26 July 2024

cold vengeance | first line friday + the friday 56

first line friday is hosted weekly by reading is my superpower.
book beginnings is hosted weekly by rose city reader.
the friday 56 is hosted weekly by my head is full of books.

happy friday!

i had fun catching up on the ryland + st. clair series this week!

25 July 2024

cold vengeance | book review + giveaway

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about the book


When a renowned crime podcaster vanishes without a trace, former FBI behavioral analysts turned private investigators River Ryland and Tony St. Clair are called upon to track her down. As they wade through the evidence she left behind, they unearth a startling connection–she may have discovered the existence of an unknown serial killer, and he will stop at nothing to carry out a deadly plan.

As the pair delves deeper, they soon find themselves the target of a relentless enemy determined to silence them. With their lives–and hearts–on the line, can they confront the evil that threatens them before it consumes them both?

USA Today bestselling author Nancy Mehl brings her Ryland & St. Clair series to an explosive close with a pulse-pounding story where the stakes are high and silence is deadly.

publisher: bethany house publishers
release date: july 16, 2024


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24 July 2024

ambush in the mountains | book review + giveaway

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about the book


Innocent lives at stake…

Can a former soldier and his canine save them?

Helping a pregnant woman he comes across in a mountain storm puts Axel Sterling right into the path of ruthless human traffickers. Now it’s up to the ex-soldier and his dog to keep Summer and her unborn baby safe from the abductors she’s finally escaped. But between the icy wilderness and the armed gunmen following them at every turn, one wrong move could cost Axel and Summer their lives.

From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.

publisher: love inspired suspense
release date: july 23, 2024


18 July 2024

suddenly rural girl | excerpt + giveaway

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about the book


After her dad is tragically killed, Dakota Moore’s mom moves her to northern Minnesota where Dak discovers an outcast classmate may be a reclusive miracle worker. She thinks she found him too late. The truth is, she met him just in time. Will Dak discover the miracle worker’s secrets before the next tragedy strikes?

Now, tucked into a secluded A-frame near a beaver-infested creek with her strong Sioux mom and her lisping little brother, Dak faces a new school and a trio of mean girls. Seemingly alone, she buries herself in a design app and self pity until an old blind man, his curly-haired horse named Eyeballs, a quirky dragon-doodling classmate, and a strawberry blonde with delicious sun-kissed freckles give her four reasons to keep on living. Then she decides to do more than just survive; Dak intends to thrive. When tragedy strikes again, she confronts the intriguing and repulsive miracle worker, but he doesn’t help their mutual friend. Learning why will change her life.

Suddenly Rural Girl is a friend and faith-finding journey, featuring a strong, female, multiracial protagonist and is loaded with laugh-out-loud characters and gorgeous northern Minnesota beauty. The magnificent landscapes haunt like William Kent Kreuger’s Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land, and the quick-witted dialogue is reminiscent of Jenny B. Jones’ There You’ll Find Me and In Between books. The combination makes it an excellent YA read with cross-over into Contemporary Christian audiences. The novel also has a companion study guide full of plot-related questions for classrooms and theme based discussion prompts for book groups!

publisher: kirk house publishers
release date: february 1, 2024


17 July 2024

until our time comes | book review + giveaway

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about the book


American horse trainer Adia Kensington is living her dream of working at the famous Janów Podlaski stables in Poland, where they breed the best Arabian horses in the world. But her plans to bring the priceless stallion Lubor to the US are derailed when the German army storms into her adopted country in 1939. Little does she know this is just the beginning of six long years of occupation that will threaten her beloved horses at every turn.

Bret Conway is at Janów Podlaski under the guise of a news reporter, but his true mission is intelligence gathering for the British. That and keeping Adia safe, which is harder and harder to do as she insists they must evacuate 250 horses to save them from being stolen, sold, or eaten by the invading forces. What follows will test their physical, mental, and emotional strength, as well as their faith in God, humankind, and each other.

Drawn from true events of World War II, this epic story of escape, capture, resistance, and love from debut novelist Nicole M. Miller will thunder into your heart like a herd of beautiful horses across a raging river.

publisher: revell
release date: july 2, 2024


13 July 2024

sounds like a plan | excerpt + giveaway

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about the book


-A Baby in the Mix by Lorna Seilstad
-Not By Chance by Eleanor Bertin
-Five Things You Know About Me by Sara Davison
-Mercy’s Detour by Brenda S. Anderson
-Piper’s Sweet Dream by Stacy Monson

What Reviewers are Saying About The Mosaic Collection Anthologies:

Each is a picture of God’s grace working in the hearts of hurting people through individual writing styles.

Each author has her own voice, yet somehow they all fit perfectly together.

The stories are just the right length to relax with at the end of a long day.

I love these Mosaic author anthologies. These are stories about real people with real problems and emotions.

Such beautifully written, inspirational short stories with themes of grace, forgiveness, love, and peace.

Uplifting stories of ordinary people dealing with their faith and life’s struggles.

Thank you to all the Mosaic Collection authors for giving us more lovely stories to remind us that we will never be alone as God is always with us.

Each of these faith-based fiction stories in Sounds Like a Plan is uniquely and beautifully written with believable characters sustained by the amazing grace of God. Memorable, touching, inspiring, and a true reading pleasure. May you be blessed by this collection.

publisher: the mosaic collection
release date: july 10, 2024


12 July 2024

a small town fourth of july | book review

about the book


His return sets off fireworks…

But will it blow up her dreams?

When Theo Danby returns to Maple Glen to sell his inherited land, Maura Stuart panics. Selling the land could endanger Maura’s beloved donkey therapy business… and expose her secrets. Her only hope is to rope Theo into helping with the Fourth of July festival and make Theo fall in love with their small town. But if she trusts him with the truth, will he stay… or will she lose everything?

From Harlequin Heartwarming: Wholesome stories of love, compassion and belonging.

publisher: harlequin heartwarming
release date: june 25, 2024


other books in the series


a small town fourth of july | first line friday + the friday 56

first line friday is hosted weekly by reading is my superpower.
book beginnings is hosted weekly by rose city reader.
the friday 56 is hosted weekly by my head is full of books.

happy friday!

i'm a little late for the fourth of july, but this is still a cute summer read.

11 July 2024

the summer of keeping secrets | book review

about the book


For fans of Denise Hunter and Susan Mallery, a captivating story about a single summer that could completely break a family apart—or bring them back together.

Recently widowed Marin Henderson considers time with her two adult children a gift. And she’s intent on not prying into their lives while they’re all together, cleaning out her late parents’ Colorado home. But from the start, nothing goes as planned. Her free-spirited daughter, Slade, and her strait-laced son, Reed, both arrive ahead of schedule, and no one is explaining why. Marin knows they’re hiding issues in their personal lives. But she can only push so far because she, too, is keeping secrets.

Setting aside family tensions, the three of them get to work purging the house. But when Slade discovers a decades-old newspaper clipping about a body found on the rocks below the house, questions arise. Marin insists the death was ruled an accident, but Slade’s curiosity is piqued. And when a roof leak compels Marin to call on an old friend and flame for help, it’s the catalyst for a wave of revelations.

Between a daughter bent on distracting herself from her own career turmoil, a son desperate to hold on to his marriage and a mother forced to confront her choices from that long-ago summer, pieces of the past and present begin to unravel. And before the summer is over, they each must decide what to hold on to and what to let go…

publisher: love inspired trade
release date: june 25, 2024


her part to play | book review + giveaway

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about the book


Desperate for extra income after her mother’s passing, Adanne accepts a last-minute job as a makeup artist for a movie filming in her small Alabama hometown. She’s working to save her parents’ legacy and help her brother, but the money hardly seems worth having to face the actor who got her fired from her last job in Hollywood.

John Pope has made his share of mistakes over the years. But after turning his life over to God and enduring a messy breakup, he’s ready to start rebuilding his career. Imagine his surprise when the woman called in to cover for his usual makeup artist is a quiet but feisty newcomer on the set–and definitely not a fan.

Sparks of tension–and could that be attraction?–fly between them, but Adanne hates the spotlight, and John’s scheming manager has bigger plans for him than to end up with the humble makeup girl from the small-town South. Can these star-crossed lovers find their way to happiness? Or will the bright lights of Hollywood blind their eyes to what’s right in front of them?

Debut author Jenny Erlingsson’s diverse cast comes alive with faith, romance, and a touch of humor to create a story worthy of the big screen.

publisher: revell
release date: june 18, 2024


06 July 2024

treason trail | excerpt + giveaway

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about the book


A mysterious stranger holds the key to the fate of the nation.

In the final days of the American Revolutionary War, Nessa Shaw tends to the sick and wounded at the Continental Army camp in Charlestown, South Carolina. When she stumbles upon a man lying unconscious on a forest trail, she quickly realizes he is unlike any patient she has ever encountered. With no memory of his past, his only clues to his identity are his first name—August—and the certainty that he is a Patriot. Against her better judgment, Nessa grows closer to August, trusting him with secrets that could cost her dearly. But when she discovers a deadly plot that could change the course of the war, Nessa must question everything she thought she knew about August and his true allegiances.

publisher: independently published
release date: june 18, 2024


other books in the series


05 July 2024

toward the dawn | first line friday + the friday 56

first line friday is hosted weekly by reading is my superpower.
book beginnings is hosted weekly by rose city reader.
the friday 56 is hosted weekly by my head is full of books.

happy friday!

i started off my long holiday weekend with this western read. excited for more reading ahead!

04 July 2024

toward the dawn | book review + giveaway

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about the book


Despite trials that threaten their path forward, hope dawns for a future filled with love.

Kat Wadsworth and Sebastian Jones never imagined their lives would entwine so closely. Forced to flee on a wagon train from a vengeful uncle and an unknown gunman, they live in a hidden canyon with the family that rescued them. But as the days turn into months, they each have separate reasons for wanting to move back to society, and the best way to the independence they desperately crave might be through a marriage of convenience.

However, settling into their homestead in Cheyenne, Wyoming, reveals a different reality for Kat. Her new husband becomes consumed by his inventions, leaving her feeling lonely and isolated. And just when they think they've left the danger behind, a mysterious attacker lurks in the shadows, threatening the new life they've built. Together, they must confront the perils from their pasts to forge a future with hope and the prospect of love.

publisher: bethany house publishers
release date: june 18, 2024


other books in the series


01 July 2024

when secrets come calling | excerpt + giveaway

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about the book


Past secrets. A second chance. But can the truth really set them free?

When former University of Alabama and Titans wide receiver Dax Carpenter learns his father is accused of a forty-year-old robbery and murder, he turns to the only person he trusts to discover the truth: his ex-girlfriend, Caitlin Fitzhugh.

Caitlin, a cold-case specialist with the Alabama State Division of Investigations, wants nothing to do with the case nor Dax. Not only is the evidence against Dax’s father already condemning, she can’t risk having her heart broken—again.

Caitlin’s boss, however, ignores her arguments, and she begrudgingly takes the consult, convincing herself she can keep the case and her past with Dax separate. But unlike her, longings and memories don’t follow orders. While she lends her skills to the Gulf Shores Police Department in the search for the truth, Dax fends off a possibly career-ending social media hit—leading him to question everything he knows about his father and himself.

As the secrets of both their pasts unfold, they discover whether Dax’s father truly robbed and murdered a man forty years ago but also why Caitlin ended their relationship. Secrets that could drive a wedge between them, forever.

publisher: salt & light publishing
release date: july 1, 2024