The Burial Place by Stig Abell

 

A beautiful landscape . . .

It began as the project of a lifetime—a group of archaeologists, uncovering the remains of a Roman settlement on a picturesque hill in the glorious English countryside.

A looming threat . . .

But, the idyll is shattered when they begin receiving threatening letters. Former city detective Jake Jackson, now enjoying a quieter life in the local village, is pulled in to investigate.

A killer closing in . . .

Soon, threatening letters are the least of their problems, when a murderer strikes. Now, the race is on for Jake to find the mysterious culprit, before they kill again . . .

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Amazon.com: The Burial Place: A Novel (Jake Jackson, 3): 9780063463806: Abell, Stig: Books

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Stig Abell believes that discovering a crime fiction series to enjoy is one of the great pleasures in life. His first novel, Death Under A Little Sky, introduced Jake Jackson and his attempt to get away from his former life in the beautiful area around Little Sky, followed by Death in a Lonely Place and The Burial Place. Stig is absolutely delighted that there are more on the way. Away from books, he presents the breakfast show on Times Radio, a station he helped to launch in 2020. Before that he was a regular presenter on Radio 4’s Front Row and was the editor and publisher of the Times Literary Supplement. He lives in London with his wife, three children and two independent-minded cats called Boo and Ninja (his children named them, obviously).

If I'd have known by Savannah Carlisle

 

Gigi Franklin is planning her best friend’s wedding, and long-time friend Austin Beckett is trying to help her keep the private event top secret. As Gigi and Austin work together, sparks begin to fly, but Gigi’s too busy building her law practice to make time for dating.

If the wedding wasn’t enough to manage, she’s also tasked with finding the rightful heir to the local Salty Breeze B&B. Then, newcomer Simon Ridley arrives in town, throwing a wrench in the process.

As Gigi races against time to uncover the truth about the B&B’s ownership and pull off the perfect wedding, an old journal surfaces that might change everything she thought she knew about love.

A moving beach read that will have you yearning to take walks along the coast and craving the beachy splendor of island living. Look no further if you’re searching for a feel-good, small-town coastal romance!

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: If I'd Have Known: A Heartwarming, Charming Romance (Big Dune Island): 9781963483345: Carlisle, Savannah: Books

Savannah Carlisle writes heartwarming romance novels with idyllic beach settings. Her stories transport readers to fun and quirky small towns where friends feel like family. So, if you’re ready for a mental vacation, you’ve come to the right place!⁠

Savannah jokes that she's living her own Hallmark movie because she's a former big city corporate attorney who now lives in the small beach town of Fernandina Beach writing romance novels.

When she isn't busy at her laptop writing her next book, Savannah enjoys putting her feet in the sand with a good book in hand. She lives on Amelia Island in Florida with her husband, German Shepherd, and three cats.

Carlisle writes beach reads that touch you. And make you feel all the feels. I laughed; I cried, I could not put this book down. This is one of the best summer beach read series. It can be read as a standalone but why would you not read them both with great writing and a storyline like this one.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Mistletoe and Mayhem by Janice Thompson

 A Wildfire Races toward the Hadley Ranch

Breathe in the nostalgia of everything old red truck in book three of a new cozy mystery series.

It’s less than a week until Christmas in Mabank, Texas, and just a few days away from RaeLyn and Mason’s wedding on Hadley ranch. Unfortunately, a wildfire with mysterious origin is rapidly traveling across several counties and headed right for the Hadley acreage. Fire fighters rush to put it out before the family homestead goes up in flames, taking the business and the old red truck with it. Their perfect wedding may be ruined, and RaeLyn and Mason are determined to find the source of the fire.

Pick up your copy here...

Mistletoe and Mayhem: Volume 3 (Red Truck Mysteries): Thompson, Janice: 9798891511729: Amazon.com: Books

Welcome to the wacky, wonderful world of inspirational author Janice Hanna Thompson, where romantic comedy rules the day! I hope you love to laugh, because I make it my goal to tickle your funny bone at every turn in my light-hearted tales.

Whether you’re looking for inspirational romance, quirky cozy mysteries, light-hearted historicals or fun books for younger readers, you will find it between the pages of my novels and non-fiction books.

Why do I focus on the light-hearted stuff? Because life is hard! My readers lead busy, chaotic lives and need those special “Calgon, Take Me Away!” moments! Providing “Love, Laughter and Happily Ever Afters” brings me great delight. Lest you think it’s all fluff, think again!

Woven between the lines of each cheerful tale you will find the ultimate love story, one guaranteed to stir your soul and get your heart fluttering. Talk about a real happily ever after! There’s something for everyone in my stories, so settle back in your chair, grab a cup of hot tea, and get ready to discover a light-hearted approach to life!

Read Janice's books or follow her baking recipes at https://outoftheboxbaking.com/. 

This will read as a standalone. But read all the books. You can thank me later. All I had to see was firefighter to know I had to read this one.
I have really enjoyed my time in Mabank Texas. Thompson has given us a cozy mystery to remember.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Kiss Her Goodbye by Lisa Gardner

 Recent Afghan refugee and young mother Sabera Ahmadi was last seen exiting her place of work three weeks ago. The local police have yet to open a case, while her older, domineering husband seems unconcerned. At the insistence of Sabera's closest friend, missing persons expert Frankie Elkin agrees to take up the search just in time for a video of Sabera to surface—showing her walking away from the scene of a brutal double murder.    

Frankie quickly notes there's much more to the Ahmadi family than meets the eye. The father Isaad is a brilliant mathematician, Sabera a gifted linguist, and their little girl Zahra has an uncanny ability to remember anything she sees. Which given everything that has happened during the girl's short life, may be a terrible curse.

When Isaad also disappears under mysterious circumstances and an attempt is made on Zahra's life, Frankie realizes she must crack the code of this family's horrific past. Someone is coming for the Ahmadis. And violence is clearly an option.

When everything is on the line, how far would you go to protect the ones you love? Frankie is about to find out.

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: Kiss Her Goodbye: A Frankie Elkin Novel (Volume 4) (Frankie Elkin, 4): 9781538765104: Gardner, Lisa: Books

A self-described research junkie, #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner has parlayed her interest in police procedure, criminal minds and twisted plots into a streak of internationally recognized novels. Her 2010 novel, THE NEIGHBOR, won Best Thriller from the International Thriller Writers. Most recently, she was honored with the Silver Bullet Award for her work with at-risk kids and rescue animals.

Lisa's latest series features Frankie Elkin, an everyday average woman who specializes in finding missing people. When the locals have given up, when the media has never bothered to care, Frankie takes on the challenge from finding a disappeared Haitian teen in Mattapan (BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED), to a vanished hiker in the wilds of Wyoming (ONE STEP TOO FAR), to a possibly kidnapped younger sister of a serial killer on a remote island in the Pacific (STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE) to a missing Afghan refugee in the broiling streets of Tucson (KISS HER GOODBYE).

Her other series include the FBI Profilers, Detective D.D. Warren and PI Tessa Leoni. When not writing, Lisa loves to hike, travel the world, and yes, read, read, read!

The Rules of Falling For You by Mollie Rushmeyer

 

She thought she knew the rules of love. Turns out, love makes its own.

The perfect match can't be far--certainly not at a Regency-themed singles' retreat--or so podcaster Zoe Dufour believes. After years of creating content for her relationship podcast inspired by Regency etiquette and era-appropriate rules for romance, she knows her listeners have anticipated this retreat. But she also attends with expectations of her own: finding the ideal modern-day gentleman who can meet every one of the nonnegotiables on her checklist.

Harrison Lundquist, Zoe's podcast producer and best friend's brother, reluctantly agrees to tag along on the retreat to capture footage while seeking a career-advancing promotion. He views the retreat as ridiculous. And Zoe's methods for finding her real-life Mr. Darcy? Downright absurd! But as he films her whirlwind dates, his growing feelings for her are sidelined by suitors vying for her attention. When Zoe realizes her checklist for the man of her dreams might be holding her back, she must decide if she's willing to rewrite her rules and take a chance on the person who has been there all along.

Pick up your copy here...

The Rules of Falling for You: A Regency-Infused Contemporary Rom-Com with the Brother's Best Friend Trope - Kindle edition by Rushmeyer, Mollie. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Mollie Rushmeyer writes whimsical romance with heart and humor. She has a deep and abiding love for all things British, bookish, and filled with history and mystery. A modern girl herself—she wouldn’t want to go a day without modern plumbing and central air!—she’s always felt a special connection to the past and anything with a happily ever after. Her debut novel, The Bookshop of Secrets, was a finalist for a 2023 Carol Award. A born and bred Midwestern gal, Mollie makes her home in central Minnesota with her husband and two spunky, beautiful daughters.

Her Jane Austen-inspired contemporary rom-com, The Rules of Falling for You with Bethany House Publishers, releases September 2nd, 2025. Pre-order now to reserve your copy!

Don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter for vintage recipe reboots, tea and book pairings, behind-the-scenes info, exclusive content and giveaways, and a FREE short story rom-com, Love or Dare.

She’d love to connect through social media! Follow her on Instagram and

Facebook: @authormollierushmeyer

This was a fun read and great trope! I really liked the characters. I recommend this one. I love finding new authors.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

The Stranger in Room Six by Jane Corry

 

You may not know the stranger in room six. But they know everything about you.

It's been fifteen years since Belinda was wrongly convicted of her husband's murder. Now, she's ready for her life to begin again, and she's set on that happening at Sunnyside Home for the Young at Heart.

The owner, Mabel, has spent her life here. First as an evacuee during the Blitz and now as the care home's oldest resident, Mabel has held the secrets of this house for as long as she can remember. Secrets that could kill if in the wrong hands.

But history won't stay hidden forever and someone is onto them both. Watching and listening from room number six, they'll stop at nothing to find out the truth.

With a past this dark, is anyone as innocent as they seem?

Pick up your copy here..

Amazon.com: The Stranger in Room Six: 9780385702621: Corry, Jane: Books

Jane Corry is a prize-winning author and journalist (Daily Telegraph and women's magazines) who worked for three years as the writer in residence of a high security male prison. This experience helped inspire her Sunday Times Penguin bestsellers 'My Husband's Wife', 'Blood Sisters', 'The Dead Ex', 'I Looked Away', 'I Made A Mistake', 'To Tell The Truth', 'The Lies We Tell', 'We All Have Our Secrets' , 'Coming To Find You', 'I Died On A Tuesday' and 'The Stranger In Room Six' (out in June this year). She has now sold over 1.5 million copies of her books world-wide.

Jane worked as an RLF Fellow at Exeter University and is a former creative writing tutor at Oxford University. She also writes short stories; features for The Daily Telegraph and speaks at literary festivals all over the world. Many of her ideas strike during morning dog-jogs along the beach followed by a dip in the sea - no matter how cold it is!

Jane is also published by Doubleday in the USA and Canada.

If you like dual timelines and a great thriller in one book you will really enjoy this book. I really enjoyed both of these women's stories. 

4 stars and I recommend this book.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey

Boston Bearcats rookie Robbie Corrigan is living the dream. He’s made it to the NHL, his best friend/teammate and fellow “orgasm donor” is his roomie—and the women of Boston love them both. Life is sweet. That is, until he meets Skylar Paige, division 1 softball pitcher, girl least likely to take anyone’s bull…and the one member of the opposite sex immune to his charms. Robbie might be dazzled by the badass pitcher, but Skylar pegs him as a filthy player and wants nothing to do with him.

When he discovers she’s carrying a serious torch for her brother’s best friend, Robbie knows he should just go back to clubbing and whipped cream bikini parties, but he can’t seem to leave Skylar to flounder on her romantic quest to land another man. Nor can he miss out on the opportunity to spend time with her and hopefully redeem himself. Before Robbie knows it, he’s agreed to be Skylar’s fake boyfriend/love coach at an upcoming family wilderness competition where her crush will be in attendance. What could go wrong?

Through a series of contests that require them to trust each other, Robbie and Skylar grow closer and closer until their fake relationship starts to feel like the realest thing they’ve ever known and the sizzling lessons in sensuality burn out of control.

But it’s all just pretend…right?

Pick up your copy here....

 Amazon.com: Pitcher Perfect: A Spicy Fake-Dating Sports Romance of a Playboy Hockey Rookie and the Disciplined Softball Pitcher Completely Immune to His Charms (Big Shots, 4): 9780063380837: Bailey, Tessa: Books

New York Times Bestselling author Tessa Bailey can solve all problems except for her own, so she focuses those efforts on stubborn, fictional blue collar men and loyal, lovable heroines. She lives on Long Island avoiding the sun and social interactions, then wonders why no one has called. Dubbed the “Michelangelo of dirty talk,” by Entertainment Weekly, Tessa writes with spice, spirit, swoon and a guaranteed happily ever after. Catch her on TikTok at @authortessabailey or check out tessabailey.com for a complete list of books.

This is a quick, fun read. Bailey never disappoints she is on top of her game. No curve balls here.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Hunter's Heart Ridge by Sarah Stewart Taylor

 In this sequel to Taylor’s lyrical series debut, Agony Hill, Detective Frank Warren and his formerly CIA-connected neighbor Alice Bellows return to investigate the death of a diplomat.

It's November of 1965 and the second weekend of Vermont's regular deer season when Vermont State Police detective Franklin Warren is called out to what looks like an accidental shooting at The Ridge Club, an exclusive men's hunting and fishing club for congressmen, diplomats, judges, and titans of industry: a former ambassador has been shot while out hunting. With the war in Vietnam picking up speed on the other side of the world, Warren quickly realizes that many of the club’s members are powerful men who may have ulterior motives and connections in high places.

While Warren's suspicions about the club members build, his neighbor Alice Bellows is throwing a dinner party, preparing for Thanksgiving, and worrying about her pregnant friend and fellow widow, Sylvie Weber, whose due date is coming up. When Alice's old handler and friend, Arthur Crannock, unexpectedly shows up in Bethany, Alice begins to wonder whether his presence has anything to do with the death at the hunting club.

As an early season snowstorm bears down on Bethany, knocking out power and phone lines and blocking the roads, Warren and his assistant, Trooper Pinky Goodrich, are trapped at the Ridge Club, likely along with a killer, and Alice, increasingly fearful that her past in the intelligence world is no longer in the past, will have to act fast to save Sylvie and her baby.

Sarah Stewart Taylor’s historical series combines the intricacy of a satisfying mystery with keen observation of a time and place during great transformation and upheaval.

Pick up your copy here...

Hunter's Heart Ridge: A Mystery (Bethany, Vermont Mysteries Book 2) - Kindle edition by Taylor, Sarah Stewart. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Sarah Stewart Taylor is the author of the Sweeney St. George series and the Maggie D'arcy series. The first Maggie D'arcy mystery, The Mountains Wild, was on numerous Best of the Year lists and was a Library Journal Pick of the Month. The fourth Maggie D'arcy mystery, A Stolen Child, was a Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week.

Sarah grew up on Long Island, and was educated at Middlebury College in Vermont and Trinity College, Dublin, where she studied Irish Literature. She has worked as a journalist and writing teacher and now lives with her family on a farm in Vermont where they raise sheep and grow blueberries. Sarah spends as much time in Ireland as she can.

Once Upon a Christmas Carol by Melody Carlson

 What will happen when a tropical escape from holiday blues turns into a snowy wonderland filled with joy and cheer?

Carol Langstrom hates Christmas. Growing up in a dysfunctional home, with a birthday on December 25 and too many dashed childhood expectations, she would rather avoid the holiday season. And working in the design industry where she manages seasonal decor for wealthy, entitled clients certainly hasn't helped!   

So, this year her goal is to flee to the Bahamas--by herself--bah humbug! But bad weather and God's radically different plan redirect her flight to blustery Michigan, where she gets stuck on her aunt's farm and discovers a different kind of Christmas--one wrapped in love, family, and holiday spirit.

Melody Carlson's Christmas novella delivers all the charm of a holiday Hallmark movie, is rooted in Christian faith, woven with sweet romance, and features A Christmas Carol themes.

Pick up your copy here...

Once Upon a Christmas Carol: (A Sweet Christian Fiction Holiday Story with Themes of A Christmas Carol set in Michigan): Melody Carlson: 9780800744731: Amazon.com: Books

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women and children. That's a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a "storyteller." Her novels range from serious issues like schizophrenia (Finding Alice) to lighter topics like house-flipping (A Mile in My Flip-Flops) but most of the inspiration behind her fiction comes right out of real life. Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, TrueColors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She's won a number of awards (including Romantic Time's Career Achievement Award, the Rita and the Gold Medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog. To find out more about Melody Carlson, visit her website at http://www.melodycarlson.com/

Forgiveness, Family, and a little romance. This was the perfect Christmas getaway. I look forward to Carlsons Christmas novellas every year and this one melted my heart. Victor and Carol were the perfect couple. A must read this holiday season.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

She Didn't Stand A Chance by Stacie Grey

  The desert heat can be deadly. But nothing kills like a cold heart.

Gertie hasn't seen her siblings since she was a toddler. Now, she's back at the family home she barely remembers, summoned there to witness the reading of her father's will. Shockingly, Gertie stands to inherit a substantial portion of the family business and her father's prized Palm Springs home. And no one is more surprised―and angry―about Gertie's inclusion in the will than her sisters and brothers.

Trapped in a remote house that doesn't feel like home with siblings that don't feel like family, Gertie is isolated in more ways than one. And when she discovers that her father may have been murdered, and a member of the household staff dies not long before she has a near-deadly accident of her own, she realizes she'll be lucky to get out of this unexpected family reunion alive.

A suspenseful read that feels just as suffocating as the dry California air in which it is set, She Didn't Stand a Chance takes readers on a wild journey of jealousy, lies, and family secrets with deadly consequences.

Pick up your copy here...

She Didn't Stand a Chance: A Novel: Grey, Stacie: 9781728292953: Amazon.com: Books

Stacie Grey is an author and fan of mysteries who lives in Alameda, California, with her husband and dog. In what passes for normal life, she works in biotech research. She mostly posts to Instagram and Threads, and occasionally writes a newsletter.

Mess by Michael Chessler

 Marie Kondo meets The Real Housewives in this charming and perceptive story of a professional organizer to Hollywood’s elite who learns to find love and acceptance amid the messiness of life.

To the world, Jane Brown, a Los-Angeles based professional organizer, is a model of composure and reticence. But inside, she’s fiercely judgmental and critical of herself and others. A lover of order and tidiness, she struggles to accept the world’s exasperating messiness of both her own clients—a superficial sphere of influencers and rich creatives—and her live-in boyfriend, who is becoming as aggravating as he is comforting.

When she arrives at the home of a new client, a has-been Hollywood actress—a woman opposite to her in every way—Jane finds herself unexpectedly moved. Realizing how desperately she wants to lower her defenses and open her heart, Jane decides to declutter the mess of her own mindset. Organizing her own feelings turns out to be the most daunting job she’s ever tackled, but one that promises big rewards if she succeeds, including freedom—and even love.

Set against the dazzlingly rich, beautiful, and shallow world of Hollywood money and mansions, Mess is an honest, heartfelt, and often hilarious response to the disorder of our lives today.

Pick up your copy here...

Mess: A Sharp and Witty Tale of a Perfectionist Organizer Battling the Chaos of Hollywood and Her Own Heart: Chessler, Michael: 9780063413894: Amazon.com: Books

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Michael Chessler has been a writer, producer, director, and show-runner of numerous television shows. He has developed pilots for all the major networks, some of which made it to air. He is a native of Los Angeles, where he still lives.

If All Else Fails by Emma St. Clair

 

In this grumpy-sunshine romance, school nurse Josie and her brother's best friend--hockey player Wyatt Jacobs--are tricked into spending a summer together that's anything but smooth sailing.

When Josie's brother sends her to a random address for their (sometimes) annual Super Summer Sibling Extravaganza, she finds neither siblings nor extravaganzas. Instead, ends up at a run-down cottage on the Northern Neck of Virginia occupied by a hockey player she knows and loathes.

A hockey player who isn't just one of her sports agent brother's clients. He's also his best friend. And Josie's sworn enemy.

Oh--and her brother wants Josie to help Wyatt recover from his injury.

Dragging grumpy hockey players to physical therapy is a far cry from bandaging skinned knees, but for the price her brother offers to pay, Josie is willing to try.

Even if it means sharing what she dubs the quaint little murder cottage with Wyatt.

Begrudgingly, Josie starts to see a little more of the man behind the grumpy exterior. And when she finds out he was supposed to sail the Intracoastal Waterway south to Savannah scattering his uncle's ashes, Josie surprises even herself by offering to be Wyatt's first mate.

Smooth sailing is nowhere to be found, and Josie begins to wonder if they'll be able to make it home without killing--or kissing?--each other.

And yet, the longer they share cramped quarters and canned food, the more of Wyatt's layers she peels back until Josie realizes she misunderstood him, their shared history, and perhaps herself as well.

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: If All Else Sails: A Sweet Grumpy-Sunshine Rom-Com: 9781400346943: St. Clair, Emma: Books

Emma St. Clair is a USA Today Bestselling Author who loves sassy heroines, witty banter, and love stories with heart and humor. Her books have sizzling chemistry while keeping the bedroom door closed. She has an MFA in Fiction and lives in Katy, Texas (go, Tigers!) with her hubby, five children, and Great Dane. Her favorite place to write is tapping on her phone while on the elliptical machine. No Emmas have been hurt in the writing of these novels. (Yet.)

Want a free novella? Grab Upping the Ante here: https://emmastclair.com/ante

Follow me on insta: https://instagram.com/kikimojo

Join the Facebook reader group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/emmastclair/

This was such a cute rom-com. So happy that I read it.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman

 When Lena Conti—a young, unwed mother—sees immigrant families being forcibly separated on Ellis Island, she vows not to let the officers take her two-year old daughter. But the inspection process is more rigorous than she imagined, and she is separated from her mother and teenage brother, who are labeled burdens to society, denied entry, and deported back to Germany. Now, alone but determined to give her daughter a better life after years of living in poverty and near starvation, she finds herself facing a future unlike anything she had envisioned.

Silas Wolfe, a widowed family relative, reluctantly brings Lena and her daughter to his weathered cabin in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to care for his home and children. Though the hills around Wolfe Hollow remind Lena of her homeland, she struggles to adjust. Worse, she is stunned to learn the children in her care have been taught to hide when the sheriff comes around. As Lena meets their neighbors, she realizes the community is vibrant and tight knit, but also senses growing unease. The State of Virginia is scheming to paint them as ignorant, immoral, and backwards so they can evict them from their land, seize children from parents, and deal with those possessing “inferior genes.”

After a social worker from the Eugenics Office accuses Lena of promiscuity and feeblemindedness, her own worst fears come true. Sent to the Virginia State Colony for the Feebleminded and Epileptics, Lena face impossible choices in hopes of reuniting with her daughter—and protecting the people, and the land, she has grown to love.

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: The Lies They Told: 9781496741509: Wiseman, Ellen Marie: Books

A first-generation German American, Ellen Marie Wiseman discovered her love of reading and writing while attending first grade in one of the last one-room schoolhouses in NYS. She is a New York Times bestselling author whose novels have been translated into twenty languages. Her debut novel, THE PLUM TREE, is loosely based on her mother’s stories about growing up in Germany during the chaos of WWII. Bookbub named THE PLUM TREE One of Thirteen Books To Read if You Loved ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE. Ellen’s second novel, WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND, was named a Huffington Post Best Books of Summer 2015. Her third novel, COAL RIVER, was called "one of the most "unputdownable" books of 2015" by The Historical Novel Review. THE LIFE SHE WAS GIVEN, was named A GREAT GROUP READS Selection of the Women’s National Book Association and National Reading Group Month and a Goodreads Best Book of the Month. THE ORPHAN COLLECTOR was an instant New York Times Bestseller. Ellen lives on the shores of Lake Ontario with her husband and a spoiled Shih-tzu named Izzy. When she’s not busy writing, she loves spending time with her children and grandchildren. Find Ellen on Facebook at: www.Facebook.com/EllenMarieWisemanAuthor 

First let's talk about that cover, it's gorgeous. Now let's talk about one of the best historical books I have read in a while.

This book is not to be missed.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own. 

Weekly Sermon Notes Journal GIVEAWAY

 This practical note-taking resource is the perfect companion for any church service, conference, or Bible study, with enough pages for 75 sermons.

The Weekly Sermon Notes Journal invites believers of all ages to compile their notes, takeaways, and important verses for up to seventy-five sermons or events. Framed by a minimal, aesthetic design, each spread provides lines for recording the date, sermon title, speaker, location, and key Scriptures, followed by ample space for jotting down notes. This simple format is easily adaptable and can be used when attending church in person, watching online, or listening to a podcast.

Special features include:

• books of the Bible list
• compilation of special names used for God
• descriptions of noteworthy Hebrew words
• log for prayer requests
• space for church announcements
• recommendations for further reading

With a simple, undated format for beginning at any point during the year, the Weekly Sermon Notes Journal is your mindful companion for recording, reflecting on, and returning to what's true.

Pick up your copy here...

Weekly Sermon Notes Journal: An Inspirational Notebook for Christians to Take Notes in Church, at Conferences, in Small Groups, and During Bible Studies: Ink & Willow: 9780593602201: Amazon.com: Books

The Ink & Willow line infuses contemplation and inspiration into the regular spiritual practice of creative-minded Christians, wherever they are in their faith journey. Each thoughtfully curated gift product is based in biblical truth and sparks a reminder of how God reveals beauty in the midst of our ordinary.

Throughout literary history, willow trees have been symbols of growth, balance, learning, healing, and harmony. Since willows often grow near streams or rivers, the name Ink and Willow was inspired by the verse in Psalm 1 about the person who delights in God and therefore is deeply planted and able to thrive, bearing fruit and prospering through every season. The word ink has a dual meaning, first as a nod to the act and art of printing words on paper, and then, in the sense that ink symbolizes life. In combination, Ink & Willow becomes the perfect metaphor for what this thoughtfully curated line of products is designed to do, which is to inspire, nurture, and engage Christians.

www.inkandwillow.com and @inkandwillowgifts on social.