Who Touches the Mountains by Deborah RaneySeries: The God Who, book 1 of 2Publisher: self published (November 23, 2024) REVIEW BY GWEN M. PLANO Liesl Bachman drives into the North Carolina mountains to write her next travel guide. Her destination is The Inn at Rosebud Lane. The proprietor, Zach Freylan, is a widower who shoulders... Continue Reading →
The Guardian of Avlina by A.J. Avila
The Guardian of Avlina by A.J. AvilaSeries: a standalonePublisher: self published (June 27, 2025) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS The Guardian of Avlina is a science fiction fantasy story that takes place on an island on an Earth-like, faraway planet called Avlina. Davin is the island’s king. His baby sister, Princess Carranda, is born under bizarre... Continue Reading →
Intersecting Dreams by Linda Edmister
Intersecting Dreams by Linda EdmisterSeries: Book 2 in Edmister’s Intersections seriesPublisher: Mister Ed Books (November 7, 2025) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS When I first heard of this book, contemporary issues like progressive sex ed in the classroom and a growing Muslim population in the Western world piqued my interest. Add a young woman, Rose, looking... Continue Reading →
Shanghai Road by Claire O’Sullivan
Shanghai Road by Claire O’SullivanSeries: Book 3 in the Whiskey River Mysteries seriesPublisher: Elk Lake Publishing (November 23, 2024) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS Shanghai Road is a Christian mystery and police procedural novel. It’s the third book in a series set in Whiskey River, Oregon, but it works perfectly well as a standalone. Allie is... 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 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 →
To Love a Beast by Karen Witemeyer
To Love a Beast by Karen WitemeyerSeries: Once a Upon a Time in Texas, Book OneHope & Light Publishing, June 10, 2025 Review by Kelly Goshorn Disclaimer: Before I even picked up this novella, I knew I would love it. Karen Witemeyer is an auto buy author for me. Plus, I have enjoyed the author’s... Continue Reading →
The Light on Horn Island by Valerie Fraser Luesse
The Light on Horn Island by Valerie Fraser LuesseSeries: StandalonePublisher: Revell (April 29, 2025) REVIEW BY PRISCILLA BETTIS The Light on Horn Island is a Christian, Southern, women’s-fiction story. This book! I loved it, and it bored me. First, the lovin’ part: Luesse infuses the story with Southern charm, quintessential Southern characters, precious multi-generational friendships,... Continue Reading →