Book picks similar to
Orchid House by Cindy Martinusen Coloma


fiction
christian-fiction
christian
historical

Eye of the Storm


Hannah Alexander - 2012
    Megan Bradley has to get away. Away from the crime she saw but couldn't prevent, and away from missionary Gerard Vance, who almost made her trust in love again. Shaken and scared, Megan fl ees to the one place she can heal—her small Missouri hometown. She never expected Gerard to follow her…or for danger to find her again. When they discover a murderer lurks in town, Megan will need strength from Gerard—and the Lord—to save lives. Including their own.

The Dollhouse


Fiona Davis - 2016
    When she arrives at the famed Barbizon Hotel in 1952, secretarial school enrollment in hand, Darby McLaughlin is everything her modeling agency hall mates aren't: plain, self-conscious, homesick, and utterly convinced she doesn't belong—a notion the models do nothing to disabuse. Yet when Darby befriends Esme, a Barbizon maid, she's introduced to an entirely new side of New York City: seedy downtown jazz clubs where the music is as addictive as the heroin that's used there, the startling sounds of bebop, and even the possibility of romance. Over half a century later, the Barbizon's gone condo and most of its long-ago guests are forgotten. But rumors of Darby's involvement in a deadly skirmish with a hotel maid back in 1952 haunt the halls of the building as surely as the melancholy music that floats from the elderly woman's rent-controlled apartment. It's a combination too intoxicating for journalist Rose Lewin, Darby's upstairs neighbor, to resist—not to mention the perfect distraction from her own imploding personal life. Yet as Rose's obsession deepens, the ethics of her investigation become increasingly murky, and neither woman will remain unchanged when the shocking truth is finally revealed.

Snow Globe


Laura V. Hilton - 2014
    Her client, Anna Petersheim, is pleasant and tells captivating stories. Plus, her home is quiet and far more peaceful than Esther's, with so many siblings. She only dreads the day when Anna's grandson, Viktor, will return from the river to take over the farm. She and Viktor were classmates years ago, and he'd been an obnoxious flirt who paid attention to every girl but her.A Toughened Riverboat CaptainA seasoned riverboat captain, Viktor Petersheim has seen his share of trials. He left the Amish after the death of his parents and siblings in a house fire for which he still feels responsible. Now, after years of working on the Mississippi River, he returns home to claim the farm he inherited from his grandparents and, hopefully, to repair some of the damaged relationships and broken hearts he left in his wake.Love off the RiverWhen Viktor arrives home, it doesn't take long for him and Esther to realize their mutual attraction. Even so, their relationship remains as tumultuous as a shaken snow globe, like the one Esther finds at a garage sale and gives to Viktor's grandmother as a token of affection. Viktor isn't the only man with an eye on Esther, and soon it looks as if she's ready to make a future with someone else. Will the two go their separate ways again? Or will the hand of God work something beautiful out of their angst and agitation?

Canary Yellow


Elizabeth Cadell - 1964
    She is Miss Leeson, otherwise known as Miss Milton, and her presence in Las Palmas in itself is something of a mystery.With Miss Leeson's death, ensuing investigations, suspicions, accusations and confessions follow thick and fast. But it takes more than thievery and mayhem to put a crimp in a Cadell romance- especially when the young lady is not only intelligent but beautiful and the young man is very tall, handsomely dark and fiery.The villain is charming and in his way, heroic. The victim is to be mourned but everything and everybody else in this book is to be admired and enjoyed.

Christmas at Harrington's


Melody Carlson - 2010
    She is trying to restart her life after false accusations landed her in prison, but job opportunities are practically nonexistent. When a secondhand red coat unexpectedly lands her a job as Mrs. Santa at a department store, Lena finally thinks her luck is changing. But can she keep her past a secret? This tender story about fresh starts will charm readers as all of Melody Carlson's Christmas offerings do. Full of redemption and true holiday spirit, Christmas at Harrington's will be readers' newest Christmas tradition.

Beyond the Sacred Page: The Tyndale Translation


Jack Cavanaugh - 2003
    These historical novels are told in high drama, but with great respect for God's word and for the people who translated it.

Her Amish Man


Erin Bates - 2012
    Then she is framed for a murder she didn’t commit, and she needs somewhere to hide until she can clear her name. Confident no one would think to search for her in an Amish community, she heads for her grandmother’s home in Illinois. A safe haven is all Leah is looking for, but she soon finds herself entranced by the simplicity of the old-fashioned lifestyle. What she doesn’t expect is to find a man there who stirs her heart. When John Miller left his Amish village to attend college and join the military, he never thought he’d return. After the horrors he witnessed in war, however, he longed for a tranquillity he knew that he could find only among his own people. Working as a craftsman, making beautiful furniture, John has found in the soft warmth of the wood the peace he feared might be lost forever. But his world is soon turned upside down when he falls for the “English” woman who has come to be reunited with her kinsfolk. When danger follows Leah, John must not only protect her but decide if her love is worth the risk of being “banned” forever.

Miranda Warning


Heather Day Gilbert - 2014
    The Glock-wielding, knife-carrying housewife knows how to survive whatever life throws at her. But when an anonymous warning note shows up in her best friend Miranda’s mailbox—a note written in a dead woman’s handwriting—Tess quickly discovers that ghosts are alive and well in Buckneck, West Virginia. Hot on a cold trail, she must use limited clues and her keen insight into human nature to unmask the killer...or the next victim might be Tess herself.Tinged with the supernatural and overshadowed by the mountains' lush, protective presence, this twisting psychological mystery is the first in A Murder in the Mountains series.

Overweight Mail Order Bride For A Half-Blind Cowboy


Terri Grace - 2015
    Spurned for her size, and broken hearted as she stands by and watches all of her peers married off, Mindy is led by God to respond to an advert to become a Mail Order Bride to a mystery man on the wilds of the Western Frontier. It’s 1871 and the Frontier is as wild, and as lonely, as ever. Mindy Silvers is a gutsy and beautiful young lady, who dares to believe God and respond to a call into the unknown as a Mail Order Bride. But her journey to Horatio Attwood’s homestead will not be an easy one. She failed to mention her size to her husband-to-be, and Mindy must overcome insurmountable odds, both inwardly and outwardly, to win her prize. And Mindy is not the only with a secret. Horatio too must overcome his own doubt and shame before he can embrace his destiny, and is bride. ‘Overweight Mail Order Bride For A Half-Blind Cowboy’ is a sweet, clean, historical Mail Order Bride tale of one gutsy woman’s journey to love and happiness. In this heart warming 'Destined For Love' series, strong and courageous Mail Order Brides overcome deep personal challenges to find lasting love with faithful men on the Western Frontier. Visit all the books in the series! Overweight Mail Order Bride For A Half-Blind Cowboy Crippled Mail Order Bride For A Faithful Frontier Cowboy (COMING SOON – JULY 2015) Burned But Beautiful Mail Order Bride For A Pioneer Doctor (COMING SOON – JULY 2015)

Wildflowers and Kisses: A love story


Jaclyn M. Hawkes - 2014
    Even when she spritzes him with her florist water at their first meeting, Skye is the most refreshing thing that has ever happened to Dr. Gage Garrison. Confident, successful, and seriously disillusioned, when Gage meets Skye one evening at her shop she is like a shot of pure, sweet oxygen to his spirit. So he pesters her until she agrees to go out with him. But later, when he realizes that her dog is a guard dog, that Skye has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and is an expert with a handgun, he begins to wonder what scars she’s hiding behind that beautiful, sweet smile. And what is she so afraid of?

Rosemary for Remembrance (Tales from Grace Chapel Inn, #28)


Sunni Jeffers - 2008
    Grace Chapel Inn Series, 2008 Guideposts trade PB, 1st printing,

One Perfect Spring


Irene Hannon - 2014
    Keith Watson is a results-oriented workaholic with no time for a social life. As the executive assistant to a local philanthropic businessman, he’s used to fielding requests for donations. But when a letter from Claire’s eleven-year-old daughter reaches his desk, everything changes. The girl isn’t asking for money, but for help finding the long-lost son of an elderly neighbor.As Keith digs reluctantly into this complicated assignment, he has no idea how intertwined his life and Claire’s will become–nor how one little girl’s kindhearted request will touch so many lives and reap so many blessings.Through compelling characters and surprising plot twists, Irene Hannon offers readers this tenderhearted story of family connections that demonstrates how life is like lilacs–the biggest blooms often come only after the harshest winters.

Falling on Main Street


Tara Grace Ericson - 2018
    Endless thoughts of her best friend's betrayal and her tattered reputation follow her to the small town where she takes refuge. Luke Brand has a good life, though not a perfect one. A widower while he was still young, he chases off any threat to the memory of his young bride and the house they lived in together. Can Luke get over his stubbornness and follow his mother-in-law’s desire and God’s instruction to help the town’s newest resident? Between the infuriating hot and cold signals of her landlord's son and the sincere faith of those in her new circle, Charlotte is left questioning a lot more than how to take back her career. Can Luke let go of a bride viewed through the skewed lens of memory? Will Charlotte’s pride and ambition thwart her efforts to find happiness again? Or, can this time in the charming Indiana town of Minden spur healing for both Charlotte and Luke and help them find the way to a new life, together? Tara Grace Ericson's debut novel is a sweet inspirational romance that introduces readers to the idyllic Midwestern town of Minden. Themes include forgiveness, purpose, and community - presented throughout the story of friendship and romance that hints at the passion of true love.

The Secrets of Paper and Ink


Lindsay Harrel - 2019
    She escapes to Cornwall, England--a place she's learned to love through the words of her favorite author--and finds a place to stay with the requirement that she help out in the bookstore underneath the room she's renting. Given her love of all things literary, it seems like the perfect place to find peace.Ginny Rose is an American living in Cornwall, sure that if she saves the bookstore she co-owns with her husband then she can save her marriage as well. Fighting to keep the first place she feels like she belongs, she brainstorms with her brother-in-law, William, and Sophia to try to keep the charming bookstore afloat.Two hundred years before, governess Emily Fairfax knew two things for certain: she wanted to be a published author, and she was in love with her childhood best friend. But he was a wealthy heir and well out of her league. Sophia discovers Emily's journals, and she and William embark on a mission to find out more about this mysterious and determined woman, all the while getting closer to each other as they get closer to the truth.The lives of the three women intertwine as each learns the power she has over the story of her life.

All Things New


Lynn Austin - 2012
    But the bitter realities of life after the war cannot be denied: their home and land are but shells of their previous grandeur; death has claimed her father and brother; and her remaining brother, Daniel, has returned home bitter and broken. The privileged childhood Josephine enjoyed now seems like a long-ago dream. And the God who failed to answer any of her prayers during the war is lost to her as well.Josephine soon realizes that life is now a matter of daily survival--and recognizes that Lizzie, as one of the few remaining servants, is the one she must rely on to teach her all she needs to know. Josephine's mother, too, vows to rebuild White Oak... but a bitter hatred fuels her.With skill and emotion, Lynn Austin brings to life the difficult years of the Reconstruction era by interweaving the stories of three women--daughter, mother, and freed slave--in a riveting tale.