Two cynics find unexpected joy in the holiday season and each other in this fun romance from St. Amant (Where I Found You). When Holly Sinclair gets laid off from her job as a social media manager two weeks before Christmas, it’s just one more reason to despise a holiday that falls on—and always overshadows—her birthday. Her sympathetic older brother Ryan persuades her to head home to Ohio, where he reintroduces her to his friend Nick Kinsley, who hopes to be Holly’s date to their parents’ holiday bash. But when it turns out Nick’s only there to persuade the Sinclairs to invest in his summer camp nonprofit, an irritated Holly decides to get even by feigning over-the-top, grating holiday cheer. Nick’s annoyed but can’t help the attraction he feels toward Holly, who likewise struggles to keep plotting against someone so handsome and likable. With plenty of flirty banter and holiday hijinks, the narrative sprints toward its sweet conclusion but leaves enough room for character development to keep readers emotionally invested in the enemies-to-lovers romance at its center. This is irresistible. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/04/2025 | Details & Permalink

A stubborn bookseller confronts childhood secrets after a mysterious stranger shows up in her small Southern town, in this captivating contemporary from Pearson (A Long Time Comin’). With no kids of her own, 64-year-old Glory Pryor has poured her life into her meticulously curated Gilmore, N.C., bookstore, By the Book. Ever since she married Eli Pryor five years ago, however, he’s been pushing her to retire so they can move closer to his kids. In the process, Eli has stirred up memories of Glory’s broken family—especially her brother, Davis, who disappeared from her life after he was kicked out of their rigidly religious parents’ home. The past comes back to haunt Glory in the form of Adelle Simonette, a widow and single mom who claims to be a reporter working on a story about By the Book. But Adelle has ulterior motives that stem from the tangled links between their families and force Glory to reevaluate her memories of her brother and the faith she cast off after he disappeared. Pearson’s flawed, immensely likable characters drive a layered narrative that reveals its secrets slowly as it explores themes of redemption, grief, and faith lost and found. This family drama satisfies. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 07/04/2025 | Details & Permalink

Bostrom (Sugar Birds) transports readers to rural Washington State in this evocative if unsteady tale of truth, memory, and moving forward. Biologist Hildy Nybo hides beneath her polished exterior a lifelong struggle with amnesia, which she manages by collecting daily mementos and avoiding the childhood home where her struggles began. When a new job on Washington’s Elwha River forces Hildy to return to the fishing resort where she was raised, she’s more determined than ever to hold tightly to her fragile memory—and keep her imperfections hidden from everyone around her. Things get complicated when she meets Luke Rimmer, a good-hearted carpenter whose faith makes Hildy tempted to discard her mementos and open up to the world. But as Hildy spearheads an ambitious project to return the Elwha River to its former glory, the insights her work reveals about her childhood risk closing her off to Luke—and her faith—altogether. Though the novel is brightened by lush, atmospheric landscape descriptions, Bostrom’s reliance on plot contrivances and rigid exposition may leave readers feeling disconnected from the story and its otherwise appealing characters. It’s a mixed bag. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/20/2025 | Details & Permalink

Englisch and Amish worlds collide in this endearing Christmas novella from Lewis (The Heirloom). As the holidays approach in the Amish community of Hickory Hollow, Pa., 22-year-old Liz Lantz stays busy running a buggy tours business that ferries Englisch visitors to the small town’s sights. Chief among them is, somewhat improbably, the Hyatt family’s front yard Christmas display, which has divided the Amish town with its loud music, bright lights, and accompanying car traffic. Still, Liz appreciates the business the house has brought her and befriends Ashley Hyatt, a mom of three who’s moved to the town with her kids and husband for some peace and quiet. When a massive snowstorm knocks out power to Hickory Hollow, Liz joins forces with attractive neighbor Matt Yoder to bring the community together to provide for the Englischer family, who has little food on hand. While the obstacles here are few, Liz makes for a winsome heroine as she works to unite the townspeople in the true spirit of Christmas, and the tensions between the Amish and Englisch communities are rendered with nuance. This is sure to fill readers’ hearts with holiday cheer. (Sept)

Reviewed on 06/27/2025 | Details & Permalink

A bride-to-be plans her Christmas wedding while hot on the trail of the arsonist who could’ve ruined it in this cheerful cozy from Thompson (Gone Fishing). When a fire sweeps across Texas, it threatens to destroy 27-year-old RaeLyn Hadley’s family farm, where her nuptials are set to take place. Luckily, the property is spared. Then rumors circulate that the blaze was deliberately set, and enterprising RaeLyn—who’s also a part-time reporter for the local paper—begins zeroing in on potential suspects. Among them is landowner Buck Adler, who has said he would rather burn his property to the ground than have it seized by the powerful oil company that’s after him, and twins Karter and Keener Oberdeen, who miraculously escaped the blaze by taking refuge in a pond, and whose stories don’t quite add up. As the wedding draws closer and RaeLyn is seemingly no closer to identifying the culprit, she grapples with what it means to trust her neighbors and follow God’s will through life’s ups and downs. Readers will have no problem cheering for the upbeat and relatable RaeLyn, and the mystery is nicely balanced with gentle humor and poignant moments between RaeLyn and her family. It makes for a sweet and festive treat. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/20/2025 | Details & Permalink

Klassen (The Seaside Homecoming) concludes the On Devonshire Shores series with a delightfully festive Regency romance. Sarah Summers has been pining over handsome Scottish widower Callum Henshall since he first stayed at her family’s Sidmouth guesthouse a year ago. So when he shows up with his teenage daughter around Christmastime, it feels like fate has answered her prayers. Still, the reignited romance isn’t without its challenges; Sarah, who would have to move to Scotland to be with Callum, feels duty-bound to keep running the family guesthouse, especially now that her tenderhearted mother, whose own health soon takes a turn for the worse, has welcomed a needy orphan into their home. As Sarah vacillates between starting anew and staying put, she turns to God to understand how to balance love and duty. Meanwhile, Callum struggles to reclaim a faith that’s been nearly destroyed by his wife’s death. Series fans will appreciate the reappearance of the lovable cast of characters, and it’s gratifying to watch the two wounded souls at the book’s center haltingly work their way toward love. This ties up the series with a sweet and satisfying bow. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/20/2025 | Details & Permalink

An ex-pageant queen discovers beauty is more than skin-deep in the sweet if unsubtle latest from Smith (Songs for a Sunday). Thirty-seven-year-old former beauty queen Della Rose Miller flees an unhappy marriage for her ho-hum North Carolina hometown of Flatsboro. There, she runs into Andy Clark, a former friend whom Della Rose was forced to reject in elementary school because her superficial father thought associating with him would ruin her pageant dreams. Andy, a lifelong Flatsboro resident, now spends his days stocking the town’s food pantry and quietly ticking off items on his “do-good” list—until he saves a child from an accident and earns recognition from the entire community. As Della Rose begins to see Andy in a new light, she’s inspired by his faith to grapple with her own challenges, including her stalker ex (“If Andy Clark could forgive her for what she’d done to him and be such a good and giving person... maybe there was something to the God he claimed”). While Smith’s beauty-is-on-the-inside message can be too on-the-nose, readers seeking a touching story of faith and redemption won’t be able to resist the heartwarming friendship at the novel’s center. It’s a tender ode to small-town morals and second chances. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/20/2025 | Details & Permalink

A middle-aged woman finds a new appreciation for the holiday season in the charming latest from Carlson (Welcome to the Honey B&B). Despite being born on Christmas Day, 40-year-old Carol Langstrom has dreaded the holiday ever since she was a girl and her family’s yuletide gatherings were marred by her parents’ blowouts. Eager for a fresh start, she decides to spend Christmas in the Bahamas, but when a blizzard scrambles those plans and strands her in snowy Michigan, she’s forced to take refuge at her estranged aunt’s farm. Carol’s frustration at missing her vacation quickly evaporates as she bonds with her sweet aunt Maria, who’s recently broken her arm and needs help decorating her house and planning the local Christmas Cotillion. It doesn’t hurt that Maria’s attractive, charming neighbor Victor is on hand to help set up their Christmas tree and cook. As Carol grows closer to her aunt and uncovers more about how her mother’s relationship with Maria fractured, she struggles to forgive her mom and embrace the Christmas season. Carlson’s gentle humor and quirky, lovable characters have more than enough charm to propel the plot to its feel-good conclusion. Readers won’t be able to resist this. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/06/2025 | Details & Permalink

Barnett follows up Beyond the Ashes with a gripping tale of twisted family bonds set in Utah’s Zion National Park. In 1948, park ranger Henry Eriksson is reeling from the death of his infant son when he discovers a baby boy on the banks of the Virgin River, which runs through the park. Initially determined not to get attached to the “Zion foundling,” Henry embarks on a fruitless search for the baby’s mother. Eventually, he allows himself to hope the child might be his and his wife’s second chance at parenthood. Three years later, the Erikssons are settling in as “Billy’s” parents when a reporter draws a link between the child’s appearance in the park and a newborn’s kidnapping from a Salt Lake City hospital. As the missing child’s parents take an interest in Billy and Henry’s wife Alma uncovers a damning piece of evidence, the Erikssons must contemplate what it would mean to lose a second child—and what they’re willing to do to keep him. A second story line unfolds in the present as the Erikssons’ great-granddaughter Talia takes a DNA test on a lark and ends up unseating everything the family knows about their heritage. The historical narrative unspools slowly on the way to a rewarding climax that touches on faith, the ties that bind families, and the profound, far-reaching effects of the secrets they keep. Readers will be swept up. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/06/2025 | Details & Permalink

Shocklee (All We Thought We Knew) unspools a gripping dual-timeline historical centered on the Manhattan Project. In 1944, Mae Willet lands a job as a maintenance clerk at the Clinton Engineer Works in Oak Ridge, Tenn., a secret arm of the Manhattan Project that enriches uranium. Mae and other administrative workers are kept in the dark about the plant’s purpose and barred from disclosing anything about their work to others. After her roommate and coworker, Sissy, starts dating a suspicious man, Mae and Sissy get embroiled in a plot that involves split allegiances, government secrets, arson, and possibly worse. In 1979, PhD student Laurel Willet travels to Tennessee to interview her aunt Mae as part of her doctoral thesis on the Manhattan Project. Aunt Mae is unwilling to talk, but Laurel is determined to uncover her role at Oak Ridge—especially after finding the ID badge of another Oak Ridge employee in Mae’s old things—and help Mae find healing through God. Shocklee’s sympathetic characters add plenty of depth to the action-packed plot, and the atmospheric renderings of an anxious wartime America are especially vivid. Fans of Christian historicals will be captivated from first page to last. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink