A wallflower and a former hockey star are thrown together for this charming second-chance romance from Shiloh (In Search of a Prince). Val Elliot, the obedient middle daughter of a family that owns a sports agency, has spent her life making everyone happy but herself. When a client encourages her to go on a Valentine’s Day blind date, Val’s surprised to find herself out with Jabari Hall, a handsome pro hockey player who also happens to be her older sister’s ex. Thirty-three and facing the end of his career after a brain injury left him with macular degeneration, Jabari finds comfort in Val’s faith. Meanwhile, Val wrestles with guilt over betraying her sister even as Jabari teaches her to seek her own happiness over her family’s approval. As their connection deepens, both question their feelings; Val fears she’s a stand-in for the career Jabari has lost and Jabari worries he’s Val’s latest charity case. When the attraction becomes harder to ignore, the pair must navigate family tensions, insecurities, and a few other curveballs before starting a future together. The sweet central love story gains welcome depth from the sensitive portrayal of Jabari’s disability and Shiloh’s nuanced exploration of faith as both a comfort and a challenge. Fans of Emma St. Clair should snap this up. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

A mystery centering a shady stalker unfolds against a Regency England backdrop in the captivating latest from Griep (Of Silver and Secrets). Juliet Finch has been in dire financial straits since her father died a few years ago, and she now relies on poaching game to feed herself along with her aunt and uncle. When Henry Russell, who’s caring for the local Bedford Manor in his father’s absence, catches Juliet shooting birds on estate property, he decides to use her skills to hunt down his sister Charity’s stalker. The attraction between Juliet and Henry is instantaneous as they team up to search for the offender, but Juliet’s been burned by men before and is slow to trust. When Juliet is framed for a crime and Henry fails to defend her, she’s left on her own to find the target before it’s too late—and must decide whether she can start anew with Henry and restore the faith that’s been eroded by years of poverty. Griep masterfully conjures a dark, uneasy atmosphere as the threats against Charity and Juliet grow increasingly dire, while the chemistry between rule-following Henry and feisty Juliet adds energy. Fans of clean historical fiction will be swept up. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/14/2025 | Details & Permalink

Witemeyer (To Love a Beast) kicks off The Secret Society of Spinsters series with a lively late-19th-century romance between a woman spearheading a local temperance movement and an ambitious policeman. Noreen O’Sullivan, 27, grew up with a troubled alcoholic father and is determined to marshal the Secret Society of Spinsters, a group dedicated to protecting single women in their small Texas town, to shut down the local saloon. When a fight breaks out between Noreen and the saloon owner, deputy James Paxton intervenes. He’s struck by his attraction to the feisty woman, but he’s running for sheriff and he worries a relationship with her might cost him the town’s male vote. As Noreen picks James’s brain about persuading people to join her cause, both open up about their pasts, and James can’t help but admire Noreen’s fierce faith. When a fit of rage overtakes her during a temperance march and her actions turn criminal, however, he worries she’s becoming too much of a liability to take a risk with—and that her volatility might also hamper the success of her cause. Witemeyer’s prose is propulsive and the chemistry between her leads is palpable as they struggle to balance their deepest values with the possibility of a relationship. Fans of clean historical romance should snap this up. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

Kaufman crafts a rich backstory for the biblical Salome, mother of the apostles John and James, with the thrilling latest in the Women of the Way Series (after Before the King). Set along the banks of the Gennesaret River in first-century Israel, the novel follows Salome from her childhood as the only daughter of a widowed stonemason. With her sharp tongue and wild spirit, she’s dismissed by her fellow villagers as unmarriageable, but her father sees in her the potential to become the mother of “mighty men.” After falling in love with a fisherman, she raises John and James amid the social unrest stirred up by Roman control of Judaea. Rumors start to spread of a carpenter’s son from Nazareth baptizing followers in the name of God, and then her sons commit to following the new prophet. Salome is caught at the center of a divided community and must decide whether to also devote herself to the charismatic preacher. Kaufman vividly evokes the chaos of an ancient Israel torn apart by religious and political strife and draws out the emotional stakes of discipleship as Jesus challenges everything Salome once thought to be true. The result is a unique and captivating resurrection of a little-known woman of scripture. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 11/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

Long-lost childhood sweethearts reunite amid the chaos of WWI in this heartrending historical romance from Camden (Women of Midtown). Delia Byrne and Finn Delaney grew up together in a Manhattan orphanage, flying kites and dreaming of escape—until a betrayal from Finn tears them apart. Ten years later, in 1917, their paths cross at the Commission for Relief of Belgium, where principled pacifist Delia and dashing war hero Finn raise money for the citizens of occupied Belgium. Bumpy history aside, they can’t help but feel a spark reignite as they work together and bond over the faith that’s helped them navigate the war. The action picks up when Finn’s drawn back to Belgium to free the captured woman who’d once saved him from imprisonment. After the mission goes awry, Delia might be the only person who knows enough to rescue him from German hands—but will lingering distrust dash their chances of a future together? Rich historical detail enlivens the plot, but it’s the opposites-attract love story between risk-taker Finn and cautious Delia that will keep readers turning pages. Camden’s fans will be swept up. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 11/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

Sundin follows up Midnight on the Scottish Shore with another riveting WWII romance. With her father serving as a medic on the Allied front lines, Ivy Picot manages the family’s medical practice on the German-occupied Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy alongside her older sister Fern and younger brother Charlie. When Ivy first lays eyes on Gerrit van der Zee at church, she’s convinced she’s meant to spend her life with him—until she notices his German uniform. What she doesn’t know is that Gerrit’s an undercover member of the Dutch resistance who smuggles Nazi maps to Allied forces. Gradually, Ivy comes to recognize Gerrit’s goodness, especially after he procures much-needed insulin for her patients. Still, tensions run high between the pair and at the medical practice as Ivy covertly treats patients who’ve escaped from German prisons on the islands. Things reach a boiling point when Fern starts dating a German soldier—a betrayal that threatens the success of the medical practice and may cost Ivy, Charlie, and Gerrit their lives. Sundin’s fast-moving plot is enriched by Ivy and Gerrit’s poignant struggles to reconcile their faith with the chaos unfolding around them. Fans of clean historical fiction won’t want to put this down. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 10/31/2025 | Details & Permalink

A mansion is riddled with decades of deadly secrets in Wright’s chilling latest (after Specters in the Glass House). The narrative unspools across two timelines; in the 19th century, as Waverly Pembrooke grapples with the grisly murder of her uncle Leopold Traeger, whose Newton Creek, Wis., estate has been her home for years. When it turns out Leopold’s will stipulates the immediate closure of Trager Hall, leaving Waverly without a place to stay, she teams up with local undertaker Titus Fitzgerald to uncover the truth about the murder. The present-day timeline follows Jennie Philips after she inherits the now-crumbling mansion from her father. She’s eager to sell—until she discovers a dead body on the property, stoking her curiosity and prompting her to enlist the help of Newton Creek native Zane Harris to dig into the mansion’s dark past. As Jennie and Zane wrestle with whether to open Traeger Hall’s doors for the first time in more than a century, anonymous threats against Zane’s family compel them to summon their faith and ask the same question Waverly did in 1890: What lies within Traeger Hall that causes people to kill? Wright skillfully wraps both timelines around the same intriguing mystery, seeding the plot with enough curveballs to keep readers turning pages. Lovers of gothic fiction will be hooked. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 10/31/2025 | Details & Permalink

Love, betrayal, and divided loyalties animate this heart-pounding Revolutionary-era historical from Frantz (A Fierce Devotion). Sisters Maebel and Coralie Bohannon keep the home fires burning in Chatham, N.J., while their brothers Jon and James are off fighting in the Continental Army. Mae does what she can to support the Patriot cause, including sewing uniforms for soldiers, but Coralie is a Loyalist who’s secretly engaged to British soldier Eben Gibbs. Mae reluctantly agrees to keep Coralie’s secret until the wedding, but things get complicated when James returns home with Gen. Rhys Harlow, head of an elite rifle corps with whom Mae feels an instant spark. As the two fall for each other, Mae starts to suspect Coralie of gathering information about Patriot soldiers’ movements for her British fiancée. With nowhere else to turn, Mae looks to God for help surviving the war with her romance and her family intact. Frantz’s fast-moving plot unfolds against a rich historical backdrop that precisely renders the cruelties of war and the choices those caught in its crosshairs make to survive. This will captivate the author’s fans and newcomers alike. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 10/31/2025 | Details & Permalink

Keller resumes her Second Chances in Harmony Springs series (after The Reverend’s Second Chance) with this sweet historical romance. The story opens in late-19th-century Boston, when Tori Mountbatten’s father threatens to kick her out of the house unless she stops practicing medicine and gets engaged within three months. Luckily, her friend Dr. Harrison Blake needs to find a wife by his 30th birthday to claim his inheritance, so the pair enter into a marriage of convenience that solves both their problems. After the wedding, they leave for Harmony Springs, Mont., where they begin treating patients and make plans to start a local hospital. Harrison quickly falls for the talented and feisty Tori, whose rocky relationship with her father has convinced her that she’s stubborn and unlovable. When several unanticipated crises endanger the hospital and their relationship, Tori and Harrison must weigh how much faith they’re willing to place in one another to make their marriage—and their mission—work. The marriage of convenience plot is enlivened by historical details about the challenges female doctors faced in the 19th century, while a charming cast of returning characters adds texture. The result is a satisfying tale of unexpected love. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 10/24/2025 | Details & Permalink

A community mailbox links two women across time in this overbusy contemporary from Ayers (Waiting for Sunset). In 2023, Brooklyn Marshal returns to her hometown of Sunset Beach, N.C., to recover from an abusive marriage. She finds comfort in riding her lavender bicycle to the Kindred Spirit mailbox, where townsfolk leave written confessions and requests for help. One such missive puts her in touch with Logan, an attractive real estate agent who helps Brooklyn find housing for a local woman. But as the chemistry between them intensifies, Brooklyn’s vengeful ex appears, threatening the relationship. The second timeline begins in 1963 as Trisha Malone, the original owner of the lavender bicycle, struggles to keep her faith after her boyfriend is drafted into the Vietnam War. The Kindred Spirit mailbox pulls Brooklyn and Trisha together in the present as each turns to God for help starting a new chapter in her life. While the bond between the two women is affecting, the narrative arc too frequently gets lost in a tangle of story lines, backstories, and symbols. It’s a mixed bag. (Dec.)

Reviewed on 10/24/2025 | Details & Permalink