Book picks similar to
Thirty Days to Glory by Kathy Nickerson


fiction
christian-fiction
first-reads
gvwy-chick-lit

Three Days: The Search for the Boy Messiah


Chris Stepien - 2013
    This book will grip your imagination—as you explore the Temple and experience the drama of ancient Hebrew traditions with the boy Messiah. It’s a story for the child in all of us.

Manchester Christmas


John Gray - 2020
    Soon, she encounters kindness, romance, and is pulled into a mystery centered on an old, abandoned church and the death of a special girl. Are the images that only she can see in the church's stained-glass windows a warning, or is someone trying to reach her, to help heal this broken community? Manchester Christmas illustrates how God often uses the most unlikely among us to spread grace and healing in a wounded world. Full of love, hope, and forgiveness, this debut novel from an Emmy-winning writer will touch your heart and have you longing for Christmas in Manchester.

The Stakes


Ben Sanders - 2018
    The latest from Ben Sanders, following his novels American Blood and Marshall’s Law.Rip-offs are a dangerous game, but heist man Miles Keller thinks he’s found a good strategy: rob rich New York criminals and then retire early, before word’s out about his true identity. New town, new name, no worries. Retirement can’t come soon enough, though. The NYPD is investigating him for the shooting of a hitman named Jack Deen, who was targeting Lucy Gates—a former police informant and Miles’s ex-lover. Miles thinks shooting hitmen counts as altruism, but in any case a murder charge would make life difficult. He’s ready to go to ground, but then Nina Stone reappears in his life. Nina is a fellow heist professional and the estranged wife of LA crime boss Charles Stone. Miles last saw her five years ago, and since then her life has grown more complicated: her husband wants her back, and he’s dispatched his go-to gun thug to play repo man. Complicating matters is the fact that the gun thug in question is Bobby Deen, cousin of the dead Jack Deen—and Bobby wants vengeance. The stakes couldn’t be higher, but Nina has an offer that could be lucrative. Maybe Miles can stick around a while longer…

Sweet Olive


Judy Christie - 2013
    She would rather be anywhere than Samford, Louisiana, the small southern town where she once spent the worst month of her life. Most of all, she wants to move on to the art gallery job that is waiting for her in Denver. To fulfill the obligation she feels to her uncle and get on with the life she dreams of, Camille needs to entice a group of rural landowners to sell their mineral rights---and allow use of their precious water for the drilling of natural gas. Instead, she finds herself drawn to the local folk art created by those same landowners, and attracted to Marsh Cameron, the attorney representing them. Camille must decide whether family obligation---and her own plans for her future---are more important than the lives and tradition of this small community.

The Designer Bag at the Garbage Dump


Jackie Macgirvin - 2012
    It's a fish out of water story about how God turns 32-year-old Julie's manicured, pedicured, self-absorbed designer life upside down. Julie, a nominal Christian, heads to New York for a weekend shopping binge. On a deserted train, she sits next to a stranger who turns out to be Jesus. After a wonderful, healing conversation she agrees to His request to, "feed My lambs." When she gets off the train she's in India.Her charmed life is shattered--she must care for 12 "filthy orphans" living on a dump before she can return to her comfortable life. She lives on the street and overwhelming new challenges arise daily. While squatting in an alley, going to the bathroom, an orphan, named Ravi, steals her designer purse. Unbeknownst to Julie, Ravi, who speaks English, holds the key to her communicating with the other orphans.Will Julie learn 1) to trust the Lord when nothing is in her control? 2) that she doesn't have to perform to be loved? and 3) that her life is built on a shaky foundation? Can she protect the orphans from a predator who steals and maims children and sends them out to beg? How will God provide food when her wallet is stolen? Can she find safe homes for the children?

The Christian Zombie Killers Handbook: Slaying the Living Dead Within


Jeff Kinley - 2011
    Living on the outskirts of a southern city, he didn't think the zombie activity so common in metropolitan areas would hit so close to home. But it was becoming clear that the mysterious infection reanimating the dead would soon be a worldwide epidemic.  Cutting-edge and culturally relevant, The Christian Zombie Killers Handbook is a unique combination of fiction and nonfiction. It delivers a fresh approach to sin, grace, and salvation, exposing the raging beast within us all, and how to overcome life as a zombie. EndorsementsJeff Kinley has found a way to communicate God’s grace to a new audience. The Christian Zombie Killers Handbook is culturally relevant, deeply perceptive and really inspires us to discover the truth for ourselves.In this volume, you will find a gripping, face-paced zombie survival story as good as any you’ll read in a mainstream horror novel or see in the latest Romero film. But, you’ll also find a parallel commentary providing a startlingly honest insight and unique perspective on our struggle with sin. ?Sean T Page, author of War against the Walking Dead & The Official Zombie Handbook.

The First Phone Call from Heaven


Mitch Albom - 2013
    Is it the greatest miracle ever or a massive hoax? Sully Harding, a grief-stricken single father, is determined to find out. An allegory about the power of belief--and a page-turner that will touch your soul--Albom's masterful storytelling has never been so moving and unexpected.Readers of The Five People You Meet in Heaven will recognize the warmth and emotion so redolent of Albom's writing, and those who haven't yet enjoyed the power of his storytelling, will thrill at the discovery of one of the best-loved writers of our time.

Sarah's Christmas Miracle


Mary Ellis - 2010
    She loves her job at the English bed-and-breakfast where she cooks and refreshes rooms between guests. She has a serious beau, and everyone expects an engagement soon. Why, then, would she jeopardize everything by suddenly deciding to take a trip to Cleveland to track down a brother who left the Order years ago?Her family's faith in God is put to the test as the holiest night of the year approaches and Sarah remains far away. Sarah's mother, Elizabeth, has been missing her son for such a long time...will she lose her daughter to the English world as well? Or will the Beachy family receive an unexpected Christmas miracle?

The Magic of the Season (Christmas in Silver Falls #2)


Tammy L. Grace - 2019
    In the midst of the annual Christmas festival, an accident forces her to return and manage her mom’s candy business at the Sugar Shop.Grant hasn’t seen her since she left for college, but remembers spending summers at the lake with the skinny, plain girl he and everyone used to know as Sugar. The contemporary advertising executive he encounters now is anything but plain.Will Grant’s kindness, the charm of Silver Falls, and the caring community open Sugar’s heart to all she’s been missing?The best-selling author of A Season for Hope, the tale readers describe as the perfect Christmas story, delivers a touching sequel with the second in her Christmas in Silver Falls series in this new festive novella that pairs perfectly with a cup of cocoa in front of a blazing fire.

Tidings of Great Joy


Sandra Brown - 1987
    A talented architect, she's just beginning to savor the fruits of her success when she meets a man who will change everything.Mayor-Elect Taylor MacKensie is handsome, charming, and charismatic. Still, Ria never imagines that she'll leave a Christmas party with him, or that, caught up in the magic of a snowfall and a bottle of champagne, she'll give in to desire. Eight weeks later, Ria knows she's carrying Taylor's child.To give their baby a name, Ria persuades Taylor to marry her — at least temporarily. But while Ria soon feels a surprising tenderness — and passion — for Taylor, she fears his prime concern is protecting his career. Ria vows to keep her distance from the man who holds the key to her heart... until life teaches them both a lesson in miracles — and love.

A Single Woman


Maggie Christensen - 2019
    headmistress at an elite girl’s school in Glasgow, is determinedly single, adroitly avoiding all attempts at matchmaking by a close friend.Widower Alasdair MacLeod is grieving for the wife he lost two years earlier, struggling as the single father of two teenagers, and frustrated by the well-meaning interference of his in-laws.When a proposed school trip to France brings Isla and Alasdair together, they find a connection in the discovery that each is suffering the loss of a loved one, but neither is interested in forming a relationship,As their friendship grows, Alasdair struggles with his increasing attraction to the elegant schoolmistress, while Isla harbours concerns about the complications a relationship with him would bring.Can Alasdair overcome his natural reserve, and can Isla open her heart to love again? ***Readers of Christensen’s earlier books, The Good Sister and Isobel’s Promise, will love reconnecting with Bel and Matt while enjoying Isla Cameron’s unique story.

The Twelve Wishes of Christmas


Ruby Basu - 2021
    Arriving in Pineford, it’s everything she’d ever hoped for and more.But she’s in for another surprise, because Thomas has left her with one last request: if she completes his Christmas wish list of festive activities, her chosen charity will receive a big donation. Or so Sharmila thinks.…He’s there to reclaim his family’s legacyLittle does she know, she’s set to inherit Thomas’s estate too, much to his nephew Zach’s disbelief. Determined not to see his family’s legacy left to a stranger, he’s come to Pineford to do whatever it takes to stop Sharmila from fulfilling that list.When Sharmila and Zach meet, neither are prepared for sparks to fly. For Sharmila’s sworn off love, and Zach doesn’t trust her. But with every passing wish they find themselves growing closer. And amongst the twinkling town lights and fallen snow, Sharmila can feel her heart opening up to Zach. But when she learns he’s been keeping a secret from her, can Sharmila forgive him and get the happy-ever-after she’s always wished for this Christmas?

A Sandy's Seashell Shop Christmas


Lisa Wingate - 2014
    A story of love, loss and finding oneself again. The story of a young military widow and her son finding themselves again after the loss of their husband and father. The proceeds of this book go to Operation Military Kids. A charity that helps military children while their parents are deployed.

With Love at Christmas


Carole Matthews - 2012
    She loves the presents, the tree, the turkey, the tinsel, everything. Already the festive spirit is upon her, which is just as well as this Christmas things are starting to get out of hand.Her son Tom is out of work and bringing home a slew of unsuitable partners; pregnant daughter Chloe and her little boy have moved back in; Juliet's father, Frank, is getting over a heartbreak of his own and Rita, her eccentric mother, is behaving more erratically each day. And has the chaos got too much for Juliet's husband Rick?With the big day fast approaching, Juliet hopes that she can stop everything spiralling out of control, because the only thing she wants is her family all around her and her home to be filled

The Wedding Dress Christmas


Rachel Hauck - 2019
    Her onetime love of adventure ended when her life in the big city came crashing down. Now that she’s home, she never wants to leave again.Country music sensation Buck Mathews has charmed the world with his smile and his music. However, news of his mother’s illness brought him home to Hearts Bend for the holiday season.Working with her cousin Haley in The Wedding Shop, JoJo has no aspirations of love. But when her high school crush returns to town, her buried feelings surface.Busy with his career, Buck hasn’t had time for family and friends, much less love. Seeing JoJo in The Wedding Shop reminds him there are things more important than his career.But JoJo and Buck have opposing life goals, and there’s no middle ground. Can love, especially the kind that touches hearts at Christmas, overcome her fears and his quest for greatness?With the help of a very special wedding dress, there just might a Christmas miracle.