Dear Readers,
As I finish out this list, I realize how many more books should be on this list. I am sorry for any and all that I missed. The pages would be endless if I tried to put them all on this one list. Add to it as you wish.
The titles are on this list in no particular order. They are all great summer reads.
Read on my friends, read on,
Unknown Threat – Lynn Blackburn – #1 Defend and Protect – Romantic suspense – After four US Secret Service Special Agents die in unusual circumstances within a ten-week span, FBI Special Agent Faith Malone is put in charge of the investigation. She’ll have to work alongside USSS Agent Luke Powell to bring a killer to justice–before his name joins his friends on the list.
The Paris Dress Maker – Kristy Cambron – WWII – historical – Based on true accounts of how Parisiennes resisted the Nazi occupation—from fashion houses to the city streets—The Paris Dressmaker weaves a story of two courageous women who risked everything to fight an evil they couldn’t abide.
The Beirut Protocol – Joel C. Rosenberg – #4 Marcus Ryker novels – action adventure – A game-changing peace treaty between Israel and the Saudis is nearly done. The secretary of state is headed to the region to seal the deal. And Special Agent Marcus Ryker is leading an advance trip along the Israeli-Lebanon border, ahead of the secretary’s arrival. But when Ryker and his team are ambushed by Hezbollah forces, a nightmare scenario begins to unfold.
Dreams Rekindled – Amanda Cabot – #2 Mesquite Springs – historical romance – When a dashing newspaper man comes to Mesquite Springs, aspiring writer Dorothy Clark sees her dreams coming true–until a man arrives with altogether different plans for the town and its newspaper
From This Moment – Kim Vogel Sawyer – Contemporary – Growing up in the foster care system, Jase Edgar always dreamed of one day starting his own family. But his fiancée’s untimely death shattered his plans. Moving to Kansas and serving as a youth minister should be a fresh start, but he can’t seem to set aside his doubts about God’s goodness long enough to embrace his new life.
All That We Carried – Erin Bartels – contemporary/women’s fiction – Estranged sisters embark on a hiking trip on the tenth anniversary of their parents’ deaths in an attempt to reconnect. In the wilderness of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula they’ll face their deepest fears, question their most dearly held beliefs, and begin to see that perhaps the best way to move forward is the one way they had never considered.
Dreams of Savannah – Roseanne M. White – historical romance – After receiving word that her sweetheart has been lost during a raid on a Yankee vessel, Cordelia Owens clings to hope. But Phineas Dunn finds nothing redemptive in the horrors of war, and when he returns, sure that he is not the hero Cordelia sees, they both must decide where the dreams of a new America will take them, and if they will go there together.
Active Defense – Lynette Eason- romantic suspense – In the theater of war in Iraq, trauma surgeon Heather Fontaine was used to being in control. Now back home, life spins off its axis when she becomes the target of a stalker. Can security expert Travis Walker protect her?
The Blended Quilt – Wanda Brunstetter – Amish – Celebrate the possibilities that await Sadie as she pursues her creative endeavors. But will her Amish boyfriend be willing to support her success?
Courting Misfortune – Regina Jennings – romantic/historica/comedy – Assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, Pinkerton operative Calista York is sent to a rowdy mining town in Missouri. But she faces the obstacle of missionary Matthew Cook. He’s as determined to stop a local baby raffle as he is the reckless Miss York whose bad judgement consistently seems to be putting her in harm’s way.
A Castaway in Cornwall – Julie Klassen – regency romance – Laura Callaway daily walks the windswept Cornwall coast, known for many shipwrecks but few survivors. And when a man with curious wounds and an odd accent is washed ashore, she cares for him while the mystery surrounding him grows. Can their budding attraction survive, and can he be returned to his rightful home when danger pursues them from every side?
To Dwell Among Cedars – Connilyn Cossette #1 Covenant House – Biblical – Determined to bring the Ark of the Covenant to a proper resting place, Levite musician Ronen never expected that Eliora, the Philistine girl he rescued years ago, would be part of the family he’s to deceive. As his attempts to charm her lead in unexpected directions, they question their loyalties when their beliefs about the Ark and themselves are shaken.
Faith’s Mountain Home – Misty M. Beller – #3 Hearts of Montana – historical romance – Nate Long has always watched over his twin, even if it’s led him to be an outlaw. When his brother is wounded in a shootout, it’s their former prisoner, Laura, who ends up nursing his wounds at Settler’s Fort. She knows Nate wants a fresh start, but struggles with how his devotion blinds him. Do the futures they seek include love, or is too much in the way?
A Cowboy for Keeps – Jody Hedlund – #1 Colorado Cowboy – historical/romance/comedy – On a trip west to save her ailing sister, Greta Nilsson is robbed, leaving her homeless and penniless. Wyatt McQuaid is struggling to get his new ranch running, so the mayor offers him a bargain: He will invest in a herd of cattle if Wyatt agrees to help the town become more respectable by marrying . . . and the mayor has the perfect woman in mind.
Night Bird Calling – Cathy Gohlke – historical – When Lilliana Swope’s beloved mother dies, Lilliana gathers her last ounce of courage and flees her abusive husband for the home of her only living relative in the foothills of No Creek, North Carolina. Though Hyacinth Belvidere hasn’t seen Lilliana since she was five, she offers her cherished great-niece a safe harbor. Their joyful reunion inspires plans to revive Aunt Hyacinth’s estate and open a public library where everyone is welcome, no matter the color of their skin.
Things we Didn’t Say – Amy Lynn Green – WWII – historical – In this epistolary novel from the WWII home front, Johanna Berglund is forced to return to her small Midwestern town to become a translator at a German prisoner-of-war camp. There, amid old secrets and prejudice, she finds that the POWs have hidden depths. When the lines between compassion and treason are blurred, she must decide where her heart truly lies.
The Promised Land – Elizabeth Musser – contemporary/women’s fiction – Desperate to mend her marriage and herself, Abbie Jowett joins her son in walking the famed Camino pilgrimage. During their journey, they encounter an Iranian working in secret to help refugees and a journalist searching for answers from her broken past–and everyone is called into a deep soul-searching that threatens all their best laid plans.
A Distant Shore – Karen Kingsbury – contemporary – She was a child caught in a riptide in the Caribbean Sea. He was a teenager from the East Coast on vacation with his family. He dove in to save her, and that single terrifying moment changed both their lives forever. Ten years later Jack Ryder is a daring secret agent with the FBI and Eliza Lawrence still lives on that pristine island. She’s an untainted princess in a kingdom of darkness and evil, on the brink of a forced marriage with a dangerous neighboring drug lord, a marriage arranged by her father.
To Steal a Heart – Jen Turano – #1 Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency – historical/romance/comedy – Gabriella Goodhue thought she’d put her past as a thief behind her . . . until a woman is unjustly accused. But when Nicholas Quinn, a former friend against whom she holds a grudge, catches Gabriella looking for evidence to exonerate her friend, he insists they join forces. But their feelings for each other are tested when danger follows their every step.
Paint and Nectar – Ashley Clark – #3 Heirloom Secrets – dual time – In 1929, a spark forms between Eliza, a talented watercolorist, and William, a young man whose family has a longstanding feud with hers over a missing treasure. Decades later, after inheriting Eliza’s house and all its secrets from a mysterious patron, Lucy is determined to preserve the property, not only for history’s sake but also for her own
The Nature of Small Birds – Susie Finkbeiner – July release – Vietnam era – When Mindy announces that she is returning to Vietnam to find her birthmother, it inspires her father, mother, and sister to recall the events of her adoption at the end of the Vietnam War during Operation Baby Lift. In this beautiful time-slip story, Mindy’s family reexamines what it means to grow together beyond genetic code.
The Weight of Memory – Shawn Smucker – July Release- Contemporary – When Paul Elias receives a terminal diagnosis, he returns to his hometown to seek a guardian for his granddaughter. But her imagination leads him on a journey into forgotten things and old secrets that leave him wondering about the nature of his illness, his granddaughter’s future, and reality itself.
The Shell Collector – Nancy Naigle – contemporary/romance – Two years after her husband’s death, Amanda Whittier has two children to raise alone, an abandoned dream of starting a business, and a fixer-upper cottage by the sea. She has no room in her life for anything else and little interest in moving on after losing the man she loved. Paul Grant is a relative newcomer to the area, and his work with former military dogs needing rehabilitation has been good for the town. Though he loved once before, he’s convinced he’s not suited for romance and is determined to find meaning—alone—through his work and role in the community. Widowed Maeve Lindsay was born and raised on Whelk’s Island. Spirited, kind, and a little mischievous, she pours her life into the town. But she carries a secret that shapes her every move.
Come Back to Me – Jody Hedlund – time travel – Scientist Marian Creighton was skeptical of her father’s lifelong research of ancient holy water–until she ingests some of it and finds herself transported back to the Middle Ages. With the help of an emotionally wounded nobleman, can she make her way back home? Or will she be trapped in the past forever?
The Paris Betrayal – James Hannibal – action/adventure – Ben Calix is a top spy left out in the cold, abandoned by his agency and exposed to a world of elite predators. To save thousands of lives he must let go of his sense of injustice and come to grips with his own insignificance.
