|
|
|
|
Christian Fiction May 2026 |
|
|
|
|
|
The Bookshop of 99 Doors
by Jaime Jo Wright
In 1888 Pennsylvania, 25-year-old Minnie Tipton adapts to her new home, Ambrose Field manor, and cares for her ill father, who claims to see the Civil War soldier ghost who supposedly haunts the place. In the present day, Triss Bellamy starts a new job managing a bookshop in Minnie's old home, which is now a historic site. Then her professional ghost hunter brother shows up. For fans of: suspenseful paranormal-tinged, dual-timeline novels.
|
|
|
|
Deadly Secrets
by Laura Scott
Former army soldier Di Milbrath is determined to keep the secrets of her past buried deep. And that means avoiding law enforcement. Yet when she's targeted by gunfire, she's forced into a dangerous partnership with a former army soldier turned cop.
|
|
|
|
The songbird
by Cotten, Carrie
Tove Volfsbydóttir is willing to do anything for the Shieldmaiden who redeemed her from slavery, even enter into a marriage alliance with a near stranger. But soon she finds herself homesick and heartbroken in her new village—and alone except for a little slave girl whose sorrows Tove understands well. Dark forces are at work around her, including a mysterious army sweeping through the land, looking to rid every village of those who follow The Christ. The one man willing to help Tove is the last person she has reason to trust.
|
|
|
|
Death Follows Her
by Rachel Dylan
Three powerful CEOs. Three sudden deaths. One woman determined to uncover the truth.
|
|
|
|
A Most Peculiar Providence
by Angela Hunt
Joshua Donnelly has always lived with care. In the old house on Church Street, he follows the rhythms his mother taught him-faithful, steady, predictable. He does not ask for more than daily bread and a quiet life. Until, on the coldest night of the year, a newborn baby is placed in his care. No instructions. No explanation. Only a prayer answered in a form he never expected.
|
|
|
|
Love & Baseball
by Wright, Jaime Jo
There is a purpose for AI, and Brielle decides the genius thing to do is make a fake boyfriend. Complete with deepfake photos, Brielle creates the perfect boyfriend, and no one needs to know he's entirely fictional. They just need to believe she met him over summer vacation, and he lives somewhere in North Carolina. Only he doesn't. When baseball catcher, Brooks Mason shows up at high school, a lookalike to Brielle's AI boyfriend, her entire world becomes a dog-eared, bent pages book nightmare.
|
|
|
|
The Cinderella Plot
by Basham, Pepper
She’s the girl with the oversized cardigan, random book knowledge, and the uncanny ability to tutor the school’s star quarterback without actually being seen as anything more than helpful. Meanwhile, her aunt and uncle’s beloved small-town bookstore is under threat from a shiny corporate chain, her best friend keeps giving her looks that feel suspiciously loaded, and Homecoming is looming like a glittery reminder that senior year is running out…and she’s never been kissed. Enter The Cinderella Plot—a wildly popular self-help book promising total transformation in five easy steps. New hair. New confidence. New life. Maybe even… a date.
|
|
|
|
The Star-Blessed
by Angie Dickinson
Three legendary origins of power. Two royal bloodlines. One deadly curse.The kingdom of Stelauris is slowly dying. A season of poison infects the air, earth, and water with increasing deadliness each year, and a deep love of gold and power infects the failing mind of the king. His only daughter and first in line to the throne, Princess Seren, lives in tightly controlled isolation. When she is suddenly thrust into royal society, she struggles to hide the strain of untamed magic awakening in her blood.Seren's newly appointed personal guard, Sir Corin, resents the exile of his people. As heir to a long-banished line of succession and the last of the land's legendary protectors, he holds no loyalty for the current royal family and their history of unhinged cruelty.As death steals over the kingdom and the schemes at court grow deadlier, the princess and the guard are forced to face their fears, their troubled pasts, and the cost of personal freedom.The Star-Blessed is a reimagining and reinventing of two fairy tales: Rumpelstiltskin and Cat-Skin by the Brothers Grimm.
|
|
|
|
Don't Upstage the Body
by Naomi Stephens
Hippolyta Halfpenny and her family of professional mourners find themselves trapped at a reclusive lord's funeral after the undertaker is murdered. As suspicions rise, Hippolyta must conceal her family's true identities, unravel secrets behind the murder, and unmask the truth before the final curtain falls.
|
|
|
|
Chapter One Again
by Keelia Clarkson
Escape to Avila Falls in this Cozy Second-Chance Romance Jane is a successful ghostwriter living her dream in New York City, collaborating with movie stars and musicians while quietly longing to publish her own novel. But just as her career comes to a crossroads, she's called back to her hometown of Avila Falls, a charming mountain town with a colorful cast of characters, where a chance encounter with her high school crush stirs unexpected questions about her NYC life.
|
|
|
|
Almost by Design
by Jenny Erlingsson
When a blunder and an injury threaten Kenya Stewart's career, she fakes a relationship with doctor Solomon Abujnde to restore her coveted promotion and appease his demanding parents. As attractions increase amid their ruse, secrets they've kept from each other begin to unravel their scheme. Will their plans crumble when the truth comes out?
|
|
|
|
The Targeted
by Cara C. Putman
Can she protect her gym students before her past catches up? When Chloe Ainsworth's older sister reappears after fourteen years, she brings with her the news that Chloe's abuser is back in town. Chloe is a coach at her childhood gym and fiercely protective of her young gymnasts. She won't allow them to suffer the way she did, but she's desperate for an ally--one who can help her make her case. Law student Dare Shepherd works at the local legal clinic, where he meets Chloe and hears her out. He believes her case but can't get the clinic director on board. As he learns more about her story, he finds himself bound by a deepening personal care for Chloe. They band together in search of answers, and suddenly the stakes skyrocket. It's clear they're onto something, but will they be able to find the answers before it's too late?
|
|
|
|
The Brunswick: A World War II Novel of the American South
by Callie Murray
In 1939 Georgia, Cora Cain runs The Brunswick, her family's struggling general store and hotel. When Thomas Watkins arrives seeking solace after his mother's death, a connection sparks. But their relationship and courage are tested when they shelter Jewish refugee children, including ten-year-old Charlotte, whose father faces persecution in Austria.
|
|
|
|
Daughter of the Rebellion
by Jamie Ogle
In this stirring historical romance by award-winning author Jamie Ogle, a young woman imprisoned in a Roman gladiator school becomes a legendary warrior. But when not even her fame is enough, she must fight to save herself and those she loves.
|
|
|
|
Into a Golden Era
by Gabrielle Meyer
Ally lives in 1849 San Francisco, where she strives to secure a fortune amid the Gold Rush and uses her time crossing knowledge to uncover why history has changed, and 1929 Hollywood, where she fakes a romance with a notorious actor to save her family's film studio. When history doesn't play by the rules, Ally must decide which path is worth sacrificing.
|
|
|
|
Warrior
by Lisa Phillips
Some rescues require more than medical training. Some battles are worth the risk. The last person Dr. Kira Yassan expects to walk back into her life is the soldier whose life she saved in a war zone three years ago.
|
|
|
Christine's Library Journal Reviews
|
|
|
|
Ambush of the Heart
by Mary Connealy
This review by Librarian Christine Barth was first published in the Jan. 2026 issue of Library Journal.
Ambushed on page one of this book while trying to transport a prisoner to Cheyenne in the 1870s, Owen Riley and a group of United States Marshals will need all their survival skills to elude trigger-happy outlaws and find their way through barely charted mountainous terrain.
To top it off, Delaney and Boone Bridger are two civilians with them, on their way to join their notorious mountain man father at Fort Russell. Unforgiving terrain paired with unparalleled beauty and some strange Rocky Mountain characters await the group as they journey hundreds of miles on horseback.
Many obstacles threaten to delay justice and cause the marshals to wonder if they will survive the trip. The physical challenges are not the only snares though; the weathered marshals also find their hearts unexpectedly entangled with tough-as-nails mountain women.
VERDICT: A fast-paced start slows to unravel the characters' inner lives, although Connealy (Into the Sunset) sets it up nicely for a sequel. Lovers of Wild West romance should also check out Amanda Cabot's "Texas Dreams" series and Regina Scott's "American Wonders" books.
|
|
|
|
Hearts on the Fly
by Toni Shiloh
This review by librarian Christine Barth first appeared in the Jan. 2026 issue of Library Journal.
Everything about Jabari Hall screams hockey. Also known as "Crank," for cranking out goals for the Washington Warriors, he doesn't have any friends outside of the rink. But then one hard hit and a concussion speed up previously hidden macular degeneration. Instead of being an on-ice superstar, Jabari cannot drive, or even navigate his living room, without help.
Hoping to shake up Jabari's one-track mind, his friend set him up on a (literal) blind date with Val Elliott. Working for her family's high-power sports agency, Val is the glue that holds everything together, both at work and in her close-knit family.
Jabari's predicament tugs at her heartsrings, but there's one problem: he is her sister's ex-boyfriend whom she never quite got over, and the lies her sister told about their relationship may tear Val's family apart.
VERDICT: Shiloh ("Love in the Spotlight" series) is excellent at writing characters going through tough times who are also genuinely funny and likeable. A great read for all rom-com lovers, who should also check out Courtney Walsh's "Holidays with Hart" series.
|
|
|
|
Where We Belong: An Orphan Train Novel
by Kim Vogel Sawyer
This review by librarian Christine Barth was first published in the March 2026 issue of Library Journal.
After being hit hard by the Great Depression and his wife's death, Callum Holbrook is finally back on track and ready to get his daughters back from a New York orphanage, but when he arrives to collect them, he finds they have been sent west on an orphan train.
Determined to stick together and get back home, Evelyn and Winnie Holbrook behave outrageously at every train stop until they are the last kids left.
Widower Hester Haak is desperate to realize her dream of raising children and takes the girls in, although the orphanage insists it's only temporary due to her single status. As they experience the growing pains of family, hearts gradually change, but no one is sure where they belong.
VERDICT: Sawyer (Hope's Enduring Echo) delivers a beautiful story of found family and hard-working people caught in an impossible situation in a country still recovering from the Great Depression. For more on the book's subject, check out Jody Hedlund's "Orphan Train" series and Christina Baker Kline's novel, Orphan Train.
|
|
|
|
The Lumber Baron's Wife
by Lynn Austin
This review by librarian Christine Barth was first published in the March 2026 issue of Library Journal.
In 1873, Hannah and John Wagner are drowning in grief and drifting apart. When his Civil War comrade Henry Abernathy invites them to a Michigan sawmill town on the cusp of the frontier, the Wagners try for a new start. Far from the familiar, Hannah is tasked with befriending Henry's young wife, Kate, a former burlesque dancer.
In the present day, Ashley and David move cross-country to Michigan for David's dream job as a conservationist. he's excited about the environmental restoration happening a century after the area was depleted by logging, less so about Ashley's passion for their quirky historic mansion and the mystery of the disappearance of a former inhabitant, the lumber baron's wife, Kate Abernathy.
VERDICT: Austin (All my Secrets) satisfies many types of readers with a rich Gilded Age saga, a historical mystery, characters who grow in faith, and an exploration of the human psyche.
Read-alikes include The Lady's Mine by Francine Rivers and The Gold in These Hills by Joanne Bischof.
|
|
|
|
|
|
