Most Anticipated Christian Fiction of 2024!

New titles revealed for 2024! Here are the one's I'm most looking forward to this year: (to be updated as fall titles are released)

  

January: The Seamstress of Acadie by Laura Frantz (Revell)

February: Rocky Road by Becky Wade (Indie) - Sons of Scandal, book 2

February: While the City Sleeps by Elizabeth Camden (Bethany House) - Women of Midtown, book 1

  

February: A Lady's Guide to Marvels and Misadventure by Angela Bell (Bethany House)

March: A Noble Scheme by Roseanna M. White (Bethany House) - The Imposters, book 2

March: If the Boot Fits by Karen Witemeyer (Bethany House) - Texas Ever After, book 2

 

April: Night Falls on Predicament Avenue by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

June: The Hudson Collection by Jocelyn Green (Bethany House) - On Central Park, book 2

July: Meeting Her Match by Jen Turano (Bethany House) - The Matchmakers, book 3

 

In the Sweet Ever After by Melissa Tagg (Indie) - Maple Valley Romance, book 3

October: Specters in the Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

Fall: __________ by Kristi Ann Hunter (Indie) - London Dreams, book 1

 

November: An Honorable Deception by Roseanna M White (Bethany House) - The Imposters, book 3

December: Cloaked in Beauty by Karen Witemeyer (Bethany House) - Texas Ever After, book 3

December: The Seaside Homecoming by Julie Klassen (Bethany House) - Sisters of Seaview, book 3

Favorite Books of 2023!

I did a lot of rereading over the course of the year, as well trying out a number of quasi-classics that I've neglected (Daphne du Marier, Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart). But of the books published this year, there were definitely some outstanding ones (I even re-read The Rose and the Thistle midway through the year):  

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 The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz (Revell)

Fairest of Heart by Karen Witemeyer (Bethany House) - Texas Ever After, book 1

The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theatre by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

Memory Lane by Becky Wade (Indie) - Sons of Scandal, book 1

Wedding at Sea by Melissa Tagg (Indie) - Muir Harbor, book 3

"Wedding at Sea" by Melissa Tagg - Muir Harbor, book 3

Lilian doesn’t remember anything about her life before the day Maggie Muir found her on her front porch—a toddler, abandoned. She has a beautiful life at Muir Farm, but she also has a secret . . . one that raises just as many questions about her future as it does her unknown past. And, of course, it would be private investigator Wilder Monroe, her brother’s best friend and the bane of her existence, who sniffs out her secret before anyone else. Wilder has spent the past three years trying to close the one case on the mystery of Maggie Muir’s long-lost granddaughter. But the decades-long search has become more tangled than ever. Not only are the Muirs the closest thing to family he has left, but if he can solve this mystery, maybe he'll keep himself from drowning in the one he can’t . . . the truth about his father’s death. In the midst of it all, Maggie asks a favor of both Lilian and Wilder: put aside their bickering and work together to plan her summer wedding. It’s a big ask, made all the more difficult when danger comes calling. But if the two enemies can stand each other long enough to pull off the event of the year, they just might solve a mystery in the process.

This is a rare Melissa Tagg novel in that it lacks the adorable meet cute (not surprising, given that the leads have known each other forever). But it makes up for it in a couple different fun and delightfully awkward scenes. It's full of Tagg's trademark humor, as well as her classic heart-wrenching scenes in which the leads wrestle with their demons and overcome. As with the previous two novels in the series, it even has a spark of suspense and danger.

This is one of the best--albeit, more unusual--enemies to lovers stories I've read. It's not a case of physical attraction instigating the shift from enemies to lovers, as in so many romances; instead, vulnerability leads to connection, which leads to a deeper relationship, which finally culminates in attraction. The physical aspects are way down the list. 

This was the perfect ending to the Muir Harbor series (though I'd gladly take a full novel about Marianna). They are all equally wonderful, but best together! 5 stars!

Muir Harbor
1. Autumn by the Sea
2. A Seaside Wonder
3. Wedding at Sea 

Most Anticipated Christian Fiction of 2023!

The books I'm most excited for in the coming year! (To be updated as fall titles are released)

  

January: The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz (Revell)

January: Hearts of Steel by Elizabeth Camden (Bethany House); Blackstone Legacy, book 3

January: Yesterday's Tides by Roseanna M White (Bethany House)

 

February: A Match in the Making by Jen Turano (Bethany House); The Matchmakers, book 1

February: Memory Lane by Becky Wade (Indie); Sons of Scandal, book 1

April: The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

   

June: Fairest of Heart by Karen Witemeyer (Bethany House) - Texas Ever After, book 1

July: Wedding at Sea by Melissa Tagg (Indie) - Muir Harbor, book 3

July: Pixels and Paint by Kristi Ann Hunter (Indie) - Trinket Sisters, book 1

  

August: A Beautiful Disguise by Roseanna M White (Bethany House) - The Imposters, book 1

October: The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theatre by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

November: To Spark a Match by Jen Turano (Bethany House); The Matchmakers, book 2

Favorite books of 2022!

 

 

Written on the Wind by Elizabeth Camden (Bethany House); Blackstone Legacy, book 2

To Treasure an Heiress by Roseanna M White (Bethany House); Secrets of the Isles, book 2

 

In Honor's Defense by Karen Witemeyer (Bethany House); Hanger's Horsemen, book 3

Engaging Deception by Regina Jennings (Bethany House); Joplin Chronicles, book 3

 

A Seaside Wonder by Melissa Tagg (Indie) - Muir Harbor, book 2

 

The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

Dangerous Beauty by Melissa Koslin (Revell)

"A Seaside Wonder" by Melissa Tagg - Muir Harbor, book 2

In one evening, Indi's world falls apart. Enter the shy professor her family mistakes for her fiancé...make that ex-fiancé. Professor Philip West never wanted to return to Maine . . . or his grandfather’s miserable old house. But after his mother’s death, he’s now the guardian of a resentful teenage half sister he barely knows. More than a decade has passed since Indi Muir made the heartbreaking decision she’s never recovered from. If she can just stay busy, she’ll keep her hurt and regret at bay. But when her ex-fiancé returns to Muir Harbor, he brings news that shatters her carefully built walls. The one bright spot amid Indi’s turmoil is the shy stranger who wandered into her shop months ago and his moody but lovable sister. As she confronts her past, she’s intent on helping Philip win over his sister. He just might win over Indi, too, if they can overcome old secrets and wounds, outrun rising peril . . . and take a chance on love.

Melissa Tagg is an expert at the meet-cute. They are always the perfect combination of funny (though perhaps mildly embarrassing for the characters) and memorable. I reread over half of Tagg's backlist in anticipation of this book. The Wardrobe-Break-up Incident fits right in.

Indie is so busy trying to make up for the messes she's made of her life that she is frequently inadvertently making new ones--and now she doesn't trust herself not to keep on rushing headlong into messes of her own making. Nonetheless, she is fun and delightful. But Philip is the best. He's so genuine; his life isn't and never has been what he would have chosen, yet he still chooses joy and faith. He just might be my favorite.

I have enjoyed all of Melissa Tagg's books, but the Muir Harbor books are the best yet (granted, I previously said that about the Maple Valley Romances. But it's a rare author who can continually not only meet my already high expectations, but surpass them). They are funny, the romances are swoony and heart-warming, the mystery thread is fantastic, but most of all, there are really hard things the characters are dealing with, and these books offer hope in a meaningful way. They may have humor, but there is nothing trite about these stories.

I greatly look forward to Lilian and Wilder's story! (Because it absolutely must be Wilder. It MUST.)

Muir Harbor
1. Autumn by the Sea
2. A Seaside Wonder
3. Wedding at Sea

Most Anticipated Christian Fiction 2022!

 Here are my most anticipated Christian fiction reads for 2022! (To be updated as fall books are announced)

  

January: A Heart Adrift by Laura Frantz (Revell)

January: To Disguise the Truth by Jen Turano (Bethany House); Bleeker Street Inquiry Agency, book 3

January: To Treasure an Heiress by Roseanna M White (Bethany House); Secrets of the Isles, book 2

  

March: Enchanting the Heiress by Kristi Ann Hunter (Bethany House); Hearts on the Heath, book 3

April: The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

May: Turn to Me by Becky Wade (Bethany House); Misty River Romance, book 3

 

May: Shadowed Loyalty by Roseanna M. White (Chrism Press)

May: Written on the Wind by Elizabeth Camden (Bethany House); Blackstone Legacy, book 2

October: A Seaside Wonder by Melissa Tagg (Indie); Muir Harbor, book 2

  

September: Worthy of Legend by Roseanna M. White (Bethany House); Secrets of the Isles, book 3

October: The Premonition at Wither's Farm by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)

December: Engaging Deception (Bethany House); Joplin Chronicles, book 3