Miss Beth Bettencourt by Eve Marie Everson

 Will an unlikely romance tear down Beth’s walls of indifference?

It's 1962 in Bynum, Georgia, and Beth Bettencourt's world is turned upside down when she wakes to a man snoring in the guest bedroom.

She's home alone; her parents are traveling abroad, grieving her twin sister's unexpected death. Instead of accompanying them, Beth stayed in Bynum to tend to her kindergarten and closely guard her own heart.

A beautiful and beloved member of the community, Beth is an unusual specimen for her time as she nears thirty and remains unmarried. She holds deep-seated unforgiveness toward her twin, Elise, who ran off with Beth's beau. To make matters worse, Elise took their grandmother's ring, which had been promised to Beth.

But now a stranger enters her home and her world. David Patrick Martin seems ready to break down her walls of indifference and find the core of Miss Beth Bettencourt. But can he be trusted with Beth's past, her present, and more importantly, her future? 

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Miss Beth Bettencourt: A Bynum, Georgia Novel: Everson, Eva Marie: 9780825453342: Amazon.com: Books

Eva Marie Everson is a multi-award-winning author and speaker from Sylvania, Georgia. She is CEO of Word Weavers International and the director of Florida Christian Writers Conference. She coaches new authors through her company, Pen in Hand. Eva Marie and her husband make their home in central Florida

Where We Belong by Kim Vogel Sawyer

 Thank you Waterbrook for my review copy of Where We Belong by Kim Vogel Sawyer.

Release April 21, 2026

The life of Hester Haak, a widow with no children of her own, takes an unexpected turn when she opens her Kansas home to children from the bustling streets of New York City. The orphan asylum has entrusted her with two sisters and a young boy, and Hester is determined to provide a safe and loving environment for them. Despite the looming uncertainty of their stay, she rises to the challenge, embracing the opportunity to make a difference in their lives.

Meanwhile, Callum Holbrook is grappling with the loss of his wife and the despair that followed. Unable to provide for his family, he made the heart-wrenching decision to place his daughters in an orphanage, promising it was only temporary. Now, with a stable job and a renewed sense of purpose, Callum is horrified to learn that his daughters have been sent halfway across the country. Fueled by determination and love, he embarks on the difficult journey to bring them back.

Through their struggles and triumphs, Hester and Callum discover that family and love can be found in the most surprising places—and that the journey home is paved with hope.

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Where We Belong: An Orphan Train Novel: Vogel Sawyer, Kim: 9780593600856: Amazon.com: Books

Award-winning, bestselling author Kim Vogel Sawyer is a wife, mother, gramma, chocolate-lover, cat-petter, and--most importantly--a daughter of the King! With more than 1.5 million books in print in seven different languages, Kim enjoys a full-time writing and speaking ministry. Her "gentle stories of hope" are loved by readers and reviewers alike. Kim and her retired military husband, Don, reside on the plains of Kansas, the setting for many of her novels.

My Someone By Yuko Torii

 Thank you Penguin for my review copy of My Someone by Yuko Torii.

A heartwarming picture book about a stray dog’s journey to finding his forever home.

A little stray dog wanders the streets alone, afraid of everything he comes across—loud city noises, getting caught in the cold rain, and bigger dogs that fight for scraps. He doesn’t like it!

And he especially doesn’t like it when he gets caught by animal rescue and is forced to be cleaned and scrubbed. But everything changes when a family chooses him to take home, helping him slowly discover all the things he does like—playing fetch, eating delicious food, and being loved forever.

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My Someone: A Pet Adoption Story: Torii, Yuko, Torii, Yuko: 9780593887271: Amazon.com: Books

No Author headshot

Yuko Torii was born in a small town near Kobe, Japan. As a child, she always dreamed of traveling and discovering a new place to call home. Her dreams became a reality when she moved to Los Angeles and received a BFA in fine arts from the Otis College of Art and Design. She then worked at Louis Vuitton as a top hand-painter and a designer of trunks, including the “Malle Mars” (Mars Trunk) now displayed in the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. She also worked as a master embosser for Anya Hindmarch of London. After living in New York for many years, participating in the city’s active arts scenes, she and her husband made the move to Mexico, where she is enjoying the nation’s ancient and contemporary cultural riches, as well as the warmth of its people. Yuko is a self-proclaimed “Queen of Kittyrature,” a storyteller whose trademark characters are feline protagonists (largely inspired by her three cats, Mitternacht, Mondschein, and Parsifal), but she loves dogs just as much!

Thank you Harper Muse and Uplitreads for my Classics

 Thank you Harper Muse and @Uplitreads for my review copies of The Harper Curated Classics.

Aesop's Fables, My Favorite Fairy Tales, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and Classic Princess Fairy Tales.

All four books are hard back with gorgeous, sprayed edges. The illustrations in each book are unique, and these would be perfect on your coffee table or on your bookshelf. They make the perfect gift as well. 

Moonlight Murder by Uzma Jalaluddin

 

When Kausar Khan moved back to Toronto to be closer to her family, she didn't expect to have another murder investigation on her hands so soon—or really ever. But when a young man named Qasim is found dead in their Golden Crescent neighborhood, and when she learns he was close to her granddaughter, Maleeha, what’s a grandmother to do but try and solve the case?

And it’s not just her heartbroken granddaughter spurring Kausar to find answers; it’s also how the circumstances of Qasim’s death remind her of her own teenage son, Ali, and his mysterious death nearly twenty years before. Kausar knows firsthand what a difference closure can make to a grieving parent—and the more she seeks to find that for Qasim's parents, the more she begins to realize that perhaps it's time she finds closure for herself as well.

As Kausar digs into both Qasim’s and Ali’s cases and her “aunty” skills continue to bring more information to light, she can’t help but wonder if the similarities between the two cases are more than just mere coincidence. But how could two deaths, twenty years apart, possibly be related?

Detective Aunty is determined to find out. 

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Amazon.com: Moonlight Murder: A Detective Aunty Novel (Detective Aunty Investigates, 2): 9780063434967: Jalaluddin, Uzma: Books

Uzma Jalaluddin is the author of six novels, including YOURS FOR THE SEASON (2025), a multifaith holiday romcom, DETECTIVE AUNTY (2025), featuring Kausar Khan, a South Asian Miss Marple, MUCH ADO ABOUT NADA (2023), a second-chance romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and THREE HOLIDAYS AND A WEDDING (2023), a holiday romcom co-written with Marissa Stapley. Her debut novel, AYESHA AT LAST (2019), was a Goodreads Choice Award Finalist, Cosmopolitan UK Book of the Year and Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of 2019. Her second novel, HANA KHAN CARRIES ON (2021) was an instant Canadian bestseller, and named a 2021 Best Romance Novel by the Washington Post. It is currently in development for film by Mindy Kaling. Uzma is a former contributor to The Toronto Star, and has written for The Atlantic. She lives outside Toronto, Canada, with her husband and two sons.

The Wish by Heather Morris

 Jesse is fifteen. She loves her friends, her little brother and her parents, even when they’re arguing, which feels constant these days. But most of all, she loves playing video games. Even from her hospital bed.

Alex is twenty-nine. He doesn't love a lot of things and isn’t really sure he knows how to. A virtual reality games designer, his work desk is empty except for his computer, much like his life sometimes feels.

Then Jesse makes a wish. A simple one: a video experience made of her life, something to be there, just in case she isn’t.

One loving teenager.

One lonely adult.

Which one will get the happy ending? 

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The Wish: A Novel: Morris, Heather: 9780063497221: Amazon.com: Books

Heather Morris is a native of New Zealand, now resident in Australia. For several years, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, she studied and wrote screenplays, one of which was optioned by an Academy Award-winning screenwriter in the US. In 2003, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who ‘might just have a story worth telling’. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Their friendship grew and Lale embarked on a journey of self-scrutiny, entrusting the innermost details of his life during the Holocaust to her. Heather originally wrote Lale’s story as a screenplay – which ranked high in international competitions – before reshaping it into her debut novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Almost by Design by Jenny Erlingsson

 Kenya Stewart is so close to getting her dream position at an event agency. When a scheduling blunder risks her promotion, she hopes an upcoming pitch will allow her a second chance. Then an accident at her cousin's wedding sends her to the emergency room in the care of another wedding guest, Solomon Anruchi, the handsome doctor who ghosted her after their first date.

Solomon's parents are eager for him to find a business-savvy wife and make the move to New York to take over a recent acquisition by their family's company. But he needs to buy more time to finish his residency and convince them that staying in Hope Springs is the best path for him. He realizes that Kenya is the perfect person to help, and she needs his connections to land a high-profile client and save her career. Their solution? A fake-dating relationship.

As attractions increase amid their ruse, secrets they've kept from each other and the weight of others' expectations begin to unravel their scheme. Will their carefully constructed plans crumble when the truth comes out? 

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Almost by Design: A Christian Contemporary Rom-Com with Fake Dating and Second Chances in a Small Town: Jenny Erlingsson: 9780800747756: Amazon.com: Books

Jenny Erlingsson writes romantic fiction and creative non-fiction to encourage deep faith in every age, stage, and season. She makes her home in both Alabama and Iceland and loves encouraging and working with writers from around the world. When she’s not ministering with her Viking husband or mothering her adorably feisty kids, she can be found writing and reading in the margins, with a side of Icelandic chocolate.

A brewed Awakening by Pepper Basham

 In the charming mountain town of Wisteria, North Carolina, Daphne Austen clings to tradition like cream to a scone. She's built her life--and her late grandmother's tearoom, Tea Thyme--around all things English: delicate china, Jane Austen novels, and the comforting predictability of routine. The only thing threatening her perfectly ordered world? The loud, aggravatingly handsome Brit opening a pub next door.

After his ex-wife broke his heart and his business partner nearly destroyed his career, Finn Dashwood packed up his six-year-old daughter and left England behind. He's looking for a fresh start, and the last thing he needs is a fussy, tea-obsessed neighbor criticizing his every pint and playlist. It doesn't matter that she's ridiculously kind (to everyone else) and that his daughter is utterly fascinated by her. Finn's heart is not open to being broken again.

But disagreements turn into prank wars and then a competition when a high-profile wedding needs a last-minute caterer. The townsfolk are thrilled--Wisteria hasn't seen this much excitement since the county fair lost a goat.

When the wedding demands both sweet and savory fare, Daphne and Finn are forced to put down their swords and pick up their serving trays. Between burnt pastries, brewing tempers, trending hashtags (#SipsAndSpats, anyone?), and one very adorable little girl, rivalry soon gives way to reluctant friendship--and maybe something that feels suspiciously like chemistry.

Can a tea shop princess and a pub owner with a past mix their lives as seamlessly as clotted cream and jam . . . or will their differences keep them steeped in rivalry forever? 

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A Brewed Awakening: A hilarious, clean, enemies-to-lovers rom-com: Basham, Pepper: 9781400351381: Amazon.com: Books

Pepper Basham is a best-selling author who writes romance “peppered” with grace and humor. Writing both historical and contemporary novels, she loves to incorporate her native Appalachian culture and/or her unabashed adoration of the UK into her stories. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the wife of a fantastic pastor, mom of five great kids, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus. Her twentieth book, The Cairo Curse, came out in February. Next up is Positively, Penelope, the sequel to her bestselling novel, Authentically, Izzy. She loves connecting with readers and other authors through social media outlets like Facebook & Instagram.

Little Apocalypses by Kaitlyn Teer

 How do you raise children in a world rapidly being reshaped by climate change? Do our narratives about climate change and care help us or hinder us in our efforts to get it right? Little Apocalypses seeks to explore these urgent questions as we navigate the existential predicament of parenting on a planet in crisis.

In this collection of beautifully crafted essays, Kaitlyn Teer—herself the mother of two young children—blends personal narrative, cultural analysis, and wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary research to offer new ways for readers to think more deeply and more hopefully about the radical possibilities of caregiving to bring a more just and sustainable future into being. In “World Without End” Teer examines the apocalyptic rhetoric that shapes our understanding of the climate crisis and shows us where to find new stories that can shape our imaginations of what’s still possible. In “Mother of All Messes” Teer considers the pressures to perform green motherhood and calls for refocusing efforts to collective action on for mutual flourishing. Teer’s writing overflows with love for her children, her community, and the natural world, and offers an invitation to face the uncertain future with curiosity and imagination.

A thoughtful and eye-opening look at the power of caregiving in crisis, Little Apocalypses is a call to action—an invitation to parents to become active participants in carving a different path forward for all of us, our children, and our planet.

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Little Apocalypses: Essays on Motherhood, Climate Change, and Hope at the End of the World: Teer, Kaitlyn: 9780063440227: Amazon.com: Books

Kaitlyn Teer is a senior editor at Cup of Jo. Her essays have appeared in Orion, Catapult, Electric Lit, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere, and she has taught writing at Western Washington University. She lives in Washington State with her husband and two children.

Fast and Fastidious by RM Caldwell

 

Thank you @bibliolifestyle for my review copy of Fast and Fastidious by RM Caldwell.

Available NOW

England, 1810. Lucy Elliot has often been described as fastidious, given her belief that there is an objectively correct and logical way to do things. And while she strives to be proper in every way, she does have one rather scandalous secret: Lucy, the prim and gentle lady, is  a frequent attendee of the entirely disreputable and illicit Night Races, where unchaperoned men and women from all social classes gather on dark country lanes to gamble on the outcomes of furiously fast carriage races.

But her secret might become more than just a danger to her reputation when her mysterious new neighbor, Captain Dashwood, begins partaking in the races. Lucy can’t help but feel there’s something more to the handsome Captain Dashwood than meets the eye, and she suspects that his arrival in the neighborhood in the midst of a spate of curious and alarming carriage robberies is no mere coincidence—something is most certainly afoot in the county, and it’s a mystery Lucy intends to solve.

 Though Lucy prides herself on her preparedness, she never could have anticipated the web of lies, deceit, and espionage that she finds herself and Captain Dashwood entangled in; nor could she have known that the very fate of Britain would hang in the balance. But will her meticulous nature be the very thing that saves her, or will it be her—and England's—undoing?

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Amazon.com: Fast and Fastidious: A Novel: 9780063477070: Caldwell, R. M.: Books

R.M. Caldwell is based in Hamilton, New Zealand, and writes and directs theatre, as well as being on the board of an independent theatre.

250 great Things about America by Marcie Gourley

 No matter which way the wind blows, we sometimes need a reminder of what makes the United States of America so special―or perhaps 250 of them. 

Here, in one volume, is an inspiring journey through two and one half centuries of the people, places, and events that have made this nation remarkable as we celebrate its 250th anniversary. 

Visit the incredible moments―often quiet and common―that have lifted the United States from a struggling cluster of colonial communities to the world’s greatest superpower. 

Meet the individuals, from peasants to presidents, who have created a heritage like none other in history. Themes of faith, courage, and servanthood shine through the decades and centuries of the American experience. It is the stories, large and small, that have created our identity. Some of them will be familiar, many have been seldom told, and all are laid out in joyful detail.

If the past is prologue, 250 Great Things About America: Places, People, and Principles Worth Celebrating lays a brilliant foundation for our country’s future. This is a book for families to study and enjoy together, not just once, but as a perennial reminder of the meaning of citizenship in a nation of destiny.

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250 Great Things About America: Places, People, and Principles Worth Celebrating: Gourley, Marcie: 9798887696478: Amazon.com: Books

Marcie Gourley is a licensed professional counselor with a master’s degree in Professional Counseling, whose lifelong passion for history, America, and faith began in childhood. Her father often took her and her sisters to historical sites, graveyards, and political events, instilling in them a deep pride in their American heritage. That early love of history has grown into a calling to share the stories that shaped our nation and inspire future generations. Marcie and her husband, Ed, have five amazing adult children and continue to call Pennsylvania home. Marcie placed in the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Genesis Contest as well as Susan May Warren’s My Book Therapy Frasier contest. Marcie has served as ACFW Pennsylvania chapter coordinator and cofounded a women’s ministry called Wonderfully Woven, for which she wrote articles, did radio spots and radio interviews, and spoke at various women’s ministry events. Her writing, stories, and devotionals have been featured on radio programs and on college campuses in various parts of the country. Her clinical research on counseling is used in everyday life, as she focuses on clinical help, curriculum, and court reports. 

Ruby Ridge by Jess Walter

 On the last hot day of summer in 1992, gunfire cracked over a rocky knob in northern Idaho, just south of the Canadian border. By the next day three people were dead, and a small war was joined, pitting the full might of federal law enforcement against one well-armed family. Drawing on extensive interviews with Randy Weaver's family, government insiders, and others, Walter traces the paths that led the Weavers to their confrontation with federal agents and led the government to treat a family like a gang of criminals.

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Ruby Ridge: The Truth and Tragedy of the Randy Weaver Family: Walter, Jess: 9780060007942: Amazon.com: Books

Jess Walter is the author of ten books, most recently the story collect The Angel of Rome (2022) and the national bestselling novel The Cold Millions (2020). His novel Beautiful Ruins (2012) was a #1 New York Times bestseller. He was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award for The Zero and winner of the 2005 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel for Citizen Vince. His short fiction has appeared three times in Best American Short Stories. He lives in his hometown of Spokane, Washington.

Sit, Cinderella, Sit by Lisa Cheek

 Lisa Cheek loved editing TV commercials—almost as much as she loved her dog, Ron Howard. Then, she “aged out” of advertising, at 45. After being let go, Lisa got a call—at 2:45 AM—from a director who, like everyone in Hollywood, had a film he wanted to make: the original Cinderella story. Now, his dream could come true—if Lisa granted his wish.

In Sit, Cinderella, Sit, Lisa Cheek shares her adventures in editing a film made on location in China—along the Tibetan border—where Mandarin was the only language spoken by everyone but her. Stuck in a house with fourteen men she couldn’t understand, literally, she yearned for conversation and coffee.

But there were moments of wonder and laughter. Lisa forged a bond with her translator and a woman named Sunny. She rescued one dog, and then another. “Everyone speaks Cinderella,” the director had assured her. Maybe he was right.

Told with humor and heart through a fairy tale lens, with flashbacks into the author’s not-always-happy childhood, Sit, Cinderella, Sit is a story about what can happen when you take a leap of faith, look and hear beyond people’s differences, and dare to believe in yourself.

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Sit, Cinderella, Sit: A Mostly True Memoir: Cheek, Lisa: 9781647427283: Amazon.com: Books

Lisa Cheek’s writing career started after a twenty-five-year career editing films and TV commercials. Her first memoir, Sit, Cinderella, Sit, was a People Magazine pick, an Amazon bestseller, a Next Generation Indy Award finalist in Women’s Literature, and made Zibby’s Most Anticipated Books for 2025 list. You can find Lisa’s musings, One Minute Thoughts From A Pink Head, on Substack. She lives with two dogs, two cats, and her husband, Big Johnson, in LA, where she has several scripts in various stages of development and is working on her next memoir.

When She Was Ours by Anna Nordberg

       

 

Thea Erickson, a renowned surgeon, is filled with both joy and grief as her family gathers at their home on a summer night in 1995. Her elder daughter Phoebe is getting married, but even the happiness of the day feels bittersweet, as Thea grapples with a terminal cancer diagnosis. She worries she won’t be around to support her younger daughter Astra, who’s still in college, but even Thea cannot foresee what is to come―a terrible accident the night of the wedding that changes Astra’s life forever.

In a last-ditch effort to protect her family, Thea arranges a secret meeting with an old family friend and extracts a promise that will reverberate long after she’s gone.

Years after her mother’s death, Astra has moved forward with a career and relationship, but she still struggles with her grief. When a man reaches out to her and Phoebe, offering a window into their mother’s past, Astra must make a choice, and her decision forces her to face what it means to love someone after they’re gone, who we decide to forgive, and how families reckon with the past.

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Amazon.com: When She Was Ours: A Novel: 9781662539206: Nordberg, Anna: Books

Anna Nordberg is a journalist and culture writer whose essays have appeared in Slate magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle. She grew up in New York City and now lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children. When She Was Ours is her first novel.

The Unraveling of Micheal Galler by Steven Rubin

Thank you, Spark Press, for my review copy of The Unraveling of Michael Galler by Steven Rubin.

Release May 12, 2026

After observing multiple terminal effects of varying illnesses of those close to him that he perceives as cancer, Michael Galler gains a heightened cognizance of the physical threats that can grow unknowingly inside a person. As a result, he dedicates himself to healthily fortifying his body against any comparable assault.

While growing up with his loving, widowed father and the younger brother he feels compelled to protect, Michael is able to balance the pressures of his young life—academic achievement, high school athletic competition, and even training for the Boston Marathon. But as he moves toward college life, he develops a promising relationship with a girl who too easily fills the gaps of his motherless upbringing—and his long-held fear of what he now thinks of as capital-C Cancer begins to take over. Everything he experiences, he experiences through the filter of trying to outrun a disease he thinks is pursuing him.

A dramatic coming-of-age tale with a dark psychological twist, The Unraveling of Michael Galler explores the motives of a teenage boy so overwhelmed by an obsessive fear that he loses his grip on reality.

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Amazon.com: The Unraveling of Michael Galler: A Novel: 9798896363743: Rubin, Steven M.: Books

Steven M. Rubin was raised in a suburb of Boston, MA, played football at the University of Pennsylvania, and spent his career developing, negotiating, and implementing employee benefit strategies for large employers. He has completed the New York Marathon, the 100th running of the famed Boston Marathon, and the Marine Corps Marathon. Although a heart attack ended his third marathon at the halfway mark, he returned five years later to successfully finish what he started. After raising three children with his wife, Kerrie, he now lives in Weston, Connecticut.

Buried Scars by Kristi Copeland

 Kennedy

The scars of domestic abuse are firmly buried in the past, but I am reminded of how delicate life is when I meet Vanessa. On the few occasions she and I have spent time together, she hints that her marriage is unstable. I recognize the warning signs and ask our girls’ group to keep their eyes open for a chance to gain her trust.

Jake, my fiercely protective hero, stands by my side as I drive to save others in Talkeetna who find themselves trapped in situations similar to my own horrid past. Ready to confront any threat lurking in the shadows of Denali, I vow to break the cycle of abuse.

I’ll do anything to save my friends. Anything.

Vanessa
Hidden in plain sight, I work diligently to conceal my bruises from the community. My husband has made it painfully clear that I will never escape his grip. Guilt from my twin sister passing away caused me to lose hope that I would ever really be happy. Reminders of her linger and encourage me to find my strength.

Running the sled dog tour company allows me to connect with local women, which lights a flicker of possibility that I’ll make friends one day. Kennedy has invited me into her world; her kindness is like a lifeline. I’m afraid if I reveal my truth, though, I may lose everything I’ve worked so hard to accomplish.

The truth hurts, but so does being pummeled into submission.

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Amazon.com: Buried Scars: (A Vigilante Justice Alaskan Suspense: Kennedy-Book 3): 9798988964599: Copeland, Kristi: Books

All my life, writing, sharing experiences through story-telling, and intensive research has interested me. All of these loves are combined to give my readers an experience through the written word. I reside in a small town in northeast Texas and originate from a small town in Michigan. Both MI and TX are prominent in my writing.

Everywhere I look, I see someone begging me to write about them. Music, every day life, and even my husband’s dreams inspire ideas about new books! Like so many of my favorite novels have done for me, I sincerely hope to connect with you through my writing. My simple communication style brings words off the page to a vision in your mind.

Join me as I create scenarios that could happen to anyone…and probably have. Maybe me, maybe you.

More Than Friends by Denise Hunter

 Jenna Greene just ended things with her boyfriend . . . which also ended her career. (That's the risk a girl takes when her boyfriend doubles as her boss.) With no income and no job prospects in sight, Jenna is forced to return to her mother's house on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, to figure out what's next. And the timing couldn't be more perfect. Jenna's widowed mother has just returned from a cruise--with a brand-new boyfriend in tow. But there's something off about the guy. His story doesn't quite add up, and he keeps sneaking off to make suspicious phone calls and borrowing money from her too-trusting mother.

In search of some investigative help, Jenna turns to her childhood BFF, Tyson Parker, who lives and works in town. Still reeling from his wife's infidelity, Tyson is doing his best to heal from the pain of divorce. He's made a name for himself on the island as a volunteer firefighter and one of the much-admired saltwater cowboys who looks after Chincoteague's wild ponies. Oh, and he turned out to be more than a tiny bit attractive--besides being almost-too-good-to-be-true sweet and caring.

Growing up, the uber-competitive Jenna was always accepted as one of the guys. But things have changed between her and Tyson, and he's now looking at her through new eyes. Jenna suddenly feels like a leading lady on a movie set--only with way less composure.

But Jenna also has old wounds that make these new feelings seem fraught with peril. Is she willing to open her heart and see where love might lead? Or will she let her hesitant heart hold her back?

Pick up your copy here....                                                                                                                                    More than Friends: A sweet, low-spice contemporary romance: Hunter, Denise: 9781400348732: Amazon.com: Books

Denise Hunter is the internationally-published bestselling author of more than forty novels, three of which have been adapted into Hallmark movies. She has appeared on the The 700 Club and been featured in Southern Living and Woman's World.

Denise writes heartwarming, small-town love stories, peopled with layered characters who have real-life issues. Her readers enjoy the vicarious thrill of falling in love and the promise of a happily-ever-after sigh as they savor the final pages of her books.

In 1996, inspired by the death of her grandfather, Denise began her first book, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. Her husband says he inspires all her romantic stories, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

When Denise isn't orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling, drinking chai lattes, hiking, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana where she and her husband raised three boys and are currently enjoying an empty nest and four beautiful grandchildren.

I love anything Hunter writes and this book was so good, I couldn't put it down until last page. The Chemistry and the struggles the characters had in this book were the icing on the cake. Hunter always makes me think about the characters long after I have finished the book.  A great 4 star read. Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.