Book picks similar to
Home Sweet Home by Kristen Brown


fiction
christian-fiction
christian
contemporary-fiction

All The Hidden Pieces


Jillian Thomadsen - 2018
    Within minutes, she and her family hastily pack up their belongings and abandon their home. Where did the family go and why? Det. Roberta Hobbs has been assigned to uncover the family's whereabouts. Hobbs is a confident, intelligent police veteran. However, each passing day brings her closer to her unresolved past. When Hobbs digs deeper into the mystery, all leads point to her own longtime ex-boyfriend - a former drug dealer turned philanthropist named Steven Vance -- as the primary suspect. This riveting dual-timeline suspense novel takes us back to 2004 -- the year Greta Carpenter first realizes something is wrong with her young son, John. Over the course of his childhood, John's learning disabilities become apparent. Greta's unfaltering advocacy on his behalf puts her at odds with the school system and strains her relationship with her husband Griffin. Eventually Greta and Griffin's marriage falls apart, and during the divorce trial, Greta reveals that she was a teenage runaway, and a local entrepreneur named Steven Vance rescued her from the streets. Vance is certainly a man of many shades - a local celebrity for his philanthropy, a cunning CEO who sits atop a questionable mini-empire, a benevolent former father figure to Greta and a lying, evasive former companion to Hobbs. It seems that only Vance has the power to make people disappear in this small town and he emerges as the most obvious suspect...but Hobbs remains uncertain of his role. While her colleagues question whether she can truly be impartial, Hobbs realizes she has a reason to suspect them as well. Nothing is obvious in this thrilling mystery...except that Hobbs must race to solve the mystery before it's too late.

Coming Home


Jennifer Vander Klipp - 2019
    And avoid Seth Blake. Becca dreads seeing her girlhood crush to whom she confessed her love before she went off to college. Embarrassed by her childish behavior, she can only hope Seth has forgotten and will see her as a woman. She plans to return to school as soon as possible and make a life for herself. Rumors of ghosts, accidents at the camp, and overheard conversations convince Becca that her brother’s death was no accident. Despite evidence that she’s the next target, she puts her own feelings and college aside to stay and uncover the truth. Seth is happy to see Becca, but as a grown woman she’s a stranger to him, stirring up feelings he can’t identify. When he finds a piece of evidence implicating him in Thomas’s death, he struggles with helping Becca find answers while keeping her from learning he could have prevented it. As the stakes get higher, Seth must keep both of them alive long enough to offer a future to this grown woman he’s fallen in love with.

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.

The Morecambe Bay Trilogy 1: Left for Dead, Circle of Lies & Truth Be Told: The first trilogy in one collection!


Paul J. Teague - 2020
    Two guilty secrets. A memory that won't stay buried ... When Charlotte and Will Grayson return to the seaside resort where they met as teenagers, they hope it'll help to heal the wounds in their marriage. But visiting the dilapidated holiday camp where their relationship began brings terrible memories back from the past. The man who'd once made their lives hell has come back to find them - only, the last time they saw him, they'd left him for dead on the beach. As the threats to their new life become more severe, Charlotte and Will discover that they were mistaken about what happened to Bruce Craven on that fateful night. And now he's returned to finish off what was started thirty years ago. Sometimes the past is best left alone Circle Of Lies Five powerful men. One desperate woman. A seaside town rocked to its core ... When Charlotte Grayson discovers a local author dead in her seaside guest house she’s determined to find out what drove such a successful man to take his life at the pinnacle of his career. After an old newspaper cutting is sent linking the writer to a powerful group of men in the town, Charlotte starts to suspect it wasn’t suicide. Joining forces with a local newspaper reporter, Charlotte soon finds that the sleepy resort conceals many dark secrets. As more bodies are found it seems the resort is at the mercy of a serial killer hellbent on taking revenge. But the truth lies closer to home and Charlotte must confront her own past first before she can remove her family from danger. How far would you go to protect your family’s darkest secret? Truth Be Told An evil man. A quest for revenge. A woman who will do anything to save her family. A truth that must be told ... Charlotte Grayson is caught up with something bigger and more dangerous than she could ever have imagined. What appeared to be a run-down seaside resort has become a living nightmare for her and her family. Now living under the threat of a violent reprisal, Charlotte discovers help where she least expected it. The seaside town has been at the mercy of a powerful group of men for several decades - but that's all about to end. As Charlotte fights to protect her daughter from a vile corruption, she must finally put to rest the demons of her past. This is one night in Morecambe that she'll never forget. In the final reckoning, the full truth must be told ... Buy the entire Morecambe Bay trilogy in one collection!

The Space Between Us


T.K. Chapin - 2019
    After turning eighteen years old, his adoptive father, Walter, helped him search for the woman who gave him life. He tried to find the woman for two long years, then he finally gave up. One day, he decides to start the search again. Will Chance finally get the answers he so desperately wants? Is Chance being distracted from God's true will in his life?Maddison is a strong independent woman who is looking forward to her new job at the newspaper in Spokane. While she supports Chance's efforts to find his mother, she often wonders if he'll ever come around to the idea of a relationship between the two of them. She's been his friend for years, but her heart wants more. Can she find love with Chance? Or does she need to cut ties and move on?An inspirational Christian romance that is not only a faith-based book but also a lesson in the love, power, and timing of God. The Space Between Us will keep you turning the pages until the very end. This wholesome and clean contemporary novel will be sure to leave a lasting impression on your heart and remind you of how beautiful God's will is in your life.

A Wife and a River


Sherri Schoenborn Murray - 2015
    Mae was NOT what he had in mind when he asked four elderly women to pray for him in hiring his first employee. She was just the kind of lure he didn’t need in his fishing store.

River Road


Charles Martin - 2015
    For the boy inside the pages . . From Charles: I am often asked about my childhood. How I grew up. Where. What informed me as a writer, man and child of God. Starting with some of my earliest memories, these are stories of that place in me. That kid in me. In here you will find honest admission of my mistakes, failures, successes. Note: these are not fiction and this is not a novel.These stories are as true as I can remember. In these pages, you will hear the beginnings of my voice as a writer, the things that were troubling me — things I didn’t know how to voice out my mouth so they bubbled up and out my fingers. You will also hear my unshakable and childlike faith in a sovereign and good Heavenly Father.I wrote most all of these stories between my sophomore year in high school and my senior year in college so my temptation here and now was to edit them. To make them sound like me today, the writer I’ve become after almost thirty years with this keyboard on my lap. For the record, I have not done that. What you read today, is what I wrote then. (That doesn’t mean they’re sloppy. I’ve cleaned them up a bit.) But, as a result, you hear my early voice. And while it is ripe with mistakes and a wordiness long since edited out of me, there’s also an innocence and purity that I cherish.For those of you looking for my next novel, this is not it. But, it will give you insight into the novels you have read or might read. I’ve entitled them, “River Road,” because I grew up there. Because that hallowed ground along the St. Johns River holds a tender place in my heart. Because the valiant, sweaty kid I knew back then is still running around with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn and he holds an absolute faith that fishing is a more noble pursuit than school, that he can play in the NFL, that men don’t die of hiccups, that he can still cat-walk his Schwin Mag Scrambler over sixty nine parking spaces, that swallowing Levi Garrett chewing tobacco won’t hurt him and that girls actually think it’s cool, that throwing tangerines at cars is good training for arm strength, that being a bully to a buddy hurt his heart, that a pellet to the gonads is excruciatingly painful, that when my praying mother hit her knees next to a wrecked car and bleeding man that she towered over the men around her, that forgiveness is the toughest thing that kid will ever offer another and that God can and will kill the devil. Enjoy.

The Day She Died


Bill Garrison - 2014
    In a journey that takes months, he stumbles over people connected to Kim’s disappearance and puzzles over connecting the dots.Oddly enough, things are different when he relives sections of his life. For example, as a teen he plays baseball and as an adult he discovers what it’s like to be a Christian pastor, things he never did before.Can he find some answers about Kim and about his own life? Or prevent Kim’s death? And if he succeeds in changing history, what happens to his wife and kids?Target audience: mystery fans, Oklahomans, Christians, baseball fans, male readers, romance readers.“A classic whodunit twisted into a time pretzel. I loved it!” – Toby Rowland, Voice of the Sooners"The Day She Died is a mind-bending, page-turning mystery that showcases Bill Garrison's ability to weave a complex plot line into an unforgettable story. Highly recommended!"-- Rene Gutteridge, best-selling author of Misery Loves Company“A fascinating book that will delight lovers of mystery and fantasy.” -- Donita K. Paul, best-selling author of Dragon Keeper Chronicles and The Realm Walkers."Bill Garrison paints a believable, easily-followed story line that will immerse even the most seasoned of mystery readers and time travel enthusiasts, to surprise and delight right up to the end." -- D. Donovan, eBook Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Confessions of a First Lady 2


Denora Boone - 2015
     Their lives are in shambles with Veronica being gone. MJ is adjusting to fatherhood while Dynasty is taking the absence of her mother extremely hard. How could a woman who knows what it feels like for their mother to walk out on them turn around and do the same to her own kids. The apple definitely doesn't fall too far from the tree. Meanwhile, Veronica has decided to rekindle her flame with Iesha. That doesn't sit too well with Adrian, who has also joined them on their little getaway. Although she's been Iesha's ride or die through it all, Adrian feels she will never have Iesha to herself because of the love she has for Veronica. This drives Adrian to extremities that will cause Iesha’s life to be turned upside down. As the search continues for Veronica, secrets are revealed and pieces of the puzzle are put together. An unexpected visitor sheds some much needed light on the entire situation. Why did Veronica really walk out on her family? Is there more to the story? Will the Millhouse family survive and stay strong, or have these confessions destroyed them? Nothing is ever what it seems and just when you think you have it all figured out God allows another bomb to drop. Who will be left standing when the smoke clears and can God repair all that is broken?

Johnny Cornflakes


Denise George - 2010
    The narrative offers hope even in difficult places, challenges our attitudes toward others and shows how God can work in the most unexpected ways through the most unlikely, unloved people.Denise George is an internationally popular writer and speaker best known for creative Biblical application. Denise is married to Dr. Timothy George, executive editor of Christianity Today and founding Dean of Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama."A tale of pathos and need, of joy and pain, of poverty and glorious abundance."Dr Calvin Miller ~ author, poet, artist."The deep things in this simple story tug hard at the heart."J I Packer ~ Board of Governors' Professor of Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, Canada

One Hundred Open Houses


Consuelo Saah Baehr - 2010
    Pert, pithy and very New York. Full of the admirable offhand observations of an unfooled eye." Jill Neville, The London Times Literary Supplement"(Daughters is) engrossing . . . the story Baehr tells touches so deeply one is tempted to reread every page." - Chicago Tribune (Best Friends is) a pleasure to read . . . fascinating, extraordinary women…I wished they were my best friends.” Susan Isaacs, author of Compromising Positions, Shining Through“Consuelo Saah Baehr is a very talented writer. She keeps you turning the pages, heart thumping, to see what will happen next.” Rona Jaffe, author of The Best of Everything, Class ReunionProduct Description100 Open Houses is about real estate and life. It’s about the whispers from the soul hole that we barely hear. Rebecca Haas, like all of us, is being tortured to death by the sameness of her life, her thoughts, her weight, the incessant self review of life choices, her indecision, her stalled writing career. Can a change of space really change her life and finally give her the authenticity she needs? Take this trip with Rebecca through all of the open houses and the lives lived in them – is one of them yours?An excerpt from 100 Open HousesWhispers from the soul holeYou’re going along thinking everything is okay. You’re not noticeably dying or anything and even though your hair was thinning, suddenly for no reason, it stabilizes – even begins to get thicker – and you think, huh, some new kind of ‘fresh hell’ hormones must be kicking in but I’ll take it. Still every morning, in the quiet few minutes when you swing your legs out of bed and decide to get up, this voice whispers from the old brain hole or maybe it’s the soul hole and it says: Wait! If you were in an Ingmar Bergman movie and Death came and played chess with you, Death would win because you are not really living the best life you can.All through last fall and early winter I had that thought in my pocket. Maybe it accounted for a new addiction to read real estate news. Maybe I thought a change of residence would do the trick Real estate is the new drug and it’s better than crack because it only costs the price of the Sunday paper and not even that if you read it on line. But also, you can go into any Open House and see apartments and houses where you would never be invited. You can look in the medicine cabinet and in the closets and pretty much look at any damn thing you want. Then, you can say, “No thanks.”The New York Times just put out an entire magazine devoted to real estate. It’s called Key and on the cover is a stylized picture of a key with red lines radiating from it that look like the vein and capillary system inside your body. Maybe that’s the subliminal message they are trying to send: that Real Estate is the substance of your life.When I read Key magazine, I feel as if all the information has segregated me and shut me out. One of the articles tells you how much house one and a half million dollars can buy today. If you want to move to Szigetkoz, Hungary (no, I didn’t misspell it) you get a 30-acre, ten-bedroom castle. In New York City, you get a one-bedroom apartment with lava-stone kitchen countertops and the noise of the West Side Highway at your doorstep.That’s what I was going to have to do to save my life – move from my coveted idyllic village and find myself some Real Estate in New York City. I didn’t have a million dollars. I was going to have to really HUNT for a match like the innocent people in the New York Times they profile in The Hunt.

The Monkey's Raincoat / Free Fall / Lullaby Town


Robert Crais - 2003
    The search for Ellen's errant husband leads Elvis into the seamier side of Hollywood. He soon learns that Mort Lang is a down-on-his-luck talent agent who associates with a schlocky movie producer, and the last place he was spotted was at a party thrown by a famous and very well-connected ex-Matador. But no one has seen him since - including his B-movie girlfriend. At the same time the police find Mort in his parked car with four gunshots in his chest - and no kid in sight - Ellen disappears. Now nothing is what it seems, and the heat is on. It's up to Elvis Cole and his partner Joe Pike to find the connection between sleazy Hollywood players and an ex-Matador. FREE FALL Read by James Daniels (Sandra Burr, Jill Sovis) Elvis Cole is just a detective who can't say no, especially to a girl in a terrible fix. And Jennifer Sheridan qualifies: Her fiance, Mark Thurman, is a decorated LA cop with an elite plainclothes unit, but Jennifer's sure he's in trouble - the kind of serious trouble that only Elvis Cole can help him out of. Five minutes after his new client leaves his office, Elvis and his partner, the enigmatic Joe Pike, are hip-deep in a deadly situation as they plummet into a world of South Central gangs, corrupt cops, and conspiracies of silence. And before the case is through, every cop in the LAPD will be gunning for a pair of escaped armed-and-dangerous killers - Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. LULLABY TOWN Read by James Daniels (Joyce Bean, Russell Byers) Hollywood's newest wunderkind is Peter Alan Nelson, the brilliant, erratic director known as the King of Adventure. His films make billions, but his manners make enemies. What the boy king wants, he gets, and what Nelson wants is for Elvis to comb the country for the airhead wife and infant child the film-school flunkout dumped en route to becoming the third biggest filmmaker in America. It's the kind of case Cole can handle in his sleep - until it turns out to be a nightmare. For when Cole finds Nelson's wife in a small Conneticut town, she's nothing like what he expects. The lady has some unwanted - and very nasty - mob connections, which means Elvis could be opening the East Coast branch of his P.I. office . . .at the bottom of the Hudson River.

The Slade House Affair: Clare Montgomery, Private Investigator


Daisy Thurbin - 2016
    In this first book in a new series, Mrs Montgomery is retained by an archaic well heeled family when its patriarch fails to arrive home at the expected hour. As with all of her writing, Thurbin demonstrates that a book need not contain gratuitous violence, graphic sex or coarse language in order to keep the reader entertained. Set in London and the Home Counties, Thurbin's attention to detail and meticulous research, coupled with an interesting conundrum and a sprinking of quirky characters, are bound to please even the most discerning of readers.

The Carving Tree


Terry Thomas Bowman - 2015
    Forty-six years ago Jake pledged his love to Sadie by carving their names into the Carving Tree. Now newly retired, Sadie is eager to take on life’s newest adventures with Jake by her side. But when the symbol of their enduring love begins to wither and Jake is diagnosed with a heart condition, Sadie’s dreams are put on hold.Bitter towards God, Sadie is determined to nurse Jake and their beloved Carving Tree back to health on her own. Sadie’s luck takes a turn for the worse when she and Jake are threatened with a false lawsuit and Megan Thompson, an aspiring model, goes missing after leaving her young son in Sadie’s care. Overwhelmed with stress, medical bills, and Jake’s deteriorating health, Sadie’s notion of retired life is turning out to be quite different than she anticipated. Miles away, Megan Thompson’s world is also shaken. When what she thought was an audition for a modeling gig turns out to be a hoax, Megan � finds herself a victim of a human-traf�ficking ring. Terri�fied and far from home, Megan knows only one thing is certain: she must, against all odds, escape and return to her son.Will Sadie be able to regain her footing and � nd peace with God, and will Megan ever escape and return to her young son? Both women’s courage and resilience are put to the test in Terry Bowman’s captivating novel, The Carving Tree.

After the Fall (The Narrow Gate Book 1)


Janean Worth - 2015
     Centuries after the Fall, the world is a different place than it used to be... When she suddenly becomes a Stray, Kara is forced to flee the relative safety of GateWide in order to avoid becoming a slave to the cruel Sovereign. Hunted deep into the wilds by the Sovereign's Enforcers, Kara must find a way to survive, relying only on her own scarce knowledge of the decimated wilderness outside the settlement's walls. Surrounded by mutated creatures in an unfamiliar environment, Kara soon realizes that many of the things that she thought she knew about the wilderness had been based on lies that had been taught to all the people of GateWide. Why have the people of the settlement been misled and how will she find the truth with only one small clue to guide her?