Finding Love in Mountain View On Hallmark Movies & Mysteries + GIVEAWAY

I remember reading Mirallee Ferrell's book, Love Finds You in Bridal Veil, Oregon way back in the day and loving it! When I found out I would have the opportunity to watch the Hallmark adaptation of it, I was really excited. Finding Love In Mountain View is the result of all of that.

I can't wait until we live back in Minnesota because when movies like this come out my daughter and I will be doing a movie night! Of course, when my granddaughter is old enough, we'll include her as well.

So, let's talk about the movie!

These are two new actors for me. They were super cute together and had wonderful chemistry. Margaret has a lot to deal with when she finds out she's the new guardian of her cousin's kids. Going back to Mountain View has her immediately face to face with Andrew, who is hanging out with kids, Sammi and Joel. Andrew, of course, is her blast from the past. Oh, and her Aunt Bertha, she was easy to dislike! The actress made her easy to not like.

I liked the kids a lot! The actors did a great job. You could see their struggle of losing both of their parents and the adjustment they were trying to make. Then adjusting to their cousin Margaret showing up, who is supposed to be best friends with their mom, but they have no idea who she is.

Through it all, it was sweet watching Andrew and Margaret get to know each other again. You know there's going to be an issue, right? That issue comes in the form of Nathan, Margaret's boyfriend. Oh my word, he's so clueless as to Margaret's heart and mind. He was easy to be annoyed at as well. hahaha

You can watch the trailer here: https://aci-americancinema.com/screener/finding-love-in-mountain-view

To celebrate the premiere of FINDING LOVE IN MOUNTAIN VIEW, premiering Sunday Sept 19^th at 6pm PT/9pm ET, we are giving away a copy of the book the film was based on signed by the lead actors!  Enter to win one of 3 copies here:

https://www.blessedfreebies.com/finding-love-in-bridal-veil-oregon-book-giveaway.html

Time-Slip Novels Not To Be Missed

I've read the occasional time-slip, but it doesn't seem like there's a huge selection of them in Christian fiction. Thankfully it seems as though this category is growing. After having read more in the past year or so I'm realizing how much I enjoy them! Here are a few that I've read and thoroughly enjoyed.

I was introduced to Amanda Dykes a year and a half ago when she released Whose Waves These Are. Wow! It was such a fantastic book. She has an exceptional gift for writing. She has a novella that goes along with that book called Up From The Sea. This summer she released Set the Stars Alight. I remember seeing her cover for the first time... I could not WAIT to read it!

Whose Waves These Are

In the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper: a rallying cry for hope, purpose . . . and rocks. Send me a rock for the person you lost, and I will build something life-giving. When the poem spreads farther than he ever intended, Robert Bliss's humble words change the tide of a nation. Boxes of rocks inundate the tiny, coastal Maine town, and he sets his calloused hands to work, but the building halts when tragedy strikes.

Decades later, Annie Bliss is summoned back to Ansel-by-the-Sea when she learns her Great-Uncle Robert, the man who became her refuge during the hardest summer of her youth, is now the one in need of help. What she didn't anticipate was finding a wall of heavy boxes hiding in his home. Long-ago memories of stone ruins on a nearby island trigger her curiosity, igniting a fire in her anthropologist soul to uncover answers.

She joins forces with the handsome and mysterious harbor postman, and all her hopes of mending the decades-old chasm in her family seem to point back to the ruins. But with Robert failing fast, her search for answers battles against time, a foe as relentless as the ever-crashing waves upon the sea. 

Set the Stars Alight

Lucy Clairmont's family treasured the magic of the past, and her childhood fascination with stories of the high seas led her to become a marine archaeologist. But when tragedy strikes, it's Dashel, an American forensic astronomer, and his knowledge of the stars that may help her unearth the truth behind the puzzle she's discovered in her family home.

Two hundred years earlier, the seeds of love are sown between a boy and a girl who spend their days playing in a secret sea cave, while the privileged young son of the estate looks on, wishing to join. As the children grow and war leads to unthinkable heartbreak, a story of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and redemption unfolds, held secret by the passage of time.

As Lucy and Dash journey to a mysterious old estate on the East Sussex coast, their search leads them to a community of souls and a long-hidden tale that may hold the answers--and the healing--they so desperately seek.

What can I say about Jaime Jo Wright? She is an incredible author. I had a couple of her books for quite a while before I finally caved and read one. Let's just say, for this big ol' chicken, the titles of her books as well as the covers made me a little wary. Ha! I finally dove in with The Curse of Misty Wayfair. C'mon, The CURSE of Misty Wayfair. hahahaha It was SO good! Then when I saw the cover of her newest release The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus. yea, yea, yea, this one made me nervous, too! Well, we're reading it for my book club this month so you know I loved it! I also have her book Echoes Among the Stones (tombstones are on the cover... spooky) and The House at Foster Hill (creepy, dusty old house entryway) on my to-be-read shelves!

The Curse of Misty Wayfair

Left at an orphanage as a child, Thea Reed vowed to find her mother someday. Now grown, her search takes her to Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin, in 1908. When clues lead her to a mental asylum, Thea uses her experience as a post-mortem photographer to gain access and assist groundskeeper Simeon Coyle in photographing the patients and uncovering the secrets within. However, she never expected her personal quest would reawaken the legend of Misty Wayfair, a murdered woman who allegedly haunts the area and whose appearance portends death. 

A century later, Heidi Lane receives a troubling letter from her mother--who is battling dementia--compelling her to travel to Pleasant Valley for answers to her own questions of identity. When she catches sight of a ghostly woman who haunts the asylum ruins in the woods, the long-standing story of Misty Wayfair returns--and with it, Heidi's fear for her own life.

As two women across time seek answers about their identities and heritage, can they overcome the threat of the mysterious curse that has them inextricably intertwined?

The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus

1928
The Bonaventure Circus is a refuge for many, but Pippa Ripley was rejected from its inner circle as a baby. When she receives mysterious messages from someone called the "Watchman," she is determined to find him and the connection to her birth. As Pippa's search leads her to a man seeking justice for his murdered sister and evidence that a serial killer has been haunting the circus train, she must decide if uncovering her roots is worth putting herself directly in the path of the killer.

Present Day
The old circus train depot will either be torn down or preserved for historical importance, and its future rests on real estate project manager Chandler Faulk's shoulders. As she dives deep into the depot's history, she's also balancing a newly diagnosed autoimmune disease and the pressures of single motherhood. When she discovers clues to the unsolved murders of the past, Chandler is pulled into a story far darker and more haunting than even an abandoned train depot could portend.

I've only listened to one of Erin Bartels' novels on audiobook, The Words Between Us. That was a story that came with such a mystery! It was completely unexpected, but thoroughly enjoyable! I was torn between caring more about Peter and caring more about Robin. I also really liked the supporting characters!

The Words Between Us

Robin Windsor has spent most of her life under an assumed name, running from her family's ignominious past. She thought she'd finally found sanctuary in her rather unremarkable used bookstore just up the street from the marina in River City, Michigan. But the store is struggling and the past is hot on her heels.

When she receives an eerily familiar book in the mail on the morning of her father's scheduled execution, Robin is thrown back to the long-lost summer she met Peter Flynt, the perfect boy who ruined everything. That book--a first edition Catcher in the Rye--is soon followed by the other books she shared with Peter nearly twenty years ago, with one arriving in the mail each day. But why would Peter be making contact after all these years? And why does she have a sinking feeling that she's about to be exposed all over again?

With evocative prose that recalls the classic novels we love, Erin Bartels pens a story that shows that words--the ones we say, the ones we read, and the ones we write--have more power than we imagine.

Ok, I hate to admit this, but it's been forever and a day since I've read any books by Susan Meissner. In the late 2000s I took a long break from reading. I read here and there, but it wasn't much. I know she has a LOT of books out, many I want to read, but fitting them in... you should see my TBR shelves. They're packed with books that need reading. Heck, I might even have a couple of her books on them. Probably on audiobook or my Kindle. lol Anywho, back in 2009 I interviewed Susan when her book The Shape of Mercy came out. It's about the Salem witch trials. Oh man, this book tugged at my heart! Lady in Waiting is another of her books I read. She's so fantastic at split time novels!!

The Shape of Mercy

Leaving a life of privilege to strike out on her own, Lauren Durough breaks with convention and her family’s expectations by choosing a state college over Stanford and earning her own income over accepting her ample monthly allowance. She takes a part-time job from 83-year-old librarian Abigail Boyles, who asks Lauren to transcribe the journal entries of her ancestor Mercy Hayworth, a victim of the Salem witch trials.  

Almost immediately, Lauren finds herself drawn to this girl who lived and died four centuries ago. As the fervor around the witch accusations increases, Mercy becomes trapped in the worldview of the day, unable to fight the overwhelming influence of snap judgments and superstition, and Lauren realizes that the secrets of Mercy’s story extend beyond the pages of her diary, living on in the mysterious, embittered Abigail. 

The strength of her affinity with Mercy forces Lauren to take a startling new look at her own life, including her relationships with Abigail, her college roommate, and a young man named Raul. But on the way to the truth, will Lauren find herself playing the helpless defendant or the misguided judge? Can she break free from her own perceptions and see who she really is?

Lady in Waiting

Manhattan in the current day: Antique-store owner Jane Lindsay had never expected that her husband of 22 years would walk out on their marriage. But when it happens, she feels powerless to stop the course of events that follow. Then Jane finds an old ring in a box of ancient relics and discovers a Latin inscription in the band along with just one recognizable word: Jane. In the sixteenth-century: Lucy Day becomes the dressmaker to Lady Jane Grey, an innocent young woman whose fate seems to be controlled by a dangerous political climate, one threatening to deny her true love and pursuit of her own interests. As the stories of both Janes unfold, it becomes clear that each woman has far more influence over her life than she once imagined. It all comes down to the choices each makes despite the realities they face.

Cathy Goehlke came on my radar this summer and her writing blew me away! I had no idea what I was missing having not read her novels before. Now, I have only listened to her books on audio, but they were well worth the experience. I enjoyed the narrators on the books I've listened to. The Medallion was the first book I listened to and it was excellent! If I could give a book more than 5 stars this would be it! As soon as I finished The Medallion I immediately started listening to Secrets She Kept. Now, I will say that these books are incredibly emotional and realistic. They're set in WWII during the Nazi regime.

 

The Medallion

An illuminating tale of courage, sacrifice, and survival.

Two couples’ lives are ravaged by Hitler’s mad war but forever linked through the fate of one little girl.

Warsaw, 1939. The German blitzkrieg has shattered the city. As Sophie Kumiega awaits news of her husband, deployed with the Polish Air Force, she is determined to keep her unborn baby safe. She didn’t count on being drawn into the dangerous and all-consuming plight of her neighbors.

Rosa and Itzhak Dunovich never imagined welcoming their longed-for first child in the Jewish ghetto, or letting anything tear their family apart. But Rosa soon faces a terrifying reality: to save their daughter’s life, she must send her into hiding. Her only hope of finding her after the war—if any of them survive—is the half medallion she places around her daughter’s neck.

Inspired by true events of Poland’s darkest days and brightest heroes, The Medallion paints a stunning portrait of war and its aftermath, daring us to believe that when all seems lost, God can make a way forward.

Secrets She Kept

The secret a mother was forbidden to share . . . the consequences a daughter could not redeem—but will risk everything in her attempt.

All her life, Hannah Sterling longed for a close relationship with her estranged mother. Following Lieselotte’s death, Hannah unlocks secrets of her mother’s mysterious past, including the discovery of a grandfather living in Germany.

Thirty years earlier, Lieselotte’s father, ascending the ranks of the Nazi party, demands a marriage for his daughter to help advance his career.  But Lieselotte is in love—and her beloved Lukas secretly works against the Reich. How far will her father go to achieve his goal?

Both Hannah’s and Lieselotte’s stories unfold as Hannah travels to Germany to meet her grandfather, who hides wartime secrets of his own. Longing for connection, yet shaken by all she uncovers, Hannah must decide if she can atone for her family’s tragic past, and how their legacy will shape her future.

Right now I'm currently listening to my first book by Kristy Cambron. I seem to have an affinity for stories set in the time of WWII and didn't even realize it. I had been wanting to read/listen to a book by Kristy for a while and just grabbed this one. lol The narrator has quite the task of reading aloud in a couple different languages and genders with The Butterfly and the Violin. This book is part of a series. I also want to read her Castle series as well! The Paris Dressmaker just came out so that's on my tbr list now also!

The Butterfly and the Violin

A Mysterious painting breathes hope and beauty into the darkest corners of Auschwitz--and the loneliest hearts of Manhattan.

Manhattan art dealer Sera James watched her world crumble at the altar two years ago, and her heart is still fragile. Her desire fordistraction reignites a passion for a mysterious portrait she first saw as a younggirl--a painting of a young violinist with piercing blue eyes.
In her search for the painting, Sera crosses paths withWilliam Hanover--the grandson of a wealthy California real estate mogul--who maybe the key to uncovering the hidden masterpiece. Together Sera and Williamslowly unravel the story behind the painting's subject: Austrian violinistAdele Von Bron.

A darling of the Austrian aristocracy of 1942, talented violinist, and daughter to a high-ranking member of the Third Reich, Adele risks everything when she begins smuggling Jews out of Vienna. In a heartbeat, her life of prosperity and privilege dissolves into a world of starvation and barbed wire.

As Sera untangles the secrets behind the painting, she finds beauty in the most unlikely of places: the grim camps of Auschwitz and the inner recesses of her own troubled heart.

Which other time-slip authors have you been enjoying? I'm always looking for new suggestions!

Follow Your Heart On Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

Ok, can I be honest with you here? I haven't watched any Hallmark movies since January. Whew, that was like ripping off a bandaid. I was concerned about confessing, but now it's like I've had a weight lifted off of me.

Here's the thing... Hallmark was always on at my house. It was either something I was watching or it was just on in the background. I appreciated the movies and shows. Mostly for the fact that they are clean, feel good shows. Unfortunately, the channel grew stale for me. Every movie was the same. Same actors, same actresses. Insert yawn. Yes, I know it's always been like that, but it finally wore me out.

Now we're at the end of September and I had the opportunity to screen Follow Your Heart. One of the biggest reasons I jumped on the chance to review the movie before it hits tv is that an author I love wrote the book that it's based off. I met Miralee Ferrell years ago. I've been a fan of her writing for a long time.

So, let's get to the movie... Follow Your Heart will premier October 4, 2020 on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries at 9PM EST/8PM central.

WHAT a refreshing movie. And I'm NOT just saying that. I haven't read the book so when the movie first started I thought the female character might go into some kind of weird parallel universe. You'll understand why I thought that when you see the beginning. hahahaha

I don't think I've seen any movies with Galadriel Stineman (Kathy Yoder) before and I'm ready for her to be in more! She was probably my favorite character in the movie. Well, the little girl who played Sarah Mast, Remi Hilson, was absolutely delightful to watch! Then there was Kevin Joy (Isaac Mast). I'm pretty sure I've never seen him in anything before, but he sure seemed familiar. I really enjoyed him as well. He did a great job as an Amish man.

Kathy's manager... goodness was she mmmm energetic? Ditzy? A combination of both? Karla Mosely did a fantastic job in the role. I think when actors have to be something other than "normal" they have the harder job to do which I why I appreciate them. That goes for Jonathan Patrick Moore who plays Jack, Kathy's "love" interest. Sakes alive he was obnoxious.

I can't imagine what it's like to leave your family and your faith like Kathy, aka Katrina, did after she grew up. Going back, after her father dies, is definitely difficult for her and those around her. Her sister and other Amish ladies are clearly still hurt by her turning from the Amish faith. I could understand her sister's bitterness. Isaac, having grown up with Katrina, doesn't seem to hold it against her, but you know that her leaving years ago hurt him.

Yes, there's a love triangle. Yes, people have to decide what the future looks like. Yes, it's a Hallmark movie, but it was just so much more than that! It was a movie of hope and finding true love. It's not your typical movie and that's what I appreciate about it. It's original and one that probably will top my list of Hallmark movies.

Be sure to check out the paperback or Kindle version of Follow Your Heart as well!

Hysterical Historical Fiction Authors That Are Must Read

One of my favorite genres to read is historical fiction that has me laughing out loud! I would have to say this is the perfect combination for a reader such as myself. I have a quirky sense of humor and I adore historical fiction! So, with that being said, here are a few of my favorite authors!

First, let's start with the first author I ever read that I found hilarious, Cathy Marie Hake. The first book I read of hers was Letter Perfect and I was laughing on page 1! I've also read That Certain Spark, Serendipity, Whirlwind, Fancy Pants, Forevermore, and Bittersweet. She does have some novella books that I haven't read yet as well as some short stories. She doesn't write any more because of health conditions, but I'm thankful for the books she has out!

Letter Perfect

If her own two feet don't end up tripping her, Ruth Caldwell's mouth is likely to get her into equal trouble. But Ruth has the best of intentions. Truly. It's just that her attempts to live up to her mother's expectations of how a lady should act have often yielded...well, less than impressive results.

Josh McCain is speechless when he sees Ruth step off the stage in Folsom, California. Sure, it looks like she's been sleeping in her gown for the past week, but with a crown of riotous curls and those deep green eyes, she's certainly the most beautiful woman he's ever met.

But Josh soon finds the sparks that fly upon Ruth's arrival aren't the romantic type. With her legitimate claims to an inheritance, the Broken P Ranch's future is suddenly precarious. And when Ruth's "accidents"--going beyond even her normal bumbling ways--seem to take a sinister turn, Josh must decide where his loyalties lie.

Fancy Pants

When Britisher Lady Sydney Hathwell's father dies, the American who planned to wed her suddenly reneges. Stranded in America and penniless, Sydney contacts a relative in Texas who, mistaking her male-sounding name, invites his "nephew" to join him on his ranch. 

"Big Tim" Creighton, however, is appalled when this mincing fop arrives at Forsaken. He determines he'll turn Fancy Pants Hathwell into a man before the boss returns home. From the get-go, he has "the kid" mucking stalls, clearing and plowing a field, and assisting with a difficult calving. But when Sydney's true identity is uncovered, Tim resents being deceived. Yet in time, he also finds that he doesn't like all the attention Sydney garners now that she's wearing pretty gowns...

Together Sydney and Tim will discover the importance of family and what it means to be a man--and a woman--of God.

Whirlwind

When Millicent Fairweather boards the Opportunity to journey to America, she's confident a better life awaits. Before she knows it, she's taken out of steerage to be a nanny to a delightful little boy who quickly wins her heart. Widower Daniel Clark isn't sure about the pretty bundle of energy who takes the nanny position, but he figures the voyage is only one week.

When disaster strikes, Daniel seizes the chance to rescue Millicent and her sister. A most convenient marriage ensues...only Daniel realizes his heart has been lost to Millicent, while she views it all as a business arrangement. Will this whirlwind marriage have a chance as Daniel sets out to woo his oblivious wife?

Next up is Jen Turano. She writes some of the funniest characters I know! I can't read her stories when Fred's asleep next to me because I never know when I'm going to literally laugh out loud because of something her characters do or say. I've read quite a few of Jen's novels, but not nearly all of them. My goal is to read them all and have them all. Thankfully, one of my books that Fred gave me for Valentine's Day is one of my favorites and it's autographed by Jen! Her Apart from the Crowd series is an all time favorite. I've been going back to read her first series and I can't get enough of them!

  

At Your Request (novella)

After her father lost the family's fortune, Wilhelmina was cast out of the fashionable set and banished to the wallflower section. Taking a position as a social secretary to help support her family, she's mostly come to terms with her new status. But when her old friend Edgar returns to New York society for the first time since she rejected his marriage proposal, she's newly ashamed at how far she's fallen--and how hastily she dismissed him years ago. Her strategy is to avoid a face-to-face encounter at all costs, but he seems to have other plans. Will Edgar take advantage of their now reversed positions and make her regret her refusal, or is there still hope for a friendship between them--or something more?

Behind the Scenes

After spending the last six years banished to the wallflower section of the ballroom, Miss Permilia Griswold has finally figured out a way to pass the time at all the New York high-society events she attends. Under the pseudonym "Miss Quill," she is the author of society gossip columns filled with tidbits only an insider in society--albeit one on the fringes--would know. 

When she overhears a threat against Mr. Asher Rutherford, the owner of one of the most up-and-coming department stores in the city, she's determined to warn him. But the irritatingly handsome man doesn't believe her, leaving her no choice but to take matters into her own hands. What she doesn't anticipate is that she'll end up putting herself at risk in the process--or that she and Mr. Rutherford, a man with secrets of his own, just might end up joining forces after all.

Out of the Ordinary

Working as a paid companion may be quite commonplace, but Miss Gertrude Cadwalader's eccentric employer makes her job unpredictable, to say the least. She finds herself carrying out an array of highly unusual tasks, including wearing peculiar outfits and returning items the woman pilfered. But when the wealthy Mrs. Sinclair catches Gertrude sneaking around the Sinclair yacht with some of the missing items in her possession, she immediately jumps to the wrong conclusion.

Shipping magnate Harrison Sinclair is caught in the middle of a misunderstanding between his mother and Gertrude, but he can't help coming to his friend's defense. Even as he hopes their friendship might become something more, Harrison is unprepared for the outlandish escapades that seem to follow the lovely, anything-but-ordinary Gertrude at every turn.

Caught by Surprise

After years of hiding her true nature, Miss Temperance Flowerdew is finally enjoying freedom outside of the shadow of her relations, so the last thing she expected on her way to work was to be grabbed off the street by a stranger and put on a train bound for Chicago.

When Mr. Gilbert Cavendish is called upon to rescue a missing woman, he follows the trail to Chicago only to discover that the woman is his good friend, Temperance. Before they can discover who was behind her abduction, they're spotted alone together by a New York society matron, putting their reputations at risk.

Even though Gilbert is willing to propose marriage, Temperance is determined not to lose her newfound independence. But when the misunderstanding in Chicago escalates into a threat on her life, accepting Gilbert's help in solving the mystery may lead to more than she ever could have dreamed.

More recently I became acquainted with Kristi Ann Hunter. Her characters have been an absolute delight to read and I listened to all 4 books in her Hawthorne House series all in a row via audiobook. They were AMAZING! I immediately started listening to her Haven Manor series as well as her brand new release of Vying for the Viscount! Love. Them! One of the reasons I loved all of her series is that characters cross over and you get to see them again! Our book club was so thankful to have her chat with us about A Noble Masquerade. She is our first author visit!

A Noble Masquerade

Lady Miranda Hawthorne acts every inch the lady, but inside she longs to be bold and carefree. Approaching spinsterhood in the eyes of society, she pours her innermost feelings out not in a diary but in letters to her brother's old school friend, the Duke of Marshington. Since she's never actually met the man she has no intention of ever sending the letters and is mortified when her brother's mysterious new valet, Marlow, mistakenly mails one of the letters to the unsuspecting duke.

Shockingly, this breach of etiquette results in a reply from the duke that soon leads to a lively correspondence. Insecurity about her previous lack of suitors soon becomes confusion as Miranda finds herself equally intrigued by Marlow, a man she has come to depend upon but whose behavior grows more suspicious by the day. As the secret goings-on at her family's estate come to light, one thing is certain: Miranda's heart is far from all that's at risk for the Hawthornes and those they love.

An Elegant Façade

Lady Georgina Hawthorne has always known she must marry well. After years of tirelessly planning every detail of her debut season, she is poised to be a smashing success and have her choice of eligible gentlemen. 

With money and powerful business connections but no title, Colin McCrae is invited everywhere but accepted nowhere. He intends to marry someday, but when he does it will not be to a shallow woman like Lady Georgina, whose only concerns appear to be status and appearance.

But beneath her flawless exterior, Georgina's social aspirations stem from a shameful secret she is desperately trying to keep hidden--and that Colin is too close to discovering. Drawn to each other despite their mutual intent to avoid association, is the realization of their dreams worth the sacrifices they'll be forced to make?

An Uncommon Courtship

Lord Trent Hawthorne couldn't be happier he is not the duke in the family. Free to manage his small estate and take his time discovering the life he wants to lead, he has grand plans of someday wooing and falling in love with the woman of his choice. When he finds himself honor bound to marry a woman he barely knows, his dream of a loving marriage like his parents' seems lost forever.

Life for Lady Adelaide Bell was easier when she hid in her older sister's shadow--which worked until her sister got married. But even with her socially ambitious mother's focus entirely on her, the last thing she expected was a marriage of convenience before she's been introduced to society.

With nothing going as expected, can Trent and Adelaide's marriage of obligation survive their own missteps and the pressures of London society to grow into a true meeting of hearts and minds?


An Inconvenient Beauty

Griffith, Duke of Riverton, likes order, logic, and control, so he naturally applies this rational approach to his search for a bride. While he's certain Miss Frederica St. Claire is the perfect wife for him, she is strangely elusive, and he can't seem to stop running into her stunningly beautiful cousin, Miss Isabella Breckenridge.

Isabella should be enjoying her society debut, but with her family in difficult circumstances, she has no choice but to agree to a bargain that puts her at odds with all her romantic hopes--as well as her conscience. And the more she comes to know Griffith, the more she regrets the unpleasant obligation that prevents her from any dream of a future with him.

As all Griffith's and Isabella's long-held expectations are shaken to the core, can they set aside their pride and fear long enough to claim a happily-ever-after?

Three Authors Of Christian Speculative Fiction You Should Be Reading

For me, Christian speculative fiction was an oxymoron for a long time. I didn't see where the two could really live hand in hand. I mean, sure, there's the Lord of the Rings series and The Chronicles of Narnia, but they were the exception to the rule. That is, until now. Now we have authors who are writing amazing novels that absolutely fit this category and I'm thankful for it! Let's check them out, shall we?

I think my first introduction to Christian "fantasy" was Sharon Hinck. Years ago I read The Restorer and the consecutive books in the series (Sword of Lyric). What a fantastic read! This is a series I think I'll have to re-read... something I never do! That's how I fell in love with Sharon's writing. Then this past winter she release the first book in her newest series and it was exceptional! Her gift for writing is absolutely Heaven sent! I loved Hidden Current and can not WAIT for Forsaken Island to come out!

The Restorer:

A Soccer Mom in Our World. A Promised Deliverer in Another. 

Susan Mitchell thought she was an ordinary homemaker. She was wrong. Pulled through a portal into another world, she finds a desperate nation waiting for a promised Restorer. 

While she struggles to adapt to a foreign culture, she tackles an enemy that is poisoning the minds of the people, uncovers a corrupt ruling Council, and embraces a profound spiritual journey. Will this adventure demand her life? Can she find a way back to her family? She has always longed to do something important for God, but can she fill this role?

The Restorer's Son:

Chosen to save a people. Called to serve an enemy. 
Plunged again into the gray world of Lyric and Hazor, Susan and Mark search frantically for their teenage son, Jake, as all signs hint that a trusted ally has betrayed them. Assassins, political intrigue, false leads, and near misses beset their path, which will lead them into the dark prisons of Hazor before the One's purpose is revealed. 

Cast out by those he trusts and preferring to cross swords with the One rather than yield to His will, Kieran flees to enemy Hazor, only to find that the One knows no borders. Pursued by his calling, Kieran finds a boy without a home, a king with burning questions, and a nation torn by darkness. As he embraces the tasks the One has set before him, this new Restorer learns that the One requires his all–perhaps even his life. 

The Restorer's Journey:

His choices have the power to save or destroy. 

With a loved one's life at stake, Jake charges through the portal into Lyric to stage a dramatic rescue, trusting that the signs that mark him as Restorer will guarantee success. But everything familiar in Lyric has vanished, swept away by deadly lies and a corrupt king. As forces conspire to turn him from his purpose, Jake finds his path leading to places beyond his courage. 

While he confronts the temptation to flee his calling, Susan struggles in brutal captivity. Can she gain freedom before the enemy destroys her spirit, and will Jake choose to follow his destiny before everything is lost? 

The Deliverer:

 A lost song-keeper must lead her people to a long-awaited Deliverer.

Eager to serve the One, a young song-keeper travels to the dark and foreign nation of Hazor, but her confusing, rough-edged companion has lost his Restorer gifts. As danger rises against them both, she loses her freedom, her memories, and her hope. Now even the very music of her soul is threatened. 

In our world, Susan Mitchell no longer feels at home in the carpool lane. Burdened by the unhealed scars from her trips through the portal, she fights to suppress her worry about her son, who remains out of contact in Lyric. But when a mysterious message hints Jake is in danger, she and her husband are swept away-to the place they least expect. 

Clan rebellions. Lost Restorers. Has the One turned away, or will the face of the Deliverer bring light to the darkness?

Hidden Current:

The dancers of the Order direct their floating world of Meriel with their movements, but are they steering it toward destruction?

Calara spent her life learning dance patterns and seeking to become the perfect servant to her people. When she discovers the work of the Order is built on lies, she flees with a rough-edged herder, Brantley of Windswell. Pursued by soldiers, her journey through the suffering villages of the rim leads her to a forgotten truth that sends ripples through her world-and through her soul.

Calara seeks clues to her forgotten family and discovers newfound courage in the face of danger, while her quest awakens a growing but forbidden affection for Brantley. Yet even his support can’t fully be trusted, since he’d rather destroy the Order than bring reform.

She is a lone woman facing opposition from rim villages and treachery from the all-powerful Order. Can she restore the dance to its true purpose and bring freedom and hope to her people?

Forsaken Island:

On an uncharted world, happiness is effortless and constant … but can true joy exist without sacrifice?

The people of Meriel have long believed their island world floats alone in the vast ocean universe, so they are astonished when another island drifts into view. With resources becoming scarce, Carya and Brantley quickly volunteer to search the new land for supplies.

After navigating a barrier of menacing trees, the pair encounter a culture of perpetually happy people who readily share their talents and their possessions. But all is not what it seems. At the core of the island is a horror that threatens everyone, including Brantley and Carya.

Freeing the villagers of the bondage they’ve chosen may cost Carya and Brantley more than they could have imagined. Even if the two succeed, they’ll have to find a way to return to Meriel quickly … or be cut off from their home forever.

Next we have Morgan L. Busse. Morgan, Morgan, Morgan... I did NOT want the last book in her The Ravenwood Saga series to end. It was such a powerful series, but the last book did me in! What I loved about her books is that they picked up right where the last one left off. If you can get all 3 at once, that would be my suggestion! She actually has other series that are in the same genre, but seem more steampunk, but I haven't read those yet!

Mark of the Raven:

Lady Selene Has Come into Her Family's Power.
But Has She Inherited a Gift or a Curse? 
Lady Selene is heir to the House of Ravenwood and the secret family gift of dreamwalking. As a dreamwalker, she can enter a person's dreams and manipulate their greatest fears or desires. Soon after the gifting, however, Selene discovers that the Ravenwood women have been secretly using their gift to gather information or to assassinate those responsible for the fall of House Ravenwood to the Dominia Empire hundreds of years ago. 

As she becomes more entrenched in Ravenwood's dark past, Selene longs to find out the true reason behind her family's gift, believing that its original intent could not have been for such evil purposes, but she is torn about upholding her family's legacy--a legacy that supports her people. Selene's dilemma comes to a head when she is tasked with assassinating the one man who can bring peace to the nations--but who is also prophesied to bring about the downfall of her own house.

One path holds glory and power and will solidify her position as Lady of Ravenwood. The other path holds shame and likely death. Which will she choose? And is she willing to pay the price for the path chosen?

The Flight of the Raven:

Will Her New Life in a New Land Set Her on a Path
from Which She Can't Escape? 
Selene Ravenwood, once the heir to House Ravenwood, is now an exile. On the run and free of her family's destiny, Selene hopes to find the real reason her family was given the gift of dreamwalking. But first she must adapt to her new role as wife to Lord Damien Maris, the man she was originally assigned to kill.

While adjusting to her marriage and her home in the north, her power over dreams begins to grow. As the strongest dreamwalker to exist in ages, her expanding power attracts not only nightmares but the attention of the Dark Lady herself.

With a war looming on the horizon and a wicked being after her gift, Selene is faced with a choice: accept the Dark Lady's offer or search out the one who gave her the gift of dreamwalking. One path offers power, the other freedom. But time is running out, and if she doesn't choose soon, her decision will be made for her.

Cry of the Raven:

Wife. Warrior. Lady of Two Worlds.
As War Looms, Will Her Power Be Enough to Save the Ones She Loves?Lady Selene Ravenwood has come into her full power as a dreamwalker--a power greater than any in history. She embraces her new role as Nightwatcher, able to intercede for her people in the dream world, but the dark shadow of war draws ever closer. 

Working together, the Great Houses come up with a plan to secure the borders from the approaching Dominia Empire. But dissension, conflict, and suspicion threaten to destroy their tenuous treaty, and as the empire burns a path across their lands, Damien Maris starts to lose his ability to raise the waters, leaving the lands vulnerable to the empire's attacks. 

The only one who can keep the Great Houses unified and restore her husband's power is Selene. But it will require that she venture deep into the dream world to confront the enemies of her past who will do anything to stop her power. Will it be enough, or will both worlds fall under the empire's might?

Next up is Patrick W. Carr. I've read all of his books. The End. hahahaha I kid, I kid. But I really have read them all and enjoyed them all. His books probably most of all reminded me of the fantasy novels I read as a tween/teen. Very adventurous, but also dark. I'd say the comparison would be LOTR. Oh look, I didn't go up in a ball of flames using LOTR as a comparison! Whew! He has 2 series and then, believe it or not, just released a Biblical fiction novel at the end of last year! The two series I read are The Staff and the Sword as well as The Darkwater Saga. His standalone is The End of the Magi.

A Cast of Stones:

In the backwater village of Callowford, roustabout Errol Stone is enlisted by a church messenger arriving with urgent missives for the hermit priest in the hills. Eager for coin, Errol agrees to what he thinks will be an easy task, but soon finds himself hunted by deadly assassins. Forced to flee with the priest and a small band of travelers, Errol soon learns he’s joined a quest that could change the fate of his kingdom.

Protected for millennia by the heirs of the first king, the kingdom’s dynasty nears its end and the selection of the new king begins–but in secret and shadow. As danger mounts, Errol must leave behind the stains and griefs of the past, learn to fight, and discover who is hunting him and his companions and how far they will go to stop the reading of the stones.

The Hero’s Lot:

When Sarin Valon, the corrupt secondus of the conclave, flees Erinon and the kingdom, Errol Stone believes his troubles have at last ended. But other forces bent on the destruction of the kingdom remain and conspire to accuse Errol and his friends of a conspiracy to usurp the throne.

In a bid to keep the three of them from the axe, Archbenefice Canon sends Martin and Luis to Errol’s home village, Callowford, to discover what makes him so important to the kingdom. But Errol is also accused of consorting with spirits. Convicted, his punishment is a journey to the enemy kingdom of Merakh, where he must find Sarin Valon, and kill him. To enforce their sentence, Errol is placed under a compulsion, and he is driven to accomplish his task or die resisting.

A Draw of Kings:

Dark Forces Have Gathered and the Final Battle for Illustra Has Begun

Their journey to Merakh should have made Errol and his companions heroes of the realm. Instead, they’ve been branded enemies of the kingdom. In the wake of the king’s death, Duke Weir is ruling the country–and he intends to marry Adora to bring an heir from the royal line. With Errol and the others imprisoned and the identity of the rightful heir to the throne still hidden in secrecy, Illustra is on the verge of civil war–and threatened by hostile forces gathering on every side.

A dangerous mission to free Errol is attempted, but the dangers facing the kingdom mount with every passing moment. The barrier has fallen, ferrals are swarming toward the land, and their enemies draw ever closer. Will the discovery of the true heir turn back the tide of Illustra’s destruction?

By Divine Right: (he has this as a free prequel!)

In the kingdom of Collum, Willet Dura makes his meager living investigating crimes. Ever since a terrible battle, he’s had a link to the dead–an uncanny ability to solve their crimes and sense foul play. When several of the gifted are found dead in close succession, Willet suspects a deeper threat and ends up chasing a mystery that will shake his world.

The Shock of Night:

When one man is brutally murdered and the priest he works for mortally wounded, Willet Dura, reeve to the king of Bunard, is called to investigate. As he begins to question the dying priest, the man pulls Willet close and screams in a foreign tongue. Then he dies without another word.

Willet returns to his task, but the clues to the crime lead to contradictions and questions without answers, and his senses are skewed. People he touches appear to have a subtle shift, as though he can divine their deepest thoughts. In a world divided between haves and have-nots, gifted and common, Willet soon learns he’s been passed the rarest gift of all–a gift that’s not supposed to exist. 

Now Willet must pursue the murderer still on the loose in Bunard even as he’s pulled into a dangerous conflict that threatens not only his city, but his entire world–a conflict  that will force him to come to terms with his inability to remember how he escaped the Darkwater Forest–and what happened to him inside it. 

The Shattered Vigil:

Victory over the dark forces during the feast of Bas-solas should have guaranteed safety for the continent. Instead, Willet and the rest of the Vigil discover they’ve been outsmarted by those seeking to unleash the evil that inhabits the Darkwater. Jorgen, the member of the Vigil assigned to Frayel, has gone missing, and new attacks have struck at the six kingdoms’ ability to defend themselves.

Just when the Vigil thought they had quenched the menace from their enemy in Collum, a new threat emerges: assassins hunting the Vigil, men and women who cannot be seen until it’s too late. The orders of the church and the rulers of the kingdoms, fearing the loss of the Vigil’s members altogether, have decided to take them into protective custody to safeguard their gift. On Pellin’s orders, the Vigil scatters, leaving Willet to be taken prisoner by the church in Bunard.

In the midst of this, Willet learns of the murder of an obscure nobleman’s daughter by one of the unseen assassins. Now he must escape his imprisonment and brave the wrath of the church to find the killer in order to turn back this latest threat to the northern continent.

The Wounded Shadow:

The kings and queens of the northern continent lay siege to the Darkwater Forest, desperate to contain its evil. But rumors of gold and aurium have lured deserters and the desperate into its shadow, creating a growing army held in its sway. Desperate after the death and dissolution of their greatest ally, Willet and the Vigil seek the truth of what lies at the heart of the evil they face. They delve the mind of an old enemy and find an answer far worse than they could have imagined. 

Danger stalks the cities of the north, striking at the rulers of the kingdoms. As Willet and the rest of the Vigil seek to find answers, the group is scattered with an ever-growing darkness around them. Will they discover a path to keep their land safe, or will an ancient evil reclaim the world it once called its own?

There are a couple other authors who I am looking forward to reading. I have two books out of three by Lindsay A. Franklin. She has a series called The Weaver's Trilogy. Ronie Kendig, who I also mentioned in my suspense list of "must reads" has a series called Abiassa's Fire as well as a new series called The Droseran Saga. Lastly, Jill Williamson has a series called The Kinsman Chronicles. The covers look amazing and that's what's drawn me to her books!