Don't Keep Silent | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

Justice comes easy for these two. But forgiveness? That's another matter altogether.

Investigative reporter Rae Burke will do anything to find her missing sister-in-law, even if it means facing Liam McKade, a man who almost lost his life saving hers. A former DEA agent, Liam thought he could find peace at his Wyoming ranch, but he doesn't feel at home anywhere anymore. When the reporter who blew his cover on an important investigation inserts herself back into his life, he's less than thrilled. But Rae's keen investigative skills have led her down the right path--and directly into the dragon's mouth--leaving Liam no choice but to protect her.

As the danger increases, the past they both tried to flee catches up to them, along with the feelings they once had for each other . . .

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: June 30, 2020

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OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Never Let Go

Always Look Twice

The Colonel's Lady | First Line Friday + The Friday 56

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

Happy Friday!

I'm finally getting to a Laura Frantz book I haven't read yet, and I'm enjoying it so far.

Under the Shade of the Banyan Tree | Excerpt + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

Life is not about achieving perfection, it's about reconciling with your imperfections.

Poems are fragments of life. In Simi K. Rao’s unique poetry collection for women, there are blissful moments; deep, invisible wounds; cries for help; declarations of defiance and philosophical observations. The poems and prose pieces compiling the collection are fragments of life elucidating the different phases of the human condition. Under the Shade of the Banyan Tree will leave readers wanting for more and have a deep impact on women of all ages.

Publisher: Written Dreams Publishing

Release Date: September 30, 2019

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The Gentleman Spy | Book Review, Q&A + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

He only wanted a duchess for a day―but she's determined to make it a marriage for life.

When his father and older brother suddenly pass away, the new Duke of Haverly is saddled with a title he never expected to bear. To thwart the plans of his scheming family, the duke impulsively marries a wallflower. After all, she's meek and mild; it should be easy to sequester her in the country and get on with his life―as a secret agent for the Crown.

But his bride has other ideas. She's determined to take her place not only as his duchess but as his wife. As a duchess, she can use her position to help the lowest of society―the women forced into prostitution because they have no skills or hope. Her endeavors are not met favorably in society, nor by her husband who wishes she'd remain in the background as he ordered.

Can the duke succeed in relegating her to the sidelines of his life? When his secrets are threatened with exposure, will his new wife be an asset or a liability?

Publisher: Kregel Publications

Release Date: July 28, 2020

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OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

The Lost Lieutenant

Joy to the World

The Indebted Earl

Piece By Piece | Spotlight + Giveaway

JustRead Publicity Tours

ABOUT THE BOOK

A grieving mother learns to heal in Amish country, in this heartfelt, beautifully told novel from national bestselling author Laura Bradford.

Danielle Parker is a gold-medal mom—the kind who volunteers in her children’s classrooms, shuttles them between activities, throws legendary birthday parties, and has a remedy on hand for any emergency. Whatever her husband, Jeff, and their children need, Dani is there, always.

Except for one day.

On that day—the day that Dani reluctantly takes some “me time” while her mom and Jeff drive the children to the park—the unthinkable happens. The car crash leaves no survivors. Somehow, Dani gets through the funerals and visits, accepting neighbors’ sympathy and dropped-off meals. All the while, guilt and grief make her wish the accident had claimed her life too. Then a call comes from Lydia Schlabach, an Amish woman Dani befriended in childhood. In addition to condolences, Lydia offers Dani something more: a place to escape to.

In Pennsylvania’s Amish country, Dani’s days take on a new rhythm, marked by the clip-clop of buggies and the bustle of chores. Lydia gives Dani space to mourn, to think, and to realize how long it’s been since she felt like a person in her own right. And with the help of friendships old and new, Dani learns about the ways life continues to surprise us—even after the deepest loss—with joy, love, and second chances. . . .

Publisher: Kensington Publishing

Release Date: July 28, 2020

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Harmful Haven | Excerpt + Giveaway

JustRead Publicity Tours

ABOUT THE BOOK

Everyone has secrets…Yet not everyone has lives depending on them being kept.

Following in her mother’s footsteps, Inessa Jo Ellingson, a trained nurse, uses her home as a secret safe haven for abuse victims. When unusual incidents start to turn into threats, Inessa works diligently to protect her secret and the safety of those who depend on her.

Retired Marine Sergeant, Torian von Arx, hired to find a missing person meets the stubborn Inessa who seems determined to stall his mission. As trouble brews, he feels compelled to protect her against the secret that threatens to destroy them both.

Will they be able to trust each other in time to save the others?

Release Date: August 2020

Goodreads | Amazon

Falling for the Innkeeper | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

She’s the home he never expected to find.

A battle for a charming Cape Cod inn…

But what happens when romance checks in?

Single mom Laura Lessoway won’t accept her mother’s plan of selling her late grandmother’s inn without a fight. But when big-city attorney Jonathan Masters arrives to arrange an offer from his client, she’s drawn to him. And working together as he helps with repairs only brings them closer. With his career and her home on the line, can they ever find common ground?

Publisher: Love Inspired

Release Date: July 21, 2020

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Bookshop | Christian Book | Excerpt

The Kids Are Gonna Ask | Excerpt

ABOUT THE BOOK

A whip-smart, entertaining novel about twin siblings who become a national phenomenon after launching a podcast to find the biological father they never knew.

The death of Thomas and Savannah McClair’s mother turns their world upside down. Raised to be fiercely curious by their grandmother Maggie, the twins become determined to learn the identity of their biological father. And when their mission goes viral, an eccentric producer offers them a dream platform: a fully sponsored podcast called The Kids Are Gonna Ask. To discover the truth, Thomas and Savannah begin interviewing people from their mother’s past and are shocked when the podcast ignites in popularity. As the attention mounts, they get caught in a national debate they never asked for—but nothing compares to the mayhem that ensues when they find him.

Cleverly constructed, emotionally perceptive and sharply funny, The Kids Are Gonna Ask is a rollicking coming-of-age story and a moving exploration of all the ways we can go from lost to found.

Publisher: Park Row Books

Release Date: July 28, 2020

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The Friendship List | Excerpt

ABOUT THE BOOK

[ ] Dance till dawn

[ ] Go skydiving

[ ] Wear a bikini in public

[ ] Start living

Two best friends jump-start their lives in a summer that will change them forever…

Single mom Ellen Fox couldn’t be more content—until she overhears her son saying he can’t go to his dream college because she needs him too much. If she wants him to live his best life, she has to convince him she’s living hers.

So Unity Leandre, her best friend since forever, creates a list of challenges to push Ellen out of her comfort zone. Unity will complete the list, too, but not because she needs to change. What’s wrong with a thirtysomething widow still sleeping in her late husband’s childhood bed?

The Friendship List begins as a way to make others believe they’re just fine. But somewhere between “wear three-inch heels” and “have sex with a gorgeous guy,” Ellen and Unity discover that life is meant to be lived with joy and abandon, in a story filled with humor, heartache and regrettable tattoos.

Publisher: HQN Books

Release Date: August 4, 2020

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Someone's Listening | Excerpt

ABOUT THE BOOK

She wrote the book on escaping a predator… Now one is coming for her.

Faith Finley has it all: she’s a talented psychologist with a flourishing career, a bestselling author and the host of a popular local radio program, Someone’s Listening, with Dr. Faith Finley. She’s married to the perfect man, Liam Finley, a respected food critic.

Until the night everything goes horribly wrong, and Faith’s life is shattered forever.

Liam is missing—gone without a trace—and the police are suspicious of everything Faith says. They either think she has something to hide, or that she’s lost her mind.

And then the notes begin to arrive. Notes that are ripped from Faith’s own book, the one that helps victims leave their abusers. Notes like “Lock your windows. Consider investing in a steel door.”

As the threats escalate, the mystery behind Liam’s disappearance intensifies. And Faith’s very life will depend on finding answers.

Publisher: Graydon House Books

Release Date: July 28, 2020

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The Hero of Hope Springs | Excerpt

ABOUT THE BOOK

Will Gold Valley’s most honorable cowboy finally claim the woman he’s always wanted?

For as long as brooding cowboy Ryder Daniels has known Sammy Marshall, she has been his sunshine. Her free spirit and bright smile saved him after the devastating loss of his parents and gave him the strength to care for his orphaned family. Only Ryder knows how vulnerable Sammy is, so he’s kept his attraction for his best friend under wraps for years. But what Sammy’s asking for now might be a step too far…

Something has been missing from Sammy’s life, and she thinks she knows what it is. Deciding she wants a baby is easy; realizing she wants her best friend to be the father is…complicated. Especially when a new heat between them sparks to life! When Sammy discovers she’s pregnant, Ryder makes it clear he wants it all. But having suffered the fallout of her parents’ disastrous relationship, Sammy is wary of letting Ryder too close. This cowboy will have to prove he’s proposing out of more than just honor…

Publisher: HQN Books

Release Date: July 21, 2020

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OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Cowboy Christmas Blues

Smooth-Talking Cowboy

Mail Order Cowboy

Untamed Cowboy

Hard Riding Cowboy

Good Time Cowboy

Snowed In With the Cowboy

A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas

Unbroken Cowboy

Cowboy to the Core

Lone Wolf Cowboy

Cowboy Christmas Redemption

The Bad Boy of Redemption Ranch

The Last Christmas Cowboy

Sweet Melody | Audiobook Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

When a struggling bakery owner is rescued by a wannabe songwriter with hidden culinary talents, they discover they can make sweet harmony … if they can only learn to work together.

Rhett Foster longs to change the world with his music, yet he can’t even finish writing one song. Battered by a string of failures and disillusioned, he returns home to Portland, Oregon. While he desperately wants to create a chart-topping hit, his dad mandates a new mission: move to coastal vacation hotspot Seabrook, Washington and expand the family’s successful restaurant chain.

In danger of destroying her late parents’ legacy if she doesn’t diversify her menu, Lindsay Carmichael will try anything to save her bakery. But with a tiny budget and an injured employee who can’t work, she has no choice but to sink the last of her savings into buying a dilapidated food truck and hiring Rhett as a part-time barista. What she doesn’t know is that the handsome songwriter has a secret … one that could destroy her business and her heart.

Release Date: August 1, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Bookshop | Christian Book | Libro.fm | Review

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Return to Me

The Widow of Rose House | First Line Friday + The Friday 56

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

Happy Friday!

I have to finish a few books this weekend (because I'm a book-club procrastinator), including The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller.

These Nameless Things | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

Before Dan opened his door to find a wounded woman who had escaped from the tormentors in the mountain, his life had become rather quiet. He and the eight other people in the mostly abandoned town had become friends. They spent peaceful evenings around the campfire and even made vague plans to journey east one day and leave the ominous mountain behind.

But the woman's arrival changes everything. 

Who is she? How does she know so much about Dan's brother, who is still held captive in the mountain? Why are long-forgotten memories rising to the surface? And why does Dan feel so compelled to keep her presence in his house a secret?

Visionary writer Shawn Smucker is back with an unsettling story that invites us to consider two challenging questions: To what lengths will we go to assuage our own guilt? and Is there a limit to the things we will do for the people we love?

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: June 30, 2020

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Falling for the Innkeeper | Excerpt + Giveaway

JustRead Publicity Tours

ABOUT THE BOOK

A battle for a charming Cape Cod inn…

But what happens when romance checks in?

Single mom Laura Lessoway won’t accept her mother’s plan of selling her late grandmother’s beachfront inn without a fight. But when big-city attorney Jonathan Masters arrives to arrange an offer from his client, she’s drawn to him. And although he came to Cape Cod to close an important business deal—not fall in love—he can’t get her out of his mind.

Laura and Jonathan each try to fight their attraction and focus on business, but it’s not long before Jonathan finds himself confiding in her his other reason for coming to The Sea Glass Inn—he’s trying to find his mentally ill father, who’s recently been spotted at a nearby homeless shelter.

Working together to find Jonathan’s father only brings Laura and Jonathan closer. But with his career and her home on the line, can they ever find common ground?

Publisher: Love Inspired

Release Date: July 21, 2020

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How Sweet It Is | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

He lost his brother. She lost her dream. Together, they might find what they’re really looking for.

Holly Stanford is doing the best she can with the restaurant she inherited from her late uncle. But after her fiancé abandons her and the business, Holly regrets having given up her dream of becoming a pastry chef. Now a few bad financial decisions might cost her everything, including her hope for the future.

Jed Henning has done well with his new company despite his prodigal brother’s behavior. When Jed‘s father, the controlling member of the board of directors, temporarily suspends operations until his sons work out their differences, Jed resentfully chases his brother, Chris, to Boise. There Jed rents a basement apartment from Holly and hopes to convince Chris to get his act together before their company collapses.

Unaware that Holly is the one person who can help him get through to Chris, Jed starts the tough work of reconciliation armed with little more than a few family photographs, a stack of old letters, and a Bible that belonged to his great-grandfather, Andrew Henning. And as romance blossoms between Holly and Jed, the story of Jed’s great-grandfather highlights the power of God across the generations and the legacy of a family’s courageous faith.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: July 14, 2020

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OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Who I Am With You

Cross My Heart

Accidentally Engaged | 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!

A fake engagment and a cooking contest? I want it, for sure.

Healing Their Hearts | Excerpt + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

After spring's many trials, Knox County Sheriff Liam McKay is ready for a season of restoration. He needs time to grieve the loss of his grandmother and work on becoming a better husband and father. Liam learned the hard way that life is fragile, and he doesn't want to miss out on any precious moments.

Emma McKay loves her role as a wife and mother. After she lost her parents, the McKay family became her saving grace. Being married to a police officer brings both challenges and adventures into her life, though, and when something hits on a more personal level, will her past be brought into the light?

Officer Mark MacLaughlin is motivated by two things: his family and his job. Add a beautiful stranger to the mix, and Mark can't help but want to get to know her better. But when he takes on fatherhood for a three-year-old girl, he has to learn how to blur the lines between his personal and professional life too.

Evangeline Taylor was on the way to confront her past, until her plans came to a grinding halt. Now injured and stranded in a tiny Nebraska town, Eva's heart opens up. The town, the people, and maybe one handsome police officer in particular help her to heal...but will they be enough to make her stay?

Publisher: Faith to Love Publishing

Release Date: June 21, 2020

Goodreads | Amazon

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Christmas With Cocoa

One Summer Note

His Newest Blessing

One Christmas Note

The Floods Came

The Woman Before Wallis | Excerpt

ABOUT THE BOOK

“Brimming with scandal and an equal amount of heart…a sweeping yet intimate look at the lives of some of history’s most notorious figures from Vanderbilts to the Prince of Wales… A must-read.”—Chanel Cleeton, New York Times bestselling author of When We Left Cuba and Next Year in Havana

“Bryn Turnbull takes a story we think we know and turns it on its head, with captivating results… A beautifully written, meticulously researched and altogether memorable debut.”—Jennifer Robson, USA TODAY bestselling author of The Gown

For fans of The Paris Wife and The Crown, this stunning novel tells the true story of the American divorcée who captured Prince Edward’s heart before he abdicated his throne for Wallis Simpson.

In the summer of 1926, when Thelma Morgan marries Viscount Duke Furness after a whirlwind romance, she’s immersed in a gilded world of extraordinary wealth and privilege. For Thelma, the daughter of an American diplomat, her new life as a member of the British aristocracy is like a fairy tale—even more so when her husband introduces her to Edward, Prince of Wales.

In a twist of fate, her marriage to Duke leads her to fall headlong into a love affair with Edward. But happiness is fleeting, and their love is threatened when Thelma’s sister, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, becomes embroiled in a scandal with far-reaching implications. As Thelma sails to New York to support Gloria, she leaves Edward in the hands of her trusted friend Wallis, never imagining the consequences that will follow.

Bryn Turnbull takes readers from the raucous glamour of the Paris Ritz and the French Riviera to the quiet, private corners of St. James’s Palace in this sweeping story of love, loyalty and betrayal.

Publisher: MIRA Books

Release Date: July 21, 2020

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All Things Reconsidered | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

Popular podcaster and author Knox McCoy offers readers a unique blend of humor, Bible stories, pop culture references, and personal stories that show how asking tough questions and approaching life with a willingness to reconsider ideas can allow them to grow in their faith.

What would it mean to really examine what you think you know about yourself and your beliefs? To not just rely on the generic platitudes you’ve always recited to yourself but to look more deeply into why you think what you think?

After exploring how pop culture shaped his life and carved out the foundations of his faith in his debut book, The Wondering Years, Knox McCoy began to think more deeply about those foundations and how they had evolved, changed entirely, or stayed the same. The result of this soul-searching led to a book about the necessity of reexamining our ideas and identities throughout our lives and how we grow as a result.

In a look back at his own life and the fundamental convictions—both secular and spiritual—he’s pondered over the years, Knox deploys his signature self-deprecation and an academic approach of understanding the absurd, whether discussing the social hierarchy of Sesame Street or the cultural allergy to participation trophies. Along with these voyages into the humorous and the mundane come deeply vulnerable revelations from Knox’s heart as he interrogates his own foundational beliefs. His stories will encourage readers to think about their own convictions and how reconsidering them leads to a deeper understanding of what they believe and why.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: June 2, 2020

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Bookshop | Christian Book