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Christian Fiction July 2025 |
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Christine's Library Journal Reviews |
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Ambush
by Colleen Coble
This review by librarian Christine Barth was first published in the March 2025 issue of Library Journal.
Paradise Sanctuary Animal Park gives wild creatures a second chance in the humid climate of the Gulf Coast of Alabama, and veterinarian Paradise Alden is hoping it will give her the same. Dealing with PTSD after being attacked by a big cat, Paradise has returned here, to the town where her parents were murdered and she endured traumatizing foster situations.
She hopes to get closure and the strength to move on while she works at the Paradise Sanctuary. Soon, she's unexpectedly working side-by-side with her former best friend, Blake Lawson, to protect the struggling sanctuary from mysterious attacks. Unsatisfied with the response of the town's apathetic and possibly corrupt police officers, Paradise and Blake call a truce in order to launch their own investigation into the sinister events at the sanctuary. When a huge storm rolls in, they will each decide what is worth the risk to save.
VERDICT Coble (Fragile Designs) capitalizes on her success with Rick Acker in the "Tupelo Grove" series to create a new spin-off in the same southern Alabama setting. Romantic suspense fans will be drooling over this new offering and eager for more installments.
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First love, second draft
by Becca Kinzer
This review by librarian Christine Barth was first published in the March 2025 issue of Library Journal.
Romance novelist Gracie Parker is struggling to add zip to her manuscript, especially because her own love life has been stagnant since her divorce. After a horseback riding accident, she comes home from the hospital to find that her nephew has rented the cottage next door to none other than her ex, the washed-up baseball star Noah, who still shares her last name despite their separation.
In this forced-proximity, second-chance love story, Kinzer (Love in Tandem) uses her signature elements of small-town charm and complicated family relationships to explore starting over midstream in life. As Noah seeks forgiveness, Gracie winds up using his return to jumpstart her writing. Just as endearing is the love story between meddling nephew Matt and his first love, who has also recently moved back to town.
VERDICT This lighthearted and heartwarming Midwest romance is laugh-out-loud funny, especially during the text message exchanges, and the characters will feel like friends. Secular readers will also enjoy this chaste offering, similar to Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson and The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh.
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| This Promised Land by Cathy GohlkeThis review by librarian Christine Barth was first published in the March 2025 issue of Library Journal.
After the death of her war-wounded husband, recently retired Ginny Boyden is now free to travel the world and realize her dream of planting heritage roses on a grand estate in England. When she receives a surprise inheritance from the family whom she thought disowned her, she travels to Virginia to settle her brother's papers.
Rather than a windfall, she finds the Pickering Christmas tree farm, which is saddled with debt, a grouchy nephew who views her as an interloper living on her "promised land," and near-starving great-nieces and nephews sleeping in the barn. As Ginny works with handsome estate lawyer Will Skipwith to try and sell the farm, she is confronted with her own life's choices and regrets.
VERDICT Gohlke (Ladies of the Lake) delivers another heart-stopping family drama that reminds readers that everyone is a prodigal searching for the way home. Infused with wry humor and the beautiful language of flowers and plants, many will see themselves in the brokenness of the Pickering-Boyden clan. Read-alikes include The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman and Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers. |
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Spark of the Revolution (Harbor of Spies, #1)
by Megan Soja
Contrary to her name, Patience Abbott has long felt unsettled and anxious to leave behind her painful memories in England for a fresh start in America. But her new life isn't quite what she expected, and as tension grows in her new home of Boston, so does the distance between Patience and her estranged father. So when Josiah Wagner walks into her life, it finally feels like she's not alone. If only his patriotic leanings didn't put him at odds with her father's loyalties.
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Eleanore's Wish
by Simpson, susan
Eleanore Gingrich loves teaching the scholars in her Old Order Mennonite Community but really hopes for a home and family of her own. She has been struggling to accept and manage chronic health problems when mysterious gifts begin showing up ...
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To Capture a Mountain Man
by Hatcher, Robin Lee
"She came seeking adventure. He never expected her to find him. Lady Amanda Whitcombe dreamed of the untamed beauty of the American West from the moment Buffalo Bill's Wild West dazzled her during the Queen's Jubilee. But nothing could prepare her for ...
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Fire Mountain
by Dana Mentink
Long-haul trucker Kit Garrido wakes up in her crashed rig with no memory of what happened--and an abandoned baby in her backseat. Forced to rely on the help of a stranger who could be dangerous himself, Kit must do whatever it takes to stay alive, discover the truth, and find the baby's missing mother--all while a deadly volcano rains fire from above.
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Splendor of the land
by Connilyn Cossette
"Led into a troubled lifestyle by the past that haunts him, Gavriel, a soldier in King Saul's army, is sent on a mission to persuade a distant tribe to sever their ties with the Amalekites. Zahana is hidden behind her father's goldsmith legacy, but an encounter with Gavriel tangles her fate with his and throws them both into an unforeseen battle"
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When the road comes around
by Katie Powner
"Tad Bungley has a reputation for trouble, but Anita Wilson believes that all Tad needs is a chance, so she convinces her husband to offer Tad a job at their ranch. She didn't anticipate the effect Tad would have on her disabled son, and together Anita and Tad must learn when to hold on, when to let go, and how to embrace grace"
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Final approach
by Lynette Eason
"Air Marshal Kristine Duncan and FBI Agent Andrew Ross thwart an airplane hijacking only to uncover a complex plot of revenge. Now they must navigate a web of deception, blame, and a personal reckoning with the past to unravel the truth before it's too late"
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Second chance at Sunshine Inn
by Amy Clipston
"Welcome to the Sunshine Inn, a picturesque coastal inn with sweeping views and two new owners who couldn't be more opposite. From bestselling author Amy Clipston comes a no spice grumpy/sunshine romance perfect for fans of Anne-Marie Meyer and RaeAnne Thayne"
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The Collector of Burned Books
by Roseanna M. White
In this gripping World War II historical about the power of words, two people form an unlikely friendship amid the Nazi occupation in Paris and fight to preserve the truth that enemies of freedom long to destroy.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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