Book picks similar to
Thirty Days to Glory by Kathy Nickerson


christian-fiction
first-reads
fiction
book-club-suggestions

Snowed In at the Ranch


Holly Stevenson - 2020
    As an Arizona native, Rachel is enchanted by the snow that never seems to stop falling … until that snow causes the airport to close, cancelling her flight home for the holidays. Rachel doesn’t mind experiencing her first white Christmas. What she does mind is her growing attraction to the cowboy assigned as her guide at the ranch. She’s just come out of a relationship and isn’t looking for another one—especially with someone who lives several states away.Levi Davis is busy enough caring for the livestock and guiding Canyon Creek’s outdoor excursions. The last thing he needs is to be saddled with a city girl to look after. But when Levi meets Rachel, he has a change of heart. The lively photographer captures his attention and has him wishing her stay in Montana would last longer than a few days. When a snowstorm forces the guests to extend their vacations, it looks like Levi will get his wish. But as an employee of the ranch, his hands are tied as far as making his feelings known to the woman he’s falling for.As Rachel and Levi spend time together the attraction between them is as clear as a starry Montana sky, but can they overcome the obstacles in their path? In a place like Canyon Creek, anything is possible.

Church Whore


Faith - 2015
    Unfortunately, The Holy Spirit isn't the only spirit alive in between the walls. The Blanks are the first family of First Assembly. Pastor Edwin Blanks II (Junior) is the head pastor. Along with his brothers, sisters and Mama Eloise, First Assembly is run like a well-oiled machine. That is until a new family enters the picture. The Harlot family. Three identical triplets; Jezebel, Delilah, Tamar and the matriarch Lilith make themselves at home at First Assembly. Temptation seems to be lurking around every corner, and the members of the congregation seem to forget that what's done in the dark will soon come to the light. Be prepared to be shocked. Church Whore...

An Imperfect Christmas


Tanya Jean Russell - 2020
    A home she hasn’t returned to for two years.No one knows the real reason why she hasn’t been back. No one, that is, except the one person who she is most nervous about seeing again.Will Maggie make peace with her past? Can she find love this Christmas?Or will more obstacles be thrown in her way…?

A Simple Amish Christmas


Vannetta Chapman - 2010
    As her time of rumschpringe is about to come to an abrupt end, bringing for Annie an overwhelming sense of loneliness. She returns home and finds herself face-to-face with a budding romance with an Amish farmer and important choices to make.

Christmastime 1940


Agnes Irene - 2012
    The curmudgeonly Charles Drooms is perfectly content with his life as the owner of a successful accounting firm. However, when the beautiful widow, Lillian Hapsey, and her two young sons move down the hall from him, his narrow world is shaken. Three forces—Lillian, the Christmas season, and a mysterious little boy—converge to stir up powerful memories, pushing Drooms to make some life-altering decisions.

The Special Guest: A Christmas Story


Lee W. Allen - 1995
    But for the Reids, this Christmas marks the first anniversary of the accident that changed their lives forever. Sixteen-year-old Scott Reid is working Christmas weekend when he meets an elderly man dressed in clothes as outdated as his automobile. The stranger explains he was passing through when his car broke down. Realizing that the man is stranded, Scott invites him home to spend Christmas with his family. Soon after the guest arrives, unexpected things begin to happen, leaving the Reids to wonder if something more than coincidence has brought this stranger to their home. Then, on Christmas morning they discover who their special guest really is. What they learn may be the most wondrous part of all.

The Unannounced Christmas Visitor


Patrick Higgins - 2014
    Sent to Planet Earth by his Maker, disguised as a homeless person, Enoch was on a mission: to rescue a man whose life was slowly but steadily spiraling out of control. Up until seven months ago, John Jensen was a responsible, churchgoing, happily married man and father of two. Then the slow fade began and John went from living life passionately to questioning everything he once thought important, deeming much of it utterly meaningless. The only place his wife, Lydia, could go to escape her ongoing marital struggles was the church she attended the past seventeen years. But even there it seemed her desperate cries to God for help always went unanswered. That is, until Enoch appeared one Sunday morning, hair unkempt, wearing ragged clothing. To Lydia’s great dismay, the old man was mocked and ridiculed by so many of her fellow believers, ultimately banished to the last row of the sanctuary simply because of his untidy appearance. One week later, after church service, Lydia and her two children, Matthew and Grace, spotted the old man walking to the city park where he lived among many other homeless people. Later that night, Lydia felt God’s strong urging to introduce herself to the man she still did not know had been sent as her Christmas miracle. In the days following her first visit to the homeless community in which the old man served as spiritual mentor, Lydia and her two children learned more about what it means to be true servants of God than she did in seventeen years at her church. But with John Jensen being Enoch’s chief reason for coming to Planet Earth, would the severely depressed, apathetic man submit to the pulling of God’s Holy Spirit, or was he already too far gone to be rescued?

A Gift For Abe (Brides For All Seasons Vol.2 Book 1)


Terri Grace - 2016
    Little does she realize, when she falls deathly ill on the journey there he will abandon her, leaving her stranded and sick on the station platform. Even the small town doctor refuses to take her in for fear that she will infect his other patients. Help comes in an unexpected guise, a humble mercantile owner named Abe Graham, once a physician, nurses the ailing Collette. And Collette’s body is not all that finds healing – Abe’s heart discovers a renewed purpose. Will Collette’s dream of a Thanksgiving wedding still take place? And can Abe shake off his past disappointments and embrace a new future? Brides For All Seasons Vol. II is a beautiful historical holiday romance series. Each book in the collection is a standalone story designed to warm your heart with seasonal love and romantic adventure.

Julotta


Tracie Peterson - 2002
    Sigrid Larsson may be resigned to spinsterhood, but she is not ready to sell the family homestead and move in with well-meaning relatives. When a dashing young man from the railroad approaches her, followed soon after by her neighbor, Erik Lindquist, Sigrid is thrown into confusion. On whose arm will she attend the Julotta, a Christmas morning worship service?

What the Heart Sees: A Collection of Amish Romances


Kathleen Fuller - 2011
    Years later, after he's nearly killed in an accident, Miriam sees him at a Christmas party and notices something is different about him-not just how he looks, but how he acts. When Seth pursues her, she must decide whether to guard her heart or accept his love. "A Place of His Own" from An Amish Gathering When Josiah left Paradise the first time, he didn't even say good-bye. Now he's back, ten years later, and he's changed. Why is he so distant and bitter? Where is the boy who used to be Amanda's best friend? Amanda is learning that there are things even a capable Amish girl can't fix. But can she stand there and watch him walk away...again? "What the Heart Sees" from An Amish Love A tragic accident rocks a peaceful Amish community, leaving Ellie Chupp blinded and Christopher Bender's future shattered. But they find love and forgiveness in a place they least expect.

The Swaddling Clothes


Amber Schamel - 2013
     Through the ages, many stories have been told about Mary, Joseph and the birth of the Messiah. Stories of shepherds and sheep, kings, angels, and stables. But there is one story that has never been told. One story that has remained hidden in the fabric of time. The story of The Swaddling Clothes. Mentioned not once, but several times in the Scriptural text, what is the significance of these special cloths? And how did they make their way into a stable in Bethlehem? From the author that brought you the Days of Messiah series comes a whole new adventure critics are calling "intriguing...thought provoking... a fresh twist on an age old story "A surprisingly sweet treasure that deftly weaves fiction and Scripture." "I get tired of Bible stories sometimes, but The Swaddling Clothes brings the story to life." "Heartwarming...truly inspired. A story you will want to read again and again. Rich details and a suspenseful plot will keep you reading while giving you a glimpse of God's wonderful power and His amazing love." A great holiday read that will bring the Christmas story to life.

Christmas at Dumpster Corral


Irene Onorato - 2017
    While still in mourning, her unscrupulous father resurfaces after many years’ absence and finds a way to undermine her mother’s will. Without regard for Noel’s welfare, he claims everything is rightly his, and the family lawyer can’t produce documents to prove otherwise. By invitation from her best friend, Noel makes a hard choice to leave her childhood hometown in upstate New York and journey to the friend’s house in Pensacola, Florida. Together they will try to devise a plan for Noel’s future. Fate steps in when a blinding rainstorm causes her to miss a turn, leading her to an unlikely place, and an uncertain destiny. Brought low by circumstances and struggling to make ends meet, she takes shelter in the least desirable location and accepts a graveyard-shift job. The last thing Noel is looking for is romance, but a chance meeting with a handsome, young lawyer named Liam Grant makes her reconsider. Could she accept his dinner invitations and make it through the Christmas holiday without revealing her destitute condition?

Eve


William Paul Young - 2015
    Eve will destroy harmful misconceptions about ourselves.From the author of the 25-million copy bestseller The Shack comes a captivating new novel destined to be one of the most important and talked-about books of the decade.When a shipping container washes ashore on an island between our world and the next, John the Collector finds a young woman inside--broken, frozen, and barely alive. With the aid of Healers and Scholars, John oversees her recovery and soon discovers her genetic code connects her to every known human race. She is a girl of prophecy and no one can guess what her survival will mean...No one but Eve, Mother of the Living, who calls her daughter and invites her to witness the truth about her story--indeed, the truth about us all.Eve is a bold, unprecedented exploration of the Creation narrative, true to the original texts and centuries of scholarship, yet with breathtaking discoveries that challenge traditional misconceptions about who we are and how we're made. As The Shack awakened readers to a personal, non-religious understanding of God, Eve will free us from faulty interpretations that have corrupted human relationships since the Garden of Eden.Eve opens a refreshing conversation about the equality of men and women within the context of our beginnings, helping us see each other as our Creator does--complete, unique, and not constrained to cultural rules or limitations.Thoroughly researched and exquisitely written, Eve is a masterpiece that will inspire readers for generations to come.

My Visit to Hell


Paul Thigpen - 2007
    Now, the story continues… Thomas Travis had always thought the toughest streets in the ghettos of Atlanta were next door to hell. But he didn’t know just how close they were until the threat of racial violence sent him fleeing down the stairs of an abandoned building…only to fall headlong into a tortured realm of fire and ice, the place of the damned. The only chance of escape was to trust the strange elderly woman who met him there and insisted on being his guide. She claimed to know the way out, but it would lead through all the terrifying circles of divine judgment, each one deeper and more tormenting than the last. In the lowest pit, the Lord of Darkness himself lay in wait. Thomas had lived a godless life, and now there was hell to pay. If his soul could be purged on the journey, he just might make it. But the odds were against him. In hell, the only guarantee is justice…and the only way out is down. About the AuthorPAUL THIGPEN, PhD, is an award-winning journalist and the best-selling author of more than twenty-five books, including A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints, Blood of the Martyrs, and Seed of the Church. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Yale University and also holds a doctorate in historical theology from Emory University.

Yuletide Baby


Deb Kastner - 2014
    He's a pastor and a cowboy—not a daddy! Haunted by family tragedy, he's not sure he can risk his heart to baby Noelle—or to anyone else. But he needs help. Experienced foster mom Heather Lewis was anticipating a quiet holiday. When Shawn pops up at her door, she's happy to show him the ropes of baby care—but isn't prepared for the way he melts the walls around her heart. Can Shawn and Heather give each other the best Christmas gift of all—family and love? Cowboy Country: Surprise babies lead to unexpected love in Texas