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She’s running from her past. He’s haunted by his.
SEARCHING FOR PEACE
Searching for Peace by Jessica Ashley
After the sudden death of her grandmother, Andie Montgomery finally returns home. It’s the last place she wants to be, especially when she discovers her grandmother has left her house not just to Andie–but to a handsome, yet grumpy former Army Ranger.
Dealing with him is the last thing she wants to do, but when someone tries to kill her, he risks his life to save hers.
After making a deathbed promise, former Army Ranger Elijah Breeth is pulled into danger alongside the cold, unfeeling woman he swore to protect.
And the only clue they have as to who is after Andie, is a box of letters left beneath her grandmother’s bed.
As Elijah digs deeper into Andie’s past, he begins to realize that the dark-haired beauty is more than what she seems…and her secrets might just be enough to bury them both.
If you are looking for a sizzling (but not spicy!), enemies to lovers romantic suspense, with a protective yet flawed Christian hero, a small town that protects their own, and a team of wounded veterans turned private security officers, then Searching for Peace is for you!
This Christian Romantic Suspense deals with:
-Coping with neglect
-Pushing through trauma
-Healing from predatory grooming
-Forgiving yourself
-Seeking God in everything
The Coastal Hope series can be enjoyed in any order.
Purchase Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org
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The Goddess Of Warsaw is an enthralling tale of a legendary Hollywood screen goddess with a dark secret about her life in the Warsaw Ghetto. When the famous actress is threatened by someone from her past, she must put her skills into play to protect herself, her illustrious career, and those she loves, then and now.
THE GODDESS OF WARSAW
The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr
Los Angeles, 2005. Sienna Hayes, Hollywood’s latest It Girl, has ambitions to work behind the camera. When she meets Lena Browning, the enormously mysterious and famous Golden Age movie star, Sienna sees her big break. She wants to direct a picture about Lena’s life—but the legendary actor’s murky past turns out to be even darker than Sienna dreamed. Before she was a Living Legend, Lena Browning was Bina Blonski, a Polish Jew whose life and family were destroyed by the Nazis.
Warsaw, 1943. A member of the city’s Jewish elite, Bina Blonski and her husband, Jakub, are imprisoned in the ghastly, cramped ghetto along with the rest of Warsaw’s surviving Jews. Determined to fight back against the brutal Nazis, the beautiful, blonde Aryan-looking Bina becomes a spy, gaining information and stealing weapons outside the ghetto to protect her fellow Jews. But her dangerous circumstances grow complicated when she falls in love with Aleksander, an ally in resistance—and Jakub’s brother. While Lena accomplishes amazing feats of bravery, she sacrifices much in the process.
Over a decade after escaping the horrors of the ghetto, Bina, now known as Lena, rises to fame in Hollywood. Yet she cannot help but be reminded of her old life and hungers for revenge against the Nazis who escaped justice after the war. Her power and fame as a movie star offer Lena the chance to right the past’s wrongs . . . and perhaps even find the happy ending she never had.
A gripping page-turner of one of history’s most heroic uprisings and an actress whose personal war never ends, The Goddess Of Warsaw is filled with secrets, lies, twists and turns, and a burning pursuit of justice no matter the cost.
Purchase Links
HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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If you could rewrite your life story, would you dare? That’s the question at the heart of this charming and propulsive debut novel about love, life, and a woman finding herself and what it means to be happy and successful.
THE MEMO
The Memo by Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling
Do you ever feel like your life doesn’t measure up to everyone else’s—and wonder if you just didn’t get the memo helping you make the right choices?
Jenny Green dreads her upcoming college reunion. Once top of her class, the thirty-five-year-old finds herself stuck in a life that isn’t the one she expected. Her promising career has flamed out (literally) and her deadbeat boyfriend is cheating on her (again). All her friends seem to have it all figured it out, enjoying glittering lives and careers that she can only envy from the sidelines. Did she just not get the memo they all did?
As it turns out, she didn’t!
When she arrives at her alma mater for the festivities, she receives a text from an unlisted number.
“Jenny Green: please collect your memo.”
Somewhere on campus, a discreet female-led organization provides comprehensive memos to select students, a set of instructions that are a blueprint for success.
The first time around, Jenny didn’t receive hers. Now, she’s being given the second chance she wants—an opportunity to relive her life and make all the right decisions this time around. But at what price?
Smart, addictive, bittersweet, and ultimately triumphant, The Memo will enchant readers of In Five Years and Cassandra in Reverse as well as fans of Emma Straub and Maria Semple.
Purchase Links
HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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A woman, her grandfather, and her lover quarantine in the remote lakeside wilderness?where their world splits apart at the seams.
CICADA SUMMER
Cicada Summer by Erica McKeen
Purchase Links
W. W. Norton & Co. | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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“A dramatic story about taking the hardest steps forward to confront the scars of our past. A thought-provoking sequel that dives deep into the way our histories shape us.” ?5 Stars from Indies Today
WHAT LIES BURIED
What Lies Buried by Leslie Kain
What Lies Buried…doesn’t stay buried.
Scarred by a lifetime of emotional abuse and traumatic violence, Gavin battles the triggers of Complex PTSD. His wife Katie is determined to support him despite the strain of his unpredictable reactions on their marriage.
But returning to Boston to settle his father’s estate reactivates Gavin’s childhood scars, and more triggers. Then when he uncovers his family’s mob history, his volatile reactions put him in the crosshairs of dangerous people. Worried for his safety, Katie packs up their toddler and joins him. While there, she begins sorting through her late parents’ keepsakes, finding evidence of the artistic talent she abandoned after her father died, when she became child caregiver to her disabled mother. Eager to revive her unfulfilled past, Katie copes with Gavin’s increasingly unstable behavior through her painting and new friendships that encourage her journey to self-discovery.
As Gavin resists treatment and goes off the rails, secrets of his family’s past threaten them all. The generational dysfunction in Kain’s award-winning Secrets In The Mirror continues, as Katie faces her own emotional wounds and must choose between saving her marriage or saving their child…and herself.
Purchase Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org
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Both of them want a relationship—but is beginning it a big mistake?
FINDING YOU
Finding You by Amy Clipston
On the outside, twenty-seven-year-old Darcy Larsen is a pretty, put-together professional—but inside she’s falling apart. Eighteen months ago, she lost her fiancé in an accident she still blames herself for. After a successful transplant, her kidney disease seems to be in check, but she worries that her future children—if she has any—will also suffer from the same condition. And she’s overcome with indecision about finding her birth mother, discovering potentially devastating information, and hurting her adoptive parents.
Mechanic Carter Donovan seems to have everything going for him at first glance. Stunning good looks. A wicked sense of humor. And a heart of gold. But Carter’s seemingly perfect exterior hides a host of secrets. After a rough breakup and mounting medical bills from a medical emergency that left him drowning in debt, he doesn’t feel like the catch everyone says he is. Plus, he’s about to turn thirty—with no romantic prospects on the horizon.
When Darcy’s Lexus breaks down in her doctor’s parking lot, Carter appears on the scene to try to jump-start her car—and her heart. But despite their immediate connection right from the start, the two have perhaps too many obstacles to overcome. Carter questions if getting involved with Darcy will be his next big mistake. And Darcy wonders if she can ever move past her grief and guilt to embrace the gift of Happily Ever After that’s dangling in front of her.
- Sweet contemporary romance
- Stand-alone novel
- Book length: approximately 90,000 words
- Includes discussion questions for book clubs
Purchase Links
TNZ Fiction | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Correlia of Olympus was “gifted” the destiny of becoming Persephone, Goddess of Nature and Spring. As every Great One is told, she must follow the path appointed to her or the world will be off-balance.
THE LIGHT IN HADES
The Light in Hades (Olympus Retold) by Elise Nelson
The Light in Hades is the latest romantic fantasy novel by author Elise Nelson.
Correlia of Olympus was “gifted” the destiny of becoming Persephone, Goddess of Nature and Spring. As every Great One is told, she must follow the path appointed to her or the world will be off-balance.
Beneath Mt. Olympus, Theron of Tartarus has been groomed to become Hades, the God of the Underworld. Despised by everyone on Olympus and tormented by his mentor, he has only known a life of abuse and despair.
The two were never meant to cross paths, but when Theron is sent on a mission to Mt. Olympus, he finds the goddess who is meant to be his enemy and his greatest opposition.
One encounter is all it takes for everything to change.
Now, the sheltered Corre finds herself in a position she never could have imagined: falling in love with the God of Death and questioning everything. Even her destiny.
Purchase Links
IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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This deeply-reported narrative illuminates the battle for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Boy Scouts of America, a decades-long struggle led by teenagers, parents, activists, and everyday Americans.
MORALLY STRAIGHT
Morally Straight: How the Fight for LGBTQ+ Inclusion Changed the Boy Scouts–and America by Mike De Socio
Weaving in his own experience as a scout and journalist, Mike De Socio’s Morally Straight tells a story that plays out over the course of nearly forty years, beginning in an era when gay rights were little more than a cultural sideshow; when same-sex marriage was not even on the radar; and when much of the country was recommitting to conservative social mores. It was during this treacherous time that accidental activists emerged, challenging one of America’s most iconic institutions in a struggle that would forever change the country’s view of gay people and the rights they held in society.
In Morally Straight we meet James Dale, the poster child of Scouting who took his fight for inclusion to the Supreme Court; Steven Cozza, the 12-year-old scout in California who started a movement for inclusion called Scouting for All; Jennifer Tyrrell, the lesbian den mother whose expulsion from the Scouts reignited the gay membership controversy; Zach Wahls, the son of lesbian moms who led the final push for policy change; and an array of other previously unknown Scouters who played smaller—but no less crucial—roles in the fight for full inclusion.
Richly reported and filled with unforgettable people, Morally Straight braids together these characters and brings to life their collective struggle. This is an essential narrative in the American LGBTQ+ rights movement, and a truly American story about the fight for a better future for our nation’s bedrock youth organization.
Purchase Links
Pegasus Books | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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In August 1942, French parents were faced with a horrible choice: watch their children die, or abandon them forever. Fifty years later, it becomes one woman’s mission to match the abandoned names with the people they belong to.
THE FORGOTTEN NAMES
The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar
Five years after the highly publicized trial of Klaus Barbie, the “Butcher of Lyon,” law student Valérie Portheret began her doctoral research into the 108 children who disappeared from Vénissieux fifty years earlier, children who somehow managed to escape deportation and certain death in the German concentration camps. She soon discovers that their rescue was no unexplainable miracle. It was the result of a coordinated effort by clergy, civilians, the French Resistance, and members of other humanitarian organizations who risked their lives as part of a committee dedicated to saving those most vulnerable innocents.
Theirs was a heroic act without precedent in Nazi-occupied Europe, made possible due to a loophole in the Nazi agenda to deport all Jewish immigrants from the country: a legally recognized exemption for unaccompanied minors. Therefore, to save their children, the Jewish mothers of Vénissieux were asked to make the ultimate sacrifice of abandoning them forever.
Told in dual timelines, The Forgotten Names is a reimagined account of the true stories of the French men and women who have since been named Righteous Among the Nations, the children they rescued, the stifled cries of shattered mothers, and a law student, whose twenty-five-year journey allowed those children to reclaim their heritage and remember their forgotten names.
- World War II historical fiction inspired by true events
- Includes discussion questions for book clubs, a historical timeline, and notes from the author
- Book length: 70,000 words
- Also by author: Auschwitz Lullaby, Children of the Stars, Remember Me, The Librarian of Saint-Malo, The Teacher of Warsaw, The Swiss Nurse
Purchase Links
Harper Muse | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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“Here’s the catch–even if I make it out of here alive, I need a reason to breathe again.”
THE LAST EXCHANGE
The Last Exchange by Charles Martin
When MacThomas Pockets finished his last tour as part of the Scottish Special Forces, he was hired to consult for a film director to finesse some scenes that weren’t working. In a twist he never saw coming, he ended up moving to L.A. to work as the bodyguard for movie star Maybe Joe Sue.
It didn’t take long for Pockets to realize there were two Joe Sues: The Joe Sue the public saw with her perfect life and her Hollywood husband. And the private Joe Sue: the one with the traumatic youth that no amount of pills could cover up, who desperately wanted a child of her own.
Even after their paths diverged, he continued to track Joe Sue’s life. Only a few would notice when the bottom fell out. But he did. And that’s when he stepped in.
One man seeks to answer the question: How far would you go–really–to save someone you love? And in the masterful hands of New York Times bestselling author Charles Martin, finding the answer will take readers on an intense and heart-wrenching journey to the very end.
Purchase Links
TNZ Fiction | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Weary of the long path to become a parent? Whether you or a family member is battling infertility, this trusted, encouraging 90-day devotional will comfort and strengthen you.
PRAYING THROUGH INFERTILITY
Praying Through Infertility: A 90-Day Devotional for Men and Women by Sheridan Voysey
Written by men and women who have faced infertility themselves with various outcomes, this book reminds you that you are not alone and will help set your heart free from fear.
Compiled by acclaimed writer, speaker, and broadcaster Sheridan Voysey, Praying Through Infertility is written to let you know that you are:
- Not alone in your sadness, anger, or confusion
- Not alone when you feel jealous of parents who have what you want
- Not alone when a giggling child brings not delight but grief
- Not alone in wondering who you’ll be if you never become a mom or dad
Praying Through Infertility doesn’t offer advice on treatments or give spiritual formulas for miracle conceptions. Instead, it offers an empathetic and hopeful accompaniment through the long dark night you are walking through.
Each daily devotional includes:
- Scripture verse and prayer
- Inspirational story where fears and anger are transformed into confident expectation and pure worship
- Intentional tip of the day to help you personally encounter God
- Prayer references for encouragement
Some of the contributors have been blessed with biological children, some have formed families through fostering or adoption, others are walking forward childless, and a few are still on the path. They have experienced many of the medical options available, from IVF to donor eggs and sperm. What they share is an experience of infertility’s dark depths, and a faith that’s held strong through the testing.
Purchase Links
Faith Gateway | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Discover the satisfaction of becoming the man God created you to be. In a world that’s grown increasingly confused about–and hostile toward–the very notion of masculinity, authors Jefferson Bethke and Jon Tyson send a powerful call to men everywhere: it’s time to step into the light of Jesus’ vision for you as a man.
FIGHTING SHADOWS
Fighting Shadows: Overcoming 7 Lies That Keep Men from Becoming Fully Alive by Jefferson Bethke and Jon Tyson
There’s a shadow that’s settled over the hearts of men today. Masculinity is in crisis. Critiques about the dangers of toxic masculinity and the abuses of patriarchal systems have grown louder than ever. The very notions of masculinity and manhood are under attack. In response to cultural shifts, some have doubled down on old stereotypes in ways that just add to the conflict and confusion.
The result? Many men simply feel paralyzed–worried about saying the wrong thing, unsure what to do with their ambitions or strengths, simultaneously tempted and shamed by a hypersexualized and pornified culture. Our models and mentors have failed us. Based on their years of working in men’s ministry, Bethke and Tyson have good news for men looking for clarity and courage in this age of quiet desperation. In Fighting Shadows, they help men
- overcome the temptations of escapism, passivity, or overcompensation;
- combat the most harmful shadows that men battle today, including loneliness, apathy, distraction, lust, and shame; and
- embrace masculinity as a God-given gift, not a curse to be avoided, suppressed, or battled.
An entire generation of men is being told they should abdicate the responsibility and joy of living into God’s calling on their lives—don’t be one of them. If you’re a man who’s wondering what to do with your strength, your longings, and your gifts, it’s time to step out of the shadows. Jesus has a vision for you.
Purchase Links
Faith Gateway | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Book clubs will love
STRANGER FROM ACROSS THE SEA
Stranger From Across the Sea by Regina McBride
As a teenager, Violet O’Halloran spent a summer at a Catholic boarding school in Northern Ireland, emptied of all other students but one: Indira Sharma, a blind girl from India with an extraordinary story. The beautiful but ultimately catastrophic friendship that formed between the two girls would go on to haunt Violet for years.
A decade later, Violet meets an Irishman, Emmett Fitzroy, at a party in New York City and is swept into an intense romance that brings her back to Ireland. While there, she unearths the stunning answers to mysteries left unresolved when Indira vanished from her life.
Set in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles, Stranger from Across the Sea explores place, displacement, and exile and the ways in which the personal and the political are inseparable. At its heart, this is a story about a passionate friendship between two singular young women, one that transcends the limits of time and distance.
Purchase Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org
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Please fill out our super short registration form (click the “Enter Now” button above) by June 30th for a chance to win a set of up to ten copies of one of these great books for your book club! We will randomly choose a winner at the end of the month. This giveaway is open to clubs in the US only (our apologies to friends in other countries).