A cross-country road trip serves as the backdrop for a family’s reckoning in this tender contemporary from Brunsvold (The Divine Proverb of Streusel). When free-spirited Chloe Vance decides to leave her barista job to teach art at an elementary school in Prague, she knows she’s found her calling—just as she knows that her rigidly traditional mother, Edie, won’t see it that way. To warm Edie up to the idea, Chloe invites her on a cross-country road trip exploring sites from American literary history. Edie accepts on the condition that Chloe’s pragmatic older sister, Lauren, come along. Unbeknownst to Chloe, Lauren and Edie are both harboring secrets of their own: Lauren has been consumed by anxiety after a thoughtless mistake got her fired from her job, while Edie’s haunted by the recent death of her own emotionally distant mother. As their road trip reveals different sides to stories they thought they knew, it also allows the Vance women to imagine different sides to themselves—and, with the help of their faith, to repair their increasingly frayed relationships to one another. While the characters follow similar arcs, Brunsvold mostly overcomes that issue with expressive prose and a quietly stirring climax. Readers will be moved. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Connealy follows up Whispers of Fortune with a thrilling if overcrowded second Golden State Treasure romance. The story opens in the late 19th century as Tilda Muirhead arrives in California in search of brothers Thayne and Lochlan Mackenzie, two teenage orphans who’ve escaped her care in New York on a quest for a fabled family treasure. Tilda plans to stay at Two Harts Ranch as she searches for the boys in the forbidding Sierra Nevadas with help from handsome Josh Hart, one of the ranch’s proprietors. Those plans are upended, however, when a man shows up at the ranch claiming to be the brother that Tilda, who grew up in an orphanage, never knew she had but has been praying for as long as she can remember. After relating a shocking family history, he’s determined to bring Tilda back home to meet her father, but Josh isn’t so sure his motives are pure. The slow unfolding of Tilda’s backstory is captivating and effectively anchors the propulsive narrative, even if series newcomers risk getting lost in the rapid jumps between subplots. This will be best enjoyed by fans of book one. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

A travel influencer discovers she can’t outrun her past in this cheery contemporary from Johnson (Meddling with Mistletoe). When Lucretia “Cretia” Martin visits picturesque Prince Edward Island, Canada, her plans to capture its stunning panoramasare dashed after she falls into the harbor she’s trying to photograph. Thankfully, she’s saved by local dog breeder Finn Chaffey and his huge, furry Newfoundland. All of her electronics have been destroyed, though, and as she waits for replacements to arrive, she comes to appreciate the island’s natural beauty thanks to gruff, kindhearted Finn, who shows her around. But the budding relationship isn’t without its problems—Lucretia is skittish about settling down, having been raised by a hoarder mother, while Finn’s torn about whether to continue running his family business. Cretia eventually leaves the island, and while the pair can’t stay away from each other for long, they’ll need to trust in God and one another if they’re ever to build a future together. While some of the exposition lacks subtlety, it’s a treat to watch the relationship between hyperconnected Cretia and old-school, flip phone–using Finn grow as the two sift through their pasts to discover they’re more similar than they’d originally believed. It’s a sweet story of opposites attracting. (May)

Reviewed on 03/14/2025 | Details & Permalink

An enterprising young socialite copes with the loss of her family’s fortune in the spirited kickoff to the Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies series from Turano (Meeting Her Match). Fresh off being publicly dumped by her fiancé, Drusilla Merriweather decides to open a finishing school in the Chicago castle she and her sister inherited from a wealthy aunt. The sisters almost immediately discover the castle comes riddled with problems—not only is it haunted by walking suits of armor, but shady developers from Chicago’s underworld who want to acquire the property. To put a stop to the threats, the gun-toting Merriweather women team up with handsome architect Rhennick Whittenbecker and Drusilla’s childhood friend Seraphina. Then Drusilla’s mother, Irma, reveals a shocking secret about the thief who stole the family’s money, which throws the Merriweather clan into danger and the sisters’ plans into disarray. To save the day, the sisters must rely on their wits and their faith. The spunky Merriweather women form the book’s irresistible heart as they defy 19th-century society’s expectations for unmarried women, all while keeping readers entertained with plenty of laugh-out-loud antics (some involving their army of pet ferrets). It’s a blast. (May)

Reviewed on 03/14/2025 | Details & Permalink

An aspiring wildlife photographer gets tangled up in an unexpected romance in the exciting National Parks Summers series opener from Fisher (A Healing Touch). Eager to move on from her ho-hum job as a zoo photographer, 20-year-old Kate Cunningham is thrilled to get a shot at photographing an endangered grizzly for National Geographic. But life in Grand Teton National Park isn’t all she’d hoped it would be—photographers jostle for shots, and tracking wild animals presents unexpected challenges, not least that the bear in question appears to be hibernating. Thankfully, gruff park ranger Coop is willing to help her out, and as they trek through the park together, a mutual attraction slowly builds—despite the fact that Kate’s no-good boyfriend Oliver is still in the picture. As Kate and Coop bond over their faith, Coop contends with scars wrought by an ex, and a nefarious plot involving a web of poachers unfolds in the shadows. The suspenseful plot is enriched by Kate’s satisfying personal evolution as she leaves behind her safe, predictable life to follow her passion. The result is a spirited outdoor adventure readers will be glad to take. (May)

Reviewed on 03/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

Gould (By Evening’s Light) puts a contemporary Amish spin on the pen pal romance trope in her delightful latest. Twenty-five-year-old Lois Yoder loves her job at Pennsylvania gift shop Paradise Found, until she discovers that the store’s new landlord is none other than Moses Lantz. Five years ago, Moses broke her heart when their budding romance came to an abrupt halt because of a misunderstanding. After a hostile reunion, they both assume that she won’t be working at Paradise Found for much longer. Unbeknownst to one another, they each join a letter-writing club for bird watchers under a pseudonym and strike up a lively correspondence that quickly takes a personal turn. But when Moses discovers “Jane” is actually Lois, he doesn’t show up at their planned meeting, leaving her humiliated, and struggling to trust that God will help her find a new place to live and work. Gould expertly builds the relationship between her leads, blending gently comedic moments with emotional depth as the pair’s irritation with one another slowly gives way to genuine affection. This is sure to satisfy Gould’s fans. (May)

Reviewed on 03/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

Blakey (Bertie’s War) kicks off the Enduring Hope series with this richly detailed late 19th-century historical. Raised by her aunt and uncle, devout 17-year-old Ida Dempsey dreams of spreading the word of God to the people of Eureka, Calif., including the residents of Chinatown and the prostitutes who work on Second Street. Her aunt and uncle are less-than-pleased about her plans, though her idealism endears her to Blaine Prescott, a college graduate who’s recently returned to town in search of a godly wife. Blaine’s parents disapprove of the match for reasons that aren’t immediately clear, and they attempt to keep the pair apart. Meanwhile, an undeterred Ida starts teaching the women of Second Street to read using the Bible. When Ida’s increasingly close relationship with one of her students leads to the discovery of a shocking secret about her own past, she’s forced to grapple with her faith and the foundations on which it’s built. Blakey convincingly depicts a stratified Western town corroded by poverty, anti-Chinese racism, and the narrow social roles for women against which headstrong Ida chafes. Readers will eagerly await the sequel. (May)

Reviewed on 03/07/2025 | Details & Permalink

Hitchcock’s latest Best Laid Plans novel (after To Catch a Coronet) is a spirited fake relationship romance set in Regency England. Twenty-four-year-old Vivienne Poppy plans to stay single for the rest of her life, thanks to the popular and profitable romance novels she writes under the pen name Lady Larkby. So when her stepbrother Lucius arranges for her to marry Josiah Montgomery, a selfish man she doesn’t love, she’s desperate for a way out. The solution appears at a masquerade ball in the form of Sebastian Larkby, a dashing knight who’s in town visiting his grandmother. When Sebastian hears Vivienne introduced as Lady Larkby, he’s startled to learn he has a “wife I did not wed.” But in Sebastian, Vivienne sees a chance to keep her pen name and dodge an unhappy marriage, while Sebastian sees an opportunity to mollify his grandmother, who wants him to settle down. The fake marriage soon spawns real feelings, but it’s not all smooth sailing for the pair—Josiah Montgomery’s still after Vivienne, as are a few Larkby relatives who want revenge after she’s added to Sebastian’s grandmother’s will. Hitchcock’s cast of quirky characters (especially faithful Vivienne and Sebastian’s irrepressible grandmother) propel a plot that seamlessly intertwines romance and suspense against a richly detailed historical backdrop. The result is a twist-filled romp sure to satisfy newcomers and series fans alike. (May)

Reviewed on 02/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Fuller (The Proposal Plot) wraps up the Amish of Marigold series with a sweet fake-dating romance. Despite the unceasing efforts of Perry Bontrager’s mother to find him a wife, he insists he’s happy being single, working as a farrier and studying the butterflies he keeps in his house. But when he meets Daisy Hershberger, a bubbly 25-year-old in town to help plan her cousin’s wedding, he can’t deny the connection. Daisy, for her part, pines for Maynard, the unrequited crush from back home that her mother is trying to convince her to drop. Perry and Daisy decide to fake a relationship to make their mothers happy, and grow close while taking care of an older employee in Perry’s shop with hip problems. Perry mistakenly believes Daisy’s taken, however, and he still carries scars from an ex who rejected him because of his “obsessive” butterfly hobby. While such roadblocks feel somewhat contrived, the chemistry between the leads is palpable as they fight through their insecurities and miscommunications to find happiness together. This upbeat finale is sure to satisfy Fuller’s fans. (May)

Reviewed on 02/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Small-town secrets and old flames animate this stirring if crowded contemporary from Luesse (Letters from My Sister). After her best friend unexpectedly dies from an unspecified illness, 26-year-old Edie takes refuge from her busy life in New York in her grandmother’s coastal Mississippi town. Instead of finding peace and quiet, however, she runs headlong into the past, first in the form of her ex, Cole. Then she visits a mysterious local antiques shop and takes home a Victorian parlor game designed to elicit confessions from participants. Playing the game with her grandmother and her friends dredges up secrets linked to a hurricane that ravaged the island decades ago, which come in handy when a local goes missing. At the same time, Edie grapples with her faith as she tries to make sense of her friend’s sudden death—and her own future. Luesse gets readers invested in Edie’s search for answers, even if the multiple historical subplots sometimes threaten to overtake the narrative. It’s a resonant if imperfect tale of grief, hope, and second chances. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/21/2025 | Details & Permalink