Prysock (Waiting for Wilson) kicks off the Kentucky Debutantes of the Gilded Age series with this paint-by-numbers tale of an arranged marriage that turns into true love. Ever since Veronica was spurned by a crush, she’s planned to live out her days as a single woman on her parents’ Kentucky horse farm. So when her parents arrange her marriage to a high-society Princeton grad, she’s incensed. Still, when Edward and his family visit, Veronica goes along with the plan to avoid causing a scene. As she gets to know the sensitive, smart, and godly 28-year-old, she’s swept off her feet. There’s another reason for the match, however—Veronica’s father is offering a handsome dowry to Edward’s cash-strapped dad, who needs to pay off creditors after his stockbroking company went belly-up. As the plot unfolds, Veronica discovers there may be more to the story, while also confronting the challenges of joining her life with Edward’s. Unfortunately, stilted dialogue and thin characterizations (“He prayed Veronica would say yes, because at this point, his heart would never be the same again if she declined him”) keep the well-worn premise from taking flight, and manufactured-feeling roadblocks to the relationship remove any suspense. This disappoints. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 08/16/2024 | Details & Permalink

The exciting third installment in Meyer’s Timeless series (after For a Lifetime) follows a 20-year-old time traveler as she grapples with her identity in two different centuries. Caroline splits her days between 1927 St. Paul, Minn., where she’s the daughter of a minister, and 1727 South Carolina, where her hardheaded grandfather wants to marry her off to the wealthy Thomas Shepherd. Caroline has other plans, however, especially after she discovers a letter from her mother revealing that she, too, was a time traveler. Seeking answers about her past, Caroline disguises herself in 1727 as a boy and finds work on a ship bound for the Bahamas, where her mother said she was headed in the letter. When the ship is captured by pirates, Caroline turns to an unexpected ally, quartermaster Marcus, to keep her true identity a secret and help her survive. Amid the high-stakes action, which toggles between the high seas and Prohibition-era speakeasies, Caroline wrestles with her faith as she works to understand whether her time-traveling ability is a curse or a gift. Propulsive and intricately detailed, this hits all the right notes. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 08/16/2024 | Details & Permalink

Baker’s shaky latest in the Heart of the Amish series (after The Quilt Room Secret) finds a mysterious break-in wreaking havoc on a sleepy Illinois town. Serenity Miller is trying to get back on her feet after criminals invaded her barn and left her bound and gagged until she was rescued by handsome neighbor Stephen Lantz. Afterward, the police are certain they’ve caught the suspects—bank robbers seeking shelter from a storm—but Serenity has her doubts, especially because the men in question don’t have the hoarse, raspy voices she remembers from that night (she didn’t see their faces). As her anxiety mounts, she and Stephen scour the town for possible culprits. Though he tries to court her, Serenity is standoffish and cagey, dodging his professions of love despite the obvious spark building between them. It may be that a secret about her health—one that “only Gott” knows—is preventing her from pursuing the romance. While the bond between Stephen and Serenity has some appeal, clumsy exposition and wooden prose sap the sweetest moments of life (“As they studied each other, he yearned to be her husband. He longed for love”). Despite a promising premise, this fails to live up to its potential. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 08/09/2024 | Details & Permalink

Connealy (Toward the Dawn) wraps up her A Western Light series with a breakneck ride through the late 19th-century American frontier. After escaping the mental asylum she’d been committed to by the greedy ex-husband who stole her inheritance, and spending four years in hiding, Ginny Rutledge is now eager to free other women unfairly trapped in the institution. First, she’ll need to prove her own sanity in court, so she sets out with her daughter, Beth; Beth’s husband, Jake; their three small children; and a few others in hopes of standing a fair trial in Wyoming. Once there, misfortunes pile up, among them the judge is out of town, and one of their party is being stalked by mysterious bad actors. When Ginny’s ex-husband, Thaddeus, and the corrupt doctor who ran the asylum show up hoping to recommit Ginny, she must draw on her faith to prove her sanity in court, keep herself and her family safe, and rescue other women unfairly consigned to the asylum—all while evading Thaddeus’s clutches. Brimming with high-stakes action, plot twists, and plenty of shady characters, Connealy’s finale captivates while sensitively exploring the rights of women in the Old West. Series fans will be delighted. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 08/09/2024 | Details & Permalink

A young research assistant unravels the mystery behind a Milwaukee socialite’s alleged death in this eerie dual-timeline tale from Wright (Night Falls on Predicament Avenue). Remy Crenshaw has just landed a job assisting eccentric author Elton Floyd on his next project—a biography of Marian Arnold, a Prohibition-era socialite rumored to haunt the halls of the manor where she was murdered. When Remy moves into the house and begins scouring it—and the internet—for information, she discovers the Arnolds’ family history includes a bankrupted brewery business and a murder by the so-called “Butterfly Butcher,” who left dead butterflies next to his victims. With the help of her faith and U.S. Marine veteran Tate Arnold, a distant relative of the Arnold clan with secrets of his own, Remy comes to believe that Marian may not have been murdered—and sets out to uncover the truth behind her disappearance. Wright uses the parallel story lines—one in the present, the other in the 1920s—to ratchet up tension as uncanny resonances between Marian’s and Remy’s lives send sinister echoes across time and space. Readers will be eager to take this twisty, suspense-filled ride. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 08/02/2024 | Details & Permalink

Cultures clash, forbidden romances ignite, and old wounds heal in time for Christmas in this upbeat trio of novellas from Shepard Gray (A Is for Amish), Worth (The Widow’s Unexpected Suitor), and Good (Dating an Amish Flirt). Shepard Gray’s “A Christmas Reunion” finds Brandt Holden reuniting with Tricia, a friend’s Amish cousin with whom he’s been exchanging letters since meeting her a year ago. Their chemistry is undeniable, but Tricia must decide whether she’s willing to leave her culture behind for a chance at love. Worth’s “We Gather Together” takes place at a tiny inn on Christmas eve, where Lucas Myer and Kyla Hollinger form a bond despite a long-running family feud stemming from their grandparents’ romantic rivalry. Themes of rebellion are explored in Good’s “Hitting All the Right Notes,” which finds Andrew Hollinger starting a rock band with his friends during Rumspringa. When he meets and falls in love with a fan who’s not yet baptized, he’s forced to choose between love and his faith. Despite a few weak moments (the family feud in “We Gather Together” feels more like a plot device than a real obstacle to the protagonists’ love), readers will appreciate the combination of happily-ever-after story lines with meaningful considerations of the challenges of navigating between Amish and Englisch cultures. It’s a welcome burst of holiday cheer. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 07/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

A church burns down, throwing a small British town into disarray, in this intricate and moody historical from Stephens (Shadows Among Sheaves). It’s 1956 and 26-year-old Louisa Everly has just returned home from a party when she’s overcome by the uncanny sense that her twin, Paul, has died. Almost immediately afterward, Rosemont Abbey—the church where Louisa’s father had been a vicar before dying when she was 12—burns down. Paul’s nowhere to be found, so the police zero in on him as an arson suspect, a prospect that’s not entirely far-fetched given his checkered past. Still, Louisa’s determined to prove his innocence—and, she believes, to find his body. She teams up with her childhood friend and local police inspector, Malcolm Sinclair, to uncover the real culprit. Soon she stumbles on a secret that threatens to rock her family and the town itself. Louisa’s resonant ruminations on how her relationship with Paul soured after their father’s death—and on her faith as a source of bravery—add depth and texture to the mystery as it spirals toward its satisfying conclusion. This immersive whodunit captivates. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 07/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

A jaded 30-year-old rediscovers the holiday season’s magic in Reid’s upbeat if clumsy latest ( after Made Like Martha). Holly Brigham is broke, single, and has recently moved back to Bavarian Falls, her stifling Midwestern hometown and the “capital city of Christmas.” She’s hated the holiday since the Christmas more than 20 years ago when her father suffered a brain aneurysm that left him a shell of himself. As she acclimates to life back home, Holly finds distraction in dueling romantic interests Nik Beckenbauer and Frank Walker, and in painting ornaments at the local Christmas store. But her outlook doesn’t start to shift until a devout older couple shows up at the store and reminds Holly that God “brings good out of difficulties.” That message, along with a return to therapy, helps Holly to let go of the past, rediscover her love of Christmas, and envision a new future “instead of fixating on the one I thought was guaranteed.” While Reid’s Hallmark moviesque premise has promise, her characters aren’t quite captivating enough to make up for the heavy-handed exposition and abundance of awkward metaphors (“Nik’s tenderness melted Holly like a puddle on the driveway of her childhood home”). This comes up short. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

A divorced couple reconnects in this charming second-chance romance from Lowe (Under the Magnolias). Avalee Elvis has spent the six years since her split from high school sweetheart Rowan Murray growing her successful renovation business. But long, sweaty days knocking down walls and laying tile are fleeting distractions from her broken marriage, the personal tragedy that helped ruin it, and her sense of alienation from “everyone and everything” in the wake of both. She’s eager to embark on a project to revitalize a small South Carolina town that’s been abandoned since the mid-20th century, but barely has time to get to work before structural engineer Rowan shows up and informs her he’s been hired by the project’s investors to oversee construction. Still, Avalee throws herself into her work, and the town begins to take shape as the exes reconnect. Though Avalee’s surprised to learn she’s not the only one deeply wounded by the divorce, if she wants to rebuild her romance with Rowan, she’ll have to draw on her faith for the strength to finally face her trauma and heal herself. Lowe skillfully balances the story’s heavier themes with humor, thanks to several quirky side characters—including craftsmen brothers Fred and Froid and a food-snatching dog. This is sure to tug on the heartstrings. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

In the third Houses of Yorkshire Regency romance, Ladd (In the Shelter of Hollythorne House) serves up a riveting mystery centered on two antique brokers who are thrust back into each other’s lives years after a family feud forced them apart. When Olivia Brannon is recruited to evaluate a widow’s private collection at a London mansion, she jumps at the chance. Mrs. Milton is eager to keep Olivia’s work secret from her nephew George, the new owner of Cloverton Hall, and has Olivia pose as her guest at a party. Working-class Olivia feels like a fish out of water among the fashionable set, and things get stranger still when she runs into Lucas Avery, whose father was once a business associate of her own father’s before the two had a falling-out. Lucas is at Cloverton to evaluate George’s own collection of antiques, and is horrified to discover counterfeits among them. He reluctantly seeks out Olivia’s expertise, and sparks fly as the pair—who are driven by a shared belief in doing what’s right­—work to uncover who might be switching out George’s antiques. Ladd seamlessly weaves in details about the feud between the Brannons and the Averys as the narrative surges forward, adding depth and intrigue to Olivia and Lucas’s budding relationship. It’s a pitch-perfect blend of suspense and sweetness. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/28/2024 | Details & Permalink