The monthly “Three for the Books” post is where I feature new (Hot off the Presses), best selling (Topping the Charts), and award winning (Cream of the Crop) Christian fiction books. I select one title to feature in each category, as well as providing links to where you can browse additional newly released, best selling, and award winning titles. Have you read any of my featured titles? Any others you’d like to give a shout-out? Comments are always welcome!
Hot Off the Presses
About Twisted Innocence (from Publisher Zondervan):
Holly Cramer’s past choices have finally caught up to her, but she never expected them to endanger her baby.
Though Holly’s stumbled through most of her adult life as a party girl, she longs to live a more stable life for her daughter. Then police show up to question her about the whereabouts of Creed Kershaw, Lily’s father. She has kept his identity a secret from friends and family—she never even told him about the pregnancy. Now he’s a person of interest in a drug-related murder case.
Determined to keep him out of their lives and turn him over to police, Holly uses her private investigating skills to search for him. But her bravado backfires when he turns the tables and takes her and the baby hostage. As desperate hours tick by, Holly realizes his connection to Leonard Miller—the man who has gunned down several members of her family. Creed claims he’s innocent and that Miller is after him too. His gentleness with Lily moves her, but she can’t trust a man who has held her at gunpoint . . . even if he reminds her so much of herself.
Dangers old and new threaten Holly and her baby, and lives are demanded as sacrifices for love. Through a complex web of mistakes and regret, redemption is the one hope Holly has left to hold on to.
Want to browse some more Christian fiction titles releasing this month? NovelCrossing and SoulInspirationz both feature lists of new releases, among other interesting things related to Christian fiction.
Topping the Charts
About Bridge to Haven (from Publisher Tyndale House):
To those who matter in 1950s Hollywood, Lena Scott is the hottest rising star to hit the silver screen since Marilyn Monroe. Few know her real name is Abra. Even fewer know the price she’s paid to finally feel like she’s somebody.
To Pastor Ezekiel Freeman, Abra will always be the little girl who stole his heart the night he found her, a wailing newborn abandoned under a bridge on the outskirts of Haven. Zeke and his son, Joshua—Abra’s closest friend—watch her grow into an exotic beauty. But Zeke knows the circumstances surrounding her birth etched scars deep in her heart, scars that leave her vulnerable to a fast-talking bad boy who proclaims his love and lures her to Tinseltown. Hollywood feels like a million miles from Haven, and naive Abra quickly learns what’s expected of an ambitious girl with stars in her eyes. But fame comes at an awful price. She has burned every bridge to get exactly what she thought she wanted. Now, all she wants is a way back home.
In this riveting and highly anticipated tale of temptation, grace, and unconditional love, New York Times best-selling author Francine Rivers delivers big-canvas storytelling at its very best.
To see what other titles are hot at the moment, check out the Bestseller Lists for Christian fiction.
Cream of the Crop
About Dear Mr. Knightley (from Publisher Thomas Nelson):
Samantha Moore has always hidden behind the words of others—namely her favorite characters in literature. Now, she will learn to write her own story—by giving that story to a complete stranger.
Growing up orphaned and alone, Sam found her best friends in the works of Austen, Dickens, and the Brontë sisters. The problem is that she now relates to others more comfortably as Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre than as herself.
Sometimes we lose ourselves in the things we care about most.
But life for this twenty-three-year-old is about to get stranger than fiction, when an anonymous benefactor (calling himself “Mr. Knightley”) offers to put Sam through the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. There is only one catch: Sam must write frequent letters to the mysterious donor, detailing her progress.
As Sam’s program and peers force her to confront her past, she finds safety in her increasingly personal letters to Mr. Knightley. And when Sam meets eligible, best-selling novelist Alex Powell, those letters unfold a story of love and literature that feels as if it’s pulled from her favorite books. But when secrets come to light, Sam is – once again – made painfully aware of how easily trust can be broken.
Reay’s debut novel follows one young woman’s journey as she sheds her protective persona and embraces the person she was meant to become.
To find more titles among the “Cream of the Crop” check out my list of some of the big awards in Christian fiction, with links to the awards’ Web sites, where you can track down some more winners.
Now it’s your turn, reader friends. Have you read any of these titles? Do you want to? Are there any other titles you’ve read recently that deserve a shout-out? Please speak up in the comments!
Bridge to Haven was a book club pick last year. My group loved it. Almost replaced Redeeming Love as their fav from Rivers. I enjoyed Dear Mr. Knightley too. I will be starting Twisted Innocence next week. Another book club pick, Blackstock is one of our favorite romantic suspense authors. Thanks for this monthly feature!
Thanks for sharing, Beckie. Sounds like you and your group have made some great picks! It’d good to hear you liked Bridge to Haven so well. I loved Redeeming Love, but haven’t had the chance to read this one yet.