Accused by Janice Cantore

Title: Accused

Author: Janice Cantore

Publisher: Tyndale House

Book Description:

Detective Carly Edwards hates working in juvenile—where the brass put her after an officer-involved shooting—and longs to be back on patrol. So when a troubled youth, Londy Atkins, is arrested for the murder of the mayor and Carly is summoned to the crime scene, she’s eager for some action. Carly presses Londy for a confession but he swears his innocence, and despite her better judgment, Carly is inclined to believe him. Yet homicide is convinced of his guilt and is determined to convict him.

Carly’s ex-husband and fellow police officer, Nick, appears to be on her side. He’s determined to show Carly that he’s a changed man and win her back, but she isn’t convinced he won’t betray her again.

As the investigation progresses, Carly suspects a cover-up and strikes out on her own, uncertain whom she can trust. But when danger mounts, she begins to wonder if she made the right choice.

Review:

Detective Carly Edwards is stuck in “juvenile exile” and wishes she was back in her patrol car, on the front lines of protecting Las Playas, California. When a juvenile she knows is accused in a high-profile murder case, Carly is sure it will lead to her release from working in juvenile investigations and return her to patrol. Instead, it leads her into the investigation of her life and forces her to figure out who she can trust. Unfortunately, one of the few people she is sure she can trust is her ex-husband, a man she wants to continue to avoid. Carly and her ex must work together with the help of a few others to figure out who the real killer is and untangle the web of corruption and deceit surrounding them before someone else ends up dead.

Accused is a Christian suspense novel with romantic elements. The plot takes unexpected twists and turns, which quickly grabs the reader’s attention and holds it tightly until the end. The Christian themes could be woven in a little more smoothly in the first half of the book, but the second half mixes Christianity into the story seamlessly. The biggest issue I had with the elements of faith in the first half of the book was Carly’s somewhat repetitive negative reactions to any mention of God, prayer, or church. While it was good to see a main character in a Christian novel struggling with doubts and anger toward God, the repeated references to “Bible-thumpers” and disproportionate anger whenever anyone mentioned church or prayer to Carly felt a bit overdone.

Despite the occasionally clunky inclusion of Christian themes in the first half of the book, I enjoyed the story a great deal and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys suspense or complex mysteries. The characters are realistic with flaws as well as good qualities, and the author did a marvelous job of weaving a plot so complex that the reader is left wondering who can be trusted right along with Carly. I would read more books by Janice Cantore.

A Rush of Wings by Kristen Heitzmann

Title: A Rush of Wings

Author: Kristen Heitzmann

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Book Description:

Though her panic is real, Noelle St. Claire is uncertain what danger she is fleeing. Fragmented images and slivers of memory have driven her to abandon her wealthy, sheltered life in New York for the hope of a haven—remote and safe.

Noelle’s arrival at the Rocky Mountain horse ranch owned by Rick Spencer and his brother Morgan causes more than a little stir. Beautiful, vulnerable, yet strangely secretive, Noelle is an enigma the two contrasting brothers seek to unlock. But as their attentions breach the wall she hides behind, the past becomes a menacing threat from which Noelle can no longer hide.

Review:

A Rush of Wings takes readers on an amazing journey of pain, hope, and healing. Noelle St. Claire is running scared—she just isn’t sure what she’s running from. When she arrives at the Spencer ranch just outside Juniper Falls, Colorado, she finds what she’s looking for: a place she feels safe.

Rick Spencer and his brother Morgan are both attracted to Noelle, although Rick tries to deny it at first. Morgan tries to garner Noelle’s interest while drawing her out of her shell. While it wasn’t his original intention, his carefree, outgoing ways start to crack the wall Noelle has placed around her memories. Rick can see that the only way she can ever heal is with God’s grace and love, but she’s resistant to anything related to God or faith. Panic attacks triggered by harmless comments and gestures start to cripple Noelle, and she has to decide if she wants to continue to live in fear or if she wants the freedom and independence she first sought at the ranch.

Kristen Heitzmann has done a wonderful job of showing the devastating result of traumatic events and the healing power of God. The realism of the characters and their struggles makes them easy to identify with, and the vivid descriptions throughout the book bring the story to life. A Rush of Wings is a great read for anyone who loves realistic Christian fiction.

Almost Heaven by Chris Fabry

Title: Almost Heaven

Author: Chris Fabry

Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers

Book Description:

Billy Allman is a hillbilly genius. People in Dogwood, West Virginia, say he was born with a second helping of brains and a gift for playing the mandolin but was cut short on social skills. Though he’d gladly give you the shirt off his back, they were right. Billy longs to use his life as an ode to God, a lyrical, beautiful bluegrass song played with a finely tuned heart. So with spare parts from a lifetime of collecting, he builds a radio station in his own home. People in town laugh. But Billy carries a brutal secret that keeps him from significance and purpose. Things always seem to go wrong for him.
However small his life seems, from a different perspective Billy’s song reaches far beyond the hills and hollers he calls home. Malachi is an angel sent to observe Billy. Though it is not his dream assignment, Malachi follows the man and begins to see the bigger picture of how each painful step Billy takes is a note added to a beautiful symphony that will forever change the lives of those who hear it.

Review:

This is the story of Billy Allman, a simple man born and raised in the hills of West Virginia. All of his life, he’s had a strong faith in God, a love of bluegrass music, and a dream for a radio station. Everything in his life seems to go wrong, but through it all he remains steadfast in his love of the Lord. In fact, the worse the situation, the stronger his faith seems to grow.

Malachi is an angel given the task of protecting Billy. Through the angel’s eyes, readers are given a deeper look at human nature and how those in the heavenlies might view life here on earth. Malachi suffers from a few moments of doubt, making him easy to connect with, but his faith in God’s goodness and his allegiance to the Creator never waver.

Throughout the story, we see event after event in Billy’s life that has a deep impact on him. Many are enough to make some people decide God has abandoned them. But as Billy remains strong in his faith, it inspires readers to do the same. A common theme in the book is that no matter how bad life gets here on earth, God is still very much in control and He’s right there with us through it all, even when it feels like we’re stumbling along on our own.

Almost Heaven is filled with poignant emotion and amazing descriptions that draw the reader in. The emotions and events are portrayed in such a way that readers can easily empathize with the characters and experience the story right along with them. The many reminders of God’s love and healing are uplifting without being overwhelming. It’s the kind of book that will speak to a wide audience.

I recommend this book for any reader who doubts God’s goodness, or doesn’t feel worthy of His mercy, or is going through a difficult time, or has an experience in their past that still haunts them. Basically, any reader who enjoys Christian fiction will likely enjoy Almost Heaven.

Yesterday’s Promise by Delia Latham

Title: Yesterday’s Promise

Author: Delia Latham

Publisher: White Rose Publishing

Book Description:

A whirlwind romance amidst the natural splendor of Yosemite National Park. A spur-of-the-moment wedding near Bridalveil Fall. A young bride who awakens the morning after to find her new husband gone with the mountain wind.

Songbird Hannah Johns supports the child born of that ill-fated union by singing in a dinner lounge. Her dream of someday owning the elite establishment and turning it into a venue more suited to her Christian values is shattered when an unexpected transaction places it in the hands of Brock Ellis, the handsome biker who abandoned her in their honeymoon suite.

Ensuing sparks fly high, revealing buried secrets and forgotten pasts. Seeking to find peace with her painful past, Hannah returns to Yosemite, and Brock follows hard on her heels. Back where it all began, she finds herself in danger of losing her heart yet again to the man who shattered it the first time around.

Review:

Hannah Johns is a single mom working as a singer in a dinner lounge. Brock Ellis is an entrepreneur who buys the dinner lounge and has big plans to change it. He also broke Hannah’s heart four years before, but he shows no signs of recognition when he’s introduced as her new boss. What ensues is an amazing tale of faith and love, memories and loss. And in the midst of it all, Hannah’s three-year-old son, Davey, unwittingly helps bring together his mother and the father he’s never known.

Delia Latham’s writing style is vibrant and realistic, evoking emotion and bringing the story and the characters to life. She’s seamlessly woven Christianity into Yesterday’s Promise, showing that even the strongest of Christians can have doubts and misunderstand God’s leading. This book also shows how forgiveness and love can mend the most broken of fences and that God’s grace and strength are sufficient to sustain us through whatever storms life may throw our way. Though Ms. Latham a new author to me, I would definitely read more of her work.

The Mercenary’s Marriage by Rachel Rossano

Title: The Mercenary’s Marriage

Author: Rachel Rossano

Publisher: Rachel Rossano

Book Description:

Trained as a mercenary soldier, Darius was a man of decisive action. He was also a man of compassion. Seeing a young slave woman about to become the spoils of war, he claimed her for his own. Marrying her before God and king, he made her a free and respectable soldier’s wife.

Brice was born a slave. Abused and beaten, she learned quickly to avoid being noticed and to stay away from men. When her master’s walls fell to enemy forces, she ran, but not fast enough. In Darius’ offer she found deliverance, but experience had taught her to fear power such as his. Could she trust in his protection, or had she traded one form of slavery for another?

Review:

Once I started reading The Mercenary’s Marriage I couldn’t stop until I finished the book! The vibrant characters felt like they could step off the page at any moment because of their realism. The journey and challenges of Darius and Brice kept me riding along on their emotional roller coaster until the very end. While I would have liked to see little more attention given to Darius’ motivation for his actions, I have to admit that the way Ms. Rossano wrote his character made it that much easier to identify with Brice. After all, Darius kept me guessing as much as he did her!

All in all, this is a wonderful sweet romance I would recommend to anyone looking for an engaging read. I would definitely read more books by Rachel Rossano.

The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen

Title: The Girl in the Gatehouse

Author: Julie Klassen

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Book Description:

Mariah Aubrey lives in seclusion with her secrets. Will an ambitious captain uncover her identity… and her hidden past?

Banished from the only home she’s ever known, Mariah Aubrey hides herself away in an abandoned gatehouse on a distant relative’s estate. There she supports herself and her loyal servant the only way she knows how—by writing novels in secret.

When Captain Matthew Bryant leases the estate, he is intrigued by the beautiful girl in the gatehouse. But there are many things he doesn’t know about this beguiling outcast. Will he risk his plans—and his heart—for a woman shadowed by scandal?

Intriguing, mysterious, and romantic, The Girl in the Gatehouse takes readers inside the life of a secret authoress at a time when novel-writing was considered improper for ladies and the smallest hint of impropriety could change a woman’s life forever.

Review:

With one devastating mistake, Miss Mariah Aubrey ruined her reputation and her hope of ever marrying a respectable man. Cast out by her family, she must now rely on the generosity of her aunt for a place to live — the abandoned gatehouse on the aunt’s estate. The need for an income causes Mariah to seek publication for her novel manuscripts, which would give her father another reason to disapprove of her should he find out.

Captain Matthew Bryant is determined to win the hand of the young lady who rejected him once before. While he may not have been born into a society family, his successful career in the Royal Navy and the prize money he received through it should be enough to finally convince both the woman and her father that Matthew is worthy of her. The girl living in the gatehouse of the estate he had leased, however, intrigues him and may threaten his ability to win the young lady he is determined to impress.

Ms. Klassen brings this tale to life with a colorful cast of characters, each of whom have their own secrets and add flavor to the story. Several subplots are woven throughout the book, such as the mysterious man who walks the poorhouse roof, but each adds to the conflict and motivation of the characters. Although this is a Christian novel, the Christian themes — such as forgiveness and loving your neighbors — are so well integrated into the story that they are inconspicuous much of the time.

All in all, The Girl in the Gatehouse is a wonderful story I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys Regency-era romance or historical fiction.

What’s in Your Closet? by Rhonda Gibson and Stacy Baron

Title: What’s In Your Closet?

Author: Rhonda Gibson & Stacy Baron

Publisher: White Rose Publishing

Book Description:

Emily isn’t looking for love. In fact, it’s the last thing on the young widow’s mind. She’s vowed to focus solely on her daughter. With Megan’s hearing impairment, the toddler has enough to deal with without Emily bringing a new man into the picture—one who undoubtedly wouldn’t be patient with a deaf child not his own.

David doesn’t think he’s looking for love—until he meets Emily. The woman is beautiful inside and out and has a streak of determination that’s matched only by the love she pours out to her adorable daughter. But Emily won’t have anything to do with him outside of his home-decorating project…that is, until she finds an old skeleton in his closet.

Never before has finding skeletons in the closet been a good thing, but solving the mystery of David’s skeleton may just be the blessing that convinces Emily to love him forever.

Review:

Young widow and mother Emily Stuart is afraid of getting hurt if she allows a man into her life. She’s even more afraid of her three-year-old daughter, Megan, getting hurt. Because of that fear, she has resigned herself to life alone, at least until Megan is an adult.

David Whitmore recently left Arizona and the high pressure business world to buy an old farm in Oklahoma. When he hires Emily to redo the interior of his new house, he gets more than remodeling in the bargain.

As Emily works on the farmhouse, she and David discover an attraction for each other that neither is willing to admit or even accept. The discovery of a skeleton in a hidden kitchen pantry brings them together as they work to solve the mystery behind it. Though Emily finally admits David has become a friend, fear still prevents her from considering him as anything else. David respects her decision to remain only friends, but he can’t stop his attraction to this beautiful lady with an equally beautiful daughter—both of whom steal his heart no matter how closely he tries to guard it.

Throughout the book, vivid descriptions bring the characters and the story to life, making the reader a participant to the story. A lively cast of secondary characters just adds to the richness of the story. The Christian elements are included in a realistic way that encourages without preaching. With each page, I found myself hoping Emily and David would find a way to get together, and that they would solve the mystery of the skeleton in the closet.

This is a book I recommend to anyone who loves a sweet romance and an intriguing mystery. Though the authors are new to me, I would definitely read more of their books.