WHERE SECRETS LIE by COLLEEN COBLE and RICK ACKER

Publication date 3/6/25

WHERE SECRETS LIE is the second novel in the Tupelo Grove series by COLLEEN COBLE and RICK ACKER. It is an exciting legal thriller which is full of surprises, with interesting characters and a strong Christian message of forgiveess and redemption. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Savannah and Hezekiah Webster are committed to getting remarried, but trust issues threaten to derail their plans until Savannah comes to terms with the fact that her fears stem largely from family trauma. She is surprised when her overbearing and selfish father, Pierre Legare, offers her the presidency of the struggling Tupelo Grove University, where her beloved younger sister Jess is the finacial manager. …….

There is berayal, revenge, murder, the smuggling of artifacts, unpleasant family dynamics and illicit business practice, and Savannah and Hez are not sure who to trust as they try to save the Legare family legacy……

I like Jess’s son Simon, who not nnly adores his  mother and is determined to keep her safe, but loves Savannah and Hez, and is proud  of his uncle including him in the Justice Chamber he has started at the university.

There is a lot more to the story but I am not going to say any more for fear of spoiling things for you.

I highly recommend Where Ssecrets Lie to anyone who enjoys a good romantic thriller.

I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Thomas Nelson. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

THE VOICE WE FIND by NICOLE DEESE

Publication date 15/4/25

THE VOICE WE FIND is the third novel in the Fog Harbor Romance series by NICOLE DEESE, but it can easily stand alone. It is the beautifully written story of people finding their voice as they go through difficult situations which lead them to trust in the Lord and one another. It is one of the loveliest Christian romance novels I have read and I will definitely be reading it again. It is a story about family dynamics, as we follow Sophie Wilder who has lived her life in the shadow of her overbearing brother, Jasper, and whose acting career has come to an embarassing end, forcing her to come home to the family wine farm and rely on her brother’s reluctant charity. …..

When August Tate agrees to his friend Chip’s suggestion that he use his struggling music recording studio to produce audiobooks, he is unprepared for the gorgeous Sophie who arrives to audition as a reader…….

August also has family problems and feels like a failure. He feels guilty for his bad choices and somehow responsible for his parents’s death and for his sister Gabby’s deafness, overcompensating by being ultra strict on his sister, taking his legal guardianship very seriously. In fact his story is reminiscent of that of the Biblical Prodigal Son……

I love everything about this story that is based on Paul’s words in Romans 8:38-39 “”For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

I like the sensitive way in which the community accepts and includes those with hearing disabilities, and the strong Christian message of forgiveness and redemption on which the story is based. I cannor recommend The Voice We Find strongly enough.

I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bethany House Publishers. The ooinions in this review are completely my own.

THIS PROMISED LAND by CATHY GOHLKE

Publication date 8/4/25

THIS PROMISED LAND by CATHY GOHLKE is a beautifully written story about the meaning of family, the importance ot belonging and working together. I particularly enjoy Ginny’s love of plants and flowers, and the way she teaches the children to collect and press interesting specimens. There is also a sense of making something beautiful out of something broken….

In 1992, at the age of sixty five, Ginny Dee Pickering Boyden is about to set off to the UK to pursue a lifelong dream, when she is shattered to find that she is the owner of her family’s  debt-ridden Christmas Tree Farm. She finds that her deceased brother, Harold, lied to her, and that he  promised his sons, Luke and Mark, equal shares in the farm as their inheritance…..

Upon arriving at her old home, with all its poignant memories, she finds some of the family members fit into the biblical story of the Prodigal Son, with Luke as the angry elder brother, Mark as the returning prodigal son, and herself as both the returning prodigal and the welcoming father!……..

The characters are wonderful, especially the children, in this emotional story of family relationships, second chances, unconditional love, and hope. There is a strong Christian message of God’s provision, of restoration and of overcoming evil with good…..

There is a grear deal more to the story but I am not going to tell you any more for fear of spoiling your read.

I cannot recommend this lovely and truly inspirational book highly enough.

I was given an ARC of the book by Tyndale House Publishers from NetGalley. The opinions in this review are completely my own.