Happy New Year!

I’m obviously getting older (or perhaps it’s the way time slowed down during the plague years), but 2023 seemed to go by in a flash. I’ve had a lot of changes, including a debut novel and a new job in a new city. But there will still be time for reading 🙂

More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website.

Contemporary Romance

The Love Penalty by Carolyn Miller — With her fondness for tattoos and spider jewelry Sylvie Miles is used to being pre-judged and misunderstood. She has friends and connections but she still feels alone, and works several jobs while daydreaming about finding a guy who sees further than skin deep and won’t shy away from her battered heart. So when a hot pro hockey player with a smile as vast as his skills takes a shine to her what’s a poor girl to do but fall in love?

Ryan Guillemette sure wasn’t looking for romance in a bookstore in his hometown but quickly becomes intrigued by the sassy Goth-like assistant with a snarky way with words. When an accidental kiss proves dangerously addictive, she soon becomes embedded in his heart. But even as the romance heats up he’s torn as she’s not following God. Can these two opposites make a match or should he call a permanent time out? (Contemporary Romance, Independently Published)

Yellow Roses by Suzie Waltner — Mia Mason has always strived to meet others’ expectations. Her adoptive family, her fans, even her friends in the band. She works hard at pleasing everyone because she’s never felt like she truly belongs. After connecting with a cousin through a DNA website, she plans a covert road trip, hoping to find her biological mother and the answers she desires.

During a music awards ceremony, Levi Sinclair receives two messages that ruin his night. One is a breakup text from his girlfriend of six weeks. The other is from the father who abandoned his family seventeen years ago and wants to reconnect. Then Levi discovers Mia’s secret mission and insists on going along to keep her safe. As the two friends pass the miles and see the sights, Levi’s true feelings for Mia rise to the surface. And her journey to the past might open the door to their future.

Family issues and a shared career are just two of the hurdles they’ll have to jump if they want a shot at love. Could the end of the road lead these friends to a new beginning? (Contemporary Romance from Anaiah Press)

Their Inseparable Bond by Jill Weatherholt — Training service dogs is single dad Jake Beckett’s calling. He’s determined to train rambunctious puppy Callie to help his ailing friend Myrna live independently with her growing blindness. Myrna’s granddaughter, Olivia Hart, isn’t easily convinced, but Jake, his twins and Callie are an incredibly persuasive team. If Olivia agrees to give Callie a chance, will working with Jake risk her lifelong dreams? (Contemporary Romance from Love Inspired [Harlequin])

General Contemporary

Chokecherry Valley Love by Jean Rezab — Ashley Richmond’s goal to become a psychologist becomes derailed by sudden doubts. She questions what direction her new career track should take. In her personal life, her brothers have become strangers, but she’s ready to try to forgive past mistakes and reconnect. While trying to decide on her career and figure out her sibling relationships, life takes another turn when she meets Jason. Their mutual attraction is complicated by his family obligations and her uncertainty over the future. (General Contemporary, Independently Published)

Historical Romance

The Legacy of the Rocking K Ranch by Mary Connealy, D.J. Gudger, Becca Whitham, Kimberley Woodhouse — Six Decades of History Unfurls on a Wyoming Ranch Journey to untamed Wyoming where four generations of women experience love, loss, grace, adoption, struggles with the law, relationships with natives, and through it all, family bonds. (Historical Romance Novella Collection from Barbour Publishing)

A Summer on Bellevue Avenue by Lorri Dudley — Wealthy heiress Amanda Mae Klein is set to marry the man she loves. Wesley Jansen-the only person she trusts to help ease her anxiety among the social climbers of high society. Until the daughter of a union boss falls down a flight of stairs at Wesley’s office in the middle of the night…and the woman claims Wesley pushed her.

Seeking solace from the growing scandal. Amanda flees to the mansion-dotted seaside of Newport. Wesley follows to disprove the rumors and win back the trust of Amanda and her father. But soon, Amanda finds not only her social status but her life at risk. As dire events pit the two against each other, will their love find a way to survive? (Historical Romance from Wild Heart Books)

Polly (Apron Series) by Naomi Musch — The Great War has ended, but Polly Holloway’s heart is shattered when her fiancé finally returns home—with a French war bride. Now her future feels desolate, until she fastens onto the idea of using her skills and a special cookbook to turn her grandfather’s Victorian house into a fashionable ladies’ tearoom. Yet, how will she endure the patronage of the woman who stole her sweetheart? Moreover, the suave tavern owner down the block is interfering in her business, personal and otherwise. Heaven only knows what goes on behind his doors.

Ross Dalton can no longer sell liquor in his establishment. With prohibition in force, it’s a mixed blessing. Ross met God on the battlefield, and he wants to start fresh, but he must earn a living. Converting his bar into a coffee house offers a partial solution. Still, bootleggers are pressing him to pedal their moonshine, and the girl up the street is convinced his place is a front for a speakeasy. She’s awfully cute when she turns up her pert little nose at his friendly overtures.

How can he convince her he isn’t going to tarnish the neighborhood or ruin her business? And will she believe he’s a changed man when the bootleggers double down? (Historical Romance, Independently Published)

When the Waters Came by Candice Sue Patterson — Pastor Montgomery Childs has tended his flock in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for two years. While his pews are full every Sunday, he most desires to see a reckoning between God and the kings of industry who recreate on Lake Conemaugh. Like Noah, Monty prays against the evil surrounding him, but he never expects God to send a flood. It takes five days for the Red Cross to respond to the Johnstown flood disaster, but when it does, Annamae Worthington is ready to help.

Apprenticing under Clara Barton has prepared her for the job, but nothing can prepare her for the death and destruction that awaits. As if the survivors haven’t suffered enough, typhoid fever ravages the town, resurfacing suppressed emotions regarding her father’s death. Narrowly surviving the flood and the horrifying things he’s witnessed, Monty’s faith is floundering. Then a Red Cross nurse puts him to work helping with the typhoid fever victims arriving at the hospital tents every hour. Monty and Annamae work together distributing disinfectants and supplies, housing orphans, and serving those left behind. Slowly, his faith resurfaces.

A kinship forms between them neither can ignore. But when an investigation into the collapsed dam points to the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, secrets emerge that may tear them apart. (Historical Romance from Barbour Publishing)

Redemption for the Cowboy by Z Peabody — Remington Haylord is a preacher’s son. Instead of running with his biker buddies down in Texas, Remington ran with the horses. He feels a preacher’s life is not for him. Now, after a few years in the corporate arena, he’s found a peaceful life at the Sawyer Ranch. While standing at the head of a church, officiating his best-friend’s wedding, Remington looks down the aisle and in a vision of pastel-yellow, is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.

Phoebe Washington has never been to Montana, and if it wasn’t for her best friend’s wedding, she wouldn’t be there now. Despite any first impressions, Phoebe has a change of heart about staying on in Montana when she sees the big, handsome cowboy standing next to her best friend’s soon-to-be husband. He’s quiet, withdrawn, and yes, he’s grumpy. Yet on the rare occasions when he does smile, his face lights up like the big Montana sky. But to Phoebe’s chagrin, he avoids her whenever she gets within a few feet of him. How can she make Remington see that here, with him, is where he wants her to be—and where she needs to be? (Western Romance, Independently Published)

A Cherished Betrothal by Denise Weimer — Alexander Morris bears the childhood scars of the Long Canes massacre that killed his brother and father. Forced by his dark past into the lonely life of Georgia Ranger, Alexander joins the bordering South Carolina Rangers in their revolt against the Crown. When he’s posted to the fort erected to defend the community once decimated by the massacre, duty demands he court the loyalty of his sworn enemies, the fierce Cherokee warriors.

Elspeth Lawrence never forgot the boy who sacrificed himself for her at Long Canes-any more than she forgot the younger sister taken captive. She’s learned not only to forgive, but also to help minister to the Cherokees at her father’s mission. When Alex Morris arrives at nearby Fort Charlotte, Elspeth finds her memories-and her emotions-stirred. When Alex uncovers a long-held secret and a plot to sabotage patriot talks with the Cherokees, he must choose between his desire for revenge and his love for the girl he rescued long ago. (Historical Romance from Wild Heart Books)

Independence Trail by Betty Woods — To escape an arranged marriage, Heidi Schultz runs to the ranch owned by her sister, Lily, and brother-in-law, Toby. No one will ever run or ruin her life again. Jethro Bannister likes his life as foreman for Toby Grimes. Memories of the way his Georgia family turned on him don’t plague him while living on a secluded Texas ranch.

Until Heidi interrupts his carefully arranged, placid world of quiet. The too talkative woman could worry the horns off an entire herd of longhorns. Plus, her family problems remind him too much of what he left behind. Despite their misgivings, Heidi and Jethro form a tenuous friendship based on their common wish to be left alone. Confiding in one another deepens their friendship more than either intends. Will Heidi and Jethro’s past wounds bond them together in an unexpected love or push them apart? (Historical Romance from Scrivenings Press)

Romantic Suspense

Offshore Ambush by Sherri Wilson Johnson — Gretchen Overton’s world is shattered when someone murders her brother on a remote offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico. As medicolegal death investigator for Baldwin County, Alabama, she vows to uncover the truth and bring the killer to justice. But little does she know, her path to finding answers requires the help of Everett Forrester, the rig’s Drilling Foreman and her ex-boyfriend. (Romantic Suspense, Independently Published)

Romantic Suspense

Rescuing You by Robin Patchen — CIA agent Michael Wright’s world crumbles when his girlfriend, Leila, is snatched off the street and later seen in the grasp of a terrorist he’s been tracking, Michael blames himself. Keeping his identity secret from her clearly didn’t protect her. Now he must defy the Agency and fly to Iraq to rescue her. Leila Amato escaped Iraq a decade earlier, only returning in her worst nightmares.

But those nightmares have come true when she finds herself captive and all alone, or so she thought until she sees her identical twin sister. Michael tracks Leila to a desert compound, but his rescue mission goes awry when he discovers her sister needs to escape as well. His detailed strategy can only ensure one woman’s safety. Now they’re on the run, trying to get out of the country before their enemies track them down. (Romantic Suspense, Independently Published [ACFW QIP])

Smoking Flax by Jennifer Hallmark — Who Is He–Really?
Almost nineteen-year-old Reed Anderson wants to belong in a world where he hasn’t always fit. Three days after graduation, he decides to ride a bus back to Louisiana and deal with the events of his thirteenth summer once and for all. Back then, he’d stood up to his abusive Pa, protecting Momma and his sister, taking control of his life. But who was the faded image of the child he saw that day?

Aunt Lula predicted his life would shift and change. Something about space-time-continuum and the fourth dimension? He tucks her words into his heart. If he survives the shift, this could be his chance to start over. But the ghost child haunts his dreams. Even though six years have passed, does he want to confront the lies he’s always believed? (Romantic Suspense from Elk Lake Publishing)

The Samaritan’s Patient by Chevron Ross — Teenager Paige Abernathy awakens after a severe beating to find that she suffers from amnesia, and that everyone seems to hate her. She has only flashes of memory until the night a grieving parent attacks her in her hospital room. Paige then remembers her role as creator of an online group where members talk about ways to commit suicide.

After recovering from the beating, Paige embarks on a journey of penance to atone for a disaster born of good intentions. Her odyssey launches her on a mission of mercy and into new danger. (Romantic Suspense, AIA Publishing)

Plus check out these recent additions to Fiction Finder published within the past month:

Welcome to Bellechester by Margaret A. Blenkush – As Dr. Mary Elizabeth Senty and DCI William Donnelly adjust to life in Bellechester, they find themselves used as bait to catch jewel thieves. (General Historical)

Sundancer’s Star by Elsie Davis – “Sundancer’s Star” is a tale of resilience, love, and the transformative power of second chances. (Contemporary Romance)

Kate by the Book by Susan Page Davis – Charlie’s attracted to children’s librarian, Kate, but his job and his family situation make him keep his feelings in check. But a mystery keeps taking him back to the library, where Kate may be in danger. (Contemporary Romance)

A Daddy for Christmas by MaryAnn Diorio PhD, MFA – Young widow Julie Melitto’s ten-year-old daughter Laney needs a daddy. When Nick Carbone unexpectedly throws a monkey wrench into Julie’s well-ordered life, she must choose between following her head or following her heart. (Contemporary Romance)

Letters of Understanding by Christopher J. Mooney – Inspired by a true story, this is the sole surviving record of the paths of three generations involved in the growth of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, Russia’s KGB, and the Franciscan’s Ordo Fratum Minorum, and the deadly consequences of their decisions. (General Historical)

The King’s Ransom by Patti Jo Moore – Kindergarten teacher Tina Ransom never imagined that her dream vacation to Italy would include an emergency landing on a small tropical island that would change her life forever. (Contemporary Romance)

The Cyrenian, Crossroads and a Cross by Donovan Peterkin – Two men, on two separate roads, betrayed and pursued by the same enemies, destined to carry one Cross. (Biblical)

No Romancing the Passengers by Lee Wimmer – God uses DR, even as he runs from faith and family, accomplishing great things, and a great life, with great love that he often overlooks—as he battles a demon, a dark secret from his youth. (Romantic Suspense)