Something to Believe In by Jenny B. Jones

About the Book
When tragedy follows Katie to college, she’ll face the test of a lifetime.
Katie Parker never dreamed she’d make it to college. But here she is, a freshman, ready to take on cafeteria food, play auditions, and pretending she’s read that ancient novel for English Lit. Already filled with angst over saying goodbye to her family, Katie is so not okay to learn an unexpected  housing change lands her in the honors dorm. Especially when one of Katie’s nerdy new roommates decides to major in making Katie’s life completely miserable.
To escape the dorm room drama, Katie needs her boyfriend Tate more than ever. But when he gives all his attention to his fraternity, their relationship begins to quickly unravel. She wonders if they’re going to survive this first year of college. Or if she even wants them to.
As tragedy rocks her family, Katie finds herself drowning in grief and losing her grip on academic life. When ex-boyfriend Charlie Benson unexpectedly calls, Katie will cling to an old trusted friendship…that might become something more. As her life implodes, will Katie walk away from college and step back into the arms of the one who got away?

My Thoughts
I have loved Katie Parker since the very first page of book one and her wit, sass, and snark have kept me laughing ever since!
When I found out that Jenny B. Jones was planning to write about about what happened between The Big Picture and Can’t Let You Go I was excited! I will take more Katie Parker anyway I can get it!
It’s a time of big transitions for Katie and Jones did a good job of articulating that and showing the emotion while still giving us the humor and attitude we’ve come to expect!
Mad Maxine was as crazy as ever and her antics kept me laughing!
I love all the family dynamics between the Scotts, Katie, and Maxine so it was fun to see them together again!
And the little glimpses of Charlie Benson made me smile and had me anxious to reread the next book!
Katie Parker fans won’t want to miss out on this fun new adventure!

Meet the Author
Award-winning author Jenny B. Jones writes romance with sass and Southern charm. Woefully indecisive, she writes YA, New Adult, and women’s romance. Since she has very little free time, Jenny believes in spending her spare hours in meaningful, intellectual pursuits, such as watching bad TV, Tweeting deep thoughts to the world, and writing her name in the dust on her furniture. You can find her at www.jennybjones.com.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Her Hidden Hope by Jill Lynn

About the Book
Asking for forgiveness is the hardest part…
She once trusted him with her heart…
but will she ever trust him with the truth?

With only two weeks to renovate her family’s Colorado B and B, struggling single mom Addie Ricci can’t turn away help. Especially not when it’s her handsome high school sweetheart, Evan Hawke, who’s offering to pitch in. As they repair the B and B, Addie and Evan also begin rebuilding their relationship…until a secret from their past threatens to bring it all crashing down

My Thoughts
While I don’t read many Love Inspired books any more, I make an exception for Jill Lynn because I absolutely love her books and this one was no different!
I was intrigued by Evan and his story when we met him in the last book so I was really happy to learn that he was getting his own book! He definitely didn’t have an easy life growing up but I admired how he found a way to use his pain to help others! The selfless way he cared for those close to him even when it was hard was also something I loved about him! Add in the way he was with Addie’s son, Sawyer, and I was a goner!
I really felt bad for Addie and the choices that were forced on her but I loved that she fought through to a better life and found the good despite the pain.
The romance built really organically, they had their relationship from that summer a decade ago to build on and I loved seeing them find their way back to each other.

This was a wonderfully sweet story and, since I believe it’s the last book in this Colorado Grooms series, a great way to end things!

Meet the Author
Jill Lynn pens stories filled with humor, faith and happily-ever-after. She’s an ACFW Carol Award-winning author and has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Bethel University. An avid fan of thrift stores, summer and coffee, she lives in Colorado with her husband and two children, who make her laugh on a daily basis. Connect with her at Jill-Lynn.com.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

The Joy of Falling by Lindsay Harrel

About the Book
Eva and Angela must learn to live again. One step at a time.
It has been fifteen months since Eva and Angela lost their thrill-seeking husbands in a scuba diving accident. Both women are trying to navigate their way through the grief, but neither one is making much progress. Angela is barely making ends meet, angry at her husband for leaving her to raise three children on her own. Meanwhile, Eva is stuck, unable to move forward after losing the love of her life and her source of inspiration.
But then Eva gets a life-changing phone call. Before Brent and Wes died, they had signed up for a race of a lifetime—an ultra-marathon in beautiful New Zealand. Eva begs Angela to run the race with her in their husbands’ place, and Angela finally agrees, hoping to finally understand her husband's choices.

Training is exhausting, and the race is even more demanding. Their journey grows more complicated by the presence of two men—Marc is Brent’s best friend who is running the race with Eva and Angela, and Simon King is a writer who is covering their inspiring story. With every step, Eva and Angela must ask themselves questions that they haven’t had the courage to ask before. As the women literally put one foot in front of the other, they wonder: Is it possible to find their way forward in hope?

My Thoughts
From the very first page of Lindsay Harrel’s debut I was captivated by her beautiful writing style and the unique way she draws you into the heart of her characters! So to say I get excited about each new release from her is an understatement.
First we need to talk about this stunning cover! I think my jaw literally hit the floor when I saw it for the first time! The colors and the nods to New Zealand, where much of the book is set, were beautifully combined and I could stare at it for days!
As the book started we got to meet first Eva then Angela, sisters-in-law who we’re both grieving the deaths of their husbands but in two uniquely different ways. I appreciated the way the author highlighted the fact that everyone handles grief in their own way, that it’s not a one size fits all thing. I will say I didn’t find myself connecting with either Eva or Angela, which is okay, you can’t connect with every fictional character! But it did take away a little bit of what has captivated me so much with this author’s previous books. Usually I’m deeply invested with her heroines and their emotions are like gut punches for me but that just wasn’t the case with this one.
I loved that the story took us to New Zealand, I always love reading about that beautiful country and Harrel did a great job of describing the setting as the characters explored during their training and the race!
I liked both of the guys in Eva and Angela’s lives, Marc and Simon. They both were very respectful of the women’s emotions and allowing them the space to work through things.
I do have to say that the ending wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. While the ultra-marathon was basically the main focus of the book when it came to the end of it I found it to be a little anti-climatic and I wasn’t a big fan of how the relationships were handled as they went back to the US. The big time jump at the end didn’t fully make sense and I felt like the relationships getting wrapped up in a nice bow without any actual talking about things just seemed a bit unrealistic.

Overall though the author’s unique writing style shone through and I will be looking forward to her next book!

Meet the Author
Lindsay Harrel is a lifelong book nerd who lives in Arizona with her young family and two golden retrievers in serious need of training. She’s held a variety of writing and editing jobs over the years and now juggles stay-at-home mommyhood with writing novels. When she’s not writing or chasing after her children, Lindsay enjoys making a fool of herself at Zumba, curling up with anything by Jane Austen, and savoring sour candy one piece at a time. Connect with her at LindsayHarrel.com

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

The Traitor's Pawn by Lisa Harris

About the Book
When FBI agent Jack Shannon arrives in Corpus Christi, Texas, he is focused on one thing: find the man who has been selling encrypted government secrets to the Chinese through online birding chat rooms. But when a senator is shot during a hunting trip and the woman he was with is abducted, Jack agrees to join the search--especially when he discovers that the kidnapping victim is Aubrey Grayson, a woman he was once in love with.
As the search continues, it becomes clear the senator may not have been the intended victim--and Aubrey may be connected to the other case Jack is supposed to be working on. Can Jack untangle the knots before it's too late? And when he learns the truth, will it be too painful to get past?
Join the hunt for the truth--and a traitor--in this tension-laden story of secrets, betrayal, and second chances.

My Thoughts
Lisa Harris has quickly earned a name for herself in the Christian romantic suspense world and I have enjoyed many of the novels she has written.
This story starts off with what you think is a serene moment but things quickly take off and leave you trying to piece together the pieces of what is happening. There are a lot of moving parts in this story but the author brings them all together in the end.
We spent a lot of time in the characters’ heads, whether it was thinking about their past or just mentally going over the current circumstances. Personally I would have preferred more in the moment showing rather than all the telling.
The Jack and Aubrey both had a passion for justice and they showed that in the way they chased after every clue in their case. The fact that they had been friends since childhood allowed them to work well together despite having not seen each other for years. There wasn’t a lot of romance, more of a reflecting on past feelings and seeing if they had changed but it worked for the story.
This book wasn’t quite the action-packed suspense I was hoping for but I’m sure other lovers of this genre will find much to enjoy.

Meet the Author
Lisa Harris is a bestselling author, a Christy Award winner, and the winner of the Best Inspirational Suspense Novel from Romantic Times for her novels Blood Covenant and Vendetta. The author of more than 40 books, including The Nikki Boyd Files and the Southern Crimes series, as well as Vanishing Point, A Secret to Die For, and Deadly Intentions, Harris and her family have spent over 16 years living as missionaries in southern Africa. Learn more at www.lisaharriswrites.com.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

A Wing and A Prayer by Julie Lessman

About the Book
(NOTE! THIS BOOK IS A SWEET INSPIRATIONAL WITH A HIGHER LEVEL OF ROMANTIC PASSION)
She’s dead-set on giving everything to the war overseas …
Even if it means losing everything in a war of the heart.
A street orphan abused and abandoned by an alcoholic father at age five, Gabriella (Gabe) O’Connor has never let a man stand in her way yet. So when a handsome flight officer thwarts her plans to become a WASP -- Women Air Force Service Pilot -- she’s determined to join the war effort anyway she can. Her chance comes when she “borrows” foreign correspondent credentials from the Boston Herald—where her father is the editor—to stow away on a medical ship to the front.
Lieutenant Alex Kincaid pegs Gabe O’Connor as trouble the moment she steps foot on Avenger Field as a WASP cadet. As the eldest brother of a boy whose jaw Gabe broke in grade school, Alex is familiar with her reputation as both a charismatic ringleader and a headstrong hooligan who’s challenged every male and nun from grade school to college. As her WASP flight instructor, Alex eventually expels Gabe when she pulls a dangerous stunt. But when he is an evacuation pilot in France eight months later, their lives intertwine once again, exposing them to a danger as perilous as the German tanks roaming the Reichswald Forest: a love that neither expects.

My Thoughts
I have been waiting for Gabe’s story since she first stormed onto the pages of A Hope Undaunted, stealing the scene and the hearts of readers! And finally her book is here and it’s everything I wanted it to be and more!
Gabe hasn’t changed a bit since we saw her last, still as spunky and hot tempered as ever in a way that is both endearing and a little frustrating. As Alex quickly learned! Watching her struggle and fight her way through life was painful in ways but also beautiful as she finally realized her brokenness and found wholeness in the arms of the only One who will never let us down. When she made one reckless choice after another despite the love and guidance of her family and Alex I wanted to shake her a little but then I realized it was the perfect depiction of the way we continue to sin again and again despite knowing God’s love and how He wants us to act.
I absolutely loved Alex! He was one of the only people who could stand up to Gabe and win and I loved watching the sparks fly and the heads butt between them! I really admired the way that Alex stood his ground not allowing his attraction for Gabe to sway him from choices he knew were for her (and his) best even when it hurt.
It was a hard and long journey for them but I loved watching their relationship play out and those couple swoon worthy kisses definitely didn’t hurt!
The other relationship I adored in this book was between Gabe and her adoptive father Patrick O’Conner (love him)! Not only was it a beautiful picture of God’s unconditional love for us and the way He lovingly guides us to better ways, but it was just absolutely endearing in its own right! Nobody got through Gabe’s tough exterior like Patrick and I just loved the way her tenderly loved her!
This review is getting long but I have to mention my love for the time period this book is set in as well as how amazing it was to catch up with the other O’Conner’s!! I love this loud crazy family and I just want to spend all the pages with them! I really can’t wait for Hope’s story (I have opinions of who I want her to end up with) and also Henry’s!
If you are like me and have fallen in love with the O’Conner’s you will absolutely love this story! And if this is your first introduction, buckle up, you’re in for the ride of your life!

Meet the Author
Julie Lessman is an award-winning author whose tagline of “Passion With a Purpose” not only underscores her intense passion for God and romance, but her staunch advocacy for sexual purity before marriage as well. A lover of all things Irish, she enjoys reading what she writes -- close-knit Irish family sagas as well as both historical and contemporary religious and inspirational romance for the sweet and Christian markets.
Author of The Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, and Heart of San Francisco series with Revell Publishing, Julie was named American Christian Fiction Writers 2009 Debut Author of the Year and has garnered 17 Romance Writers of America and other awards. Voted #1 Romance Author of the year in Family Fiction magazine’s 2012 and 2011 Readers Choice Awards, Julie was also named on Booklist’s 2010 Top 10 Inspirational Fiction and Borders Best Fiction list. Her latest novel, Surprised by Love, appeared on Family Fiction magazine’s list of Top Ten Novels of 2014, and her independent novel A Light in the Window is an International Digital Awards winner, a 2013 Readers' Crown Award winner, and a 2013 Book Buyers Best Award winner. Julie has also written a self-help workbook for writers entitled Romance-ology 101: Writing Romantic Tension for the Sweet and Inspirational Markets.
You can contact Julie and read excerpts from her books at www.julielessman.com, or through Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, or Pinterest, as well as sign up for her newsletter. Check out Julie’s group blog, The Seekers, Writers Digest 2013, 2014, and 2015 “Best 101 Websites for Writers,” and Julie’s own personal blog, Journal Jots, voted blog of the month in the Readers’ Choice poll of Book Fun Magazine.

I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.