Book picks similar to
Crossing Values by Carrie Daws
christian
first-reads
inspirational
christian-fiction-contemporary
Miracles in Disguise
Michelle Lynn Brown - 2013
On the heels of her abusive husband’s death, Kristina Talbot leaves New York and heads to New Mexico to try and get her life headed down a new road – one that doesn't include a man.Even before she reaches her destination, Nathan McKinley sets up a roadblock to her plan. His charming and gentle personality is no match for her love-starved heart. And when Nathan shows her God in a new light, and how to place her trust in Him and not her circumstances, she begins to hope…When Kristina’s past collides with her present, and tragedy strikes close to Kristina’s heart, her fears and distrust come flooding back, threatening to sweep away her newfound hope. Can Nathan help her hold on to her new relationship with God, or will she allow her dark and troubled past to pluck out the tiny bud of hope that is beginning to blossom within her heart?
Love Begins
Teresa Slack - 2005
Nearly twenty years later, Michelle has accepted the fact she isn't worthy of the love she so desperately needed as a child. She lives alone on the family farm and is content in the niche she's carved out for herself. All that changes the morning Nicole abandons her two young children under Michelle's lilac bushes. Michelle doesn’t want her life to change. She doesn't want to be responsible for fixing Nicole's mistakes. Nor does she want to admit she may be more like her grandmother than she ever imagined. Two little kids suddenly dependent on her aren’t the only changes in Michelle's life. The only man to ever make her take a chance on love reenters Michelle's life. Kyle Swann reminds her of all the bad choices she ever made. He also makes her realize shutting her heart against the world might not be as easy as she thought. This thought-provoking contemporary romance examines the changing dynamics of family relationships and issues. Infused with honesty and humor, it will capture the hearts of readers who love children, understand their challenges and appreciate the many definitions of family.
Miss Match
Erynn Mangum - 2007
And with the eclectic cast of characters in her world, there's tons of potential to play "connect the friends." Lauren sets out to introduce Nick, her carefree singles' pastor, to Ruby, her neurotic coworker who plans every second of every day. What could possibly go wrong? Just about everything.
Stars Collide
Janice Thompson - 2011
When the lines between reality and TV land blur, they hope they can keep their relationship under wraps. But when Kat's grandmother, an eccentric star from Hollywood's golden age, mistakes their on-screen wedding proposal for the real deal, things begin to spiral out of control. Will their secret be front-page news in the tabloids? And can their budding romance survive the onslaught of paparazzi, wedding preparations, and misinformed family members?From the soundstage to a Beverly Hills mansion to the gleaming Pacific Ocean, Stars Collide takes you on a roller-coaster tour of Hollywood, packing both comedic punch and tender emotion.
Crooked Lines
Holly Michael - 2014
Two cultures. Two souls seek hope and a future.On the shores of Lake Michigan, Rebecca Meyer seeks escape. Guilt-ridden over her little sister’s death, she sets her heart on India, a symbol of peace.Across the ocean in South India, Sagai Raj leaves his tranquil hill station home and impoverished family to answer a higher calling. Pushing through diverse cultural and religious milieus, he labors toward his goals, while wrong turns and bad choices block Rebecca from hers.Traveling similar paths and bridged across oceans through a priest, the two desire peace and their divine destiny. But vows and blind obedience at all costs must be weighed…And buried memories, unearthed.Crooked Lines, a beautifully crafted debut novel, threads the lives of two determined souls from different continents and cultures. Compelling characters struggle with spirituality through despair and deceptions in search of truth.
Heart's Design
JoAnn Durgin - 2015
Seth can’t let go of the past. Recent Wellesley College graduate Caroline Prescott’s future is set in stone. After Harvard Law School, she’ll step into place beside her two brothers in their father’s legendary Boston law firm. Caroline secretly longs for the quiet, peaceful life and a career designing jewelry with precious gemstones instead of life as a hotshot Boston attorney. On a hiking trip with her two best friends weeks before entering law school, Caroline meets Seth Barnes in charming Evergreen, Maine. A mineralogist and part-time college professor, Seth drives a truck sporting an I DIG ROCKS license plate, lives in hiking clothes, flannel shirts and jeans, and loves Jesus. Two years later, when they meet again, Caroline and Seth confront both the promise of possibility and the pain of past heartaches. What’s a girl to do when the man she secretly loves has a serious girlfriend and seems determined to hold her at arm’s length? And what’s a guy to do when he can’t stay away from a certain irresistible woman no matter how hard he tries? Does the Lord have His own design for their hearts? Heart’s Design, a story filled with faith, friendship, love, family, and the power of forgiveness.
Pam of Babylon
Suzanne Jenkins - 2011
Pam and his two lovers discover secrets and lies, and each other. The first book in the series. Book #10 available for preorder.
Deadly Devotion
Sandra Orchard - 2013
Kate knows that if it hadn’t been for Daisy’s mentorship, she wouldn’t have the job she loves or the faith she clings to. So when police rule Daisy’s death a suicide, Kate is determined to unearth the truth.Former FBI agent Tom Parker finds it hard to adjust to life back in his hometown of Port Aster. Though an old buddy gives him a job as a detective on the local police force, not everyone approves. Tom’s just trying to keep a low profile, so when Kate Adams demands he reopen the investigation of her friend’s death, he knows his job is at stake. In fact, despite his attraction to her, Tom thinks Kate looks a bit suspicious herself.As evidence mounts, a web of intrigue is woven around the sleepy town of Port Aster. Can Kate uncover the truth? Or will Tom stand in her way?
Colors of Christmas: Two Contemporary Stories Celebrate the Hope of Christmas
Olivia Newport - 2017
Instead, she finds herself in charge of the town’s celebration. After a mysterious young man arrives, townspeople suspect he is the reason that one set of plans after another disintegrate until little is left of their traditions. Yet Angela warms to Gabe because she suspects they share a secret—his real reason for coming to town. Even when all they have to work with is a garish supply of blue Christmas decorations, Gabe helps Angela discover the hidden beauty of hope. Christmas in Gold After eighty years, change is nothing new for Astrid. By the time she was twenty, she survived the destructive Nazi regime, caring for her family under brutal circumstances, moving to America, and losing her husband. At forty she was widowed again and left to build a new life with her children. Now, when she faces a move into an assisted living community and meets a young woman on the brink of despair, she resolves to stir up hope through tragedy one more time.
Warm Montana Home
Cynthia Bruner - 2016
Will they become entangled in a web of money, family, and dark secrets from the past? Or will a simple, strong faith change the course of their lives, bringing them the love neither thought they would find? The Moose Hollow series is a keen look at broken people in a broken world, filled with wit, romance, and redemption. For more Christian romance, please check out Cynthia Bruner’s Montana Weekend Novellas.
The Spindle Chair
Shellie Arnold - 2015
And she is usually able to overlook her husband’s moments of quiet sadness. If only God would give them a child … Pierce wants a child as badly as Laurie and has spent years praying alongside her. But he has no idea that a "yes" from God will unearth long-buried memories and bring their marriage to the brink of catastrophe. In The Barn Church trilogy's first novel, The Spindle Chair, Shellie Arnold explores what happens when "happily ever after" becomes more than one couple can handle.
Prairie
Chautona Havig - 2013
Five lives irrevocably change when their greatest longings become their new reality–and for one, vice versa.The Journey of Dreams series is Contemporary Christian Fantasy, exploring the delights of our hearts and how the Lord meets them.-------------------------------In my dreams, I had always imagined wandering through meadows of golden, calf-high grasses that swayed in a gentle breeze. The dream recurred often—one I’d loved since my childhood. Sitting on the fire escape of our fourth-floor apartment in Pittsburgh, I’d escape into the woods of Wisconsin, the prairies of Kansas, and eventually the little town of De Smet, South Dakota, as I lived and breathed the adventures of Laura Ingalls. However, of all those places, the Kansas prairie somehow infused itself into my soul. I dreamt of the swoosh of the grasses, the musical sound of the cottonwoods when their leaves rustled in summer winds, and clear skies with only small tufts of clouds to mar their azure perfection...Some things we read in books, whether prose or poetry, and think we understand. However, until you’ve stood in a sea of grasses undulating like the waves of the ocean in the morning breeze, you cannot possibly begin to understand what the phrase, “sea of grass” means. As I stood, watching the rise and fall of the blades dancing in unison to a tune inaudible to me, a rush of contentment washed over me. In this vast sea of nothingness, I knew I had come home.---------------------------------------Jessa Davidson enjoyed a lifelong fascination and desire for life on the prairie. However, she never expected that fascination to become reality. A far cry from her apartment in Pittsburgh, the world of Prairie is more than just a change in geography--it's a change of life. In Prairie, Jessa examines the innermost parts of her soul and discovers desires she never knew she had. From the moment she awoke, transported from the cold Pennsylvania winter, on the sunbathed summer prairie, she knew her life would never be the same.The people of Prairie welcomed her and accepted her--almost without question, but so much of her life changed in that moment--her hopes, dreams, values, and the absolutes of things like time--that she feared accepting her new life as reality.Is Prairie the dreams of her life come true--or her worst nightmare> Is it real? Is it permanent? Or will she awake to discover that she's lost her mind--or worse, her life?And the biggest question on Jessa's heart? Does she care?
Lightning on a Quiet Night
Donn E. Taylor - 2014
The young veteran Jack Davis holds that idyllic vision of the town and tries to share it with Lisa Kemper, newly arrived from Indiana. But she is repelled by everything in it. While the sheriff tries to find the killer, Jack and Lisa's contentious courtship reveals the town's strange combination of astute perceptions and surprising blind spots. Then they stumble onto shocking discoveries about the true nature of the town. But where will those discoveries lead? To repentance or to denial and continuation in vanity?
Finding Jeena
Miralee Ferrell - 2010
. . in short, a new life. But when rumors around town cast her boss in a shady light, Jeena starts questioning her employer's integrity. Still, the money is good and his ethics aren't her concern. Right? Wrong. The rumors are just the beginning. Jeena's boss disappears just when hush-hush phone calls, unpaid salaries, and piles of bills attract the attention of federal authorities. Then, Jeena's carefully crafted world begins to crumble and her struggle with alcohol rears its ugly head. Shaken to the core as she faces financial and emotional ruin, Jeena is confronted with her prejudices--and with a God she had long forgotten.
The Laws of Music
Carly Morgan - 2017
Max Legend breaks them all. Katie Green has big dreams. She's had them since she can remember and she has the lists to prove it. They include:
Go to college.
Graduate.
Go to law school.
Graduate.
Don't date musicians! Become a lawyer. Marry.
Stay married.
Become partner at a law firm.
Have three children.
Buy a home.
Raise children.
Stay married.
Be a good mom. She's accomplished the first four goals on her list and has no doubt the rest will be accomplished soon. Max Legend is the lead singer of a popular Christian rock band. He's kind, talented, and beyond gorgeous. He’s also sure of his destiny, which includes sharing the good news of God’s love through music. Someday he hopes to find an amazing woman willing to love him for who he is and what he does. Katie and Max meet one fateful night at The Attic, a club where Max's band is performing. After a surprising and amazing kiss, they go their separate ways. But their meeting was obviously divine intervention. They are continuously running into each other. Rather quickly they get to know one another, but Katie won't accept that there is anything more than friendship between her and Max. Can Katie break her dating rules and follow her heart or are she and Max destined to be nothing more than a one hit wonder? The Love is a Destination series doesn’t have to be read in order. Each couple gets their happily ever after before THE END. But reading in order does make the experience more fun. ___________ LOVE IS A DESTINATION SERIES The Laws of Music The Laws of Attraction Love's Christmas Miracle My Valentine's Day Fiancé Dating by Design (March 2018)