So Bright a Hope | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Caroline Whitney receives word that the brother she thought was dead is in fact a prisoner of war, she is frantic to rescue him. On the way to find help, she hides from the Redcoats, but is quickly discovered by a rugged British soldier who claims she must go with him, or be tried for espionage. The world would tell her this man is the enemy, but the veiled secrets in her captor’s eyes reveal he is more than he seems. If she fails to trust, more could be endangered than her life—her heart is bound to be broken a second time.

As a double agent in the service of Washington, British Captain James Higley must keep his true convictions a secret or face being killed as a traitor. On his newest mission, he discovers a courageous woman hiding in a barn, and is forced to capture her, or both their lives will be in jeopardy. When she offers her compliance in exchange for help in finding her brother, he accepts, despite his inner warnings. He must keep his distance from this alluring Patriot, or risk revealing not only his identity, but the true feelings of his heart.

Release Date: December 15, 2018

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

So Fair a Lady

So True a Love

So Rare a Gift

If Not for Thee

So Pure a Heart

The Rancher's Homecoming | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

Chance Blackwell’s return—

Could cost her everything!

Ten years after he eloped with Katie Montgomery’s sister, Chance Blackwell is back in Montana to sell his family ranch. Katie could lose her job and the only home she’s known. But the loyal cowgirl is keeping a secret that could shatter trust and jeopardize her future with the widowed musician and her toddler niece. Unless Chance’s growing affection for her and all things Blackwell can earn Katie his forgiveness—and his love.

Publisher: Harlequin Heartwarming

Release Date: December 4, 2018

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

The Rancher's Twins

The Rancher's Rescue

The Rancher's Redemption

The Rancher's Fake Fiancée

The Unhoneymooners | Waiting on Wednesday

Hosted weekly by Breaking the Spine 

to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

(Similarly, Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings.)

Happy Wednesday!

I mentioned yesterday that I only recently added this book to my TBR, and I'm so excited to have discovered it. It sounds like a rom-com that will make me smile.

Most Recent Additions to My TBR | Top Ten Tuesday

Hosted weekly by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Happy Tuesday!

Because I can't help myself, my TBR is always in a state of growth. Here are a few of the books that I've recently added to it:

In This Ground | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

Just as his indie-rock band was poised to make it big, Ben Dirjery traded it all in for fatherhood and the stability of a job at Bolster Hill Cemetery. Now closing in on fifty, the former guitarist finds himself divorced and at loose ends, and still haunted by the tragic death of his former band’s lead singer, who is buried, literally, under Ben’s feet. Then Ben’s daughter begins questioning a past he has tried to bury. If he can face her questions, he might finally put to rest his guilt over his bandmate’s death, and bring music back into his life.

“Startlingly incongruous parts–graveyards, guitars, and mushrooms–come together in satisfying and unexpected ways. Sharp writing and an unconventional plot make for a darkly enjoyable read.”
–Kirkus Reviews

Publisher: Garland Press

Release Date: September 18, 2018

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #33

Hosted weekly by The Book Date.

Happy Monday!

I had a great week: finished all my homework early, enjoyed This Is Us, A Million Little Things, and The Bachelor with the roommate, rocked the 24in48 readathon over the weekend, and knocked some books off my TBR!

10 Choices Successful Couples Make | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

Most books on marriage rightly address communication and conflict as key issues, then advise readers on how to fight fair since conflict is an inevitable reality and cannot be avoided. But Dr. Ron Welch asks the provocative question, Is it? Is every marriage doomed to one conflict after another? Shouldn't we expect better than that?

In this practical and encouraging book, Welch offers a far more positive approach to marriage, outlining 10 specific choices couples can make to minimize or even avoid conflict and increase joy. With his expert guidance, couples will learn how to employ proven strategies to

- communicate accurately and positively

- choose forgiveness over unforgiveness

- understand their marriage type

- and make decisions more effectively

Whether they are engaged, newly married, or have been married for decades, couples will find that this book will transform their relationship.

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: January 22, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

The Kingdom of Copper | The Friday 56 & First Line Friday

The Friday 56 is hosted weekly by Freda's Voice.
First Line Friday is hosted weekly by Hoarding Books.

Happy Friday!

It's time for another 24in48 readathon! Yay! (I'm excited—can you tell? Ha!) Who else is planning to participate?

This week, I've been super indecisive when trying to create my weekend TBR. With all the lovely book mail I've received and the books I picked up from the library, I just can't decide on which ones I want to focus.

But this gem, the sequel to The City of Brass (a 2018 favorite), finally arrived this week, and I'm tempted to spend all my time with it. Or I might be patient and reread the first book first. Who knows?

The Scroll | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Scroll is a multi-generational historical novel about the survivors of Masada. It draws from an authentic archaeological find: the divorce document of a woman named Miriam.

This fictionalized version of Miriam’s story begins in the year 73 CE on Masada’s final horrific day, where enemies within and without bring about the downfall of the last Jewish fortress. Its survivors are forced to choose between nation and family, and finally, between life and death. Will they learn the lessons of Masada’s downfall?

Although it tells of events that took place two millennia ago, The Scroll sheds extraordinary light on the complexities of modern Israeli society and the dilemmas faced by Israel and its leaders today.

Publisher: The Toby Press

Release Date: January 19, 2019 (re-issue)

Goodreads | Amazon

Romanov | Waiting on Wednesday

Hosted weekly by Breaking the Spine 

to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

(Similarly, Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings.)

Happy Wednesday!

I'm so here for an Anastasia story by Nadine Brandes.

Books I Meant to Read In 2018 But Didn’t | Top Ten Tuesday

Hosted weekly by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Happy Tuesday!

I read an insane amount of books in 2018 and still didn't get all of them. (The TBR situation is hopeless!) Here are a few that fell to the wayside:

An Alaskan Proposal | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

Can he teach her survival skills—

without endangering his heart?

When Sabrina Bell taps Leith Jordan for a crash course in conquering the great Alaskan outdoors, he figures he’s on safe ground. They’re polar opposites and his spectacular home state’s just a pit stop for the hotshot fashionista. So no one’s more surprised than Leith when he starts falling for her. Now he’s a man with a plan: get Sabrina to fall in love with Alaska…and, hopefully, with him.

Publisher: Harlequin Heartwarming

Release Date: January 1, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

The Alaskan Catch

A Gift for Santa

Alaskan Hideaway

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #32

Hosted weekly by The Book Date.

Happy Monday!

It's been a simple week of settling into the school routine and squeezing in some good reading.

So Fair a Lady | The Friday 56 & First Line Friday

The Friday 56 is hosted weekly by Freda's Voice.
First Line Friday is hosted weekly by Hoarding Books.

Happy Friday!

I've been enjoying Amber Lynn Perry's Daughters of the Kingdom series this week (finally—it's only been sitting on my TBR for years), so here's a peek at Book One.

Who I Am With You | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

For these two broken hearts, the first step toward love will be a huge leap of faith.

Jessica Mason isn’t looking for love when she meets Ridley Chesterfield. Instead she is still reeling from the tragic, unexpected loss of her husband and daughter—and awaiting the arrival of her unborn child. Harboring the secret of her husband’s betrayal, her pain is deeper than anyone knows.

Ridley Chesterfield is hiding out in Hope Springs, Idaho, avoiding a political scandal and the barrage of false media headlines that have tarnished his good name. The last thing Ridley wants is a relationship—but when fate leads Ridley to form a friendship with his reclusive and pregnant neighbor, he wonders if this small-town hideout might be more of a long-term destination. 

When Jessica begins to read her great-grandfather’s Bible, she finds a connection with a man she never knew. Somehow the verses he marked and the words he wrote in the margins open her heart to healing. And as Ridley and Jessica help each other forgive the people who have broken their hearts, they must decide if the past will define them or if they will choose to love again.

Who I Am With You weaves together a modern-day romance with Jessica’s great-grandfather’s story from the 1930s, reminding us that some truths can cross generations and that faith has the power to transform families forever.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: December 11, 2018

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Cross My Heart

The Printed Letter Bookshop | Waiting on Wednesday

Hosted weekly by Breaking the Spine 

to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

(Similarly, Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings.)

Happy Wednesday!

I'll get excited about anything Katherine Reay writes.

No Safe Place | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

He lives by the law.

She’s running for her life.

After forensic accountant Beth Greenwood uncovers a money-laundering scheme tying her company to the organization that murdered her mentor, she knows she needs to go into hiding. With ruthless killers in pursuit, she’s forced to rely on homeland security agent Corbin Ross’s protection—even as his investigation suggests Beth is complicit in embezzlement. Can their uneasy alliance develop into something deeper—and keep them alive?

Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense

Release Date: January 1, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

With This Pledge | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

What can a woman–a mere governess–do against the scourge of slavery?

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Clouston’s quietly held principles oppose those of the Southern Cause–but when forty thousand soldiers converge on the fields of Franklin, Tennessee, the war demands an answer. The Carnton home, where she is governess, is commandeered as a Confederate hospital; and Lizzie must summon fortitude to assist the military doctor with surgeries that determine life or death–even as she fears for the life of Towny, her fiancé and lifelong friend.

A young soldier’s dying words convey an urgent message that Lizzie promises to deliver, yet she knows little more than the boy’s first name. That same night, decorated Mississippi sharpshooter Captain Roland Ward Jones extracts a different promise from Lizzie: that she intervene should the surgeon decide to amputate. Even if it costs him his life.

Lizzie is nothing if not a woman of her word, earning the soldiers’ respect as she tends the wounded convalescing within Carnton’s walls. None is more admiring than Captain Jones, who doesn’t realize she is already pledged to another. But Captain Jones holds secrets of his own, which prove costly for Lizzie. Because a betrothed woman shouldn’t harbor feelings for a man other than her intended. Especially not when that man is a slave owner.

When Towny vanishes after a crushing battle in Nashville, Lizzie must confront the costs of war. And torn between love, principles, and promises made, she struggles to be true to her own heart while standing for what she knows is right–no matter the cost.

From the pages of history and the personal accounts of those who endured the Battle of Franklin, Tamera Alexander weaves the real-life love letters between Captain Roland Ward Jones and Miss Elizabeth Clouston into a story of unlikely romance first kindled amid the shadows of war.

“Tamera Alexander takes us to the Civil War battlefield with a vivid yet sensitive portrayal of war and its aftermath. With warmth and grace, she shows us hope and faith at work in the midst of suffering. The beautifully-drawn characters and rich history in With This Pledge work seamlessly to demonstrate that Christ’s love and romantic love can triumph even in our darkest moments.”–Lynn Austin, bestselling author of Legacy of Mercy

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: January 8, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Christmas at Carnton

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #31

Hosted weekly by The Book Date.

Happy Monday!

As my Bout of Books post shows, I had a great reading week, and I loved it! Plus, I accomplished all I needed for my first week of classes, enjoyed spending time with my parents, and watched some interesting movies, including Bird Box and Dumplin'. Overall, a good week.

Teal Paisley Tights | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

Life post-graduation was supposed to see the launch of paisley-loving Jadyn’s art career, or at least an art gallery showing one of her watercolor paintings. Instead, this Pittsburgh native is locked into a low-paying, buttoned-up consultant position with an impossible boss. When another colleague is dismissed, Jadyn inherits extra workload, including the company’s biggest client. If she loses him, she’s fired. 

Jadyn people-pleases her way through life, resulting in extra work opportunities and a community classroom of art students. But when two guys appear on her doorstep, she just might not be able to people-please her way out of this love triangle. At the end of the day, she can’t please everyone. 

Then, because of a small spending problem, Jadyn is evicted from her apartment, and she must move in with her know-it-all sister. Jadyn needs to decide between a job transfer that would place her near her love interest, or a full-time art career with all its risks. 

Stretched like canvas between responsibility and dreams, she must choose. Will practicality always win?

Publisher: Vinspire Publishing

Release Date: November 15, 2018

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Excerpt

An Assassin's Guide to Love and Treason | The Friday 56 & First Line Friday

The Friday 56 is hosted weekly by Freda's Voice.
First Line Friday is hosted weekly by Hoarding Books.

Happy Friday!

This historical YA book is on my TBR for the week, and while I haven't gotten to it yet, I'm hoping to maybe, fingers crossed, have time for it this weekend.

Family Blessings | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOKS

A Place to Call Home

Lawman Joe Sheehan is desperate to bond with the daughter he's just discovered he has. But as a virtual stranger to twelve-year-old Amelia, the task seems impossible. Until Claire Conley moves to town. A social worker renovating a mansion into a foster home, Claire is the first person to get through to Amelia. Falling for the single dad was not on Claire's to-do list. But with Joe and Amelia around, the house finally starts to feel like home. Claire's ready to fight to convince Joe that together they've done more than fix a house...they've built a family.

Publisher: Love Inspired

Release Date: April 18, 2017

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

A Family to Call Her Own

After becoming a foster parent to a young boy, equine therapist Jordan Conley’s life gets turned upside down. Little Levi is in need of an exceptional pediatrician, which means seeking help from Dr. Ash Sheehan—a man that, despite her heart-pounding crush, isn’t her type. Her life is horses and hay, and she can’t imagine the suit-clad doctor in a pair of cowboy boots. As a confirmed bachelor, Ash has never been nervous around women, but there’s something about Jordan that flusters him, and working closely together doesn’t help. The last thing he’s looking for is long-term romance. But the more involved he gets, the more he wishes they could stay together…always.

Publisher: Love Inspired

Release Date: September 17, 2017

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

He wanted roots. She chose career. Can a baby bring them back together?

Wynn Sheehan planned to change the world—not return to Alabama alone and pregnant. Her life is in shambles, but at least she can help take care of Latham Grant’s ailing grandpa. Latham isn’t ready to trust the woman who eagerly left him and their small town behind. But can they ignore the spark rekindled by unexpected Family Blessings?

Publisher: Love Inspired

Release Date: February 20, 2018

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

Falling for her convenient groom

Family Blessings lead to new beginnings

Jules Sheehan will do anything to keep custody of the two orphaned girls in her care—including a marriage of convenience with their uncle. Cam Quinn crosses the globe as a travel writer, but he’s ready to settle down. Now tough, tender Jules is offering the home he’s secretly longed for. Can this marriage in name only become a family of the heart?

Publisher: Love Inspired

Release Date: January 15, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

Garrison's Law | Clue, Excerpt + Giveaway

Welcome to the scavenger blog hunt and giveaway for the Garrison’s Law contemporary romantic suspense series by Mary Connealy, hosted by JustRead Tours!

At each stop, there will be:

-special content by the blogger, and

-a clue

Keep track of these clues each day because you’ll need to enter the clues you’ve gathered that day in the Rafflecopter (a new entry each day for that day’s clues).

On the last day, the final piece of the scavenger hunt will be revealed in a puzzle on JustRead’s (and JustCommonly’s) blog.

ABOUT LOVING HER TEXAS PROTECTOR

Jacie Moreau is a tough-as-nails security specialist who works with the Long Pine Texas police. She takes care of herself and doesn’t ask for help from anyone.

Brett Garrison is an odd-man-out in the Garrison family. He’s a soft-hearted veterinarian from a family of daring Texas lawmen.

Jacie runs afoul of a hired killer and no one is there to step between her and danger but Brett.

Brett’s good-hearted plan to care for the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen draw an assassin’s attention. Jacie never needs help, but Brett’s kindness when she is so vulnerable sneaks past all the emotional walls she’s built around her heart.

The killer keeps coming and their only hope is to run. And as they run they try and figure out who’s hired a killer, and why, and how to stop him.

If they hide well enough and live long enough, they might make it to the day they can fall in love.

Release Date: July 13, 2018

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Loving the Texas Lawman

Loving the Texas Negotiator

Loving the Texas Stranger

Loving the Mysterious Texan

Superman: Dawnbreaker | Waiting on Wednesday

Hosted weekly by Breaking the Spine 

to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

(Similarly, Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings.)

Happy Wednesday!

It's the final DC Icons installment, and I'm so excited.

Bess and Frima | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

Bess and Frima, best friends from the Bronx, find romance at their summer jobs at Jewish vacation hotels in the Catskills—and as love mixes with war, politics, creative ambitions, and the mysteries of personality, they leave girlhood behind them.

When Bess and Frima—best friends, both nineteen and from the same Jewish background in the Bronx—get summer jobs in upstate hotels near Monticello, NY, in June 1940, they have visions of romance . . . but very different expectations and needs. Frima, who seeks safety in love, finds it with the “boy next door,” who is also Bess’s brother. Meanwhile, rebellious Bess renames herself Beth and plunges into a new life with Vinny, an Italian American, former Catholic, left-wing labor leader from San Francisco. Her actions are totally unacceptable to her family—which is fine with Beth. Will their young loves have happy endings? Yes and no, for the shadow of world war is growing, and Beth and Frima must grow up fast. As their love lives entangle with war, ambitions, religion, family, and politics—all kinds of conventional expectations—they face challenges they never dreamed of in their struggles for personal and creative growth.

Publisher: She Writes Press

Release Date: August 21, 2018

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble