Murray draws inspiration from the kindertransports of the 1930s for her quietly impactful debut historical. In April 1939, war clouds hang over Europe, but in the small town of Norcross, Ga., Cora Cain is focused on managing her depressed father’s struggling general store, formerly a grand hotel called the Brunswick. Enter Thomas Watkins, an out-of-towner whom Cora hires to help revitalize the store, which occupies part of the building’s first floor. Then family friends George and Evelyn Cohen approach Cora with a proposal to house Austrian refugee children in the hotel’s rooms. The faithful Cora agrees despite her father’s misgivings, and she and Thomas prepare for the children’s arrival. A spark ignites between the pair, but Thomas soon reveals a secret that puts Cora’s budding feelings—and the Cohens’ plan—at risk. A second plotline unfolds in Vienna, where 10-year-old Charlotte, who’s spent months sheltering from the Nazi regime in her aunt’s apartment, grapples with the prospect of leaving behind everyone she has ever loved—including her mother—in search of safety overseas. Murray captures the rising anxiety of impending war as her characters struggle to come to grips with what it means to hold onto hope in times of strife. Readers will find it hard to look away. (May)

Reviewed on 03/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

A young woman is torn between love and family in this engrossing early-20th-century historical from Gabhart (The Pursuit of Elena Bradford). Growing up in rural Kentucky, Kallie Mae Bertram had two dreams: to marry her neighbor Quinn Spencer and to learn to read and write. But the Bertram and Spencer families have been feuding for more than 45 years, since the Civil War pitted them against each other, and Kallie’s father has forbidden her from seeing Quinn. To make matters worse, she never got the chance to attend school because she was tasked with caring for her younger sister, Emmie, after her mother died in childbirth. When Kallie and Quinn, now adults, reunite by chance, Kallie can’t ignore the spark between them—but knows choosing Quinn would mean no longer being welcome in her father’s house. As Quinn and Kallie look to God for guidance, a local teacher opens a school for adults, giving the pair hope for a brighter future, while also opening the door to new choices and challenges. The portrayal of rural Appalachian life is vivid and textured, and readers will be quickly won over by Kallie’s enterprising, indomitable spirit. Gabhart’s fans will be well pleased. (May)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

Miller riffs on Jane Austen’s Emma with the cute latest in her Silver Teapot series (after Not Exactly Mr. Darcy). Emma Jane “EJ” Bennett and Jordan Knightley, cocreators of the Christian dating app Dream Match, grew up together in small-town Wattle Vale, Australia, and have been inseparable ever since. Having relocated to Sydney, the pair now yearn for different things: Jordan’s drawn to a life centered on family and faith, while EJ hopes to grow Dream Match’s success. Her search for investors connects her to a circle of high-flying elites, including Eric Churchill, a wealthy, womanizing businessman of whom Jordan is immediately suspicious, though EJ’s convinced he’s the key to keeping the app afloat. When Eric and EJ start dating, she’s thrilled to step into his glittering world, but Jordan worries EJ’s abandoning her small-town values. After Jordan shows up at one of Eric’s parties and criticizes its waste and luxury, EJ returns home to Wattle Vale and tries to understand what’s driving her toward success—and how far she’s willing to go to obtain it. Miller has fun modernizing Austen’s conceit with lively characters and zippy dialogue, though she sometimes leans into predictable moralizing about the ills of a superficial lifestyle. Still, there’s plenty here to please Miller’s fans. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/27/2026 | Details & Permalink

Walker (Right Before Their Eyes) interweaves the stories of several foster families for the stirring but uneven third installment of the Faith Endures series. Lucia Roberts, 20, is a devout single mom who’s anxious about the prospect of aging out of the extended foster care system. Her faith is tested when she loses her job, putting her independent housing situation at risk. Social worker Clare Hughes suggests Lucia interview to become a caretaker for four-year-old Timmy, the new foster son of overprotective dad Jordan Nowak. When Lucia’s daughter, Sam, becomes fast friends with Timmy, Lucia and Jordan agree to the arrangement, despite their awkward chance encounter on the bus a few days earlier. Sparks soon fly between the two, but past experiences have made Lucia wary of men, and additional stressors arise when Timmy is diagnosed with a rare neurodegenerative disease that strains Jordan’s ability to meet his needs. Walker relies on coincidences to connect her characters, but Lucia and Jordan are sympathetic leads whose experiences shed valuable light on the challenges and complexities of the foster care system. It’s not perfect, but there’s enough heart to keep series fans emotionally invested. (May)

Reviewed on 02/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

Fisher’s spirited latest National Parks Summers novel (after Capture the Moment) follows a motley crew on a scavenger hunt through northern Maine. When Acadia National Park ranger Scout Johnson finds a mysterious envelope near one of the park’s abandoned lighthouses, she’s amazed to discover a series of cryptic clues detailing the locations of caches of gold coins hidden throughout the park. Chief Ranger Tim Rivers recruits Wabanaki “Naki” Dana, a member of the Penobscot Nation and Acadia expert, to help Scout analyze the clues before any reckless tourists hear of the potential windfall. But it isn’t long before the secret reaches Chase Fletcher, a headstrong journalist who believes the once-in-a-lifetime scoop could revive his family’s failing local newspaper. Chase negotiates a spot on Naki and Scout’s investigative team in return for delaying the story’s publication, but inadvertently loses the envelope, raising the stakes. As Scout, Naki, and Chase race to collect the gold before it can fall into the wrong hands, Scout grapples with her faith, her burgeoning feelings for both of her companions, and the painful childhood memory that brought her to Acadia in the first place. The treasure hunt provides a strong, fast-moving engine for the story, while Scout’s conversations with Naki about the park’s Native American history add emotional depth. Series fans will want to dive in. (May)

Reviewed on 02/20/2026 | Details & Permalink

Two women are bound by their love for one infant—only weeks old and already facing impossible odds—in this nuanced outing from Powner (The Sowing Season). Bri Marshall, 18, is reeling after Child Protective Services removes her newborn son, Providence, from her care following her positive test for methamphetamine. Without a job or a family to support her, Bri confronts a system that feels insurmountable even as she grapples with her culpability in losing custody. Meanwhile, 39-year-old Laura Gambler, already a mother to a strong-willed first grader, is feeling uneasy about her crumbling marriage and parenting skills when she’s asked to foster Providence. As Providence’s needs compound, what began an act of compassion becomes a reckoning with Laura’s sense of inadequacy as a mother, and she begins to question whether loving the child is an act of generosity or something darker. When Bri and Laura meet by chance, a fragile connection forms, but as Bri’s challenges to regaining custody mount and Laura grows increasingly attached to Providence, each woman is conflicted about God’s plan for the future—and what is best for the baby. Powner alternates perspectives between her protagonists, eliciting readers’ empathy for both women, and vividly contrasting Bri’s desperation and hope with Laura’s guilt, love, and longing. This emotionally resonant tale resists easy answers. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

This sweet if silly romance from Kinzer (First Love, Second Draft) pairs an ambitious photographer with a handsome English teacher. McKenna Boston, 32, has looked out for her younger sister Bobbi since their mom died 12 years ago, so she’s excited to finally leave Nebraska and strike out on her own in Los Angeles, where she’s been offered a high-flying photography gig. First, however, she wants to see Bobbi get engaged to her longtime boyfriend, so she hatches a scheme to photograph the proposal at a local park. When McKenna’s plan to hide the ring in the bushes goes awry—she accidentally slips it into the pocket of the attractive man she forces to vacate the bench where Bobbi’s boyfriend plans to propose—she must track the stranger down at his mom’s bed-and-breakfast in Tennessee, the Happy Hiccup. But it turns out that English teacher Nate stowed the ring in a bag the airline has lost. While waiting for the luggage, he and McKenna bond over their shared feelings of abandonment—Nate by his deadbeat musician dad; McKenna, who’s adopted, by her biological parents—and their struggles to put their trust in God. While their banter can be cringe-worthy, the central premise is charming and the cast of side characters, like perpetually hungry Gus and spunky Georgie, two quirky locals who hang around the Happy Hiccup, are appealingly goofy. The result is a funny and fast-paced romp. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Debut author Higgins kicks off the Hills of Harvest series with a heartfelt tale of found family. After meeting in Britain during WWII, Posey and Elliot Bailey, a former U.S. soldier, settled in Seattle, where he promised to build her a six-acre English garden to remind her of the home she left behind. Fifty years later, the garden was never built (life and raising their now-grown kids got in the way), Elliot has been dead for two years, and Posey is still grieving. When she discovers that Elliot left in the care of their lawyer a letter she can’t read until the garden is complete, she begins the project over her eldest son’s objections. She hires sweet and enthusiastic, if inexperienced, landscapers Peter and Lindsey, and Jesse, Peter’s uncle, as an excavator. As the group bond over their work, Posey offers wisdom to help the others navigate their challenges—Jesse’s rocky marriage, Peter’s uncertainty over his career, and Lindsey’s anxieties over finding care for her paralyzed younger brother—and assures them that “God has a perfect plan” even as she struggles to believe it herself. While the use of gardening as a metaphor for renewal can be heavy-handed, the story is buoyed by its charming cast and leaves enough loose ends to make readers eager for the next installment. Anyone seeking a bit of gentle escapism will find it here. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Hannon returns to coastal Oregon for the sweet latest in her Hope Harbor series (after Sunrise Reef). Devyn Lee left Hope Harbor for New York City as a teen to pursue her ballet dreams. Almost 20 years later, she receives word that her estranged older sister, Lauren, is in a coma following a car accident, and rushes home to be by her side. Though the two haven’t spoken in 13 years, Devyn stays in town to help her sister recover after she wakes up. As the pair work to repair a rocky relationship fractured by childhood jealousies—including over the financial sacrifices their parents made to support Devyn’s ballet dreams—Devyn becomes enmeshed in the goings-on of the small town, choreographing a local dance show and meeting attractive widower Aaron Steele. As the date of Devyn’s planned return to New York approaches, she looks to God for help weighing her professional ambitions against her desire to strengthen her family bonds and pursue a romance with Aaron. Hannon excels at depicting the fraught yet loving bond between the sisters, while cameos from Hope Harbor series characters, like the funny but wise Rev. Baker, add texture and humor. Fans and newcomers alike will be swept up. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

Turano (A Lesson in Propriety) returns to Gilded Age Chicago with her energetic second installment in the Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies series. Devoted animal rescuer Annaliese Merriweather inherits the temporary role of headmistress at Chicago’s Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies when her sister, the school’s headmistress, goes on her honeymoon. Plagued by self-doubt but determined to keep the school afloat, Annaliese throws herself into her new duties while continuing to rescue animals from fur traders. When two headstrong students disappear during a visit to the county fair, Annaliese enlists one of their older brothers—the attractive, offbeat inventor Seth McCormick—to help find them. As Seth and Annaliese plunge into a chaotic search involving a bear wrangler, a monkey handler, and a less-than-ethical illusionist, they find unexpected comfort in one another and sparks fly. But when the same two students disappear again, the stakes rise, putting Annaliese’s—and the school’s—reputation on the line and the students’ lives in real danger. Turano adeptly balances heart and hijinks as Seth and Annaliese navigate the bustling city, grappling with their own faith and a possible romance along the way. The result is a high-spirited historical with charm to spare. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/30/2026 | Details & Permalink