June 2016 New Releases
More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website.
Romantic suspense:
Deadly Dose by Margaret Daley–Drugs. Murder. Redemption. When Jessie Michaels discovers a letter written to her by her deceased best friend, she is determined to find who murdered Mary Lou, at first thought to be a victim of a serial killer by the police. Jessie’s questions lead to an attempt on her life. The last man she wanted to come to her aid was Josh Morgan, who had been instrumental in her brother going to prison. Together they uncover a drug ring that puts them both in danger. Will Jessie and Josh find the killer? Love? Or will one of them fall victim to a DEADLY DOSE?
Contemporary Romance:
Sweet Dreams by Cecelia Dowdy — A single mom trying to distance herself and her two year old daughter from their dysfunctional family is torn when she falls for a grieving baker dealing with his own family struggles. (Contemporary Romance, Independently Published)
In Love and War by Miralee Ferrell, Kimberly Rose Johnson, Debby Mayne, and Trish Perry — In this collection, four couples have to decide whether to fight or find love. A gift shop clerk at a fancy resort fights to redeem her reputation with her high-school crush turned new boss. To save her fledgling business, a landscape artist competes in a design competition against two handsome men–her ex- fiancé and her one-time best friend. An ad agent disapproves of the new playboy working at her Washington, D.C. agency, until they’re forced to work together on a campaign and she finds herself falling for him. A man starts a new restaurant in the town where his childhood sweetheart owns a diner, and the sparks that fly aren’t just competitive ones.
Sea Rose Lane by Irene Hannon — After a devastating layoff, attorney Eric Nash heads back to the town where he grew up–only to discover that his childhood home is being transformed into a bed & breakfast. Instead of plotting his next career move in peace, he’s constantly distracted by noise, chaos–and BJ Stevens, the attractive but prickly blonde architect and construction chief who’s invaded the house with her motley crew. As for BJ, her client’s son might be handsome, but after a disastrous romance, dating isn’t high on her agenda. Yet when they join forces to create a program for Hope Harbor seniors, might they also find healing, hope, and a new beginning themselves? (Contemporary Romance from Revell [Baker])
A Love to Treasure by Kimberly Rose Johnson — While on vacation an amateur sleuth follows left by her deceased grandmother, and ends up working with a local police officer to solve several mysterious burglaries. (Contemporary Romance from Mountain Brook Ink)
Almost Like Being in Love by Beth K. Vogt — Caron Hollister goes on vacation to Colorado and ends up working as a home stager for her ex-boyfriend, a realtor participating in the Colorado Springs Tour of Homes. But she can’t let herself fall for him when she’s already won an all-expenses paid destination wedding for her and her current boyfriend—who hasn’t proposed to her yet. (Contemporary Romance from Howard [Simon & Schuster])
General Fiction:
Sapphire Secrets by Dawn V. Cahill — Twins Livy and DeeDee McCreary open a dance studio in honor of their late mother, whom they lost when they were six. Problem is, Livy remembers nothing of the day her mother died. The more she questions her family about that awful day, the more she suspects she’s been lied to all her life. While she’s seeking answers to what really happened, she keeps crossing paths with handsome engineer Scott Lorenzo, who compels her to question the New Age philosophy she was raised on. What if there is a personal God out there who cares about her? Before Livy can discover answers, a brutal accident interrupts her search. Can she find the strength to keep on with her quest, even if it means losing the two people dearest to her–her twin, and the man she loves? (General, Independently Published)
Close to Home by Deborah Raney — Bree Cordel Whitman is a Whitman by marriage, but sometimes she forgets she wasn’t born into Grant and Audrey’s family. Her late husband, Timothy Whitman, gave his life for his country on a windblown hill in Afghanistan. Bree has let the love of Tim’s family keep her ties to him strong–in the same way she keeps Tim’s memory alive for them. But it’s been almost five years, and she can’t hang onto the past forever. Fighting the guilt she feels for wanting to love again, she can’t help her dreams about a tall, dark, and handsome man–a man who is not her Tim. How can she accept the flirtations from Drew Brooks without throwing the Whitman family back into grieving? And how can Drew compete with the ghost of a hero and the hero’s very alive family who seem to hold some spell over the woman who shares their name . . . a woman he might just love? (General from Abingdon Press)
Historical Literary:
Like a River from Its Course by Kelli Stuart — An epic novel exposing the ugliness of war and the beauty of hope through the eyes of four people. Maria Ivanovna is only fourteen when the bombing begins and not much older when she is forced into work at a German labor camp. She must fight to survive and to make her way back to her beloved Ukraine. Ivan Kyrilovich is falsely mistaken for a Jew and lined up with 34,000 other men, women, and children who are to be shot at the edge of Babi Yar, the “killing ditch.” He survives, but not without devastating consequences. Luda is sixteen when German soldiers attack her. Now pregnant with the child of the enemy, she is abandoned by her father, alone, and in pain. She must learn to trust family and friends again and find her own strength in order to discover the redemption that awaits. Frederick Hermann is sure in his knowledge that the Führer’s plans for domination are right and just. He is driven to succeed by a desire to please a demanding father and by his own blind faith in the ideals of Nazism. (Historical Literary from Kregel Publications)
Historical Romance:
A Nanny for Keeps by Janet Lee Barton — With no teaching positions open, Georgia Marshall agrees to become the temporary nanny for the two little girls next door. She soon becomes enamored of the precocious children and their distant widowed father, but the nobleman is out of her reach. Tyler Walker swore he’d never again give his heart away. He refuses to allow this arrangement with the pretty teacher to become permanent…no matter how much he wants Georgia by his side–forever. (Historical Romance from Love Inspired [Harlequin])
The 12 Brides of Summer Collection by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer, Margaret Brownley, Amanda Cabot, Mary Connealy, Susan Page Davis, Miralee Ferrell, Pam Hillman, Maureen Lang, Amy Lillard, Vickie McDonough, Davalynn Spencer, and Michelle Ule — Meet 12 adventurous Victorian era women–a beekeeper who is afraid of bees, a music teacher whose dog has dug up a treasure, a baker who enters a faux courtship, and six more–along with the men they encounter while making summertime memories. Will these loves sown during summer be strengthened by faith and able to endure a lifetime? (Historical Romance from Barbour Publishing)
The Ringmaster’s Wife by Kristy Cambron — Lady Rosamund Easling boards a ship to America as a last adventure before her arranged marriage. There, the twenties are roaring, and the rich and famous gather at opulent, Gatsby-esque parties. The Jazz Age has arrived, and with it, the golden era of the American circus, whose queen is none other than the enigmatic Mable Ringling. When Rosamund’s path crosses with Mable’s and the Ringlings’ glittering world, she makes the life-altering decision to leave behind a comfortable future of estates and propriety, choosing instead the nomadic life of a trick rider in the Ringling Brothers’ circus. (Historical Romance from HarperCollins Christian Publishing [Thomas Nelson and Zondervan])
Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter by Carrie Fancett Pagels — After her Huguenot father is arrested, aristocrat Suzanne Richelieu escapes Versailles. Handsome German peasant, Johan Rousch, risks his life to bring her to the safety of his family’s farm in the Palatinate duchy, but when Suzanne’s brother and the French army arrive with a warning that they plan to burn the area, she and Johan are forced to flee. With no money or options, both become indentured servants in exchange for safe passage to Philadelphia. Suzanne falls gravely ill aboard ship and marries Johan, only to survive with no memory of the wedding–a reality made worse when Johan spots the “priest” who married them working as a surveyor and later in Quaker cleric garb. Are their wedding vows valid? When Suzanne’s former fiancé arrives in port, planning to abduct her, Johan must save her again-but can he do so before Suzanne is lost to him forever? (Historical Romance from White Rose Publishing [Pelican])
Young Adult:
No Pizza Delivery? by Grace Marshall — Ruth Deloach’s world is sent spinning when she finds out she is going to be ripped from America’s Dairyland to live in the embarrassingly small tourist town of Sainte Genevieve, Missouri. The blow is slightly lessened by the news that her father wants to start a horse ranch, but how enjoyable will it really be to live where there is no pizza delivery and a revolving door to the public? A public with a different idea of how things are done and said. To add embarrassment to her frustration she finds she knows less about horses than she presumed. Maybe the handsome ranch hand her father hires can brighten things up, then again, maybe not. (Young Adult, Independently Published)
