Book picks similar to
Coffee Cake Days by Amanda Tero


christian-fiction
short-stories
contemporary
indie-authors

Sophie & Carter


Chelsea Fine - 2011
    Carter is overwhelmed by issues at home as he struggles to support his mother. Meanwhile, next door neighbor Sophie is left to care for her three younger siblings in place of their absent and troubled mother. All that holds these two best friends together is each other, and knowing that each night they'll sit together on Sophie's front porch swing and escape from reality, if just for awhile. But as their relationship reaches a turning point and high school graduation nears, will their friendship become something more?

The Shoe Box: A Christmas Story


Francine Rivers - 1999
    Whenever something was bothering Rivers she would write a prayer about it and slip it in her decorated cardboard box. It was this personal God Box that gave her the idea for writing this compelling Christmas story about a foster child named Timmy whose only valued possession is a shoebox. His foster parents, a young Christian couple, are of course curious about this 6-year-old's mysterious box. What could be inside? But knowing that his privacy is one of the few things Timmy has left, they decide not to pry. Rivers uses the backdrop of Timmy's foster family, church community, and the dedication of his birth mother to illustrate what Christian faith can do. The Christmas pageant finale is a true heart warmer for all believers.

One December Night


Melissa Tagg - 2014
    Niggling doubts aside, getting engaged to the nice man she’s been dating for two years is the obvious next step, right?But on the snowy evening of the expected proposal, Penn discovers someone’s been squatting in the old Victorian house she inherited from her grandparents. She finds herself back in picturesque Whisper Shore, Michigan, facing off with an intruder named Will who may not be what he seems.As charming as the house he’s taken over, Will pushes past the reserve that has kept Penn from living the brave life she craves. And one December night in the house she used to love in the town she used to adore changes everything.

An Irish Heart


Jackie Zack - 2015
    After arriving in Ireland, she is drawn to a colorful village named Angel’s Hollow. When a dark-haired stranger approaches and calls her by another name, Greta is intrigued to discover she’s the image of AEDAN O’RIAIN’s ex-girlfriend. Does she have a close relative unknown to her? Aedan can’t understand his misfortune. Along with near bankruptcy in his future, his ex is trying to fool him by claiming she’s Greta Conner from the States. Is it some sort of plot to further ruin his reputation? Adding to his angst, his brother, Reece, insists on dating Greta if Aedan will not. All will certainly be lost if Reece falls into her plans. Angel’s Hollow becomes like home for Greta, and there’s no one her heart loves more than Aedan. But will an unknown twin threaten all she’s longed for?

Road Trip


Evangeline Kelly - 2016
    Her cousin Chloe’s wedding is the following day and she needs to get from Northern California to Los Angeles. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have enough money to fix her car, much less buy a bus ticket. When Jake Bellomy, the hot Biology lab partner from last semester, offers to give her a ride home, she takes him up on his offer, even though she knows things are bound to get tense since he traded her for another partner in their Biology class. Kendra knows he’s a jerk, but what she doesn’t realize is that God has a way of revealing that people aren’t always what they appear to be.

The Reluctant Godfather


Allison Tebo - 2017
    A disgrace to the fairy order, Burndee has only two wards entrusted to his care…a cinder girl and a charming prince. A royal ball presents Burndee with the brilliant solution of how to make his wards happy with the least amount of effort. He’ll arrange a meeting and hope the two fall in love. A humorous and magical re-telling of Cinderella from a unique perspective.

From the Dark to the Dawn: A Tale of Ancient Rome


Alicia A. Willis - 2014
    The masters of the universe have crushed the Iceni rebellion with an iron hand, slaughtering and enslaving her people.For Philip, his existence as a captive means living to hatred. He despises his rich, young master, resenting his life of servitude and the wrestling feats Marcus forces him to perform. Bitterness engulfs his soul until he only lives for the day when he will crush the might of Rome.Then Christianity enters the picture. Taught by a Jewish breadmaker to know the man called Christus, Philip begins the struggle to forgive and honor his master. But forgiveness is not easy towards one who lives for himself.Marcus Virginius knows nothing but power and pleasure. Destined to a successful career serving Nero in the Praetorian Guard, he wants no part of Christianity. And he is determined to crush Philip’s newfound faith – no matter what it takes.Join Philip and Marcus in their journey of redemption, faith, and forgiveness. Is love enough to conquer hate? And will the light of the gospel ever surmount the darkness of Rome? Persecution abounds – will the two young men survive its terrors and live to experience the bright hope of a new dawn?Endorsement"Alicia Willis sketches a stirring tale that delivers a powerful message of friendship, forgiveness, and God's grace. An authentic period piece, it leaves you with a greater awareness that God's ways are higher than our ways and we are on this earth for His purposes. Anyone with a bend for historical-fiction will thoroughly enjoy this book. Definitely a moving, worthwhile, and edifying read!"-Josiah Jost, actor/writer with Jostie Flicks.

The Matchmakers of Holly Circle


Chautona Havig - 2014
    Well, if so, Ruth and Richard are “the old masters” of the flirting game. Despite their strictly platonic relationship, there’s “something there,” as so many of their friends and families say. Neighbors and friends for ten years, neither seems willing to change the course of their relationship. Three doors down, at the end of the cul-de-sac, Mason Dickenson has watched his favorite neighbors with an interested eye, but he’s finally had it with the dance. So, with a pack of cards and a few tricks up his sleeve, he's determined to get them out of the "friend rut" and into romance. Thanks to Mason’s unique matchmaking scheme, Ruth and Richard concoct one of their own—a deeper, stronger, eternal love and relationship that nothing on earth can match.

A Tide Worth Turning


Beth Wiseman - 2015
    But following a stroke and a recent fall, Addison is forced to hire a caregiver for her estranged mother, Lee Ann; a job Addison chooses not to take on, despite her financial freedom to do so. She hires an agency to fill the position, and to her surprise, they send a man for the job. Logan has somehow managed to keep his act together despite a past that is slowly catching up with him. If he can make enough money over the next couple of months by tending to Lee Ann Burke, he should be able to flee the country before his world comes crashing down around him. But when Lee Ann’s beautiful daughter, Addison, begins to awaken feelings in him that he thought died long ago, he begins to question whether or not fleeing from the past is worth leaving Addison forever. Will Addison let down her guard for love and renew her relationship with her mother? Can Logan face his past, come out unscathed, and act on his feelings for Addison? And why is Lee Ann selling everything she owns on Ebay and Craig’s List?

The Girl Who Could See


Kara Swanson - 2017
    At least, that’s what the doctors have claimed since her childhood. Now nineteen, and one step away from a psych ward, Fern struggles to survive in bustling Los Angeles. Desperate to appear “normal,” she represses the young man flickering at the edge of her awareness—a blond warrior only she can see. Tristan was Fern’s childhood imaginary hero, saving her from monsters under her bed and outside her walls. As she grew up and his secret world continued to bleed into hers, however, it only caused catastrophe. But, when the city is rocked by the unexplainable, Fern is forced to consider the possibility that this young man isn’t a hallucination after all—and that the creature who decimated his world may be coming for hers.

The Mitford Snowmen


Jan Karon - 2001
    Cutest little snowman book with a Christmas story! Perfect for the snowman collector or for the perfect holiday story collector.

Captive of Raven Castle


Jessica Greyson - 2013
    Alexandra knows that her value to her country consists mainly in her ability to marry well, but when she is kidnapped by the rebels and taken to meet the man claiming to be both Chambria’s true king and her real father, her entire world falls apart. Will Princess Alexandra be able to untangle the web of lies and discern who is the true king and her father?

Sea Prayer


Khaled Hosseini - 2018
    Watching over his sleeping son, the father reflects on the dangerous sea-crossing that lies before them. It is also a vivid portrait of their life in Homs, Syria, before the war, and of that city's swift transformation from a home into a deadly war zone. Impelled to write this story by the haunting image of young Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed upon the beach in Turkey in September 2015, Hosseini hopes to pay tribute to the millions of families, like Kurdi's, who have been splintered and forced from home by war and persecution, and he will donate author proceeds from this book to the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) and The Khaled Hosseini Foundation to help fund lifesaving relief efforts to help refugees around the globe. Hosseini is also a Goodwill Envoy to the UNHCR, and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

Tin Can Serenade


Amanda Dykes - 2013
     A mother and her daughter, A father and his son, A cottage and a cabin, A story yet unspun But time did freeze a tin can Dangling from that rope A messenger from days gone by, Echoing long lost hope. Until a cold November day Saw decades fall away; Young hands inscribed a folded scrap, A missive sent to say… _________________ So begins the plucky correspondence of Timothy and Genevieve, two children about to uncover a story long-buried... one filled with love, with loss, and with hope. An enchanting Christmas story laced with joy, God's healing hand in the broken places of life weaves through each letter passed over the river in that tin-can strung from the rusted pulley. Enter into a simpler time in this petite tale, written to be just long enough to tuck into a stolen moment as you rest your feet and quiet your heart in the bustle of a busy season.

Kindred Spirits


Rainbow Rowell - 2016
    The whole world is a nerd.''Are you mad because other people like Star Wars? Are you mad because people like me like Star Wars?' 'Maybe.' If you broke Elena's heart, Star Wars would spill out. So when she decides to queue outside her local cinema to see the new movie, she's expecting a celebration with crowds of people who love Han, Luke and Leia just as much as she does. What she's not expecting is to be last in a line of only three people; to have to pee into a collectible Star Wars soda cup behind a dumpster or to meet that unlikely someone who just might truly understand the way she feels. Kindred Spirits is an engaging short story by Rainbow Rowell, author of the bestselling Eleanor & Park, Fangirl and Carry On, and is part of a handful of selected short reads specially produced for World Book Day.