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Christian FictionMarch 2015
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"And he departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here." ~ Saint Augustine (354-430 AD), theologian and author, Confessions
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Until the Harvest ( Appalachian Blessings Book #2)by Sarah Loudin ThomasWhen a family tragedy derails Henry Phillips's college studies, he's left unmoored and feeling abandoned. Although Henry tries to find escape in bad company, the only things that can tamp down his anger and grief are the family farm, his fiddle, and sweet but unusual pre-teen Mayfair Hoffman.Unfortunately, Mayfair's older sister, Margaret, with the freckles and cute, turned-up nose, has the opposite effect. Worse, she's his grandmother's housekeeper and helper, so she's always around and ready to push his buttons. At first he thinks she doesn't care about his loss, before beginning to understand she's facing her own struggles. Mayfair's health and unique gift sit at the heart of those worries, and Henry and Margaret soon find themselves relying on each other as both Henry's future and Mayfair's life are put at risk.
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Miracle at the Higher Grounds Café by Max Lucado What if you could ask God anything? What would you ask? And how would he answer? Chelsea Chambers is on her own. After a public split from her NFL superstar husband, Chelsea takes a bold step out of the limelight and behind the counter of the Higher Grounds Café, an old-fashioned coffee shop in dire need of reinvention. But when her courage, expert planning, and out-of-this-world cupcakes fail to pay the bills, this newly single mom finds herself desperate for help. Better yet, a miracle. Then a curious stranger lands at Chelsea's door, and with him, an even more curious string of events. Soon, customers are flocking to the Higher Grounds Café, and not just for the cupcakes and cappuccino. They've come for the internet connection to the divine. Now the café has become the go-to place for people in search of answers to life's biggest questions. When a catastrophe strikes and her ex comes calling, Chelsea begins to wonder if the whole universe is conspiring against her quest to make it on her own. After a shocking discovery opens her eyes to the unseen world around her, Chelsea finds the courage to ask, and heaven answers in a most unexpected way.
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One last thing
by Nancy N. Rue
"Tara had always imagined her happily ever after. But her fiancés secrets are changing this story into one she doesn't even recognize. Tara Faulkner and Seth Grissom grew up next door to each other in Savannah's historic district. Their parents are bestfriends. They finish each other's sentences all the time. Their fairytale wedding is a foregone conclusion...until Tara discovers another side to Seth three weeks before the wedding. Reality has crashed in on Tara's fairytale--but hope will lead her to afuture she couldn't have planned for herself"
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Taken by Dee HendersonAbducted at the age of sixteen and coerced into assisting the Jacoby crime family, Shannon Bliss has finally found a way out. She desperately wants to resume some semblance of normal life, but she also knows she has some unfinished business to attend to. She has enough evidence to put her captors behind bars for a very long time. When Shannon contacts private investigator and former cop Matthew Dane to help her navigate her reentry into society, she quickly discovers that gaining her freedom doesn't mean her troubles are over. For one thing, her brother is the leading candidate in the race for Illinois governor, and news of her escape will create a media frenzy. For another, the ransom her family reportedly paid years earlier appears to have been a scam; no one knows what happened to the money. And then there's the fact that Shannon's escape involved faking her own death. If the Jacoby family learns she is still alive, they'll stop at nothing to silence her.If justice is to be done, and if Shannon's life is ever to get on track again, Matthew will need to discover exactly what happened to her--even if it means stirring up a hornet's nest of secrets.
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New and Recently Released!
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My Heart Stood Still (sequel to Sisters of Mercy Flats)by Lori Copeland The three wily and beautiful McDougal sisters can swindle a man faster than it takes to lasso a calf. But their luck is running out, and they’re about to be hauled off to jail. When the wagon carrying them falls under attack, each sister is picked up by a different man. Anne-Marie, the middle sister, is saved by Creed Walker, a Crow warrior. It’s loathing at first sight, but with bandits on their tail and a cache of gold to hide, Creed and Anne-Marie need each other. Will they learn to put aside their differences and trust each other—and God? And can their growing faith turn their lives around?
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The Inn at Ocean's Edge by Colleen Coble The minute she steps inside the grand Inn at Ocean's Edge, Claire Dellamare knows something terrible happened there. She feels it in her bones. Her ensuing panic attack causes a scene, upsetting her parents. Claire attempts to quiet her nerves with a walk on the beach, to no avail. She's at too great a distance to make out details, but she believes she witnesses a murder on a nearby cliff. When local police find no evidence of foul play, they quickly write off the "nervous" woman's testimony as less than credible. But Luke Elwell, home on leave from the Coast Guard, has reason to believe Claire. Years ago when his mother went missing, Luke's father suspected she'd been murdered. He died never having convinced the police to investigate. So when an employee of the grand hotel doesn't show up for work, Luke steps in to help Claire track down the missing woman. As Claire and Luke put together the pieces of a decades-old mystery, they discover that some family secrets refuse to stay buried. And some passions are worth killing for.
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Deception on Sable Hill (The Chicago World's Fair Mystery Series Book 2) by Shelley Shepard Gray It’s mid-September 1893 and Eloisa Carstairs is the reigning debutant of Gilded Age Chicago society. To outsiders she appears to have it all. But Eloisa is living with a dark secret. Several months ago, she endured a horrible assault at the hands of Douglass Sloane, heir to one of Chicago’s wealthiest families. Fearing the loss of her reputation, Eloisa confided in only one friend. That is, until she meets Detective Sean Ryan at a high-society ball. Sean is on the fringes of the Chicago elite. Born into a poor Irish family, becoming a policeman was his best opportunity to ensure his future security. Despite social boundaries, he is enamored with Eloisa Carstairs. Sean will do anything to keep her safe—even if he can never earn her affections. Eloisa longs to feel normal again, but a killer is on the loose. In the last month, three debutants have been accosted by an assailant wielding a knife, and Eloisa fears for her safety at every event she attends. As the danger in the city increases, and as the romance between Eloisa and Sean blossoms, they both realize they want to be seen as more than how the world views them. But will they catch the killer before all their hopes come crashing down?
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Emmalyn and Max Ross may have to endure the fight of their lives to mend the tattered fabric of their marriage. His actions ensured she could never be a mother and put him in prison, giving their relationship a court-mandated five-year time-out. On a self-imposed exile to beautiful but remote Madeline Island, one of the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior, Emmalyn has just a few months left to figure out if and how they can ever be a couple again. Nudged along by the exuberant owner of the Wild Iris Inn and Café, a circle of misfit people in their small town, and a young girl who desperately needs someone to love her, Emmalyn restores an island cottage that could become a home and begins to restore her heart by learning what it means to love unconditionally. Yet even as hope begins to find a place within the cottage walls, Emmalyn still wonders if she’s ready for Max’s release. She may be able to rebuild a cottage, but can she rebuild a marriage?
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The Proposal at Siesta Key Amish Brides of Pinecraft, Book Two by Shelley Shepard Gray
Penny Troyer rarely disobeys her parents. In the years since her sister’s tragic death, they’ve wanted nothing more than to keep her safe…even if it means never leaving the house. But tonight, she’s bending the rules because Michael Knoxx, the most famous member of The Knoxx Family Singers, a traveling Mennonite Evangelical family —is scheduled to speak. Penny has heard of Michael—how he lost part of his leg in a terrible accident and uses the experience to inspire others—and knows she must meet him. So, for the first time ever, Penny stands up to her parents and goes out on her own. Though he speaks about living life to the fullest, Michael knows he needs to take his own advice. Life on the road is grueling and Michael wants to slow down, to rest…to perhaps meet someone who sees him as a man, not just a celebrity. So when a twist of fate allows him the chance to stay a little longer in Pinecraft, Michael knows God is showing him a new path, especially when he discovers how much he and Penny Troyer have in common. But new friendships can’t stop time. Soon, Michael's time in Pinecraft will be over and he'll be back on the road. Her time with Michael has brought her happiness, but will she be able to follow her heart? Or will she be faced with the one thing she’s sure she'll never have the courage to do?
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| Esther: Royal Beauty by Angela Elwell HuntBiblical Fiction. Since she was a girl, Hadassah had wanted to be a queen -- not because she wanted power, but because she wanted to be beautiful, and thought queens were always beautiful. Using two different points of view -- that of Hadassah (later called Esther) and Harbonah, a eunuch and a principal servant of the king -- this evocative retelling of the biblical story of Esther paints a suspenseful picture of how an orphaned Jewish girl raised by relatives ends up getting her wish to be a royal. But as the queen of a pagan land, she must hide her Jewish heritage -- until a dangerous man forces her to risk everything to save her people. This "beautiful, honest, captivating retelling of a familiar story" (Publishers Weekly) is the 1st in bestselling author Angela Elwell Hunt's planned Dangerous Beauty trilogy; the 2nd, Bathsheba, is due in September. |
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| A Thing of Beauty by Lisa SamsonGeneral Fiction. Though this isn't your standard Christian fiction novel (it has some profanity and the characters don't really talk about God), readers looking for a thought-provoking, almost allegorical look at renewal may want to pick up the latest by Christy Award-winning author Lisa Samson. In this leisurely paced novel, former child actor Fiona Hume -- who was abused by a co-star and is estranged from her Hollywood star parents -- is now 32 and living alone in a large house in Baltimore. For years, she's brought home yard-sale and trash-pile finds to repurpose into art. But while she's great at collecting, she hasn't created anything -- and her house is stuffed. Needing money, Fiona rents out a room to Josia, a blacksmith who exudes amazing acceptance and unconditional love, and he helps her take the first step on a better path. |
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| The Dandelion Field by Kathryn SpringerContemporary Romance. Back when he was a teen, Banister Falls, Wisconsin, firefighter Dan Moretti adored Evie -- but she loved his best friend Max. Now, nearly 20 years later, Dan still waits for widowed Evie to maybe fall for him one day and acts as the father figure for her son, Cody. After her car breaks down in tiny Banister Falls, 36-year-old single mom Ginevieve Lightly agrees to stop rambling for a year in order to let her daughter, Raine, graduate from the local high school. Then quiet, smart Raine meets personable good-guy Cody, and even though Cody is a Christian who believes in abstinence, Raine ends up pregnant. As this disparate group negotiates the future in this "sincere and thoughtfully beautiful story" (Booklist), Dan finds himself drawn to Gin while Raine and Cody deal with gossip and tough choices. |
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Books for the Easter Season
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| The Centurion's Wife by T. Davis Bunn and Janette OkeBiblical Fiction. Though she grew up privileged, Leah's family lost their money. Now, in 33 A.D. Judea, she works as a servant in the palace of Pontius Pilate. But when Alban, an ambitious Roman soldier she's never met, asks Pilate for her hand in marriage, he agrees...if Alban uncovers the truth about the recently crucified man called Jesus. Meanwhile, Leah is secretly commissioned by Pilate's wife, who's been having unsettling dreams, to also discover what became of the obscure rabbi whose death and missing body are causing such furor. Bestselling authors Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn began their Acts of Faith trilogy with this excellent 1st volume; it's followed by The Hidden Flame and The Damascus Way. |
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| The Family of Jesus by Karen KingsburyBiblical Fiction. In this heartfelt short story collection, bestselling author Karen Kingsbury provides an in-depth look at six of Jesus' family members: Mary, Joseph, his brother James, John the Baptist, Zechariah, and Elizabeth. Focusing on each individual's role in the life of the Savior, the stories weave scriptural truths with fiction to create a compelling story that makes these larger-than-life people seem real. This is the 1st book in Kingsbury's Heart of the Story collection; coming out this summer is book 2, The Friends of Jesus. While great for book groups (there's a study guide for each of the six), The Family of Jesus should prove to be intriguing reading for most biblical fiction fans. |
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| Iscariot: A Novel by Tosca LeeBiblical Fiction. Who was Judas? Jesus called him "friend" and named him one of the 12 disciples, but the Bible tells us he returned this affection by betraying him. Why? Bestselling author Tosca Lee, who's co-written books with Ted Dekker, attempts to answer these questions while providing a sympathetic and thought-provoking look at Judas' life. Portraying him as both an innocent young child, who lived when Herod and the Romans terrorized the Jews, and as an adult, who was baptized by John and loved Jesus before becoming unhappy with his agenda, Lee evocatively brings Judas to life in this book that Library Journal calls "brilliant," and Kirkus Reviews says is "intelligently imagined." |
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| Claudia, Wife of Pontius Pilate: A Novel by Diana Wallis TaylorBiblical Fiction. Though we know little about her since she's barely mentioned in the Bible, Pilate's wife is spotlighted here via Diana Wallis Taylor's research and rich imagination. Meeting Claudia as a preteen girl, we learn she is the exiled illegitimate granddaughter of Caesar Augustus, who is soon forced from the only home she's ever known and sent to the palace in Rome. There she meets and marries Lucius Pontius Pilate. The two are sent to Judea, where Pilate will act as prefect and where a Jewish carpenter named Jesus is stirring up the populace. For another look at New Testament women who meet Jesus, try Stephanie Landsem's The Well. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Prince George's County Memorial Library System 6532 Adelphi Rd. Hyattsville, Maryland 20782 301-699-3500http://www.pgcmls.info/ |
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