Book picks similar to
I Know Why the Angels Dance by Bryan Davis


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Just Between You and Me: A Novel of Losing Fear and Finding God


Jenny B. Jones - 2009
    Her job as a cinematographer takes her from one exotic locale to the next. When Maggie's not working, she loves to rappel off cliffs or go skydiving. Nothing frightens her.Nothing, that is, except Ivy, Texas, where a family emergency pulls her back home to a town full of bad memories, painful secrets, and people Maggie left far behind . . . for a reason.Forced to stay longer than she intended, Maggie finds her family a complete mess, including the niece her sister has abandoned. Ten-year-old Riley is struggling in school and out of control at home. The only person who can really handle the pint-sized troublemaker is Conner, the local vet and Ivy's most eligible bachelor. But Conner and Maggie keep butting heads--he's suspicious of her and, well, she doesn't rely on anyone but herself.As Maggie humorously fumbles her way from one mishap to another, she realizes she's going to need to ask for help from the one person who scares her the most.To save one little girl--and herself--can Maggie let go of her fears and just trust God?

Half a World Away


Mike Gayle - 2019
    She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot forget her past.Noah Martineau is a successful barrister with a beautiful wife, daughter and home in fashionable Primrose Hill. Adopted as a young child, Noah never looks back.When Kerry contacts Noah, the sibling she lost on the day they were torn apart as children, she sets in motion a chain of events that will change both of their lives forever.By turns funny and moving, Half a World Away is a story that will stay with you long after you read its final page.

Made You Up


Francesca Zappia - 2015
    Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.

The Archer


Paulo Coelho - 2003
    Includes stunning illustrations by Christoph Niemann. "A novelist who writes in a universal language." --The New York TimesIn The Archer we meet Tetsuya, a man once famous for his prodigious gift with a bow and arrow but who has since retired from public life, and the boy who comes searching for him. The boy has many questions, and in answering them Tetsuya illustrates the way of the bow and the tenets of a meaningful life. Paulo Coelho's story suggests that living without a connection between action and soul cannot fulfill, that a life constricted by fear of rejection or failure is not a life worth living. Instead one must take risks, build courage, and embrace the unexpected journey fate has to offer.With the wisdom, generosity, simplicity, and grace that have made him an international best seller, Paulo Coelho provides the framework for a rewarding life: hard work, passion, purpose, thoughtfulness, the willingness to fail, and the urge to make a difference.

Helium


Rudy Francisco - 2017
    Rudy's poems and quotes have been viewed and shared millions of times as he has traveled the country and the world performing for sell-out crowds. Helium is filled with work that is simultaneously personal and political, blending love poems, self-reflection, and biting cultural critique on class, race and gender into an unforgettable whole. Ultimately, Rudy's work rises above the chaos to offer a fresh and positive perspective of shared humanity and beauty.

A Muslim's Romantic Journey


Kitty Crackers - 2013
    All her life she kept herself pure for her faith and her future husband. Although having never had experienced love, and occasionally doubting whether she will, Safia feels herself growing impatient being single. She then sends her family to search for 'the one.' Trusting her family, she decides to say yes to the first person her family finds for her. She believes she will get married and face all her problems with her husband by her side. Is it really as simple as that?Yusuf feels a void in his heart. He tries to deny it, but he knows his mother's not proud of him. He knows she wishes he could be a little more modern like his brother. He wanted his family to find him a wife while he could focus on his deen (faith), but his idea of a wife clashes with his mother's. Seeing that his family were struggling to find him someone he likes, he decides to take matters into his own hands. But is he rushing into decisions without thinking?

A Perfect Secret: An Amish Wedding Novella


Kelly Long - 2013
    Rose and Luke have known each other since childhood and their families have both joked about a possible union in recent years.When Luke asks her to marry him, Rose agrees out of a sense of duty and a willingness to settle for solid friendship as a basis for the engagement. But, as she witnesses Priscilla’s excitement, despite a trail of mishaps leading to the wedding, Rose begins to wonder if there shouldn’t be more to a relationship.Rose begins to examine Luke and his life more closely, and she’s amazed when she stumbles upon an exciting, secret side of him. But what if she isn’t as adventurous as Luke expects? The Lord will whisper to Rose and Luke that they both have much to offer that’s worth the telling in A Perfect Secret.

Snow Falling


Jane Gloriana Villanueva - 2017
    With these tumultuous events as inspiration, Jane’s breathtaking first novel adapts her story for a truly epic romance that captures the hope and the heartbreak that have made the television drama so beloved. Snow Falling is a sweeping historical romance set in 1902 Miami—a time of railroad tycoons, hotel booms, and exciting expansion for the Magic City. Working at the lavish Regal Sol hotel and newly engaged to Pinkerton Detective Martin Cadden, Josephine Galena Valencia has big dreams for her future. Then, a figure from her past reemerges to change her life forever: the hotel’s dapper owner, railroad tycoon Rake Solvino. The captivating robber baron sets her heart aflame once more, leading to a champagne-fueled night together. But when their indiscretion results in an unexpected complication, Josephine struggles to decide whether her heart truly belongs with heroic Martin or dashing Rake. Meanwhile, in an effort to capture an elusive crime lord terrorizing the city, Detective Cadden scours the back alleys of the Magic City, tracking the nefarious villain to the Regal Sol and discovering a surprising connection to the Solvino family. However, just when it looks like Josephine’s true heart’s desire is clear, danger strikes. Will her dreams for the future dissolve like so much falling snow or might Josephine finally get the happy ever after she’s been dreaming of for so long?

Words


Ginny L. Yttrup - 2011
    I keep them in a box in my mind. I'd like to keep them in a real box, something pretty, maybe a shoe box covered with flowered wrapping paper. Whenever I wanted, I'd open the box and pick up the papers, reading and feeling the words all at once. Then I could hide the box. But the words are safer in my mind. There, he can't take them."Ten-year old Kaylee Wren doesn't speak. Not since her drug-addled mother walked away, leaving her in a remote cabin nestled in the towering redwoods-in the care of a man who is as dangerous as he is evil. With silence her only refuge, Kaylee collects words she might never speak from the only memento her mother left behind: a dictionary.Sierra Dawn is thirty-four, an artist, and alone. She has allowed the shame of her past to silence her present hopes and chooses to bury her pain by trying to control her circumstances. But on the twelfth anniversary of her daughter's death, Sierra's control begins to crumble as the God of her childhood woos her back to Himself.Brought together by Divine design, Kaylee and Sierra will discover together the healing mercy of the Word-Jesus Christ.

Healing Love


Laura V. Hilton - 2012
    Among her biggest concerns is the well-being of her dog, Chinook, as she is no longer able to keep up with the high-energy Siberian husky. Shane Zimmerman moved to Seymour for a fresh start. The veterinarian is still reeling from the loss of his young wife, who died in childbirth - an aneurysm, the autopsy determined, but he still blames the midwife and the herbal remedies she administered. He meets his next-door neighbor, Kristi, when he discovers her wrecked buggy and takes her to the hospital. Eager to deepen the friendship that forms between them, he offers to take care of exercising her dog. Despite all the forces that would keep them apart, Kristi and Shane can't deny the strong attraction between them.So, their on-again, off-again relationship persists, as Kristi submits to physical therapy for her leg and Shane reevaluates his reasons for being Englisch. But will they find a way to stay together? Or are their differences too divisive to resolve?

What She Left Behind


Tracy Bilen - 2012
    “Guaranteed.”Sara and her mom have a plan to finally escape Sara’s abusive father. But when her mom doesn’t show up as expected, Sara’s terrified. Her father says that she’s on a business trip, but Sara knows he’s lying. Her mom is missing—and her dad had something to do with it.With each day that passes, Sara’s more on edge. Her friends know that something’s wrong, but she won’t endanger anyone else with her secret. And with her dad growing increasingly violent, Sara must figure out what happened to her mom before it’s too late…for them both.

Song of the Highlands


Sharon Gillenwater - 1997
    His greatest surprise, however, comes when he wins a run-down English estate-with the spirited sister of the previous owner still in residence!

Jessica


Bryce Courtenay - 1998
    One quiet day, the peace of the bush is devastated by a terrible murder. Only Jessica is able to save the killer from the lynch mob – but will justice prevail in the courts?Nine months later, a baby is born … with Jessica determined to guard the secret of the father's identity. The rivalry of Jessica and her beautiful sister for the love of the same man will echo throughout their lives – until finally the truth must be told.Set in the harsh Australian bush against the outbreak of World War I, this novel is heartbreaking in its innocence, and shattering in its brutality.'A deserved bestseller, based on fact, a story told with heartbreaking honesty.' Australian Women's Weekly'Courtenay draws on the social satire of Jane Austen and the dark forces of Thomas Hardy, and his tragic heroine parallels Antigone … ' Herald Sun

Season of Mercy: Modern marriage of convenience romance


Alexa Verde - 2018
    Never mind that he's her one-time teenage crush and a longtime friend. But when her son, Stevie, needs an expensive surgery, risking her heart is a small price to pay for her little boy's happiness. Ethan Echeverría leaves women before they have a chance to leave him the way his mother once abandoned him. Then his dad gives him an ultimatum: get married and become the owner of the family auto shop chain or stay single and lose it. Considering Ethan has always cared for Mercy, getting married might result in more than ownership of the shops and a loving father for Stevie. It could be the second chance they need. Their feelings toward each other grow, but so does Mercy's jealousy. When Ethan's past crashes into his future, will she end up heartbroken and alone again? This book is also available free of charge if you sign up for my newsletter.

Let Them Eat Cake


Sandra Byrd - 2007
    She’s done with college but still living at home, ready to launch a career but unable to find a job, and solidly stalled between boyfriends. When a lighthearted conversation in French with the manager of her favorite bakery turns into a job offer, Lexi accepts. But the actual glamour is minimal: the pay is less than generous, her co-workers are skeptical, her bank account remains vertically-challenged, and her parents are perpetually disappointed. Her only comfort comes from the flirtatious baker she has her eye–but even may not be who he seems to be!So when a handsome young executive dashes into the bakery to pick up his high profile company’s special order for an important meeting–an order Lexi has flubbed– she loses her compulsion to please. “What am I going to do?” he shouts. “Let them eat cake!” she fires back with equal passion and a nod to Marie Antoinette. And then, something inside Lexi clicks. Laissez la révolution commencer! Let the revolution begin! Instead of trying to fulfill everyone else’s expectations for her life, Lexi embarks on an adventure in trusting God with her future–très bon!This book is written from a lightly, organically, Christian world view.