Welcome to the Blog Tour for Sanctuary and Sabotage by Lori DeJong, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! I absolutely loved my introduction to this author last year! I can't WAIT to read Sanctuary and Sabotage. Check out the guest post from the author below and then enter the giveaway!
About the Book
Title: Sanctuary and Sabotage
Series: Guarded Hearts #2
Author: Lori DeJong
Publisher: Scrivenings Press
Release Date: September 15, 2026
Genre: Romantic Suspense
The greatest threat isn’t the enemy outside—it’s the secrets between them.
Protection Specialist Trevor Paxton returns to his Texas hometown carrying the weight of a mission gone wrong. Seeking sanctuary at his family’s ranch, he never expects danger to follow him into the life of Dr. Kinsley Talbot, the once-freckled tomboy now fighting to save her family’s land and the veterinary clinic that is her future.
When Kinsley’s clinic is sabotaged and her barn goes up in flames, Trevor’s instincts tell him she's in danger. But Kinsley refuses his help, determined to protect her family’s legacy without revealing the secret that could bring it all down.
As threats close in and old feelings rekindle, Trevor makes a quiet choice that could cost him her trust. To save Kinsley, he’ll have to expose his own subterfuge—and convince her that love sometimes means standing guard, even from the shadows.
PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | BookBub
More in This Series
Guest Post
Do you think contemporary romance or romantic suspense is easier to write and why?
For me, there’s no question. Contemporary romance is easier. It’s probably my comfort zone—and maybe that’s because I naturally gravitate toward the emotional side of a story.
When I’m writing contemporary romance, the romance and faith threads seem to intertwine almost effortlessly. As the relationship develops, so does the faith of my characters. They face challenges, learn more about each other, discover things about themselves, and, hopefully, grow closer to God along the way. The emotional progression feels natural to me.
Then there’s romantic suspense. Let’s just say the suspense part doesn’t always play as nicely.
Adding a suspense thread means I have an entirely different set of questions to answer. When should I drop a clue? Is it too obvious? Too subtle? Am I revealing something too soon—or waiting so long that readers will wonder why nobody has figured it out yet? Is the threat believable? Does the villain’s plan make sense? And perhaps the question that makes me want to pull my hair out: Did I give the reader enough information to play detective without giving away the answer?
That’s probably why my romantic suspense novels lean more heavily toward the romance side. But that doesn’t lessen the importance of the suspense thread. It’s more than something happening in the background. It informs the characters’ romantic and faith journeys in ways I really enjoy exploring.
After all, it’s one thing to say you trust someone when everything is going well. It’s something else entirely when you’re facing uncertainty, danger, or circumstances you can’t control.
That’s where romantic suspense gets really fun for me.
The danger can bring two people together as they work toward a common goal—to uncover the truth, protect someone, or defeat whatever evil is lurking around the corner. But it can also pull them apart. Fear, secrets, misunderstandings, and the pressure of the situation can create cracks in a relationship until it looks as though the dark side might actually win.
And that’s what makes the resolution so important. I want the ending to show more than the bad guys being defeated. I want my characters to recognize how far they’ve come—not only together, but in their relationship with God. They’ve had to learn to trust each other, trust themselves, and ultimately trust God even when they couldn’t see how everything would turn out.
So, yes, contemporary romance is definitely easier for me to write.
But romantic suspense? It may make me work harder, second-guess my clues, and occasionally question my sanity. And I wouldn’t trade that challenge for anything.
Because when the romance, the suspense, and the faith all come together in the end, there’s something especially satisfying about watching my characters discover that even when they couldn’t see their way through the darkness, God was there in the middle of it all.
About the Author
Lori DeJong (pronounced DeeYung) is an award-winning contemporary Christian romance author who enjoys penning stories full of grace and the redemptive power of God’s love that inspire others to hope regardless of circumstance, find joy in the moment, and grow in their faith.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Lori arrived in Texas in 2005 and dug those roots right in. She currently resides in beautiful Georgetown, north of Austin, with her husband of thirty years. Other than their two fur-babies, their nest is empty, as their daughter and son-in-law are settled in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
Lori loves to write about love and romance with a touch of suspense, with a firm foundation of faith. Clean but sassy, sparkly, and even goose-bumpy romance, with God in the middle and characters seeking and learning and changing, couldn’t be more heartwarming or spine-tingly.
Lori is an ACFW Genesis Award winner, four-time Selah Award finalist, two-time ACFW Carol Award finalist, has been awarded an Angel Award, and placed second in the FHL Reader's Choice Awards. She's also a member of several organizations, including ACFW, Faith, Hope, and Love Christian Writers, Novel Academy, CenTex Christian Writers, among others. You can visit Lori at https://loridejongwrites.com and sign up for her newsletter for writing updates, book recommendations, a monthly giveaway, and more.
Tour Giveaway
(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card plus a signed copy of both Mistletoe and Malice and Sanctuary and Sabotage!
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight October 5, 2026 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on October 12, 2026. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
