South of Somewhere by T.I. LoweSeries: a standalonePublisher: Tyndale Fiction (March 10, 2026) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS Junie is a widowed mother in her 20s living on Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina. She has lost custody of her two-year-old daughter due to drunk driving and a prison sentence. She’s out on parole and determined to... Continue Reading →
The Ballad of Midnight and McRae by Jess Lederman
The Ballad of Midnight and McRae by Jess LedermanSeries: StandalonePublisher: Azure Star, LLC (July 24, 2025) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS This is going to be a divisive review for a divisive book because The Ballad of Midnight and McRae is a Christian Western with a gay protagonist. Matt is a contemporary man who tells the... Continue Reading →
The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate
The Prayer Box by Lisa WingateSeries: Book 1 of 3 of A Carolina ChroniclesPublisher: Tyndale Fiction (September 1, 2013)Review by Gwen M. Plano Tandi Jo Reese runs from an abusive marriage. With her two children in tow, she finds a hiding place in Iola Anne Poole’s small bungalow on Hatteras Island, North Carolina. Tandi has very... Continue Reading →
Paul: A Novel by Walter Wangerin Jr.
Paul: A Novel by Walter Wangerin, Jr.Series: StandalonePublisher: Zondervan (November 1, 2001)Review by Mae ClairLet me start by saying any review I write of this book won't do it justice. It’s. Just. That. Good. If you want to immerse yourself in the early church of the New Testament, the life of Saul-become-Paul, and the spread... Continue Reading →
The Feathered Bone by Julie Cantrell
The Feathered Bone by Julie CantrellSeries: StandalonePublisher: Thomas Nelson (January 26, 2016) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS Amanda is mother to Ellie and a chaperone for her daughter’s sixth-grade field trip to New Orleans. Ellie and Sarah are classmates and best friends. Sarah disappears on the field trip. Amanda and the teacher panic—they have LOST Sarah!... Continue Reading →
What the River Keeps by Cheryl Grey Bostrom
What the River Keeps by Cheryl Grey BostromSeries: StandalonePublisher: Tyndale Fiction (August 12, 2025) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS In this contemporary women’s fiction novel, thirty-four-year-old Hildy is a wildlife biologist in the state of Washington. She knows a lot about rivers and trees and fish, especially fish. When Hildy was little, she told her dad... Continue Reading →
As Sure as the Sea by Jamie Ogle
As Sure as the Sea by Jamie OgleSeries: StandalonePublisher: Tyndale Fiction REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS It’s 310 AD, and Nikolas becomes the pastor of the church in Myra (a port city in what is now present-day Turkey). One of the church members is a young woman named Demi. She’s lost almost all of her family... Continue Reading →
My Dearest Dietrich: A Novel of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Lost Love by Amanda Barratt
My Dearest Dietrich: A Novel of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Lost Love by Amanda BarrattSeries: Stand Alone NovelPublisher: Kregel Publications (June 9, 2019) My Dearest Dietrch first introduced me to Barratt's writing and I've been a huge fan ever since. The depth of research that Barratt undertook to write this novel is staggering. It takes a talented... Continue Reading →
The Overexamined Life of Jacob Hart by Jerry Wald
The Overexamined Life of Jacob Hart by Jerry WaldSeries: A standalonePublisher: Torchflame Books (July 9, 2024) Review by Mae Clair An engineer, a rabbi, a CEO, and a professor walk into a lodge… No, that isn’t the lead-in to a joke, but it does introduce the four major players in The Overexamined Life of Jacob Hart. (For... Continue Reading →