Terri Blackstock, “Moonlighters Series”
When truth doesn’t make sense, will lies prevail? Let Terri Blackstock take you on a journey.
Cathy Cramer is a former lawyer and investigative blogger who writes commentary on high-profile homicides. When she finds a threatening note warning her that she’s about to experience the same kind of judgment and speculation that she dishes out in her blog, Cathy writes it off as mischief . . . until her brother’s wife is murdered and all the “facts” point to him. The killer has staged the crime to make the truth too far-fetched to believe. Working to solve the murder and clear her brother’s name, Cathy and her two sisters, Holly and Juliet, moonlight as part-time private investigators. Juliet, a stay-at-home mom of two boys, and Holly, a scattered ne’er-do-well who drives a taxi, put aside their fear to hunt down the real killer.
Stakes rise when their brother’s grieving five-year-old son is kidnapped. As police focus on the wrong set of clues, the three sisters and their battered detective friend are the only hope for solving this bizarre crime, saving the child, and freeing their brother.
• “A story rich with texture and suspense, this family murder mystery unfolds with fast pacing, with a creepy clown murder suspect and threatening blog visitor to boot.” (Publishers Weekly)
• “Crisp prose, an engaging story, and brisk pacing make this thriller another home run for Blackstock (Downfall). Recommend it to readers who enjoy material by Lynette Eason and Erin Healy.” (Library Journal, starred review)
Purchase through Amazon.
Sarah Young, “Jesus Calling”
The Jesus Calling Devotional Bible puts readers in touch with God and His answers for their life situations. Missionary Sarah Young had been journaling her prayers for years when she began “listening” for what Jesus was saying to her within the words of Scripture. In this Bible, 260 scenarios pose life struggles to which Sarah Young gives answers from her Savior—words that Jesus has lovingly laid on her heart—words that have comforted and inspired Sarah and many others around the world.
Features include:
•260 prayers with devotions by Sarah Young
•Hundreds of inspiring scriptures highlighted throughout the text
•New King James Version® (NKJV) in paragraph format
•Index to devotions
•Two-color text
•Presentation page
•Ribbon marker
Sarah Young’s devotional writing is helping millions in their quest for intimacy with Christ. She has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Christianity Today and has sold more than 14 million books world wide. Jesus Today received the ECPA Christian Book of the Year award for 2013. Her writing is inspirational, thought provoking, and challenging. Sarah and her husband currently live in the United States.
Sit still in the Light of My Presence, and receive My Peace. These quiet moments with Me transcend time, accomplishing far more than you can imagine. Bring Me the sacrifice of your time, and watch to see how abundantly I bless you and your loved ones. Through the intimacy of our relationship, you are being transformed from the inside out. As you keep your focus on Me, I form you into the one I desire you to be.
Purchase through Amazon.
A. W. Tozer, “The Knowledge of the Holy”
The Knowledge of the Holy by popular evangelical author and Christian mystic A.W. Tozer illuminates God’s attributes—from wisdom, to grace, to mercy—and in doing so, attempts to restore the majesty and wonder of God in the hearts and minds of all Christians. A modern classic of Christian testimony and devotion, The Knowledge of the Holy shows us how we can rejuvenate our prayer life, meditate more reverently, understand God more deeply, and experience God’s presence in our daily lives.
The Knowledge of the Holy explores the attributes of God in words that fly straight to the heart. A superb aid to strengthening and deepening the spiritual life, each chapter begins with a prayer, lucidly discusses a divine aspect–from God’s infinity to God’s love–and relates that aspect to today’s world, while pointing always to God’s wonder and inscrutability.
Tozer asserts that the cause of many of our modern spiritual woes is the loss in today’s church of a lofty concept of God. He argues persuasively that the cure lies in our rediscovery of God’s majesty. “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us,” he writes. “The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.” The Knowledge of the Holy bears eloquent witness to the concept of God’s majesty, encourages reverent meditation on the being of God, and offers a way to bring back spiritual power to our lives.
• “A popular book on the attributes of God, and one that is readable!” — Eternity
• “Recovers lost aspects of the biblical faith for contemporary Christianity.” — Book News Letter
Purchase through Amazon.
Catherine Marshall, “Christy”
In the year 1912, nineteen-year-old Christy Huddleston leaves home to teach school in the Smoky Mountains — and comes to know and love the resilient people of the region, with their fierce pride, their dark superstitions, their terrible poverty, and their yearning for beauty and truth. But her faith will be severely challenged by trial and tragedy, by the needs and unique strengths of two remarkable young men, and by a heart torn between true love and unwavering devotion.
• Deeply moving…filled with suspense adventure, humor, and even comedy. (Pasadena Star News)
• Christy is Wonderful…an epic novel. (Dallas Times Herald)
• An affirmation of faith… A clear impression of the proud Scotch-Irish mountaineers and their harsh, lonely lives. (Library Journal)
• A powerfully moving book of great depth. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Christy has something that keeps the reader reading… Relevant and heart-opening… Rich, dramatic. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
• An inspiring story. With skill, Catherine Marshall has described human qualities common to all people everywhere. (Boston Globe)
• A novel of celebration… wholesome, inspiring… Enjoyable reading. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Catherine Sarah Wood Marshall LeSourd was an American author of nonfiction, inspirational, and fiction works. She was the wife of well-known minister Peter Marshall.
Purchase through Amazon.
Henry Cloud, “Boundaries”
Having clear boundaries is essential to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. A boundary is a personal property line that marks those things for which we are responsible. In other words, they define who we are and who we are not. They impact all areas of our lives: Physical ones help us determine who may touch us and under what circumstances — Mental ones give us the freedom to have our own thoughts and opinions — Emotional ones help us to deal with our own emotions and disengage from the harmful, manipulative emotions of others — Spiritual boundaries help us to distinguish God’s will from our own and give us renewed awe for our Creator — Often, Christians focus so much on being loving and unselfish that they forget their own limits and limitations. When confronted with their lack of boundaries, they ask:
– Can I set limits and still be a loving person?
– What are legitimate boundaries?
– What if someone is upset or hurt by my boundaries?
– How do I answer someone who wants my time, love, energy, or money?
– Aren’t boundaries selfish?
– Why do I feel guilty or afraid when I consider setting boundaries?
Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend offer biblically-based answers to these and other tough questions, showing us how to set healthy limits with our parents, spouses, children, friends, co-workers, and even ourselves.
We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.
When we begin to set boundaries with people we love, a really hard thing happens: they hurt. They may feel a hole where you used to plug up their aloneness, their disorganization, or their financial irresponsibility. Whatever it is, they will feel a loss. If you love them, this will be difficult for you to watch. But, when you are dealing with someone who is hurting, remember that your boundaries are both necessary for you and helpful for them. If you have been enabling them to be irresponsible, your limit setting may nudge them toward responsibility.
Purchase through Amazon.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Cost of Discipleship”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most important theologians of the twentieth century, illuminates the relationship between ourselves and the teachings of Jesus What can the call to discipleship, the adherence to the word of Jesus, mean today to the businessman, the soldier, the laborer, or the aristocrat? What did Jesus mean to say to us? What is his will for us today?
Drawing on the Sermon on the Mount, Dietrich Bonhoeffer answers these timeless questions by providing a seminal reading of the dichotomy between “cheap grace” and “costly grace.” “Cheap grace,” Bonhoeffer wrote, “is the grace we bestow on ourselves… grace without discipleship… Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the girl which must be asked for, the door at which a man must know… It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.”
The Cost of Discipleship is a compelling statement of the demands of sacrifice and ethical consistency from a man whose life and thought were exemplary articulations of a new type of leadership inspired by the Gospel, and imbued with the spirit of Christian humanism and a creative sense of civic duty.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: ‘Ye were bought at a price’, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.
Purchase through Amazon.
John R. W. Stott, “The Cross of Christ”
“The work of a lifetime, from one of the world’s most influential thinkers, about the heart of the Christian faith.”
In John Stott’s words, “I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross… In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?”
With compelling honesty John Stott confronts this generation with the centrality of the cross in God’s redemption of the world—a world now haunted by the memories of Auschwitz, the pain of oppression and the specter of nuclear war. Can we see triumph in tragedy, victory in shame? Why should an object of Roman distaste and Jewish disgust be the emblem of our worship and the axiom of our faith? And what does it mean for us today?
Now from one of the foremost preachers and Christian leaders of our day comes theology at its readable best, a contemporary restatement of the meaning of the cross. At the cross Stott finds the majesty and love of God disclosed, the sin and bondage of the world exposed.
More than a study of the atonement, this book brings Scripture into living dialogue with Christian theology and the twentieth century. What emerges is a pattern for Christian life and worship, hope and mission.
Destined to be a classic study of the center of our faith, Stott’s work is the product of a uniquely gifted pastor, scholar and Christian statesman. His penetrating insight, charitable scholarship and pastoral warmth are guaranteed to feed both heart and mind.
It is true that inflation and unemployment have brought to many a new experience of insecurity. Yet we still regard security as our birthright and ‘safety first’ as a prudent motto. Where is the spirit of adventure, the sense of uncalculating solidarity with the underprivileged? Where are the Christians who are prepared to put service before security, compassion before comfort, hardship before ease? Thousands of pioneer Christian tasks are waiting to be done, which challenge our complacency and call for risk. Insistence on security is incompatible with the way of the cross. What daring adventures the incarnation and the atonement were! What a breach of convention and decorum that Almighty God should renounce his privileges in order to take human flesh and bear human sin! Jesus had no security except in his Father. So to follow Jesus is always to accept at least a measure of uncertainty, danger and rejection for his sake.
Purchase through Amazon.
Elisabeth Elliot, “Through Gates of Splendor”
Through Gates of Splendor is a 1957 best selling book written by Elisabeth Elliot. The book tells the story of Operation Auca, an attempt by five American missionaries – Jim Elliot (the author’s husband), Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian – to reach the Huaorani tribe of eastern Ecuador. All five of the men were killed by the tribe. The book is Elliot’s first book, and arguably her most well known work.
The title is derived from the fourth stanza of the hymn “We Rest on Thee”. This hymn was famously sung by the missionaries before the men left for Waodaoni territory in September 1955. The lines read:
We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender.
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.
Power to the strong and death to the weak.
Elliot wrote this classic while still a missionary in Ecuador. She wrote at the request and cooperation from the families of the five men. She was given copies of letters and other writings which are extensively quoted throughout the book. The original edition was first published in 1957, one year before the first peaceful contact with the Huaorani was made. In subsequent publications, epilogues have been added to update what has happened to the Huaorani tribe since Operation Auca, as well as, what has happened to the missionaries’ families.
I have one desire now – to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.
God is God. I dethrone Him in my heart if I demand that He act in ways that satisfy my idea of justice. It is the same spirit that taunted, “If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross.” There is unbelief, there is even rebellion, in the attitude that says, “God has no right to do this to five men unless…
Purchase through Amazon.
Rosalind Rinker, “Prayer: Conversing with God”
“Prayer is a dialogue between two persons who love each other.” With this profound insight, Rosalind Rinker, writer, missionary, and dedicated evangelical worker, gives the key to a simple yet powerfully effective method of increasing the joy and meaning of your prayers. As nearly one million readers have discovered, Prayer: Conversing With God is a fresh and inspiring guide, based on the eternal promise: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.
This has to be one of the best books ever written on prayer. Rosalind wrote this book out of her own personal frustration with prayer groups and so-called prayer meetings. Our 21st century prayer groups can be just as unfulfilling as those she experienced half a century ago. If you really want to understand what she means when she says, “Prayer is a dialogue between two people who love each other,” try what she suggests. Find one or two others to join you and follow her guidance. You’ll find that prayer isn’t dry and boring, rather it’s a refreshing retreat that bring great blessings. If you’re looking for a book that’s not just philosophy and hype. You won’t be disappointed in this one.
Someone has said, “Right prayer demands a quieting of the whole being.” We need to learn to be quiet, and to be consciously aware of Jesus Christ. We cannot pray quietly if we are in a hurry to get going again. It is in the silences, between prayers, that He speaks to us, and that our communion with Him purges and renews us. We should give audible thanks after such a time of silence. When no one is praying audibly, all should be praying silently, and should be so instructed. We are not there primarily to “get things” but to realize God’s presence. This is the greatest answer to prayer, that we are consciously aware of the Great Shepherd and His unchanging love for us. ~Rosalind Rinker
Purchase through Amazon.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss, “Lies Women Believe”
Satan is the master deceiver and his lies are endless. And the lies Christian women believe are at the root of most of their struggles.
“Many women live under a cloud of personal guilt and condemnation,” says Nancy Leigh DeMoss. “Many are in bondage to their past. Others are gripped by fear of rejection and a longing for approval. Still others are emotional prisoners.”
In this bestselling book, Lies Women Believe, Nancy exposes those areas of deception most commonly believed by Christian women — lies about God, sin, priorities, marriage and family, emotions, and more. She then sheds light on how we can be delivered from bondage and set free to walk in God’s grace, forgiveness, and abundant life.
Nancy offers the most effective weapon to ounter and overcome Satan’s deceptions — God’s truth! Her love for the Word and the Lord Jesus are infectious, and permeate her online outreaches, conference messages, books, and two daily nationally syndicated radio programs–Revive Our Hearts and Seeking Him.
If you are looking for a book that will challenge you, and inspire you to grow in your personal walk of faith, Nancy’s book will satisfy. Don’t walk, run to the Christian book store and get a copy today!
Do you know who you are? God made you a woman. Accept His gift. Don’t be afraid to be feminine and to add physical and spiritual loveliness to the setting where He has placed you. You are a child of God. You are a part of the bride of Christ. You belong to the King–you are royalty. Dress and conduct yourself in a way that reflects your high and holy calling. God has called you out of this world’s system–don’t let the world press you into its mold. Don’t think, dress, or act like the world; inwardly and outwardly, let others see the difference He makes in your life. ~Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Purchase through Amazon.
John Eldredge, “Wild at Heart”
Every man was once a boy. And every little has dreams, big dreams, dreams of being the hero, of beating the bad guys, of doing daring feats and rescuing the damsel in distress. Every little girl has dreams, too: of being rescued by her prince and swept up into a great adventure, knowing that she is the beauty. But what happens to those dreams when we grow up? Walk into most churches, have a look around, and ask yourself: What is a Christian man? Without listening to what is said, look at what you find there. Most Christian men are . . . bored.
John Eldredge revises and updates his best-selling, renowned Christian classic, Wild at Heart, and in it invites men to recover their masculine heart, defined in the image of a passionate God. And he invites women to discover the secret of a man’s soul and to delight in the strength and wildness men were created to offer. John Eldredge is the director of Ransomed Heart.
Deep in his heart, every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.
A man needs a much bigger orbit than a woman. He needs a mission, a life purpose, and he needs to know his name. Only then is he fit for a woman, for only then does he have something to invite her into.
I wasn’t mean; I wasn’t evil. I was nice. And let me tell you, a hesitant man is the last thing in the world a woman needs. She needs a lover and a warrior, not a Really Nice Guy.
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive, because what the world needs are men who have come alive.
Purchase through Amazon.
John Hagee, “The Three Heavens”
Battles are raging between angels and demons over you.
John Hagee’s breathtaking biblical tour of the three heaves takes you inside the timeless clash between the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness and explains why that battle makes all the difference.
In The Three Heavens, Hagee uses the Word of God, science, and incredible true stories of the supernatural to explore the First Heaven. He then exposes Satan’s diabolical tactics in the Second Heaven and how they affect each one of us. Finally, he looks at the deep riches of the Third Heaven and how our hope of that eternal home changes our life on earth.
Pastor John Hagee is the author of several New York Times best-sellers, including Four Blood Moons (more than 700,000 in print) and Jerusalem Countdown, which has sold over one million copies. He is the founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, a non-denominational evangelical church with more than 20,000 active members.
Surrounding us is a spirit world, far more populous, powerful, and resourceful than our own visible world of human beings. Spirits, good and evil, wend their way in our midst. With lightning speed and noiseless movement they pass from place to place. They inhabit the spaces of the air about us. Some we know to be concerned for our welfare, others are set on our harm.
Have we as a society become radically desensitized to the violence and depravity that is flooding from movie and television studios? It is not that we have become more broad-minded and intellectual; it is that we have adapted to the demonic and have become comfortable in the presence of evil.
Purchase through Amazon.
Warren Wiersbe, “50 People Every Christian Should Know”
This book combines Wiersbe’s Living with the Giants and Victorious Christians You Should Know, plus a new preface, and two new biographies. You will find strength in these stories.
We all need inspiration to lead lives that honor God. When our faith is weak or the pressures of the world seem overwhelming, remembering the great men and women of the past can inspire us to renewed strength and purpose. Our spiritual struggles are not new, and the stories of those who have gone before can help lead the way to our own victories.
50 People Every Christian Should Know gives a glimpse into the lives of such people as:
•Charles H. Spurgeon: The Prince of Preachers
•G. Campbell Morgan: The Prince of Expositors
•A. W. Tozer: The Theologian
•Fanny Crosby: The Songwriter
•Amy Carmichael: The Light of India
•Jonathan Edwards: The Founder
•James Hudson Taylor: The Missionary
Combining the stories of fifty of these faithful men and women, beloved author Warren W. Wiersbe offers you insight and encouragement for life’s uncertain journey.
Purchase through Amazon.
Dee Henderson, “Taken”
An investigator who knows tragic loss firsthand, and his new client, missing far too long…
Abducted at the age of sixteen and coerced into assisting the Jacoby crime family, Shannon Bliss has finally found a way out. She desperately wants to resume some semblance of normal life, but she also knows she has some unfinished business to attend to. She might have enough evidence to put her captors behind bars for a very long time.
When Shannon contacts private investigator Matthew Dane, a former cop, to help her navigate her reentry into society, he quickly discovers that gaining her freedom doesn’t mean her troubles are over. If the Jacoby family learns she is still alive, they’ll stop at nothing to silence her.
If justice is to be done, and if Shannon’s life is ever to get on track again, Matthew will need to discover exactly what happened to her–even if it means stirring up a hornet’s nest of secrets.
“Henderson follows her tried-and-true formula in this well-paced tale of slowly developing love, which will please readers who enjoy the pairing of romantic suspense with evangelical Christian fiction.” -Booklist
But God decided to create a world where free will was more important than no one ever getting hurt. There must be something stunningly beautiful and remarkable about free will that only God can truly grasp, because God hates, literally abhors, evil, yet He created a world where evil could happen if people chose it. ~Dee Henderson from Taken
God has been acting honorably throughout history regrading what He wants. We’re the ones at fault. God is good. And I still really, truly like Him. ~Dee Henderson from Taken
Purchase through Amazon.
Lynette Eason, “No Place to Hide”
She’ll defend her friend until the bitter end–but is she in over her head?
It’s not every day you see your childhood friend and onetime crush on national news. Jackie Sellers just wishes it were under different circumstances. She can’t believe that Ian Lockwood is wanted in connection with a terrorist plot, and she’s determined to find him and help him clear his name. Unfortunately, she’s not the only one looking for him. The FBI wants him captured. The bad guys want him dead. Ian just wants to stay alive long enough to prove his innocence and prevent a catastrophe.
Lynette Eason delivers nonstop action as Jackie and Ian travel a dangerous road–one that may lead straight to destruction.
Praise for the series:
“For any reader looking for ‘edge-of-your-seat’ thrills, this series is the perfect gift.”–Suspense Magazine
“Fans of Eason’s and readers of Christian suspense will definitely want to check out this new series. I, for one, cannot wait to get my hands on the next installment.”–Fiction Addict
“An exciting new series with action and thrilling chase scenes.”–RT Book Reviews
Purchase through Amazon.
Karen Witemeyer, “A Worthy Pursuit”
Top 50 Books loves Karen Witemeyer. We look forward to what the future holds for this superlative author. Here’s the storyline of her latest work:
of A teacher on the run. A bounty hunter in pursuit. Can two enemies learn to trust each other before they both lose what they hold most dear?
Stone Hammond is the best tracker in Texas. He never comes home empty-handed. So when a wealthy railroad investor hires him to find his abducted granddaughter, Stone eagerly accepts.
Charlotte Atherton, former headmistress of Sullivan’s Academy for Exceptional Youths, will do anything to keep her charges safe, especially the orphaned girl entrusted to her care. Charlotte promised Lily’s mother she’d keep the girl away from her unscrupulous grandfather, and nothing will stop Charlotte from fulfilling that pledge. Not even the handsome bounty hunter with surprisingly honest eyes who comes looking for them.
When Miss Atherton produces documentation that shows her to be Lily’s legal guardian, Stone must reevaluate everything he’s been led to believe. Is she villain or victim?
Then a new danger forces Charlotte to trust the man sent to destroy her. Stone vows to protect what he once sought to tear apart. Besides, he’s ready to start a new pursuit: winning Charlotte’s heart.
Karen Witemeyer delivers a compelling and suspenseful story that is sure to keep you up late at night.
Purchase through Amazon.
Beverly Lewis, “The Love Letters”
Marlena needed time to let things sink in. It was beyond her how all this could possibly work out–adding the care of an infant to her daily routine. Fortunately, it would just be until Luella returned home from the hospital and was stronger. No more than a couple weeks, surely.
Marlena Wenger’s life takes an unexpected turn on the day she learns she must care for her estranged sister’s baby. Spending the summer in Brownstown, Pennsylvania, to assist her Mennonite grandmother, and miles from Marlena’s Old Order Amish beau, she feels out of her element in nearly every respect. Yet Marlena determines to do her best and stay focused on her future, even as those hopes become drastically altered.
Beverly Lewis is an outstanding writer with the ability to deliver. Her characters are believable and the storyline is deeply satisfying. Few writers are able to capture the reader early on and hold their attention throughout the story. Lewis has the ability to keep you coming back again and again.
Beverly Lewis does it again! She tackles a little of everything that makes a family tick. I could not turn the pages fast enough to see what was going to transpire next. Lewis writes with such feeling you feel like you are the character you are reading. ~Goodreads review
Beverly Lewis has written another wonderful book. She continues to capture my heart with these breath-taking stories that she writes. Have you ever questioned something that happened in your past? If you could go back and change it. Have you ever just thought that something was going to turn out the way that you had planned and then things go totally different? You will experience such things with the characters in this book. This wonderfully spun story has a way of making you stop and think. ~Goodreads review
Purchase through Amazon.
Karen Kingsbury, “Angels Walking”
When former national baseball star Tyler Ames suffers a career-ending injury, all he can think about is putting his life back together the way it was before. He has lost everyone he loves on his way to the big leagues. Then just when things seem to be turning around, Tyler hits rock bottom. Across the country, Tyler’s one true love Sami Dawson has moved on.
A series of small miracles leads Tyler to a maintenance job at a retirement home and a friendship with Virginia Hutcheson, an old woman with Alzheimer’s who strangely might have the answers he so desperately seeks.
A team of Angels Walking take on the mission to restore hope for Tyler, Sami, and Virginia. Can such small and seemingly insignificant actions of the unseen bring healing and redemption? And can the words of a stranger rekindle lost love? Every journey begins with a step.
It is time for the mission to begin…
New York Times bestselling novelist Karen Kingsbury is America’s favorite inspirational storyteller, with more than 25 million copies of her books in print. Not only do her books entertain, but they encourage and inspire.
Quotes:
Battles are won and lost through prayer.
I learned something a long time ago. I’d rather be single than be with the wrong guy.
Love first. Questions later. Grace beyond measure. All of it unconditional.
You’ll live your life a lot happier if you stop trying to be perfect. Do your best for Jesus. When you fall short, He’ll carry you. ~Angela Kingsbury
Purchase through Amazon.
Colleen Coble, “The Inn at Ocean’s Edge”
In 1989, Claire Dellamare disappeared from her own fourth birthday party at the Hotel Tourmaline on the island of Folly Shoals, Maine. She showed up a year later at the same hotel, with a note pinned to her dress but no explanation. Nobody knows where Claire spent that year—and until now, Claire didn’t even know she had ever been missing.
But when Claire returns to the Hotel Tourmaline for a business meeting with her CEO father, disturbing memories begin to surface . . . despite her parents’ best efforts to keep them forgotten.
Luke Rocco lost his mother under equally mysterious circumstances—at the same time Claire disappeared. After a chance encounter reveals the unlikely link between them, Claire and Luke set out together to uncover the truth about what happened that fateful year.
With flashbacks swimming just beneath her consciousness and a murderer threatening her safety, Claire’s very life depends on unscrambling her past . . . even if her family refuses to acknowledge it. Someone—maybe everyone—is hiding something from Claire Dellamare, and it will cost her everything to drag the truth out into the light.
USA Today bestselling author Colleen Coble has written several award winning romantic suspense novels including, Tidewater Inn and Rosemary Cottage.
The Inn at Ocean’s Ridge is Colleen Coble at her best. The story is richly layered around the theme of what makes us a family. Is it blood relationships? Is it love? Is it something else? ~Goodreads
The Inn At Ocean’s Edge is a mesmerizing, compelling, mysterious tale.
As haunting as a Hitchcock, this story will keep you reading late into the night. An eerie beachside hotel, brings back haunting memories for the main character and as the reader, I got to follow in her footsteps as she desperately tried to uncover the truth of the past. ~Goodreads
Purchase through Amazon.
Melissa Jagears, “Bride in Store”
Impatient to meet her intended groom and help him grow his general store, mail-order bride Eliza Cantrell sets out on her travels a week early. But her plan goes sadly awry when her train is held up by robbers who steal her dowry and Axel, her groom-to-be, isn’t even in town when she finally arrives.
Axel’s business partner, William Stanton, has no head for business and would much rather be a doctor. When his friend’s mail-order bride arrives in town with no money and no groom in sight, he feels responsible and lets her help around the store–where she quickly proves she’s much more adept at business than he ever will be.
The sparks that fly between Will and Eliza as they work together in close quarters are hard to ignore, but Eliza is meant for Axel and a future with the store, while Will is biding his time until he can afford medical school. However, their troubles are far from over when Axel finally returns, and soon both Will and Eliza must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice to chase their dreams–or if God has a new dream in store for them both.
Melissa Jagears, an ESL teacher by trade and the author of A Bride for Keeps,” is a stay-at-home mother on a tiny Kansas farm with a fixer-upper house.
Purchase Bride in Store by Melissa Jagears through Amazon.
Sandra Byrd, “Mist of Midnight”
In the first of a brand-new series set in Victorian England, a young woman returns home from India after the death of her family to discover her identity and inheritance are challenged by the man who holds her future in his hands.
Rebecca Ravenshaw, daughter of missionaries, spent most of her life in India. Following the death of her family in the Indian Mutiny, Rebecca returns to claim her family estate in Hampshire, England. Upon her return, people are surprised to see her…and highly suspicious. Less than a year earlier, an imposter had arrived with an Indian servant and assumed not only Rebecca’s name, but her home and incomes.
That pretender died within months of her arrival; the servant fled to London as the young woman was hastily buried at midnight. The locals believe that perhaps she, Rebecca, is the real imposter. Her home and her father’s investments reverted to a distant relative, the darkly charming Captain Luke Whitfield, who quickly took over. Against her best intentions, Rebecca begins to fall in love with Luke, but she is forced to question his motives—does he love her or does he just want Headbourne House? If Luke is simply after the property, as everyone suspects, will she suffer a similar fate as the first “Rebecca”?
A captivating Gothic love story set against a backdrop of intrigue and danger, Mist of Midnight will leave you breathless.
After earning her first rejection at the age of thirteen, bestselling author Sandra Byrd has now published more than forty books.
Find Mist of Midnight by Sandra Byrd at Amazon.
Heather Burch, “Along the Broken Road”
Heather Burch’s novel is “simply brilliant.” Armed with only a journal and a promise, soldier Ian Carlisle returns home to fulfill his friend’s dying wish: to find the man’s daughter and read her his journal, one page at a time. The woman he finds in River Rock, Missouri, is just as warmhearted, artistic, and feisty as her father described. Ian had fallen in love with Charlee McKinley before he even met her, but he has no idea if she’ll ever return his feelings.
Charlee loved her father—but she didn’t like him very much. Regimental and strict, Major Mack never approved of his daughter’s choices. So when a down-on-his-luck soldier arrives on Charlee’s doorstep, she’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, but not her heart. It isn’t until he starts reading to her that the beautiful, touching words begin to unlock something deep inside. But when Ian reveals a secret that shakes Charlee to her core, will she close herself off to love out of fear?
Heather Burch has always been drawn to epic stories about love and loss. She writes high adventure young adult novels. She lives and writes in Florida.
From the haunting opening scene to the satisfying conclusion, Heather Burch’s newest novel, Along the Broken Road satisfies like a big comfortable quilt. This tale of loyalty and friendship envelopes the reader and, like the story within the story, reveals the patience of true love, one glorious page after another. ~Goodreads
This is the first time I have read a book by Heather Burch but it will not be the last time. I enjoyed this book very much. She reaches the depth of emotions of her characters and brings them to a self awareness that is fascinating to read I certainly recommend this book. ~Goodreads
Go to Amazon.
Melody Carlson, “Once Upon a Summertime”
Managing the Value Lodge in her hometown was not what Anna Gordon had in mind when she set out in the hospitality industry. But it’s a safe choice for a woman whose childhood was anything but stable. Out of the blue, she gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reinvent herself by moving to New York City, where she hopes for a management position at a stylish new boutique hotel. The big city is full of surprises–not the least of which is Sean O’Neil. Her childhood crush has applied for the very same position!
Sweet, romantic, and endlessly entertaining, this romp through the storied streets of New York City will enchant readers. Melody Carlson has created characters so charming that readers will long to meet them in the lobby of the stunning Rothsberg Hotel.
Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over 200 books with sales of more than 6.5 million. She is the recipient of the prestigious Romantic Times Career Achievement Award.
Carlson does an amazing job as tour guide and I actually felt I had visited the Big Apple once I’d finished the book. Armchair traveling is so much fun. Once Upon a Summertime offers a fascinating glimpse into the behind-the-scenes action of the hospitality industry and the author infuses such wonderful descriptions that starkly contrast the Value Lodge and the NYC boutique hotel. Really pulled me into the ambiance of the story. ~Goodreads
I have never read a book by Melody Carlson I did not enjoy. This one will be added to the list. It was a refreshing change from historical novels. I never fail to learn something new from the books I read. ~Goodreads
Go to Amazon.
Davis Bunn, “The Pilgrim”
“Davis is a master storyteller and his ability to tell an ancient tale in a contemporary style regularly leaves readers wanting more.” —Dave Milbrandt, author, Chasing Deception
In his latest historical epic, worldwide bestselling author Davis Bunn takes readers on a journey through an ancient landscape. Travel with Empress Helena from Caesarea to Judea. Abandoned by her husband, in danger because of her faith, but with an implacable will to do what God calls her to, she takes a perilous pilgrimage. Along the way she meets those who would help her (the wizened and wise bishop Macarius; the rough-edged but kind-hearted sergeant Cratus; the young soldier Anthony, a man who has lost everything, including his faith) and those who would harm her (the menacing and murderous Roman assassin Severus). Miracles seem to follow this humble but determined woman as she wins many over to the faith, and changes lives forever—including her own.
This unforgettable story of the discovery of the True Cross will thrill readers with its adventure, and with its vivid portrait of one of Christian history’s most important women.
“[Bunn] does something few Christian fiction writers do…his stories open readers to a bigger multicultural and multireligious world…he always seems to surprise and lead into places readers don’t expect.” —Publishers Weekly
Davis Bunn has once again come up with a wonderful book. I have thoroughly enjoyed The Pilgrim. Davis takes us on a journey of a woman who is completely broken, but hears the voice of God and is focused to complete the mission she has been instructed to do. Although the journey seems impossible, she continues on with the faith that is inside her even through many obstacles are placed in front of her at each step. ~Goodreads
Find The Pilgrim by Davis Bunn in Amazon.
Shelley Shepard Gray, “Hopeful: Return to Sugarcreek”
In the Amish town of Sugarcreek, love comes in many forms. But will it come at all for Miriam?
Miriam Zehr has worked at the Sugarcreek Inn longer than she cares to admit. The restaurant is a favorite of town residents as well as the many tourists who come to taste the famous Amish fare. Though she always tries to have a smile for every customer, deep down Miriam knows something’s missing: a family of her own.
Miriam has never felt particularly beautiful, especially because she’s always been a bit heavier than other girls her age. When Junior, the man she’s pined for all her life, suddenly seeks her out, she’s thrilled to be noticed . . . until she realizes he’s only asking her to help get the attention of Mary Kathryn Hershberger, her pretty friend.
If Miriam helps Junior court Mary Kathryn, she’ll get to spend a lot of time with him, but she might lose him in the process. Are these few stolen moments worth a lifetime of sacrifice? Is Miriam right to even hope for the life she dreams of?
Shelley Gray is the NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of several series: The Seasons of Sugarcreek, The Sisters of the Heart, and The Families of Honor.
Find Hopeful: Return to Sugarcreek by Shelley Gray at Amazon.
“Before Amen” by Max Lucado
We pray to stay sober, centered, or solvent. When the lump is deemed malignant. When the money runs out before the month does. When the marriage is falling apart. We pray.
But wouldn’t we like to pray more? Better? Stronger? With more fire, faith, and fervency?
Yet we have kids to feed, bills to pay, deadlines to meet. The calendar pounces on our good intentions like a tiger on a rabbit. And what about our checkered history with prayer? Uncertain words. Unmet expectations. Unanswered requests.
We aren’t the first to struggle with prayer. The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance too. In fact, prayer is the only tutorial they ever requested.
And Jesus gave them a prayer. Not a lecture on prayer. Not the doctrine of prayer. He gave them a quotable, repeatable, portable prayer. Couldn’t we use the same?
In Before Amen best-selling author Max Lucado joins readers on a journey to the very heart of biblical prayer, offering hope for doubts and confidence even for prayer wimps. Distilling prayers in the Bible down to one pocket-sized prayer, Lucado reminds readers that prayer is not a privilege for the pious nor the art of a chosen few. Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and his child. Let the conversation begin.
Go to Amazon.
- 1
- 2
