Hidden: a Christian romantic suspense as one woman faces her morality and discovers the true meaning of forgiveness

Hidden is the first book in the Jacobs family series by Vanetta Chapman. After surviving a tragic and violent childhood. Dana Jacobs is now a supervisor in charge of a Department of Homeland Security in Taos, New Mexico. Her team is at the ready to handle any threat. Benjamin Marshall is the newest member of Dana’s office. Straight from a six year military deployment, Benjamin is not what Dana wants or needs. However, Ben knows that God has a reason for putting him with Dana’s team. When a local school is threatened, they pursue a man who is filled with bitterness and anger that Dana can understand; however, there is a difference. She is justified and it remains hidden and she hurts no one. Can Dana accept her own morality? Can she truly understand what it means to forgive and to be forgiven? 

Hidden is a Christian romantic suspense. While it is not a genre I normally read, I was looking forward to reading a suspenseful story filled with faith and romance. The book opens with the aftermath of a violent encounter in Dana’s childhood. Leading to her as an adult who still has nightmares of that night, Dana is now a leader of a team. Benjamin is coming to her team on his first day. I liked Dana as a woman who has lived a hard life and keeps her emotions close to the vest. I also liked Benjamin as a man of faith who knows he would be a good fit for the team. Overall, I enjoyed the faith and morality discussions; however, the romance was a bit far-fetched and the suspense was lacking. If you enjoy Christian romantic suspense, I recommend you check out Hidden. 

Hidden is available in paperback and eBook

Healing the Mountain Man's Heart: a dedicated doctor and a surly mountain man find love and faith

Healing the Mountain Man’s Heart is the first book in the Brothers of Sapphire Creek Ranch series by Misty M. Beller. Jericho Coulter is the eldest of the Coulter brothers. He has been entrusted with the safety of his family and the secret they hold dear. After a family tragedy, they follow a strict rule: no outsiders. Dinah Wyatt is a talented and determined doctor, travels with her sister, Naomi, as she prepares to be a mail order bride in Montana. When they come to the ranch, they are met with a surly Jericho who was ready to send them away. However, Dinah’s skills are immediately needed as one of the brothers becomes injured. As Dinah cares for the injured man, sparks fly between Jericho and Dinah. However, in the wilds of the Montana Territory, where trust is hard to come by. Can Jericho and Dinah learn to trust each torah and embrace the love between them?

Healing the Mountain Man’s Heart is my first book by Misty M. Beller and it won’t be my last. From the opening chapter to the closing pages, this story had me glued to the pages. It is dramatic and faith filled with real struggles and questions with faith. Jericho is a man hurt by the tragic events in his family and, as a result, he turned from God. Dinah is a woman of faith who feels called to use her skills as a doctor to any one who is injured or ill. The two clash as they have different missions and yet together they find a common thread with the people they both care about: their families. There are moments of humor and times of tense danger. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. I highly, highly recommend Healing the Mountain Man’s Heart. 

Healing the Mountain Man’s Heart is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Love's Sacrifice: two broken people discover Jesus's redemptive love and in each other

Love’s Sacrifice by Evangeline Kelly is a story of love, faith and discovering the strength to overcome the past. Avery Loggins has learned to depend on no one but herself. Her mom couldn’t be trusted and her father walked out years before. When she landed a job at a popular diner as a kitchen assistant to Dean Galloway, the very handsome but grumpy chef. Eventually Avery agrees to a night out with Dean and before they know it, they do not want the night to end. So they end up eloping. Avery has a shocking moment of reality and leaves Dean with a goodbye letter. However, Dean doesn’t want to let her go. When he shows up, determined to show her how much she means to him, they both learn the true meaning of sacrifice and find a love that can last a lifetime. 

Love’s Sacrifice is a contemporary Christian romance in which two broken people discover Jesus’s redemptive love. The story is fairly fast paced with a sweet romance with hard hitting issues and beautifully explains the love and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. I loved both Avery and Dean as individuals who have been deeply hurt by life’s circumstances. I also loved these two people who rejected even talking about God and God placed people in their lives that quietly opened their eyes to His love. From the good friend to a family who has lost it all and still has joy and a man who has turned his life around all show Dean and Avery the power of God’s love. Overall, I could not put this book down and I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I highly, highly recommend Love’s Sacrifice. 

Love’s Sacrifice is available in eBook

Murder at the Front: a World War I murder mystery

Murder at the Front is a prequel story to the Dora and Rex 1920s Mystery series by Lynn Morrison. It is 1918 in Le Touquet, France, Lady Dorothy “Dora” Cavendish has sworn to never marry. In order to satisfy her parents and be able to stay at the front as a battlefield nurse, she enters a marriage of convenience with Lucien, the Viscount of Lisle. When Lucien is ambushed during a secret mission and killed, there are more questions than answers. Only one man, Lord Reginald “Rex” Banks-Ternsby, seriously wounded, had survived. Rex is convinced that the mission was compromised and someone within their ranks betrayed them. With Dora’s determination to prove her worth with Rex's drive to discover the truth, they set out to reveal the traitor. However, the discovery leads to a fall out neither of them expected and will change their lives forever. 

Murder at the Front takes place near the battles of World War I, five years before Dora and Rex meet again in 1920s London in book one of Dora and Rex Mysteries series. I haven’t read the mysteries series before and did not know these characters. It is a fairly short book, only 16 chapters. However, I was bored. It felt very slow going and not particularly interesting. Dora is headstrong and determined to forge her own path; however, I didn’t particularly connect with her at all. Rex was a strong character as well. The mystery was ok. There wasn’t the usual time to get to know and suspect a long list of people. The reveal of the culprit felt rushed. Overall, I did not enjoy this story and I will not be continuing the series. However, if you enjoy wartime mystery stories, you may enjoy Murder at the Front. 

 Murder at the Front is available in paperback and eBook

Love's Broken Road: two broken hearts and a second chance for love

Love’s Broken Road is the first book in the Lincoln Love Stories series by Julie Coulter Belton. After surviving an abusive marriage and the death of her husband, Victoria Newel needs a clean state. She takes her five year old son and moves across the country to Lincoln, Utah and takes a job as a math teacher. Her new principal assigns Drew Dalton, an English teacher, to be her tour guide. Drew lost his wife to cancer a couple years ago and the thought of finding a new love is far, far from his mind. However, when he meets Victoria, he begins to see the possibility. As her gentle nature and strength draws him to her, he offers her friendship and maybe something more but Victoria is so guarded. Can Victoria ever open her heart and trust herself and love again? Is Drew truly ready to take a chance on a new love?

Love’s Broken Road is a sweet second chance with drama and love triangles. The story was short but sweet. The drama was good and expected with a love triangle. I did find that everything seemed to move quickly for Drew and Victoria despite their pasts. Especially Victoria as she went from recovering from the aftermath of an abusive marriage to being infatuated with Drew. Even the love triangles seemed to resolve with more “We can be friends” sentiments that I don’t know would happen in real life. The ending was sweet and the story came full circle. There was an incident involving Victoria’s son that details of how it occurred seemed unrealistic. I put down the book and asked “would a five year old be capable of that?” Overall, the story was enjoyable; however, I am unsure if I will continue the series. If you enjoy a second chance romance, I recommend Love’s Broken Road. 

Love’s Broken Road is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

 

The Wedding Favor: a sweet, funny age gap romance that will have you laughing, crying and cheering

The Wedding Favor by Sharon M. Peterson is the newest book in the Two Harts universe. Iris Sampson can’t believe she agreed to be the best woman at her ex-boyfriend’s wedding. The embarrassment was enough but now she needs a hot date as her plus one. Abe Ramos, her new gorgeous neighbor and single dad, offers to be her date. In return, she agrees to watch Hallie, his nine year old daughter. With tattoos, ear piercings and thirteen years older than her, Abe is the exact opposite of her ex. As they spend time together, she begins to dream about being a real family with Abe and Hallie. However, Iris has no idea what her future holds. She has no idea what she wants to do for her career and the rest of her life but she really wants Abe to be in it. Will their age difference keep them apart? How will their families and the town react to their relationship?

Sharon M. Peterson has become one of my autobuy authors. She writes stories with heart, humor and real life struggles and characters you want to root for. Although I usually avoid age gap romances; however, I knew Ms. Peterson would create characters and a story that would not be the typical age gap romances I’ve read in the past. The Wedding Favor is so good. It is sweet, with humor and even a few tears. I liked that the character discussed the age gap as an issue with maturity and a little humor. I found myself getting angry at certain attitudes by some characters about their relationship and cheered when Iris and Abe stood up against such attitudes. I closed the book with a great smile. The Wedding Favor will have a permanent place on my bookshelf. I love Iris and Abe’s story as individuals and as a couple. I look forward to future stories in Two Harts. I highly, highly recommend The Wedding Favor. 

The Wedding Favor is available in paperback and eBook

Everything to Love: a friends to lovers romance set in a small town

 Everything to Lose is the first book in the Newberry Spring series by Harlow James. Wyatt and Kelsea have been best friends since they were babies. She has been in love with him since she was ten. When Wyatt left for college and Kelsea stayed behind in their hometown, she gave up the idea that they could ever be more than just friends. Now eight years later, as she buries her true feelings, she helps him run his brewery restaurant. It seemed to work until Wyatt’s twin brother, Walker, was tired of the two of them dancing around the elephant in the room and devises a plan to make his brother jealous and admit his own feelings. Kelsea knows it would be playing with fire but going against the rules she set to play it safe felt exciting. She knows it could backfire but is she willing to risk everything she knows and loves to finally have the love of her dreams? 

I love a good romance and Everything to Lose sounds like a great friends to lovers romance and with a great opening prologue, I was looking forward to a great story. However, it was so cringey that I found myself not rooting for Kelsea, Wyatt or their romance. The story is told in a dual point of view which is usually great and exciting; however, there was no real distinction between Kelsea’s voice or Wyatt’s. With the first book in a series, there is a certain amount of information describing the town and the residents; however, there seems to be way too much focus on this information than Kelsea and Wyatt’s potential relationship. Oh the dialogue! Some of it was so cringey, especially from Wyatt, I literally rolled my eyes. So not romantic at all! Even the spicy scenes were cringey. I did not enjoy this story and I will not be continuing the series. I do not recommend Everything to Lose. 

Everything to Lose is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook