This sweet if silly romance from Kinzer (First Love, Second Draft) pairs an ambitious photographer with a handsome English teacher. McKenna Boston, 32, has looked out for her younger sister Bobbi since their mom died 12 years ago, so she’s excited to finally leave Nebraska and strike out on her own in Los Angeles, where she’s been offered a high-flying photography gig. First, however, she wants to see Bobbi get engaged to her longtime boyfriend, so she hatches a scheme to photograph the proposal at a local park. When McKenna’s plan to hide the ring in the bushes goes awry—she accidentally slips it into the pocket of the attractive man she forces to vacate the bench where Bobbi’s boyfriend plans to propose—she must track the stranger down at his mom’s bed-and-breakfast in Tennessee, the Happy Hiccup. But it turns out that English teacher Nate stowed the ring in a bag the airline has lost. While waiting for the luggage, he and McKenna bond over their shared feelings of abandonment—Nate by his deadbeat musician dad; McKenna, who’s adopted, by her biological parents—and their struggles to put their trust in God. While their banter can be cringe-worthy, the central premise is charming and the cast of side characters, like perpetually hungry Gus and spunky Georgie, two quirky locals who hang around the Happy Hiccup, are appealingly goofy. The result is a funny and fast-paced romp. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Debut author Higgins kicks off the Hills of Harvest series with a heartfelt tale of found family. After meeting in Britain during WWII, Posey and Elliot Bailey, a former U.S. soldier, settled in Seattle, where he promised to build her a six-acre English garden to remind her of the home she left behind. Fifty years later, the garden was never built (life and raising their now-grown kids got in the way), Elliot has been dead for two years, and Posey is still grieving. When she discovers that Elliot left in the care of their lawyer a letter she can’t read until the garden is complete, she begins the project over her eldest son’s objections. She hires sweet and enthusiastic, if inexperienced, landscapers Peter and Lindsey, and Jesse, Peter’s uncle, as an excavator. As the group bond over their work, Posey offers wisdom to help the others navigate their challenges—Jesse’s rocky marriage, Peter’s uncertainty over his career, and Lindsey’s anxieties over finding care for her paralyzed younger brother—and assures them that “God has a perfect plan” even as she struggles to believe it herself. While the use of gardening as a metaphor for renewal can be heavy-handed, the story is buoyed by its charming cast and leaves enough loose ends to make readers eager for the next installment. Anyone seeking a bit of gentle escapism will find it here. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Hannon returns to coastal Oregon for the sweet latest in her Hope Harbor series (after Sunrise Reef). Devyn Lee left Hope Harbor for New York City as a teen to pursue her ballet dreams. Almost 20 years later, she receives word that her estranged older sister, Lauren, is in a coma following a car accident, and rushes home to be by her side. Though the two haven’t spoken in 13 years, Devyn stays in town to help her sister recover after she wakes up. As the pair work to repair a rocky relationship fractured by childhood jealousies—including over the financial sacrifices their parents made to support Devyn’s ballet dreams—Devyn becomes enmeshed in the goings-on of the small town, choreographing a local dance show and meeting attractive widower Aaron Steele. As the date of Devyn’s planned return to New York approaches, she looks to God for help weighing her professional ambitions against her desire to strengthen her family bonds and pursue a romance with Aaron. Hannon excels at depicting the fraught yet loving bond between the sisters, while cameos from Hope Harbor series characters, like the funny but wise Rev. Baker, add texture and humor. Fans and newcomers alike will be swept up. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

Turano (A Lesson in Propriety) returns to Gilded Age Chicago with her energetic second installment in the Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies series. Devoted animal rescuer Annaliese Merriweather inherits the temporary role of headmistress at Chicago’s Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies when her sister, the school’s headmistress, goes on her honeymoon. Plagued by self-doubt but determined to keep the school afloat, Annaliese throws herself into her new duties while continuing to rescue animals from fur traders. When two headstrong students disappear during a visit to the county fair, Annaliese enlists one of their older brothers—the attractive, offbeat inventor Seth McCormick—to help find them. As Seth and Annaliese plunge into a chaotic search involving a bear wrangler, a monkey handler, and a less-than-ethical illusionist, they find unexpected comfort in one another and sparks fly. But when the same two students disappear again, the stakes rise, putting Annaliese’s—and the school’s—reputation on the line and the students’ lives in real danger. Turano adeptly balances heart and hijinks as Seth and Annaliese navigate the bustling city, grappling with their own faith and a possible romance along the way. The result is a high-spirited historical with charm to spare. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

Green’s immersive latest in the On Central Park series (after The Hudson Collection) centers on a librarian who becomes unwittingly enmeshed in a web of crime. In 1926, the New York Historical Society, where Ivy Malone works as a librarian, publishes an excerpt of her interview with an anonymous former gang member. Unbeknownst to readers, the ex-gangster is Adeline King, an Irish immigrant who clawed her way out of a rough-and-tumble past into New York City’s upper crust. Ivy’s determined to keep her friend’s identity under wraps, but library patrons soon ask to read the full interview, and a man claiming a connection to one of Adeline’s former victims seeks retribution. Then Ivy’s cousin Gina gets detained on Ellis Island, forcing Ivy to call on Adeline’s alluring neighbor, Tom, to prevent her deportation. Things reach a boiling point when an ill-advised deal to rescue Gina lands Ivy in more trouble than she started with, and she must draw on her faith to shield her friend’s secret and her cousin’s fragile legal status. Green makes up for a meandering middle section with a fast-paced third act and a textured historical backdrop that brings the seedy side of 1920s Manhattan to vivid life. Readers will be swept up. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

A mysterious Michigan mansion and an unexplained disappearance link two women separated by more than a century in the enthralling latest from Austin (Waiting for Christmas). The first timeline unfolds in 1873, when Hannah Wagner and her doctor husband, John, arrive in a remote Michigan lumber town, recruited by John’s lumber baron friend, Henry Abernathy, to provide desperately needed medical care. Hannah quickly befriends Kate, Henry’s young, outspoken wife whose checkered past and taste for whiskey have made her something of a town pariah. As Hannah tries to teach Kate about God, she can’t help but worry about Kate’s rocky marriage, and her fears are confirmed when Kate vanishes under suspicious circumstances. The second timeline is set in the present day and stars Ashley Gilbert, an aspiring curator who’s moved to Michigan for her husband’s job, and volunteers to help turn the dilapidated Henry Abernathy mansion into a museum. When Ashley unearths Kate’s diary, she becomes determined to solve the mystery of her disappearance once and for all. Austin patiently stretches the story’s central mystery across the two timelines to keep readers invested, and Kate’s interspersed diary entries add immediacy and intrigue. The result is a captivating small-town mystery. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink

The legends of a Civil War–era ghost and an elusive secret door in a Pennsylvania mansion animate this spine-tingling dual-timeline mystery from Wright (The Bell Tolls at Trager Hall). In 1888, Minnie Tipton and her ailing father move into Ambrose Fields, an estate said to be haunted by the ghost of a deranged Union Army captain who murdered a group of wounded soldiers after the Battle of Gettysburg. When her father begins having hallucinations of the captain, Minnie becomes increasingly motivated to locate the mansion’s 100th door, rumored to be a portal for the souls of the dead. In the present, Triss Bellamy believes she’s left her family’s ghost-hunting business behind by becoming the bookshop manager of Ambrose Fields, which is now a museum. But after the museum director hires her family to investigate paranormal activity at the mansion as a publicity stunt, her brother has vivid delusions similar to the ones that plagued Minnie’s father, and Triss must put her faith in God and work to unlock the house’s mysteries before it can claim another victim. Wright interweaves the two timelines seamlessly, gradually ratcheting up the suspense as both protagonists inch their way closer to the truth. The result is a page-turning historical perfect for fans of Darcy Coates and Gabrielle Meyer. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

This affecting historical from Kirkpatrick (Across the Crying Sands) follows a strong-willed postal worker as she navigates the rugged terrain of Oregon’s northern coast at the turn of the 20th century. Mary Gerritse is busy enough delivering mail for the postal service to support her husband and kids when she gets word from her father that her mother, Amanda, is sick. Upon traveling to their remote town with her headstrong 11-year-old Belle, Mary finds that her father has hired a helper, Virginia, to care for her dementia-stricken mother. Initially perturbed by the stranger in their midst, Mary slowly gets to know Virginia and starts to feel at ease leaving Belle in her care so she can resume her work. Then a sudden death reveals a shocking secret about her own past, forcing Mary to see her family, and faith, in a new light. While Kirkpatrick’s extensive cast of characters (many of whom Mary encounters on her postal route) and myriad plotlines can become unwieldy, the atmospheric depiction of the forbidding Oregon coast and the nuanced rendering of family bonds are vivid and gripping. It’s a captivating if sometimes crowded portrait of a trailblazing woman. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Steele brings the fake-dating trope to Amish country for this fun sequel to Hunting for a Husband. After failing to make her first crush fall for her, Salina Stolzfus is 22, single, and subject to her meddling mother’s attempts to marry her off by inviting each of Havenlee, Ind.’s eligible men to dinner. Seth Weaver has recently arrived in Salina’s hometown from Kentucky to nurse his broken heart after being dumped three days before his wedding. He can’t help noticing cheery, upbeat Salina, who is determined to help Seth smile again. The two become friends while establishing a consignment shop to help a nearby community recover from a tornado, and Seth soon agrees to fake a relationship with Salina to curtail her mother’s matchmaking efforts. Just as they begin to wish their pretend courtship were real, an emergency draws Seth back home, leaving Salina feeling rejected and wondering if her happily ever after will forever remain beyond her grasp. Readers will have no trouble rooting for Steele’s leads—especially boisterous, good-natured Salina—as they overcome past rejections in hopes of starting over. The result is a clean, feel-good romance sure to satisfy Steele’s fans. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

A true crime podcaster and a wilderness guide try to outmaneuver a criminal empire and a disastrous storm in Mentink’s high-octane follow-up to Fire Mountain. After building a career analyzing unsolved mysteries, Mackenzie Bardine returns to the cold case that started it all: the murder of her older brother, Aaron, who she believes ran afoul of Bullseye, an elusive and powerful drug dealer. A lead on Bullseye’s identity brings Mackenzie to the remote Washington State town of Oakleaf, where she encounters Gideon Landry, a wilderness guide and her late brother’s former best friend. Despite being convinced that he could have done more to prevent Aaron’s death, Mackenzie recruits Gideon to help with her unfolding investigation. The pair wind up stranded in the wilderness during a raging rainstorm, but Mackenzie’s determined to connect with a new informant back in town, forcing them on a harrowing quest through a landscape rife with Bullseye’s minions and threatened by rapidly rising waters. Before long her growing closeness with Gideon has her wondering if vengeance is truly what her heart needs to heal—and if faith might be enough to help her forgive him and, ultimately, herself for the tragedy. The action starts on the first page and never lets up, with a tightly plotted series of twists and turns building to an explosive finale. It’s a plunge worth taking. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink