageous young women, tied together by blood and shared passion, will risk everything to save what they love most.
For as long as she can remember, Allie Massey, a gifted physical therapist, has dreamed of making her grandparents’ ten-acre estate into a trauma recovery center using equine therapy–a dream her grandmother, Nana Dale, embraced wholeheartedly. But when her grandmother’s will is read, Allie is shocked to learn the property has been sold to a developer.
Decades earlier, headstrong Dale Butler’s driving passion is to bring home the prized filly her family lost to the Great Depression, but with World War II looming, she’s called upon in ways she never could have imagined. And while her world expands to include new friends and new love, tragedy strikes close to home one fateful night during the Battle of the Atlantic, changing her life forever.
As Nana Dale’s past comes to light in Allie’s search for answers, Dale’s courage and persistence may be just what Allie needs to carry on her grandmother’s legacy and keep her own dreams alive.
Waiting to be deployed on a critical mission, elite Marine Raider Matthew Redd stops to help a stranger and wakes up hours later to learn his team was wiped out in an ambush. Unable to remember anything, Redd can’t deny the possibility that he’s somehow responsible for the information leak that led to the massacre. He’s given a deal to avoid a charge of treason, but it means walking away from the Corps and the life he loved.
As he faces his loss, Matty gets a cryptic message from his adoptive father, J. B.: “Trouble’s come knocking. . . . Might need your help.” He points his truck home to rural Montana, only to discover that J. B. is dead and the explanation for his death is far from satisfying. Determined to dig up the truth, Redd uncovers a dark global conspiracy with his hometown at the center and no team at his back—except one he might find among past friends, old enemies, and new allies, if he can figure out who to trust.
Time is running out. Cities are being engulfed in the Mist and humanity is on the brink of extinction. Theo believes he has found a way to stop mankind from Turning, but he doesn’t know how to alter Cass’s unique blood into a cure. Or if it can even be done.
Meanwhile, Cass struggles with the idea that she is possibly the savior of the world—a world she is not sure is worth saving.
From the Winchester manse to the steel city of Decadenn, there is something more chasing Cass than the House of Lords or the masked man who can walk in the Mist. Soon she must decide if she will use her blood to save mankind or let those who only care about themselves perish.
A runaway bride and her would-be rescuer cowboy, stranded together in a remote cabin in a rogue snowstorm…
Itinerant farrier Noah Cavanagh has driven in some of the worst conditions in western Montana, yet this whiteout has him considering options for holing up until the storm passes. Then he spots a car that slid off the remote highway. A Good Samaritan like him can’t let the stranded woman freeze to death out here on her own.
Taryn Bellamy’s unwelcome discovery had billowed her previous niggles about her fiancé into full-blown doubt, so she’d driven right on by the wedding venue. Instead of Hawaii-bound on her honeymoon, she’s now stuck — literally — in a spring blizzard. When a cowboy in a solid-looking truck stops and suggests she join him at a nearby ranch to wait out the storm, her spidey-senses are on full alert, but what choice does she have?
Can Noah constrain himself before he tries to rescue Taryn from everything else in her life, too? Because some things are beyond the help of a knight in shining armor.
Narelle’s Thoughts:
I loved reading Choose Me for Always, Coyboy, the fifth book in Valerie Comer’s Cavanagh Cowboys Romance series set in Montana. Noah is a farrier who travels around the ranches in the region for work, including Saddle Springs. He’s on the road, not far from Kalispell, when an unexpected blizzard catches him, and everyone else, by surprise.
Noah decides his best plan is to stay at a nearby ranch and ride out the storm. He’s looking for the turn to the ranch when he spots a white BMW sports car stuck in a ditch by the side of the road. He stops to help, and offers the young woman in the car a ride to a safe place to shelter, and is stunned to discover her luggage includes a puffy wedding gown in a garment bag!
Taryn never thought she’d become a runaway bride. An overheard conversation between her father and former fiancé just before her wedding day in Kalispell puts doubts in her mind and a last minute determination to escape the controlling men in her life. The blizzard caught her unawares, and threw a major spanner in her impulsive escape plans.
Taryn and Noah are stuck together in a rustic cabin, with no electricity, for the duration of the blizzard. Noah can’t resist rescuing a damsel in distress and taking practical steps to fix some of her immediate problems, including a job and a place to stay. Taryn is grateful for Noah’s help, but shes rebounding out of a toxic relationship, and it’s too soon for thoughts of romance with the handsome cowboy who has his own trust and commitment issues.
A lovely and thought provoking friends to more romance develops between Noah and Taryn as they unpack their emotional baggage and address faith issues. I enjoyed catching up with characters from previous books in the series, and characters from connected series. I recommend Choose Me for Always, Cowboy to contemporary romance readers who like cowboy romances with the runaway bride trope and a strong faith element in the story.
Today I have released the 2nd Edition ebook at Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Seaside Proposal (Sydney Sweethearts Book 3) has a new cover and updated technology in the story. The paperback will be available soon. The mass market paperback with the old cover is unavailable because the publishing rights in all formats have reverted to me.
Here’s the Book Description:
Billie Radcliffe has a secret.
And she isn’t sharing it with anyone, including Zach Montford. Even though she feels an instant connection with the good-looking banker and youth leader, she’s wary of rejection. Besides she’s only in the close-knit beach community until she meets the one man who can fill in the blanks about her history.
Zach hopes his temporary stint with the church will help him decide whether to go into full-time ministry. Though his career plans are uncertain, he’s sure about his growing feelings for Billie. When a shocking revelation throws everything into question, Zach and Billie have a chance to put the past to rest … and walk into the future together.
Tuck is determined to keep Laurie safe, even if it means risking his own heart in the process.
Police Officer Tuck Chandler works hard to protect the citizens of Kitner, Texas. He’s also good at holding women at arm’s length. Jilted by his fiancée for his dedication to his job, he’s not about to open himself up to hurt like that again.
Laurie Blake is a struggling photographer. After growing up in a wealthy family, she’s determined to make it on her own, even if it means doing it the hard way.
When Tuck is assigned to a puzzling burglary involving Laurie’s fledgling photography business, he goes into it with his usual perseverance. He wants to help her – if she’ll let him. As the case unfolds and the mystery deepens, another question arises.
Will their pasts get in the way of a future together?
Narelle’s Thoughts:
I enjoyed reading Finding Peace, the first book in Melanie D. Snitker’s Love’s Compass series set in a small town in North Texas. Laurie is a photographer who is determined to prove she can set up a successful photography business without needing money from her wealthy parents. She rents a store front with an upstairs apartment in an area of town that’s affordable but not necessarily the safest neighborhood.
Tuck is a policeman who responds to a call out by Laurie because her car has been broken into outside her photography studio. Not long after the car burglary, Tuck is called out again for a break and enter at Laurie’s studio. A lovely friends-to-more romance develops when Tuck hires Laurie to photograph his adorable four year old nephew, Gideon. Laurie specialises in family photography of special needs children, and she understands how to communicate and relate to Gideon who is on the autism spectrum.
I loved the mystery and suspense in the story that was related to the burglaries, and how it played out and impacted on Tuck and Laurie’s romantic relationship. Laurie purchases a weapon for self protection reasons. She knows her personal safety may be at risk, and she visits the practice range with Tuck to learn how to safely manage and store the weapon. I recommend Finding Peace to contemporary romance readers who like small town Texas romances with a mystery thread in the story and a light faith element.
She’s been alone for years. Can this secret agent convince her to love again?
Jan Clark lost her firefighter husband ten years ago. She fills her days running Stories and Scones and doting on her first grandchild. Finding someone new feels like betraying the husband she loved for decades, and the thought of tragically losing someone again is terrifying. But Pete O’Rourke is handsome, charming, and makes her feel young again—and what could be safer than an insurance agent?
Pete moved back to Freedom, Colorado after 25 years as a CIA operative, not that anyone around here thinks he did anything but sit at a desk. Now, he is content with his quiet life as an insurance agent and real estate investor. When he finally convinces the lovely widow, Jan, to give a relationship a shot, everything seems to be falling into place. Until an unexpected visitor from his past arrives in Freedom and threatens to ruin the holiday.
Now, Pete is pulled back into the dangerous secrets of his past. He’ll do anything to protect his town and the woman he loves, but the high stakes could be too much for their fledgling relationship to handle.
Return to Freedom, Colorado and enjoy the faith, friendships, and forever-afters of the Heroes of Freedom Ridge in this Christian Christmas Romance.
Believing the Hero is book 9 in the Heroes of Freedom Ridge series, but each of the books can be read on its own.
Narelle’s Thoughts:
I enjoyed reading Believing the Hero, book 9 in the Heroes of Freedom Ridge multi-author series set in a small town in Colorado. Pete is a retired CIA operative who returned to his home town many years ago. Few people in town know he used to be secret agent, and he’s happy to work in insurance and leave his old life behind. Jan is a widow who runs a book store cafe and adores spending time with her first grandchild. Jan has known Pete for years, and they’ve started to care for each other as more than friends.
Just when Pete thinks it’s safe to have a personal life and develop a romantic relationship, a threat from his past throws a big spanner in his plans to move his relationship with Jan from friends into romance territory. Jan has baggage from her past that makes it hard for her to manage dangerous situations and risk loving Pete.
The story takes place over Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I loved the skiing and snowy mountains resort story setting. I recommend Believing the Hero to contemporary romance readers who like friends-to-more mature romance novellas with a light suspense thread and a strong faith element in the story.
Believing the Hero by Tara Grace Ericson is a 2022 ACFW Carol Award finalist in the Novella category.
Happy Christmas in July! Welcome to the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway, which runs July 15-22, 2022 (contest closes at 8 p.m. Eastern on 7/22). At the bottom of each author’s blog post, you will find the name of a Christmas song. Write them all down and provide all the song titles (26 in total) on this Google form. Click here for a list ofall participating authors and their links!
Note: You must grab all the song titles from every author in the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway to be eligible to win the grand prize of a $520 Amazon gift card, plus a copy of each participating author’s book OR first place prize of a copy of each participating author’s book. At the end of this blog post is a link to the next blog, and so on, to the final blog post (26 authors in all).
I’m an Aussie who lives in the Southern Hemisphere, and we celebrate Christmas in the middle of summer. Christmas in July is fun to celebrate in Australia because it’s winter here with frosty mornings and the potential for snow. I live in Canberra, Australia, and we get excited to see snow fall and actually stay on the ground for a few hours. A white Christmas in July is a rare and special treat.
In Seaside Christmas, my novella set in Sydney, Australia, my characters enjoy an Aussie-style summer Christmas. I grew up on the northern beaches in Sydney where Seaside Christmas is set. When I was younger, my family would spend Christmas Day at my aunt and uncle’s home across the road from the beach. After a delicious hot Christmas lunch with roast turkey and all the trimmings, I’d head to the beach with my cousins and enjoy swimming in the ocean. I cherish those wonderful Christmas memories from my childhood.
Here’s the book description for Seaside Christmas:
Chelsea Somers is the girl he never called back.
Six years later, former bad boy Gus Donovan is intrigued by Chelsea, but his past mistakes continue to haunt him. Gus is determined to prove he’s a changed man—prove it to his friends, his family, his father. And prove it to Chelsea.
Chelsea has embraced the faith she once mocked, and she’s focused on furthering her career in health promotion and staying away from politics. She’s drawn to Gus, although his busy role as an advisor for an Australian senator doesn’t impress her. When she’s forced to confront her fears and deal with a past family tragedy, can Gus convince her to trust him and take a chance on him?
*~*~*
Have you experienced a summer or winter Christmas at the beach? Does it snow where you live at Christmas? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please let me know in the blog comments.
Now, it’s time for my Christmas song title: White Christmas
Save the holiday song titles from each of the 26 blog stops, and when you reach the final blog, enter all the song titles on this form for a chance to win the grand prize of a $520 Amazon gift card and a copy of each participating author’s featured book OR first prize of a copy of each participating author’s featured book.
Thank you so much for visiting! The next author on the tour is Izzy James and her Christmas book, Rita. You can find it at this link. Remember, the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway ends July 22 at 8 PM EST!
For TV chef Adela Romero, the lights of LA have lost their luster. The grief of her husband’s death three years ago still hangs heavy over her and her daughter, Fabi.
When Adela returns to San Antonio for a summer break with her daughter, she learns her mother-in-law’s Mexican diner is struggling. Adela wants to help, but her career is tugging her in another direction.
Local food critic David Agraponte has a history with Adela. A history he’d like to rekindle. When he interviews Adela, sparks fly—both good and bad. In Adela’s struggle to put her past behind her, she’s tentative about a new relationship, but David hopes she’ll stay at Romero’s long enough to give him a chance.
Sandra always dreamed of managing Romero’s one day, but her chances of proving herself to her aunt are slim with her famous TV-chef cousin taking all the attention. Can’t her aunt see that Adela’s just passing through on her way to her next big gig? Still, as much as she resents it, Sandra may need Adela’s help if there is going to be a Romero’s left for her to manage.
When Adela gets a TV offer that’s sure to shoot her career to the stars, her choice may hold more than just her future in the balance. Can David and Adela find a way to save Romero’s and hold onto their own dreams, or will Adela’s opportunity push them apart?
Narelle’s Thoughts:
I enjoyed reading Finding Love in San Antonio and exploring the city in the story, including the River Walk. Adela is a TV celebrity chef in L.A. who was widowed a few years earlier. Her thirteen year old daughter loves playing soccer, and hates that her mom keeps missing her soccer matches due to work commitments. They plan to return to San Antonio for the summer and stay with Adela’s mother-in-law who runs their family’s Mexican restaurant, Romero’s.
Adela’s first impressions of the San Antonio food critic, David, are not great, and their romance has a rocky start. David had a crush on Adela years ago, but she doesn’t remember him. Sandra is Adela’s late husband’s cousin who’s the Assistant Manager of Romero’s. She has aspirations to run the restaurant, and a fun romantic subplot develops between Sandra and Victor, who owns the Mexican food truck near Romero’s.
I recommend Finding Love in San Antonio to contemporary romance readers who like foodie romances with a romantic subplot and a light faith element in the story. I’m looking forward to watching the movie version of the book.
An ice princess with a broken heart. A pro hockey player with a secret.
For Sarah Maguire, spending the summer at Lake Muskoka was supposed to be about finding the courage to put back the pieces of her shattered life—not falling in love with the charming yet unsophisticated hockey player from next door.
Daniel Walton may have been praying for Miss Right to appear, but Sarah’s ice princess act just cries Miss Wrong. Dan’s summer plans hadn’t included befriending a redhead with a sassy tongue and cute accent, but as Muskoka works its magic he soon discovers that underneath the frost and prickles is the funny, feisty, loving woman he’s waited all his life to meet.
As their friendship deepens, Sarah comes to appreciate Dan’s patience and kindness yet struggles to let go of the past and embrace the future, while Dan, only too conscious of the personal history he wants to forget, questions the wisdom of pursuing a girl whose heart may never be wholly his – who may soon return to live on the opposite side of the world.
Will past regrets lead to further heartbreak? Or can Sarah and Dan learn to leave the past in the past and embrace God’s promises for the future?
And she isn’t sharing it with anyone, including Zach Montford. Even though she feels an instant connection with the good-looking banker and youth leader, she’s wary of rejection. Besides she’s only in the close-knit beach community until she meets the one man who can fill in the blanks about her history.
Zach hopes his temporary stint with the church will help him decide whether to go into full-time ministry. Though his career plans are uncertain, he’s sure about his growing feelings for Billie. When a shocking revelation throws everything into question, Zach and Billie have a chance to put the past to rest … and walk into the future together.
Wooing an introvert requires patience, silence, and a comfy pair of sweatpants.
Cassie
As a single mom and an introvert, I’m used to spending Friday nights on the couch in my sweats. Trust me, my alone time is necessary for everyone’s well-being. So the last thing I expect is for my late husband’s best friend to crash my Hugh Grant marathon. Especially when he shows up to give me a letter with some of Will’s last words for me.
Brad
I’d do anything for Cassie, but waiting three years to spill the beans about the letter nearly did me in. Keeping my mouth shut isn’t my strong suit, so I’m relieved to no longer have any secrets between us. But now Cassie’s avoiding me like I’ve got the cooties, which makes me wonder what Will asked of her. Because if it’s anything like the letter Will left me, things are about to change between us.
Cassie
I can understand Will wanting me to date again, but why he asked me to practice with Brad is crazier than shoulder pads making a comeback! We work as well together as oil and water or peanut butter and mayo. There’s also the fact that Brad’s an actual movie star. He lives in a fish bowl, while I prefer to live under a rock—almost literally speaking. We’d be the oddest couple you’ve ever seen, more like Bill and Ted, not Ginger and Fred.
Brad
I may play an action hero on the big screen, but I have no guts when it comes to relationships with women, except where Cassie’s concerned—she’s the only one I can trust. So once she warms up to the idea of me taking her out, it’s easy to treat her like the queen she is. That is until we end up on the front page of the tabloids and the whole world thinks we’re in love. But would dating Cassie for real be all that scary? I’m going to attempt to find out …
The Fab Forties series was written by an over-40 author with readers of all ages in mind. This rom-com is guaranteed to tickle your funny bone and help you escape reality. So, sit back, relax, and be prepared to laugh!
The relationship is fake. But the sparks are real. Can these best friends rekindle a second chance at first love? Or will they both end up burned?
Right here at the Minden Fire Department is exactly where I belong. But when I became Captain Storm, apparently it meant I needed a wife. Or at least, that’s what my mom’s friends think.
When Krystal comes back to town, I don’t know what to think. She was my best friend in high school. Okay, fine. The truth is I loved her–as much as any eighteen-year-old kid could have. I think she loved me, too.
But she left, anyway.
I really do understand why. She had dreams to chase in Hollywood. How could I deny her that?
She’s here now, though. For eight weeks. And she’s taking over the fire department charity auction while her mom recovers from her fall, which means working with me.
I know we’re just friends. She’s going back to LA after the auction, but maybe her presence could get my mom’s friends off my back for a minute. We’ll just let people assume there is more to our friendship… No harm, no foul. I really could use the break from my personal matchmakers’ attention.
And I won’t say no to a little extra time with Krystal. I’m probably torturing myself. Friends is all we’ll ever be. Even a fake relationship can’t change the fact that she was The One Who Got Away.
Visit Second Chance Fire Station and discover the small town stories of faith, friendships, and forever happy endings that Tara Grace Ericson is known for.
She took this small-town job as a temporary last resort. Falling for her reserved boss was not part of the plan.
One mistake imploded Sonia Krogstad’s PR career, leaving her with a stack of debt and no job prospects. Out of options, she returns to her tiny hometown in the northern wilds of Norway, planning only to stay long enough to get back on her feet and prepare for her big-city comeback.
Reclusive tech genius Axel Vikhammer bought a non-profit community arts center that’s fast becoming a money pit. Closing it down is not an option, especially since it’s a refuge for the teenage daughter he only recently learned he has. With her PR background, Sonia seems the perfect hire for the job as his center’s fundraising manager.
Yet as feelings develop between the two, Axel wonders how he can trust Sonia with his business—or his heart—when her dreams don’t include his small town or him.
With her head and her heart pulling her in different directions, Sonia needs to take a leap of faith. But every time she’s done that in the past, she’s fallen flat on her face. Why should it be different now?
Into the Flood is Book 1 in Milla Holt’s Seasons of Faith Christian romance series. Five friends were in the same wedding in a small Norwegian town over twenty years ago. Four bridesmaids, one bride. Now, two decades on, each woman learns that God’s timing is perfect as they find forever love later in life.
Michaela Vandehey’s reality show win transformed her from the girl whose own father ignored her into a pop singer loved by the masses. But fame has proven hard to keep.
To bolster her floundering career, she heads to Wisconsin to snag a collaboration with the iconic rock band Awestruck. There, she meets bass guitarist Philip, a dad whose devotion challenges her skepticism about love and family.
Whatever faith Philip Miller had died with his wife. Now, “Amazing Grace” is nothing but a lullaby to sing to his children in her memory. Thanks to Awestruck, he can provide privileged lives for his kids, but he has no intention of finding love again. If only he weren’t so drawn to Michaela.
When he falls for her despite himself, Michaela learns the dark secret that threatens his family’s future. The grace they’ve heard so much about might grant them the fresh start they need, but to begin again, they’ll first have to sacrifice what they hold most dear.
A meaningful Christian romance with a side of fame and fortune for readers who enjoy stories where grit and grace meet and no one is beyond hope of redemption.
A broken marriage. Two grieving orphans. Sudden parenthood could change everything.
The joy Danni Barnett found in her job as a travel writer and photographer faded around the same time her husband walked out on her. When her late sister-in-law’s will brings the couple together to care for her children, Danni must face her fear of motherhood or lose a second chance with Brooks.
Brooks Barnett’s life has spun out of his control. A crumbled marriage. A career on hold. The loss of his sister. Brooks determines to keep Danni at arm’s length, but it’s a daunting task when his niece and nephew love her as much as he does.
How will Brooks protect two grieving children from more loss when he can’t even protect his heart from Danni’s pull?
Celebrate springtime in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains in this second chance romance, part of the Love at Christmas Inn series.
After a lifetime of questions, She’s ready for some answers.
In her mother’s hometown, Harper Price is sure she’ll finally learn about the grandfather and father she never knew. But that means working with grumpy local lawyer Joel Morgan. The single dad is wary of Harper, even as her kindness to his daughter warms his heart. Winning his trust is Harper’s first challenge…but not her last as her quest reveals shocking truths.
Finding his way back is just the beginning…in this novel by New York Times bestselling author Linda Goodnight.
He’ll make up for the past… But won’t saddle anyone with his future.
Medically discharged from the military, Yates Trudeau and his ex-military dog, Justice, return to the family ranch, vowing to make amends—and keep his prognosis hidden. Only, civilian life means facing reporter Laurel Maxwell, the woman he left behind but never forgot. Forging a new bond comes naturally, but when she learns the truth, will she risk her heart for an uncertain future?
He came to find his son… but might discover love along the way.
Stunned to learn he has an adult son, widower Harrison Mitchell’s eager to track him down and build a relationship. But when he uproots his life and moves to Natchez, Mississippi, he’s hit with another surprise: his new boss, Anise Armstrong, is his son’s adoptive mother. Now he must win her trust to prove he deserves to be a father and grandfather…and possibly a husband.
The family she doesn’t know… Could have the answers she needs.
After her marriage publicly falls apart, single mom Abigail Dixon has nowhere to go—except to the family she thinks abandoned her as a child. Not ready to confront the past, Abigail keeps her identity a secret. But hiding from Sheriff Hudson Menchaca isn’t so easy, especially after he discovers who she is. Can he reunite a broken family…without losing his heart?
This K-9 has a sanctuary to protect and its owner to rescue
Someone wants Paige Bristow’s wolf sanctuary gone…and Paige dead. Officer Reece Campbell and his K-9 partner, Maverick, are the only ones she can turn to, but she never told him he was the father of her daughter. As the attacks escalate, Reece must uncover the perp and keep himself from falling for Paige all over again. But will the truth between them cost everything?
Suspecting her father’s murder is linked to a smuggling ring sends private investigator Danika Lewis pursuing a lead all the way to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Teaming up with ranger Tru Butler to search the off-limits caves for the missing artifacts is the fastest way to uncover the truth. But there’s danger in the dark and a killer who will do anything to keep secrets hidden.
When a failed mission leaves CIA operative MacKenzie “Mac” Sharp injured and her partner presumed dead, going off-grid is the only way to survive. But her old flame, CIA officer Gabe Denton, has tracked her down and led a well-connected enemy right to her door. Now with someone trying to frame and kill her, working with Gabe is the only way to clear her name…and stay alive.
Publicly vowing to bring a serial killer to justice, Deputy Cecile Richardson solidifies herself as the criminal’s next target. And when a newly discovered victim is identified, it becomes even more personal for Cecile. She will solve this cold case. Can Sheriff Josh Avery keep her safe long enough to identify and catch the culprit — or will the killer successfully hunt down his prey?
Detective Danni Grace has never met a police officer who wants to face a scenario where pulling the trigger on another person is the only option. When the worst does occur and there’s a police-involved shooting, it leads to riots and calls to disband the entire police force in La Rosa, Danni’s hometown.
After fifteen years on the force, Danni has had enough. Injured in the line of duty when a protester throws a chunk of concrete at her and shaken by the vitriol being shown to the police, Danni realizes for the first time that she’s lost her passion for the job.
While she’s on a leave of absence, though, a community activist in La Rosa is shot and a fellow officer is blamed for his murder. Taking on this case means stepping back into a job Danni’s not sure she can do anymore . . . and working closely with her ex-husband, Gabriel Fox, an investigator for the city prosecutor’s office. Danni will need to tap into her code of courage to uncover the truth, prevent another injustice, and uphold her oath to serve and protect.
Even though secrets lie off the coast of Rock Harbor, the truth will set Annie Pederson free—if it doesn’t kill her first. Return to the beloved town of Rock Harbor in the first installment of a new series by bestselling suspense author Colleen Coble.
Nine-year-old Annie Pederson’s life changed the night her sister was kidnapped. The two had been outside playing on a dock, and Annie never forgave herself for her role in her sister’s disappearance. Twenty-four years later and now a law enforcement ranger, Annie is still searching for answers as she grieves a new loss: the death of her husband and parents in a boating accident.
But Annie and her eight-year-old daughter, Kylie, aren’t the only people in the town of Rock Harbor whose lives have been marred by tragedy. While managing the property around the Tremolo Resort and Marina she inherited, Annie discovers a dead body floating in the cold Superior surf and begins to work with the sheriff’s office to tie the death to a series of other mysterious reports in the area.
At the same time, her first love, Jon Dustan, returns after nine years away, reigniting the town’s memory of a cold case he’d been suspiciously linked to before he left to pursue his orthopedic residency. For the sake of her investigation and her heart, Annie tries to stay away. But avoiding Jon becomes impossible once Annie realizes she is being targeted by someone desperate to keep secrets from the past hidden.
In this new series, bestselling romantic-suspense author Colleen Coble returns to one of her most beloved towns, where familiar faces—and unsolved cases—await.
Mackenzie Hanson’s special set of skills opened the door to a successful career as a professor of cybersecurity at a Michigan university, allowing her to put her criminal past behind her. But when a long-ago partner in crime delivers a cryptic message about her father’s tech company being under cyberattack, she heads for Montana to secure exposed assets, close security breaches, and hopefully save lives.
Diplomatic Security Services special agent Alex Knight is back home in Montana to decompress from a mission gone wrong. But even as he’s trying to relax, he’s drawn into another mystery, complete with suspicious deaths, lethal threats, and whispers of espionage that all have one thing in common–a beautiful cybersecurity expert with a dark past.
When the situation turns deadly, Alex and Mackenzie will have to work together to find the answers they need–before someone silences Mackenzie for good.
In the world of big money and big politics, nobody walks away unscathed.
The people of Coventry never suspect that Josie Smith, owner of the local coffee shop, is the daughter of a powerful senator. She went to Washington to serve constituents, but her desire to do good morphed into a desire to win at all costs. When one of those costs grew too heavy to bear, she changed her name and left DC, vowing to never get involved in politics again. But when her father becomes his party’s lone voice standing against corrupt legislation, his enemies will do whatever it takes to get his vote, and Josie finds herself caught in a familiar web of malicious tactics.
Thomas Windham never planned to run for office, but when Coventry’s disgraced mayor is replaced by a dishonest appointee, Thomas can’t stand to see his town torn apart by corruption. He feels he has no choice but to throw his hat in the ring. He doesn’t have a chance in the mayoral race against the well-known politician, that is until he meets Josie, who knows more about running for office than a typical café owner would.
When Josie is threatened by two masked men, she and Thomas form an alliance—her wisdom for his protection. The election becomes secondary as Josie’s adversaries escalate their attacks. How can she and Thomas withstand enemies determined to get what they want at any cost?
Don’t miss this pulse-pounding Christian romantic suspense that’ll keep you reading late into the night.
A deadly attack. A stolen weapon capable of immense destruction. A painful secret that threatens to tear two hearts apart.
CGIS Agent Noah Rowley is rocked to the core when several of his valued team members come under fire on his Coast Guard base. He and his remaining team race to the scene and end the attack, but not before innocent lives are lost. Furious and grief-stricken, he vows to do whatever is needed to bring the mastermind behind the attack to justice.
Stunned by the ambush, Coast Guard flight medic Brooke Kesler evacuates in a helicopter carrying the only surviving gunman. The gravely wounded man whispers mysterious information to Brooke that immediately paints a target on her back.
As Brooke and Noah race to uncover answers, emotions between them ignite. Noah struggles to protect Brooke at all costs and to conceal the secret that prevents him from becoming what he longs to be–the right man for her.
Everything is at stake as a horrifying truth emerges. . . .
The attack wasn’t the end game. It was only the beginning.
Can their hearts overcome the darkness of the mountains?
To escape a forced marriage, Cora Taylor travels from England to the Blue Ridge Mountains in search of her brother, who is working as a teacher in a mission school. She hopes to find a place where her nursing skills and independent ideas will be accepted and appreciated, but nothing prepares her for the wild mixture of isolation, community, brokenness, and hope within these mountains…or in the person of Jeb McAdams.
Returning from the devastation of World War 1 emotionally damaged, Jeb McAdams struggles against the rampant mountain alcoholism to soothe his nightmares. It’s easy to hide within the mountains, or it was, before Cora Taylor arrived. Now, she seems to show up at every turn, bringing her modern ideas, curiosity, and beautiful eyes with her.
Bound by their shared war history, the pair develop an unlikely friendship, which unexpectedly hints to something more. But when Cora’s desire to help the women of the mountains crosses an unspoken line, will Jeb be able to protect this feisty flatlander from the wrath of the mountain men or will he end up losing much more than his heart?
Answering a woman’s desperate call for help, young Navy widow Helen Devries opens her Whidbey Island home as a refuge to Choi Eunhee. As they bond over common losses and a delicate, potentially devastating secret, their friendship spans the remainder of their lives.
After losing her mother, Cassidy Quinn spent her childhood summers with her gran, Helen, at her farmhouse. Nourished by her grandmother’s love and encouragement, Cassidy discovers a passion that she hopes will bloom into a career. But after Helen passes, Cassidy learns that her home and garden have fallen into serious disrepair. Worse, a looming tax debt threatens her inheritance. Facing the loss of her legacy and in need of allies and ideas, Cassidy reaches out to Nick, her former love, despite the complicated emotions brought by having him back in her life.
Cassidy inherits not only the family home but a task, spoken with her grandmother’s final breaths: ask Grace Kim—Eunhee’s granddaughter—to help sort through the contents of the locked hope chest in the attic. As she and Grace dig into the past, they unearth their grandmothers’ long-held secret and more. Each startling revelation reshapes their understanding of their grandmothers and ultimately inspires the courage to take risks and make changes to own their lives.
Set in both modern-day and midcentury Whidbey Island, Washington, this dual-narrative story of four women—grandmothers and granddaughters—intertwines across generations to explore the secrets we keep, the love we pass down, and the heirlooms we inherit from a well-lived life.
This epic journey is her last hope to find her lost brother—the only family she has left.
When Lola Carson’s father died, his last words spoke of a half-brother she’d never known about. And now, to claim her own inheritance and come to terms with her father’s secret life, she must find this mysterious man—whose last known whereabouts are somewhere west of the wild Rocky Mountains. After hiring family friends to accompany her on the trek, she sets out for a wilderness few white women have ever seen. She doesn’t expect the majestic peaks to captivate her so, nor the half-dead brave they find on one of the slopes.
White Owl left his village and his broken heart behind when he set out for a fresh start. His newfound faith is the one anchor in his life. He’s desperate to learn more about the God he’s committed to follow and become an interpreter for the missionaries who led him to faith. But he barely starts his journey when a hunting accident nearly kills him. The woman who discovers him in the midst of his fevered delirium seems to be a gift from above.
But the more White Owl learns about Lola’s companions and her dangerous quest, the more he realizes his own calling is clear—to take her safely to her brother. The question is, will he have to sacrifice more than his heart to accomplish that goal?
At the height of the Nazi occupation of Rome, an unlikely band of heroes comes together to save innocent lives in this breathtaking World War II novel based on real historical events.
Rome, 1943. With the fall of Italy’s Fascist government and the Nazi regime occupying the streets of Rome, British ballerina Julia Bradbury is stranded and forced to take refuge at a hospital on Tiber Island. But when she learns of a deadly sickness sweeping through the quarantine wards—a fake disease known only as Syndrome K—she is drawn into one of the greatest cons in history. Alongside hospital staff, friars of the adjoining church, and two Allied medics, Julia risks everything to rescue Jewish Italians from the deadly clutches of the Holocaust. Soon a little girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina arrives at their door, and Julia is determined to reunite the young dancer with her family—if only she would reveal one crucial secret: her name.
Present Day. Delaney Coleman recently lost her grandfather—a beloved small-town doctor and World War II veteran, so she returns home to help her aging parents. When a mysterious Italian woman reaches out claiming to own one of the family’s precious heirlooms, Delaney is compelled to travel to Italy and uncover the truth of her grandfather’s hidden past. With the help of the woman’s skeptical but charming grandson, Delaney learns of a Roman hospital that saved hundreds of Jewish people during the war. Soon, everything Delaney thought she knew about her grandfather comes into question.
Based on true accounts of the invented Syndrome K sickness, The Italian Ballerina journeys from the Allied storming of the beaches at Salerno to the London ballet stage and the war-torn streets of World War II Rome, exploring the sometimes heart-wrenching choices we must make to find faith and forgiveness, and how saving a single life can impact countless others.
Her heart seeks safety. But will trouble find her even here?
After her sister’s marriage, Michelle Stiles is left hiding at Two Harts Ranch with the handsome but stubborn Zane Hart. She’s managed to stay one step ahead of her stepfather and his devious plans, but if he finds her, she will no longer be safe.
Zane has problems of his own. Having discovered a gold mine on his property, he must figure out how to harvest it without kicking off a gold rush. Michelle, educated and trained to run her father’s business, wants to manage all aspects of the mine, but Zane thinks for a person so smart she can have some misguided ideas. Running the mining operation will be a dangerous job, and he can’t risk putting her in harm’s way.
But danger finds Michelle anyway when she’s suddenly attacked. If they go to the sheriff, they’ll reveal her location, but if they do nothing . . . their troubles have only just begun.
A young woman searches for her missing brother and finds much more awaits her—if she can escape war-torn Texas.
Molly Weaver and her widowed mother embark on an arduous journey at the end of the Civil War. They hope to join Molly’s brother Andrew on his ranch in Texas. When they arrive, Andrew is missing and squatters threaten the ranch. Can they trust Joe, the stranger who claims to be Andrew’s friend? Joe’s offer to help may be a godsend—or a snare. And who is the man claiming to be Molly’s father? If he’s telling the truth, Molly’s past is a sham, and she must learn where she really belongs.
Can she set aside the pain from the past to embrace a new love?
Isabelle Wardrop’s well-to-do life has completely unraveled. Within months, she’s lost both her parents, her fortune, and her home. With nowhere else to turn, she and her younger sister move in with a trusted former servant in an impoverished area of the city. Desperate for work but having no qualifications, Isabelle is forced to accept help from Dr. Mark Henshaw, the very man she blames for her mother’s death.
Mark Henshaw has admired Isabelle for several months, but after the tragic death of her mother, he vows to make amends for the past and help her find her way. But when Mark learns his younger brother has formed an undesirable friendship with Isabelle’s sister–one that brings a whole new set of problems into their lives–he doesn’t know if Isabelle will ever forgive him.
When startling developments begin to take place, both within Isabelle’s heart and their siblings’ relationship, her future looks very different than anything she could have imagined.
Can she reconcile who she’s become with who she’s meant to be?
Accustomed to an opulent life with her aunt, the last thing twenty-five-year-old Isabella Garcia wants is to celebrate Christmas in her parents’ small silver-mining desert town, leaving her handsome beau, Diego Morales, behind in California. Adding insult to injury, she must bear the company of Aaron Bailey, the disapproving Santa Fe Railroad businessman her father has sent to escort her home, who clearly finds her spoiled.
But she is surprised to see how much the town of Silver Veil has grown and how fragile her father’s health has become. Then a surprise visitor shows up with news that entirely upends the comfortable life she’s been leading.
Faced with all these changes, Isabella struggles to sort through her future and who she wants to be. But trouble is brewing, and there are those who hope she stays just as she is, even if it costs her everything.
Aidyn Kelley is talented, ambitious, and ready for a more serious assignment than the fluff pieces she’s been getting as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. In her eagerness, she pushes too hard, earning herself the menial task of writing an obituary for an unremarkable woman who’s just entered hospice care.
But there’s more to Clara Kip than meets the eye. The spirited septuagenarian may be dying, but she’s not quite ready to cash it in yet. Never one to shy away from an assignment herself, she can see that God brought the young reporter into her life for a reason. And if it’s a story Aidyn Kelley wants, that’s just what Mrs. Kip will give her–but she’s going to have to work for it.
Debut author Sara Brunsvold delights with this emotional multigenerational story that shows that the very best life is made up of thousands of little deaths to self. You’ll want to be just like Mrs. Kip when you grow up!
Nicki’s tasked with making New Hope the perfect place for orphaned children. So why has everything gone wrong?
Six weeks after leaving China, Nicki Mayfield returns to complete two critical tasks: restore order at New Hope Orphanage and re-connect with Lei Ming, the little girl who stole her heart. However, a stonewalling supervisor, missing documents, and personal tragedy ensure Nicki faces challenges at every turn. Is she the best person to bring order – and longevity – to the place these children call home?
Then, with the help of an unexpected ally, Nicki makes a life-altering decision. One that has the potential to upend her well-planned life and the lives of those around her. Will she lose it all, or has she found a way to save what matters most?
With gripping action and heart-wrenching emotion, Charles Martin continues to explore the true power of sacrificial love.
Murphy Shepherd’s last rescue mission very nearly cost him his life. He’d like nothing more than to stay close to his wife and daughters for a while. But Bones’s brother must be stopped, and there are so many who need to know that they are worth rescuing.
As the cat-and-mouse game moves into the open, Murphy is tested at every turn—both physically and mentally. And then the unthinkable happens: his beloved mentor and friend is taken. Without a trace.
Murphy lives by the mantra that love shows up. But how can he do that when he has no leads? With heart-stopping clarity, The Record Keeper explores the true cost of leaving the ninety-nine to find the one.
From award-winning author Robin W. Pearson comes a new Southern family drama about one family who discovers their history is only skin-deep and that God’s love is the only family tie that binds.
Paulette and Fred Baldwin find themselves wading through a new season of life in Hickory Grove, North Carolina. Their only son, McKinley, now works hundreds of miles away, and the distance between the husband and wife feels even farther. When their son returns home, his visit dredges up even more conflict between Fred and Paulette.
McKinley makes it no secret that he doesn’t intend to follow in his father’s footsteps at George & Company Fine Furnishings or otherwise. Fred can’t quite bring himself to accept all his son’s choices, yet Paulette is determined McKinley will want for nothing, least of all a mother’s love and attention—which her own skin color cost her as a child. But all her striving leaves Fred on the outside looking in.
Paulette suspects McKinley and Fred are hiding something that could change the whole family. Soon, she’s facing a whirlwind she never saw coming, and the three of them must dig deep to confront the truth. Maybe then they’ll discover that their history is only skin-deep while their faith can take them right to the heart of things.
Solve the clues. Face your fears. Survive the Trials.
All Alice Liddell wants is to escape her Normal life in Oxford and find the parents who abandoned her ten years ago. But she gets more than she bargained for when her older sister Charlotte is arrested for having the infamous Wonder Gene—the key to unlocking the curious Wonderland Reality.
Soon, Alice receives a rather cryptic invitation to play for Team Heart in this year’s annual—and often deadly—Wonderland Trials. Now she has less than twenty-four hours to find her way into Wonderland where nothing is impossible . . . or what it seems.
The stakes are raised when she discovers players go missing during the Trials each year. Will she and her team solve the clues and find the missing players? Or will betrayal and distrust win, leaving Alice alone in a world of her own? Follow the White Rabbit into this topsy-turvy fantasy where players become prey, a sip of the wrong tea might as well be poison, and a queen’s ways do not always lead one where they ought to go.
Is there, like, anything more totally awesome than the fun, feel-good blockbusters of the 1980s? The women who make up the online Just Another 80s Rom Com Lovers Club don’t think so. Join these digital friends as they each live out their own swoon-worthy love stories, minus teased bangs and mini skirts, reminiscent of some your favorite romantic comedies from the most righteous decade.
The Fix Up by Mikal Dawn: Henley Morris and Not-the-Movie-Star Brad Pitt are teamed up on a home renovation show with tools, limited time, and a budget. The home they’re assigned to renovate is a money “pitt” and they’re sure it’s out to get them. So is the general contractor. And don’t even get them started on the family of squirrels living in it…
Falling For a Price by Bell Renshaw: Amie Lewis prefers writing about the escapades of others, but when a mysterious note arrives, it’s time to start her own adventure. Hiring Malcom Price, a handsome but obnoxious guide, is her first mistake. Being caught in the middle of his feud with Russian treasure hunters is the second. The third? Falling for him.
Lake Shore Wandering by Jennifer Rodewald: Hazel Wallace is working on a plan to keep her peaceful, remote life. When Bennet Crofton shows up pretending to be something he’s not, she knows she’s running out of time. Luckily for her, he hit his head and can’t remember a thing. With a sudden inspiration thanks to an 80’s RomCom, she’s got a whole new plan.
Evie Tyler’s Day Off by Betsy St. Amant: When Evie Tyler plays hooky on her 30th birthday to complete the remaining 9 items on her “30 Before 30” bucket list with her best friend, she never expected her childhood crush—her BFF’s brother—to tag along. Red convertibles, impromptu concerts, and a hilarious comedy of errors collide into one day off Evie will never forget.
Just Like That by Teresa Tysinger: New York City-based influencer Jane Holland is about to reel in the biggest partnership of her career. Life takes an unexpected turn when she’s needed in North Carolina to care for her niece. Will Jane find where she truly fits in her rural hometown—and with Andrew, her all-grown-up crush? Or, will opportunity draw her back to the life she always thought she wanted?
Sure About You by Jaycee Weaver: Editor, foodie, and 80s movies lover Isley Bradford lives by her trusty planner. Securing her dream job means traveling to a conference with the too-charming coworker she loathes. But with each bump in the road—some literally—he challenges her perceptions and makes her laugh. She’d had her future perfectly planned. Now? She’s not so sure.
Narelle’s Thoughts:
This is a fun collection of contemporary romance novellas that are inspired by 1980’s romantic comedy movies. The stories include pop culture references and are connected via the friends group who hang out together online and watch 80’s rom com movies.
Just Like That by Teresa Tysinger is a cute romance inspired by the 80’s movie, Baby Boom. Social Media Influencer and NYC girl, Jane, returns to her hometown in North Carolina to care for her teenage niece while Jane’s brother is working overseas. Jane’s brother’s best friend, Andrew, is a veterinarian who’s single and has always liked Jane. I liked the fun meet cute at Andrew’s vet clinic, and the chemistry between Jane and Andrew that created many swoony moments in the story.
Sure About You by Jaycee Weaver is an enemies-to-love mixed with a love triangle romance with a satisfying ending that’s inspired by the 80’s movie, The Sure Thing. Isley lives in Dallas and is traveling to L.A. for a journalism work conference and her first in-person meeting with the guy in L.A. who she’s dating online. Her co-worker, Pax, who she dislikes, is attending the same conference. Circumstances upset all of Isley’s plans, and throw her together with Pax. I liked their fun romance with hilarious moments and a strong faith element in the story.
Evie Tyler’s Day Off by Betsy St. Amant is a hilarious single day time frame best friend’s brother romance inspired by the movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. On Evie’s 30th birthday, her best friend convinces her to take the day off work and spend the day in Chicago completing her 30 by 30 bucket list. Her best friend’s brother, Colin, was Evie’s teenage crush. He’s now a professional photographer who joins the girls on their adventure. Evie and Colin’s romance is a LOL wild ride in a cute red convertible with many pop culture references and nods for the Ferris Bueller movie fans.
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