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Gone without a Trace

By Patricia Bradley

The past is repeating itself–and time is running out

It’s been more than two years since homicide detective Livy Reynolds’s cousin disappeared from Logan Point. Unlike most people in her hometown, Livy has never believed that Robyn left voluntarily. When Dallas private investigator Alex Jennings contacts her concerning a senator’s missing granddaughter who was last seen in Logan Point, Livy notices eerie similarities between the two disappearances. With self-doubt plaguing her and an almost instant dislike of the self-assured PI, she’s finding this investigation an uphill battle. But with the prospect of finding her cousin on the horizon, she’ll have to find a way to work with Alex–before it’s too late.

Award-winning author Patricia Bradley keeps you on the edge of your seat with a case–and a relationship–that is anything but certain.

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Livy Reynolds is a cop on leave.She froze up and endangered her partner when she didn’t fire at the perp. All because she was haunted by a teenage boy she killed. She had a choice – take a leave or man a desk. She chose the leave and ended up at her Aunt Kate’s B & B. She went for dinner and stayed.

That same day PI Alex Jennings checked in at Kate’s place. Livy, being a homicide detective with the Memphis PD, thought little of Alex’s sleazy profession. Don’t you just know they would end up as a team? After all, two girls have mysteriously disappeared. Were they in the hands of a serial killer or some other kind of wacko?

There’s a lot of interesting twists in this book. I thought I had figured out the bad guy, but I hadn’t. Then I was sure it was someone else. It wasn’t. This is one of those books I didn’t want to put down until I finished it.

Thank you, Ms Bradley. I’m certainly looking forward to your next book.

***A special thank you to Revell for providing a review copy.***

Patricia Bradley is the winner of a 2012 Daphne du Maurier Award and a 2012 Touched by Love Award and was also a finalist for the 2012 Genesis Award. The author of Shadows of the Past and A Promise to Protect, she is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. Bradley makes her home in Mississippi. Learn more at www.ptbradley.com.

Someday Home

By Lauraine Snelling

The sprawling lake home Lynn Lundberg built with her husband has been an epicenter of joyful family life, from summer holidays spent around the water, to cookies baked in the kitchen with grandchildren in the fall. But since her husband’s sudden passing two years ago, Lynn has been lost in the grief and solitude she feels without him at home. She doesn’t want to sell the big family place, but she can’t exist there on her own much longer. After hearing of a new way of living–where single women share responsibilities as housemates–Lynn thinks she’s found the answer to her prayers. Soon she meets two ladies with whom she could begin this journey. But coming from such differing circumstances, will the new challenges they face undo their plans? Or will they begin a friendship to see them through the years to come in this Someday Home.
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This novel brings together three lost and lonely women and turns them into a family.

Lynn is a widow with a home that’s too big for her, but she doesn’t want to give it up.

Angela is a real estate agent whose husband found greener pastures. She wants to leave bad memories behind.

Judith gave up her hopes and dreams as a young woman to care for her parents. Her father put her through the wringer and didn’t even have the decency to leave her a home or money. The only way she can stay in her home is if she becomes a live in caretaker for the living history museum her father created.

Three very different women who have to start life over. This new living arrangement they have will have them struggling with their new coalition. Will it work? The title says it will.

Thank you, Ms Snelling, for giving us this book of endings and beginnings.

***A special thank you to Katie Conners for providing a review copy.***

Lauraine Snelling is the award-winning author of more than 65 novels. Her books consistently appear on ECPA bestseller lists and have been translated into Norwegian, Danish, and German. A hallmark of her style is the empathy with which she explores difficult issues in her compelling stories. Lauraine and her husband, Wayne, live in the Tehachapi Mountains with a bassett named Sir Winston. Learn more: LauraineSnelling.com

Beyond the Ashes

By Karen Barnett

“Tis better to have loved and lost…,” but can Ruby Marshall risk her heart a second time?

Where better to rebuild and face one’s fears than in 1906 San Francisco, a city rising from the ashes? Ruby Marshall, a young widow, is certain she’ll discover new purpose assisting her brother Robert with his cancer research, but she doesn’t anticipate finding new love.

Dr. Gerald Larkspur dreams of filling his empty home with family, but he’d always hoped it would be a wife and children. In the aftermath of the great earthquake, the rooms are overflowing with extended family and friends left homeless by the disaster. When Robert’s widowed sister arrives, the close quarters seem close indeed. Ruby and Gerald’s fledgling romance is put at risk when Gerald develops symptoms of the very disease they’re striving to cure. Together they must ask—is it worth a second chance at love when time might be short?

Note: Beyond the Ashes is the second book in The Golden Gate Chronicles series. To find out more about the series and to purchase book one click here.

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Ruby eagerly arrived in San Francisco to help her brother with his cancer research. What she didn’t know ahead of time was his engagement to his boss’s cousin. She also didn’t know about their living arrangements. With the fire leaving so much in ashes people are camping out where ever they can.

Ruby has many adjustments to make, including going about in an automobile, the squalid conditions in the tent city, and the disheartening cancer that her brother and Dr. Larkspur deal with daily.

Both Gerald Larkspur and Ruby need some love in their lives. Just when it seems they’ve found it in each other, Gerald turns from Ruby and that love. Why? And will it ever be possible to recapture it? Be prepared for tears near the end of this book.

This is a good stand alone read, but you’ll appreciate it more if you read Out of the Ruins first. I’m looking forward to the third book of The Golden Gate Chronicles. Thank you, Ms Barnett, for continuing to teach me more about the San Francisco earthquake and the resulting fires.

***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***

Karen Barnett is the author of Mistaken and several articles that have been published by Guideposts and other national magazines. She lives in Albany, Oregon, with her husband, two children, and three cats.

Find Karen’s website here.

Summer’s List

By Anita Higman

A dying wish alters the course of a young woman’s life.

Life hadn’t been easy for Summer Snow. In acts of selflessness-caring for her ailing parents and running her grandmother’s bookstore-she had forfeited her youth and dreams for the needs of others. And the only tries she had at love… didn’t turn out. She had the bookstore, she had her beloved granny, but she was missing something-or someone.

Opportunity strikes when Granny sends Summer on an unexpected adventure with one Martin Langtree, a kind but gangly young man from Summer’s past. A childhood friendship is rekindled, a romance is sparked, and mysteries are solved in one magical Texas summer. Will Summer strike out on love again, or will things finally go her way?

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Summer has class. Her fiance’ Elliot only thinks he has. He’s a wannabe senator with the beautiful woman on his arm. But she no longer wants to be his adoring, perfect, little wife. Now that Summer walked out of the restaurant and Elliot’s life, where will she go? What will she do? All she’s seeing are dead ends.

Right now it’s off to Granny’s and her unconditional love. Granny has been the one pillar of strength that Summer could always count on. Until now. Granny’s dying. She has one request of Summer. Granny’s made a list of things she wants Summer to do. First on the list is to find her childhood friend, Martin, and persuade him to help her fulfill the list with her.

Summer does find Martin, along with his very interesting family. Martin was always Summer’s best friend. Would this continue as he helps Summer cross everything off her list?

You’d better have that box of tissues handy as you read this book. There are tears near the end – some sad, some happy.

Thank you, Ms Higman, for this touching embrace of life’s realities.

***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***

Best-selling and award-winning author, Anita Higman, has over thirty books published (several coauthored) for adults and children. She’s been a Barnes & Noble “Author of the Month” for Houston and has a BA degree, combining speech communication, psychology, and art. Anita loves good movies, exotic teas, and brunch with her friends.

Find out more about Anita at http://anitahigman.com.

Hutterite Diaries

By Linda Maendel

What would it be like to share all your possessions and live in Christian community?

In Hutterite Diaries, Linda Maendel offers a rare glimpse into the daily routines and communal faith of her people, the Hutterian Brethren. From stories of working together to bring in the fall potato harvest to laugh-out-loud tales of sisterly love laced with revenge, Maendel invites readers into her Bruderhof, or colony, nestled on the prairie of western Canada. Here children and adults work, play, eat, and worship together, crafting a community of goods and living out an alternative to the individualism and consumerism of mainstream society.

Few outsiders know anything about the Hutterites, a Plain Christian group related to the Amish and Mennonites. Maendel’s story invites readers into deeper understanding of this community of faith, calling us to take seriously the example of Jesus and the early church in our daily living.

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The only thing I knew about the Hutterites before I read this book is that they are a Plain People.

The stories shared by Ms Maendel have taught me a great deal and enlarged my understanding of life in a Hutterite community.

This small book is very easy to read. Even though it’s non-fiction it’s not dull and dry. It reads more like fiction.

Thank you, Ms Maendel, for sharing your life with us.

***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***

Linda Maendel is a Hutterite author, blogger, and educator who lives in Elm River Colony outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

As Waters Gone By

By Cynthia Ruchti

How can a marriage survive when separated by hundreds of miles and impenetrable prison walls?

Emmalyn and Max Ross may have to endure the fight of their lives to mend the tattered fabric of their marriage. His actions ensured she could never be a mother and put him in prison, giving their relationship a court-mandated five-year time-out. On a self-imposed exile to beautiful but remote Madeline Island, one of the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior, Emmalyn has just a few months left to figure out if and how they can ever be a couple again.

Nudged along by the exuberant owner of the Wild Iris Inn and Café, a circle of misfit people in their small town, and a young girl who desperately needs someone to love her, Emmalyn restores an island cottage that could become a home and begins to restore her heart by learning what it means to love unconditionally. Yet even as hope begins to find a place within the cottage walls, Emmalyn still wonders if she’s ready for Max’s release. She may be able to rebuild a cottage, but can she rebuild a marriage?

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Emmalyn had to escape from a life she could no longer afford. She needed to make a new life for herself, so she sold her house and move to Madeline Island to a hunting cottage she and her husband owned. It was a good thing she planned to spend her first night on the island at Wild Iris Inn.

The cottage was a mess – starting with the large hole in the roof. She ended up spending more than one night at the inn while trying to get the cottage even halfway inhabitable. She also met a bunch of the islands odd balls during the rehab process of her cottage.

As the cottage is being repaired, her heart and spirit are slowly being healed. That bunch of odd balls are becoming friends- some almost like family. Emmalyn is also starting to forgive her husband and thinking about reconciling with him when his five year prison term is up. What’s going to happen to them then?

Thank you, Ms Ruchti, for this book. It makes me want to move to Madelyn and among the characters you’ve created. I certainly hope you have plans to follow up with more about these very interesting people.

***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***

Speaker and award-winning author, Cynthia Ruchti draws from 33 years experience writing and producing a daily radio broadcast to tell stories hemmed in Hope through her novels, novellas, devotions, and nonfiction. She serves as the professional relations liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers. Cynthia and her husband live in the heart of Wisconsin.

Find the author online here.

Fatal Trauma

By Richard L. Mabry, M.D,

Hang on to your seats! Richard Mabry’s latest medical thriler , Fatal Trauma, will have you reading long into the night!

A gunman who has nothing to lose faces a doctor who could lose it all to prove his innocence.

When Dr. Mark Baker and Nurse Kelly Atkinson are held at the mercy of a dangerous gunman, the lives of every emergency room patient are at stake. At the end of the evening three men are dead. One of them is a police officer who couldn’t be saved despite Mark’s best efforts. The other two are members of the feared Zeta drug cartel.

Though the standoff is over, the killing is not, because when the drug cartel loses its members, revenge is not far behind. Facing an adversary whose desires are dark and efforts are ruthless, Mark finds himself under suspicion as a killer, yet still a potential victim. When he turns to his high school sweetheart, attorney Gwen Woodruff, for help, Kelly helplessly looks on, as she hides her own feelings for the good doctor.

At the height of the conflict, three questions remain: Who is the shooter? Who will the next victim be? And can Mark prove his innocence before the gun turns on him?

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What a position to be in! Both a victim and a suspect. Dr. Mark Baker’s and Nurse Kelly’s lives are at stake. First when they are held hostage, and then later as the Zeta drug cartel is out for revenge.

These two are caught in the middle between law enforcement and the cartel. As my grandmother would say, especially regarding Mark, “They are up a creek without a paddle.”

Mark manages to come up with an attorney he trusts, but she is not a criminal attorney. On top of everything Kelly is developing romantic feelings for Mark, and also, is jealous of his attorney. What a tangled up mess it all is!

I thought I had definitely figured out who the shooter was. Surprise. I was wrong.

This book grabbed me and pulled me in like all Dr. Mabry’s books do. This is one to start reading early in the morning on a day you expect few interruptions. You’re not going to want to put this book down until you are finished with it. Forget meals and sleep.

You’ll find a teaser at the back of the book. I read it and am waiting very impatiently for Dr. Mabry’s next book, Miracle Drug.

***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***

A retired physician, Dr. Richard Mabry is the author of seven critically acclaimed novels of medical suspense. His previous works have been finalists for the Carol Award and Romantic Times Reader’s Choice Award, and have won the Selah Award. He is a past Vice-President of American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of the International Thriller Writers. He and his wife live in North Texas.

Find Richard online here.

Love’s Rescue

By Christine Johnson

Can a girl enamored with the adventurous seas ever be content with the tame life of a Southern belle?

When her mother dies, Elizabeth Benjamin heads home to Key West, determined to transform herself into the perfect Southern belle her parents always wished her to be. But nothing goes according to plan. Her brother resents her, the servants do not obey her, and Rourke O’Malley, the dashing man she vowed to forget, refuses to relinquish his hold on her heart. Worst of all, it becomes painfully obvious that her father is not the man he appears to be.

As family secrets come to light, Elizabeth is faced with a difficult choice: to perform her duty and abandon her dreams, or to leave her life of privilege behind to chase the man her father sees as little better than a pirate.

From the first emotional page, author Christine Johnson throws you into a world of impossible choices, hidden desires, and heart-melting romance in the steamy South.

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Elizabeth returns home to Key West after her mother dies so that she can take care of her disabled brother. But things started out bad and then went downhill. The ship she and Aunt Virginia were sailing on from Charleston was wrecked by a storm.

Their rescuer just happened to be the man she’s loved for years. He’s also looked down upon by her family because of his manner of earning a living.

Then there’s the house servants who choose not to obey her orders, and Aunt Virginia’s meddling. Her brother wants nothing to do with her because of her involvement the day he almost died. Oh, yes. We can’t forget her father’s secrets and his employee, Mr. Finch, who has designs on her.

Elizabeth wants nothing to do with him and is determined to pursue Captain Rourke O’Malley.

This is the first book of Ms Johnson’s that I have read, and I’m really looking forward to her next one.

***A special thank you to Lanette Haskins for providing a review copy.***

Christine Johnson is the author of several books for Steeple Hill and Love Inspired and has been twice named a finalist for Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart award. When not writing, she loves to hike and explore God’s majestic creation. She and her husband, a Great Lakes ship pilot, split their time between northern Michigan and the Florida Keys. Learn more at www.christineelizabethjohnson.com.

A Flying Affair

By Carla Stewart

Ever since Mittie Humphreys agreed to join dashing barnstorming pilot Ames for a joyride in his airplane, her lifelong love of horses has been surpassed by one thing–a longing for the skies. It seems she’s not the only one–with Charles Lindbergh making his victory tour in the Spirit of St. Louis, aviation fever is spreading across the country. Mittie knows flying is the perfect focus for the soaring ambition and taste for adventure within her, and whenever she can slip away from her duties on her family’s prosperous Kentucky horse farm, she heads to the airfield.

Considering their shared passion, it’s no surprise that Ames begins to vie for Mittie’s time. But when handsome British aviator Bobby York offers her flying lessons, he is equally surprised-and beguiled-by Mittie’s grit and talent. Driven to succeed, Mittie will do whatever it takes to compete in the Women’s National Air Derby alongside Amelia Earhart. But when Calista “Peach” Gilson, a charming Southern belle, becomes her rival both professionally and in love, Mittie must learn how to navigate her heart’s romantic longings as well as the skies.

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Women can have many loves and passions. Mittie’s love was flying. Aviation was mostly a man’s world in 1927, but when Ames, a barnstormer, took her up for a ride in his plane, her horses started moving into second place in her heart.

It was no surprise when she began taking flying lessons from Bobby York. I imagine you can guess what comes next. No, not that. It was a determination to have her own plane.

Along the way she meets “Peaches” Gilson and all of a sudden her love life is complicated by a triangle – or is it a rectangle? Well, that might be a complication, but not a deterrent. Mittie is determined to fly in the Women’s National Air Derby. It’s not going to be easy. Neither is trying to figure out her love life.

Thank you, Ms Stewart, for teaching me more about early aviation and packaging it in such a good read.

***A special thank you to Katie Connors for providing a review copy.***

Carla Stewart is an award-winning author of six novels. With a passion for times gone by, it is her desire to take readers back to that warm, familiar place in their hearts called “home.” Carla’s novels from FaithWords include Chasing Lilacs, for which she won the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Genesis Award, Broken Wings, Stardust, Sweet Dreams, and her most recent work, The Hatmaker’s Heart. Learn more at CarlaStewart.com.

In Firefly Valley

By Amanda Cabot

She’s lost her dream job–but has she found the man of her dreams?

Devastated by a downsizing, Marisa St. George has no choice but to return to the small Texas town where she grew up. Though it means a giant step backward, she accepts a position as business manager at the struggling Rainbow’s End resort. The only silver lining: Blake Kendall, a new guest who might make her believe in love at first sight. But will Marisa’s dreams of happily-ever-after be turned upside down when she discovers Blake’s real identity?

This warm and witty story of dreams deferred and mistaken identity will have you believing in second chances.

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They always say you can’t go back home. Actually, you can, but it can be a big let down. Especially if you’ve been living a very different life. Times change as well as people, places and situations.

Marissa ends up managing a small resort where her mother cooks and lives. As for her father, he disappeared a long time ago. As Marissa struggles to adjust, a silver lining pops up – handsome new guest Blake Kendall.

Maybe Marissa’s dreams havent all vanished after all. Well, maybe and maybe not after Marissa discovers Blake’s big secret.

Will she ever be able to trust him again? It’s not going to be easy for her to trust any man again.

Thank you, Amanda Cabot. I’m really enjoying your Texas Crossroads books.

***A special thank you to Lanette Haskins for providing a review copy.***

Amanda Cabot is the bestselling author of the Texas Dreams series, the Westward Winds series, Christmas Roses, and At Bluebonnet Lake. Her books have been finalists for the ACFW Carol Awards and the Booksellers’ Best. She lives in Wyoming. Learn more at www.amandacabot.com.