Posts with the custom taxonomy term Split Time

All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes

2 Comments on All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes

GoodreadsAll The Lost Places ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1807/1904 – Italy

When all of Venice is unmasked, one man’s identity remains a mystery . . .

1807
When a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the quiet canals of Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as a son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn’t until a woman washes ashore on his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make a choice that could alter not just his own future, but also that of the beloved floating city.

1904
Daniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden with regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book. There, he discovers a city of colliding hope and decay, much like his own life, and a mystery wrapped in the pages of that filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city . . . and in the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato.

What I Would Tell You by Liz Tolsma

1 Comment on What I Would Tell You by Liz Tolsma

GoodreadsWhat I Would Tell You ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1941/Present – Greece

Determined to resist the invading Nazis, a Greek Jewish woman’s greatest dream has become her worst nightmare, and now she faces an impossible choice whose consequences echo across the generations.

1941–The pounding of Nazi boots on the streets of Salonika, Greece, reverberates in Mathilda Nissim’s ears, shaking her large community of Sephardic Jews to its core and altering her life forever. If only her people would rise up and resist their captors. At great risk to herself and those around her, she uses the small newspaper she publishes to call them to action, all to no avail. Her husband encourages her to trust God to watch over them, but God has once again deserted His people. Amid the chaos, Mathilda discovers she’s expecting a longed-for child. Still, nothing stops the occupiers’ noose from tightening around their necks, and she may have to resort to desperate measures to ensure her daughter’s survival.

2019–College student Tessa Payton and her cousin take a popular DNA heritage test only to discover they don’t share any common ancestors. In fact, the test reveals Tessa is a Greek Sephardic Jew. This revelation threatens her tenuous faith. Always the overlooked child in her family, she empties her savings account and jets off on a journey to Greece to discover where she belongs and which God demands her allegiance. The enchanting curator at the Jewish museum guides her as she navigates life in Thessaloniki, helps with her genealogical research, and loans her a fascinating journal written by a Jewish woman during WWII. Tessa’s search, however, may open old wounds and uncover long-hidden secrets that could fracture her family forever and leave her with more questions than when she started.

Lilly’s Promise by Terrie Todd

No Comments on Lilly’s Promise by Terrie Todd

GoodreadsLilly's Promise ~ B&N ~ Amazon

1922/present – Canada

Orphaned and adopted as a toddler in 1922, Lilly Sampson pursues a nursing career in hopes that it will redeem the shameful crime of arson she committed as a child. When her self-sabotaging choices only build the ash heap higher, will she find the love she desperately seeks?

In 2019, while unraveling a mysterious link in her ancestry, thirty-six-year-old Diana DeWitt is at a crossroads as she tries to help a teenager in crisis. Will the truth she uncovers about her grandmother, Lilly, inspire her to let go of her fear and rise to the occasion?

Christmas on King Street by Ashley Clark

No Comments on Christmas on King Street by Ashley Clark

GoodreadsChristmas on King Street ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1942/Present – South Carolina

This Christmas, her music box holds the key to a wartime secret.

Alice’s flower shop is in trouble and her boyfriend has yet to propose. She’s weary and disillusioned, so when her boyfriend suggests a trip to visit family and friends in Charleston, South Carolina, she’s eager to go. But a discovery at her friend’s vintage store reveals a decades-old music box with a secret that may just help Alice find what she needs this Christmas.

In 1942, witty Kit and a handsome soldier start a whirlwind romance at a USO dance. But when war takes him away and tests their love, all Kit wants for Christmas is to see him again. Her story becomes more complicated with the mysterious appearance of a music box on her doorstep, and their romance takes a turn she never expected…

Passages of Hope by Terri Haynes

1 Comment on Passages of Hope by Terri Haynes

Passages of HopeGoodreads ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1855/Present – Pennsylvania

Discover the Story Behind a Secret Passageway

Gracie Kingston begins renovations on the Philadelphia house inherited from her grandmother and finds a secret room. It is connected to a house nearby, the home of William Still, the man known as the father of the Underground Railroad. As she researches, she discovers a mystery in her house’s ownership. In 1855, Olivia Kingston helps a mother and her young child by hiding them in a secret room in her home. As she helps, she learns that there may be an impostor conductor in their community. As Gracie’s and Olivia’s stories intertwine, they learn the meaning of sacrifice and love.

The Premonition at Withers Farm by Jaime Jo Wright

1 Comment on The Premonition at Withers Farm by Jaime Jo Wright

The Premonition at Withers Farm Goodreads ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1910/Present – Michigan

The voices of the past cannot stay silent forever.

In 1910 Michigan, Perliett Van Hilton is a self-proclaimed rural healer, leaving the local doctor convinced she practices quackery. It doesn’t help that her mother is a spiritualist who regularly offers her services to connect the living with their dearly departed. But when Perliett is targeted by a superstitious killer, she must rely on both the local doctor and an intriguing newcomer for assistance.

In the present day, Molly Wasziak’s life has not gone the way she dreamed. Facing depression after several miscarriages, Molly is adapting to her husband’s purchase of a peculiar old farm. A search for a family tree pulls Molly deep into a century-old murder case and a web of deception, all made more mysterious by the disturbing shadows and sounds inside the farmhouse.

Perliett fights for her life, and Molly seeks renewed purpose for hers as she uncovers the records of the dead. Will their voices be heard, or will time forever silence their truths?

Come Down Somewhere by Jennifer L. Wright

No Comments on Come Down Somewhere by Jennifer L. Wright

Come Down SomewhereGoodreads ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1945 – New Mexico

Sixteen-year-old Olive Alexander has lived on a ranch in the Jornada del Muerto region of southern New Mexico her entire life. But when World War II begins, the government seizes her family’s land for the construction of a new, top secret Army post.

While her mother remains behind, Olive is forced to live in nearby Alamogordo with her grandmother and find a place in a new school. When Jo Hawthorne crosses her path, Olive sees a chance for friendship—until she learns that Jo’s father is the Army sergeant who now occupies her beloved ranch. Already angry about her new reality, Olive pushes Jo away. But as she struggles to make sense of her grandmother’s lapses into the past and increasingly unsettling hints about what’s happening at the ranch, she slowly warms to Jo’s winsome faith and steady attempts at friendship . . . until one devastating day when the sky explodes around them and their lives are torn apart.

Seven years later, Jo returns to Alamogordo, still angry and wounded by the betrayals of that fateful day. Determined to put the past behind her once and for all, Jo hunts for answers and begins to realize the truth may be far more complicated than she believed, leading her on a desperate search to find her friend before it’s too late.

By Way of the Moonlight by Elizabeth Musser

1 Comment on By Way of the Moonlight by Elizabeth Musser

By Way of the MoonlightGoodreads ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1940s/Present Day – Georgia

Two courageous young women, tied together by blood and shared passion, will risk everything to save what they love most.

For as long as she can remember, Allie Massey, a gifted physical therapist, has dreamed of making her grandparents’ ten-acre estate into a trauma recovery center using equine therapy–a dream her grandmother, Nana Dale, embraced wholeheartedly. But when her grandmother’s will is read, Allie is shocked to learn the property has been sold to a developer.

Decades earlier, headstrong Dale Butler’s driving passion is to bring home the prized filly her family lost to the Great Depression, but with World War II looming, she’s called upon in ways she never could have imagined. And while her world expands to include new friends and new love, tragedy strikes close to home one fateful night during the Battle of the Atlantic, changing her life forever.

As Nana Dale’s past comes to light in Allie’s search for answers, Dale’s courage and persistence may be just what Allie needs to carry on her grandmother’s legacy and keep her own dreams alive.

Laura’s Shadow by Allison Pittman

1 Comment on Laura’s Shadow by Allison Pittman

Laura's ShadowGoodreads ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1890/1970 – South Dakota

Family Secrets Spill One Conversation at a Time

1890 
Young women growing up in DeSmet live by two rules: don’t go out in a snowstorm and don’t give your heart to Cap Garland. Young Mariah Patterson only managed to obey one. Orphaned and having devoted her youth to scrapping out a life with her brother Charles, Mariah finds herself with no interesting suitors or means of support. Throwing caution to the wind, she seizes an opportunity to lay her feelings at Cap’s feet, even though she knows Cap sees the world through the torch he carries for Laura Ingalls. Mariah is certain her love for Cap will be strong enough to break both bonds, and she’s willing to risk everything to prove it. 
 
1974  
Trixie Gowan is the fourth generation of living Gowan women residing in the sprawling farmhouse on the outskirts of De Smet. Well, former resident. She’s recently moved to Minneapolis, where she writes ads for a neighborhood paper edited by Ron Tumble. She might live and work in the city, but her co-workers still call her Prairie Girl. Thus the inspiration for her comic strip—“Lost Laura”—in which a bespectacled girl in a calico dress tries to make her way in the city. The name is a quiet rebellion having grown up in a household where she’d been forbidden to mention the name, Laura Ingalls. But when her great-grandmother Mariah’s declining health brings Trixie home for a visit, two things might just keep her there: the bedside manner of Dr. Campbell Carter and the family secret that seems to be spilling from GG’s lips one conversation at a time. 

The Italian Ballerina by Kristy Cambron

No Comments on The Italian Ballerina by Kristy Cambron

The Italian BallerinaGoodreads ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1943/Present – Italy

At the height of the Nazi occupation of Rome, an unlikely band of heroes comes together to save innocent lives in this breathtaking World War II novel based on real historical events.

Rome, 1943. With the fall of Italy’s Fascist government and the Nazi regime occupying the streets of Rome, British ballerina Julia Bradbury is stranded and forced to take refuge at a hospital on Tiber Island. But when she learns of a deadly sickness sweeping through the quarantine wards—a fake disease known only as Syndrome K—she is drawn into one of the greatest cons in history. Alongside hospital staff, friars of the adjoining church, and two Allied medics, Julia risks everything to rescue Jewish Italians from the deadly clutches of the Holocaust. Soon a little girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina arrives at their door, and Julia is determined to reunite the young dancer with her family—if only she would reveal one crucial secret: her name.

Present Day. Delaney Coleman recently lost her grandfather—a beloved small-town doctor and World War II veteran, so she returns home to help her aging parents. When a mysterious Italian woman reaches out claiming to own one of the family’s precious heirlooms, Delaney is compelled to travel to Italy and uncover the truth of her grandfather’s hidden past. With the help of the woman’s skeptical but charming grandson, Delaney learns of a Roman hospital that saved hundreds of Jewish people during the war. Soon, everything Delaney thought she knew about her grandfather comes into question.

Based on true accounts of the invented Syndrome K sickness, The Italian Ballerina journeys from the Allied storming of the beaches at Salerno to the London ballet stage and the war-torn streets of World War II Rome, exploring the sometimes heart-wrenching choices we must make to find faith and forgiveness, and how saving a single life can impact countless others.

Heirlooms by Sandra Byrd

1 Comment on Heirlooms by Sandra Byrd

HeirloomsGoodreads ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1958/present – Washington

Answering a woman’s desperate call for help, young Navy widow Helen Devries opens her Whidbey Island home as a refuge to Choi Eunhee. As they bond over common losses and a delicate, potentially devastating secret, their friendship spans the remainder of their lives.

After losing her mother, Cassidy Quinn spent her childhood summers with her gran, Helen, at her farmhouse. Nourished by her grandmother’s love and encouragement, Cassidy discovers a passion that she hopes will bloom into a career. But after Helen passes, Cassidy learns that her home and garden have fallen into serious disrepair. Worse, a looming tax debt threatens her inheritance. Facing the loss of her legacy and in need of allies and ideas, Cassidy reaches out to Nick, her former love, despite the complicated emotions brought by having him back in her life.

Cassidy inherits not only the family home but a task, spoken with her grandmother’s final breaths: ask Grace Kim―Eunhee’s granddaughter―to help sort through the contents of the locked hope chest in the attic. As she and Grace dig into the past, they unearth their grandmothers’ long-held secret and more. Each startling revelation reshapes their understanding of their grandmothers and ultimately inspires the courage to take risks and make changes to own their lives.

Set in both modern-day and midcentury Whidbey Island, Washington, this dual-narrative story of four women―grandmothers and granddaughters―intertwines across generations to explore the secrets we keep, the love we pass down, and the heirlooms we inherit from a well-lived life.

Hope Beyond the Waves by Heidi Chiavaroli

1 Comment on Hope Beyond the Waves by Heidi Chiavaroli

Hope Beyond the WavesGoodreads ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1916/1993 – Massachusetts

From award-winning author Heidi Chiavaroli comes a sweeping dual timeline story that explores hope and enduring love in the midst of the impossible.

Massachusetts, 1993

After making a grievous mistake that will change her life forever, Emily Robertson is sent away to live with her grandmother on Cape Cod. When Emily finds a timeworn photograph buried in a drawer, she realizes her grandmother has concealed a secret even bigger than her own. Will convincing Gram to reveal their family history help Emily make the most important decision of her life or will it prove her parents right—that family scandal is better off buried and forgotten?

Massachusetts, 1916

Atta Schaeffer plans to marry the man of her dreams and whisk her little sister away from their abusive father. But when she is diagnosed with a dreaded malady, Atta is forced into a life of exile, leaving her sister in harm’s way.

On Penikese Island, Atta’s best hope lies with Harry Mayhew, a doctor who seeks a cure for his patients at any cost. But when experiments fail, Atta runs from Harry—and from God. Can she return to her sister before it’s too late? Or will her illness consume both her body and soul?

The Songs That Could Have Been by Amanda Wen

1 Comment on The Songs That Could Have Been by Amanda Wen

The Songs That Could Have BeenGoodreads ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1950s/Present – Kansas

Two couples in love. Two sets of impossible circumstances. One powerful God of grace.

After a tailspin in her late teens, Lauren Anderson’s life is finally back on track. Her battle with bulimia is under control, her career is taking off, and she’s surrounded by a loving family. Then a chance meeting with Carter Douglas, her first love and the man who broke her heart, leads to old feelings returning with new strength. And suddenly her well-balanced world is thrown off kilter.

Now a TV meteorologist, Carter is determined to make amends with Lauren. After all, she still owns his heart. But the reasons they broke up aren’t lost–and those old demons are forcing him toward the same decision he faced in the past. He isn’t sure he’s courageous enough to make a different choice this time around.

When Lauren’s elderly grandmother, Rosie, begins having nightmares about a man named Ephraim–a name her family has never heard before–a fascinating and forbidden past love comes to light. As Lauren and Carter work to uncover the untold stories of Rosie’s past in 1950s Wichita, they embark on a journey of forgiveness and second chances that will change their lives–and Rosie’s–forever. Along the way they’ll learn that God wastes nothing, his timing is perfect, and nothing is beyond his grace and redemption.

Long Way Home by Lynn Austin

2 Comments on Long Way Home by Lynn Austin

Long Way HomeGoodreads ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1938/1946 – At Sea/Germany/New York

In this gripping portrait of war and its aftermath from bestselling author Lynn Austin, a young woman searches for the truth her childhood friend won’t discuss after returning from World War II, revealing a story of courage, friendship, and faith.

Peggy Serrano couldn’t wait for her best friend to come home from the war. But the Jimmy Barnett who returns is much different from the Jimmy who left, changed so drastically by his experience as a medic in Europe that he can barely function. When he attempts the unthinkable, his parents check him into the VA hospital. Peggy determines to help the Barnetts unravel what might have happened to send their son over the edge. She starts by contacting Jimmy’s war buddies, trying to identify the mysterious woman in the photo they find in Jimmy’s belongings.

Seven years earlier, sensing the rising tide against her people, Gisela Wolff and her family flee Germany aboard the passenger ship St. Louis, bound for Havana, Cuba. Gisela meets Sam Shapiro on board and the two fall quickly in love. But the ship is denied safe harbor and sent back to Europe. Thus begins Gisela’s perilous journey of exile and survival, made possible only by the kindness and courage of a series of strangers she meets along the way, including one man who will change the course of her life.

When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnett

No Comments on When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnett

When Stone Wings FlyGoodreads ~ B&N ~ Amazon

1931/Present – Tennessee

Uncovering a long-lost family story is the only way to bring her grandmother peace.

Kieran Lucas’s grandmother is slipping into dementia, and, when her memory is gone, Kieran’s last tie to the family she barely knows will be lost forever. Worse, Granny Mac is being tormented by flashbacks of her mother’s death and the loss of their home.

In 1931, Rosie McCauley’s Smoky Mountains home is threatened by the Tennessee Great Smokies Park Commission as they create a new national park. But Rosie vows the only way they’ll get her land is if they haul her out in a pine box. When a compromise offers her and her disabled sister the opportunity to stay for her lifetime, it seems too good to be true.

Ornithologist Benton Fuller arrives to conduct a bird survey for the park and the two form a tenuous bond. But their friendship broadens a rift between her and the other mountain folk who are suspicious of any government connections. Then the discovery of an illegal still in the woods near her cabin leads to a violent clash between sides that could destroy them all.

Eighty-five years later, Kieran heads back to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to find answers to her great-grandmother’s mysterious death and bring peace to Granny Mac before it’s too late. Park Historian Zach Jensen may be the key to locating both the answers and a precious family heirloom. But just as in the past, Kieran’s needs clash with government regulations. Will Zach block her from recovering what she needs and solving this family mystery?

I’ll Be Seeing You by Robin Lee Hatcher

No Comments on I’ll Be Seeing You by Robin Lee Hatcher

I’ll Be Seeing YouGoodreads ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1940s/Present – Idaho

Generations of secrets unfold as a young college student learns the truth about her great-grandmother’s World War II heartbreak and love.

Brianna Hastings’s life seems dull and full of disappointment until a handsome young man visits her church. She’s instantly smitten by the charming Greg, who leads an exciting, independent life—the kind of life she longs for. But when a college history assignment forces Brianna to interview her great-grandmother about life during World War II, she can’t believe it when Daisy presses her with questions about Greg’s character. “What sort of man is he? Who is he at his core?”

What could her great-grandmother possibly know about love at first sight?

The questions take both women back to Boise, Idaho, in the early 1940s, when war emphasized how fragile life could be. Daisy and her older sister pine for the same handsome bomber pilot—until one night of terrible judgment reveals their true characters and drives them apart. Trying to protect the people she loves the most, Daisy condemns herself to live a lie.

In the years that follow, as Daisy grapples with the consequences, she receives unexpected grace from a man she’s known her whole life but never looked at twice. Could what she learned about love save Brianna from heartache three generations later?

The Burning Sands by Carole Lehr Johnson

No Comments on The Burning Sands by Carole Lehr Johnson

The Burning SandsGoodreads ~ Amazon

1671/Present – England

Can an old tavern’s secrets free two women from their pasts?

After a year, Olivia Griffin still drowns in grief from losing her beloved husband in a tragic accident. To cope with his death, she loses herself in her art and genealogy research that follows her grandmother’s lineage to Trerose, a small fishing village on the Cornish coast of England. In a bid to start fresh, she travels to Cornwall to discover more about her grandmother’s past, where she is captivated by an old tavern and the story of a young woman who lived there in the seventeenth century.

In the autumn of 1671, Grace Atwood and her brother still mourn the loss of their childhood friend while they struggle to protect their mother and siblings from their abusive father, who operates The Burning Sands Tavern. Grace’s life sinks further into turmoil after her father arranges her marriage to a local merchant with secrets of his own. When two strangers arrive in the harbor and the village is set alight with rumors, Grace finds herself caught between her family’s secrets and a romantic interest in Rig, a mysterious young man who is determined to help save her family.

In the present day, Olivia dives deeper into the history of the village, tavern, and young Grace’s story, alongside two eccentric elderly sisters and the handsome vicar. The longer she spends in Trerose the more she is drawn to the village and tavern, which may very well hold the answer to both the past and her future.

A Promise Engraved by Liz Tolsma

1 Comment on A Promise Engraved by Liz Tolsma

A Promise EngravedGoodreads ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google Play ~ Kobo ~ Amazon

1835/Present Day – Texas

Can Promises Made in Times of Struggle Endure 200 Years?

Young, spirited Josie Wilkins life is about to take a turn when faced with political turmoil and secret love in San Antonio of 1836. John Gilbert has won her heart, despite being a Protestant preacher who is forbidden to practice his faith in Texas. If he discovers the secrets of her painful past, he will never have anything to do with her. But then comes the Battle of the Alamo. Will either of them survive an epic battle for liberty to create a legacy of love?

Nearly 200 years later, Kayleigh Hewland takes breaks from her demanding job as a refugee coordinator working with Mexican migrants to attend flea markets where she has found a uniquely engraved ring that helps her discover who killed her parents. Enlisting the help of appraiser Brandon Mullins, they piece together a love story long forgotten. But will dangers linked to the ring end her own hopes for leaving a legacy built on hope, faith, and love?

Hearts Under Fire by Cori Lynn

No Comments on Hearts Under Fire by Cori Lynn

hearts under fireGoodreads ~ Amazon

1941/Present – ?

When Laura, a heartbroken antique expert, stumbles across an old steamer trunk, she decides it is the perfect restoration project to distract her from her recent loss. She quickly discovers the trunk has a few mysteries of its own, including a journal dating back to 1941.

Laura finds herself caught up in a heroic love story between Ava and her high school sweetheart Dean. Their story of first love is suddenly interrupted when World War II begins, and Dean is sent to the front lines; leaving Ava to bravely fight her own battles supporting the war effort from home.

Laura soon identifies with Ava’s perseverance and in the process, is challenged to overcome her own hardships. However, the journal unexpectedly ends, leaving Laura with unanswered questions about Ava’s life. Laura is determined to uncover the missing pieces from the journal, but will she find the answers she seeks? And can she find the courage to love again?

The Master Craftsman by Kelli Stuart

1 Comment on The Master Craftsman by Kelli Stuart

The Master CraftsmanGoodreads ~ Amazon

1917/Present – Russia

Alma Pihl, a master craftsman in the House of Fabergé, was charged to protect one of the greatest secrets in Russian history–an unknown Fabergé Egg that Peter Karl Fabergé secretly created to honor his divided allegiance to both the people of Russia and the Imperial tsar’s family. When Alma and her husband escaped Russia for their native Finland in 1921, she took the secret with her, guarding her past connection to the Romanov family.

Three generations later, world-renowned treasure hunter Nick Laine is sick and fears the secret of the missing egg will die with him. With time running out, he entrusts the mission of retrieving the egg to his estranged daughter, Ava, who has little idea of the dangers she is about to face. As the stakes are raised, Ava is forced to declare her own allegiance–and the consequences are greater than she could have imagined.

The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright

No Comments on The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright

The Souls of Lost LakeGoodreads ~ Amazon

1930/Present – Wisconsin

To save the innocent, they must face an insidious evil.

Wren Blythe has long enjoyed living in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, helping her father with ministry at a youth camp. But when a little girl in the area goes missing, an all-out search ensues, reviving the decades-old campfire story of Ava Coons, the murderess who is believed to still roam the forest. Joining the search, Wren stumbles upon the Coonses’ cabin ruins and a sinister mystery she is determined to unearth.

In 1930, Ava Coons has spent the last several years carrying the mantle of mystery since the day she emerged from the woods as a thirteen-year-old girl, spattered with blood, dragging a logger’s ax. She has accepted she will never remember what happened to her family, whose bodies were never found, and that the people of Tempter’s Creek will always blame her for their violent deaths. And after a member of the town is murdered, and another goes missing, rumors spread that Ava’s secret is perhaps more malicious than previously imagined.

Two women, separated by time, must confront a wickedness that not only challenges who they are but also threatens their lives, and the lives of those they love.

Emma’s Quest by Starr Ayers

No Comments on Emma’s Quest by Starr Ayers

Emma's QuestGoodreads ~ Amazon

1939/present – North Carolina

When Caroline Myers and her sister Kate find a wilted red rose on their mother’s headstone, the door to Emma Rose Walsh’s past swings open.

AS THE DARK CLOUDS OF WAR escalate in Europe, Emma leaves her North Carolina home and the soldier whose heart has never stopped longing for hers. However, when Andrew Brown, the charming Scotsman who’d won her affection, fails to meet her train in Chicago, Emma questions her hasty decision. Hundreds of miles now separate her from all that’s familiar and the people she loves.
Has she misread Drew? Did her rush to heal her past prompt her to dismiss warning bells and ignore common sense?

Perhaps her sister is right—happy endings are only found in fairy tales.

A Hundred Crickets Singing by Cathy Gohlke

No Comments on A Hundred Crickets Singing by Cathy Gohlke

A Hundred Crickets SingingGoodreads ~ Amazon

1861/1944 – North Carolina

In wars eighty years apart, two young women living on the same Appalachian estate determine to aid soldiers dear to them and fight for justice, no matter the cost.

1944. When a violent storm rips through the Belvidere attic in No Creek, North Carolina, exposing a hidden room and trunk long forgotten, secrets dating back to the Civil War are revealed. Celia Percy, whose family lives and works in the home, suspects the truth could transform the future for her friend Marshall, now fighting overseas, whose ancestors were once enslaved by the Belvidere family. When Marshall’s Army friend, Joe, returns to No Creek with shocking news for Marshall’s family, Celia determines to right a long-standing wrong, whether or not the town is ready for it.

1861. After her mother’s death, Minnie Belvidere works desperately to keep her household running and her family together as North Carolina secedes. Her beloved older brother clings to his Union loyalties, despite grave danger, while her hotheaded younger brother entangles himself and the family’s finances within the Confederacy. As the country and her own home are torn in two, Minnie risks her life and her future in a desperate fight to gain liberty and land for those her parents intended to free, before it’s too late.

Count the Nights by Stars by Michelle Shocklee

No Comments on Count the Nights by Stars by Michelle Shocklee

Count the Nights by StarsGoodreads ~ Amazon

1897/1961 – Tennessee

Count your nights by stars, not shadows. Count your life with smiles, not tears.

1961. After a longtime resident at Nashville’s historic Maxwell House Hotel suffers a debilitating stroke, Audrey Whitfield is tasked with cleaning out the reclusive woman’s room. There, she discovers an elaborate scrapbook filled with memorabilia from the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Love notes on the backs of unmailed postcards inside capture Audrey’s imagination with hints of a forbidden romance . . . and troubling revelations about the disappearance of young women at the exposition. Audrey enlists the help of a handsome hotel guest as she tracks down clues and information about the mysterious “Peaches” and her regrets over one fateful day, nearly sixty-five years earlier.

1897. Outspoken and forward-thinking Priscilla Nichols isn’t willing to settle for just any man. She’s still holding out hope for love when she meets Luca Moretti on the eve of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Charmed by the Italian immigrant’s boldness, Priscilla spends time exploring the wonderous sights of the expo with Luca—until a darkness overshadows the months long event. Haunted by a terrible truth, Priscilla and Luca are sent down separate paths as the night’s stars fade into dawn.

Love’s Fortress by Love’s Fortress

1 Comment on Love’s Fortress by Love’s Fortress

lovesfortressGoodreads ~ Amazon

1875/Present Day – Florida

An Epic Love Story From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family Roots

Upon receiving word that her long-estranged father has passed away, Dani Sango inherits the former art forger’s entire estate. Among his many pieces of artwork are a series of obviously Native American drawings and paintings, which lead her to research St. Augustine of 1875. White Elk is transported to Florida to join other Cheyenne braves already being held in Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris is at the fort teaching the Indians. When a friendship develops between them and false accusations fly, it could cost them their lives. Can Dani discover how their story ends and how it shaped her own father’s life?

Where the Last Rose Blooms by Ashley Clark

No Comments on Where the Last Rose Blooms by Ashley Clark

wherethelastrosebloomsGoodreads ~ Amazon

1861/Present – South Carolina/Louisiana

Alice runs a New Orleans flower shop alongside her aunt, but thoughts of her mother, who went missing during Hurricane Katrina, are never far from her mind. After getting off on the wrong foot with a man who comes to the shop, Alice soon realizes their worlds overlap–and the answers they both seek can be found in the same place.

In 1861 Charleston, Clara is an abolitionist, unbeknownst to her father, who is heavily involved with the Confederacy. She attempts to assist an enslaved woman reunite with her daughter, and a dashing Union spy is just the person to help them. But things go very wrong when Clara agrees to aid the Northern cause by ferrying information about her father’s associates–and her own fiancé.

Faced with the unknown, both women across the years will have to dig deep to let their courage bloom.

The Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson

No Comments on The Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson

winterroseGoodreads ~ Amazon

1943/Present Day – France/Oregon

Grace Tonquin is an American Quaker who works tirelessly in Vichy France to rescue Jewish children from the Nazis. After crossing the treacherous Pyrénées, Grace returns home to Oregon with a brother and sister whose parents were lost during the war. Though Grace and her husband love Élias and Marguerite as their own, echoes of Grace’s past and trauma from the Holocaust tear the Tonquin family apart.

More than fifty years after they disappear, Addie Hoult arrives at Tonquin Lake, hoping to find the Tonquin family. For Addie, the mystery is a matter of life and death for her beloved mentor Charlie, who is battling a genetic disease. Though Charlie refuses to discuss his ties to the elusive Tonquins, finding them is the only way to save his life and mend the wounds from his broken past.

High-Wire Heartbreak by Anna Schmidt

1 Comment on High-Wire Heartbreak by Anna Schmidt

highwireheartbreakGoodreads ~ Amazon

1936/present day – Florida

In 1936–A party at the Ringling mansion Ca d’Zan in Sarasota, Florida, leads to a robbery–and possibly death.

A successful historical mystery writer, Chloe Whitfield comes to Ca’ d’Zan to research her next novel. Chloe’s fascination with the circus is rooted in family stories of her great-grandmother Lucinda Conroy, who reportedly was a trapeze artist of some renown. She’s heard hints of scandal—and perhaps larceny, but no details.

Chloe’s grandmother—rumored to be Lucinda’s only offspring—was raised in an orphanage and never knew her mother. Intrigued as she is, Chloe has no intent of writing about Lucinda until she sees a poster featuring Lucinda as the star performer for a 70th birthday gala for John Ringling in May of 1936. From there the trail goes cold.

Who was Lucinda and what happened to her?

The Last Piece by Terrie Todd

No Comments on The Last Piece by Terrie Todd

lastpieceGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1937/1953/1975/1999/2017 – Canada

When his father dies during the Great Depression, Ray Matthews is forced to drop out of art school to support his mother and sister as a jigsaw puzzle artist. Ray has only one painting he vows never to sell: the portrait of his beloved sweetheart. When pressured to break his oath, Ray sends the painting off with a promise and a prophecy. Through eight decades, the puzzle of the beautiful girl at the wishing well passes through four households, deeply affecting each without ever being fully completed.

When Leesha Pennington’s weekly treasure hunt at her local thrift shop produces an old jigsaw puzzle that might be worth something, she adds it to her shopping cart despite the old man’s mysterious warning: “Be careful with that one. Some puzzles don’t like to be solved.” Her decision sets in motion a chain of events that causes all five stories to converge.

With powerful themes of family relationships and self-sacrifice, this story is part allegory/part metaphor, rooted in real life.

Where Memories Await by Heidi Chiavaroli

No Comments on Where Memories Await by Heidi Chiavaroli

wherememoriesawaitGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1957/Present – Maine

Camden, Maine ~ Present Day

Spunky octogenarian Priscilla Martin is a woman with many Christmas secrets. When a beloved niece tempts her to bare her wounded soul, Priscilla must decide whether to share the secret of her sister’s demise—and the reason she abandoned the man she loved in favor of a loveless marriage.

Camden, Maine ~ December, 1957

The only person Priscilla loves more than Ed Colton is her younger sister, Hazel. But when Ed is drafted and Hazel runs away to New York to be with a man she believes will make her famous, Priscilla’s plans crumble around her. Ed’s silence and Hazel’s tragic return leads Priscilla to make a choice she will forever regret.

Can revisiting long-ago memories give Priscilla what she’s longed for all these years?

 

Behind Love’s Wall by Carrie Fancett Pagels

1 Comment on Behind Love’s Wall by Carrie Fancett Pagels

behindloveswallGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1895/Present – Canada

The Grand Hotel Slowly Reveals Her Secrets

Two successful women, a hundred-and-twenty-years apart, build walls to protect their hearts. Modern-day Willa, a successful interior decorator, is chosen to go to Mackinac Island and consult for the Grand Hotel’s possible redesign. During work on a room, she discovers a journal detailing the struggles of a young woman, Lily—which reveals dark secrets. The renowned singer wasn’t who she pretended to be.
 
As Willa reaches out to Lily’s descendant, a charismatic and prominent landscape artist, she lets down her guard. Should she share the journal with him—revealing hidden history—or once again erect a wall as she struggles to redesign both the Grand and her life?

The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox

2 Comments on The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox

secretkeepersofolddepotgroceryGoodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1965/Present – Tennessee

Present Day. After tragedy plunges her into grief and unresolved anger, Sarah Ashby returns to her childhood home determined to finally follow her long-denied dream of running Old Depot Grocery alongside her mother and grandmother. But when she arrives, her mother, Rosemary, announces to her that the store is closing. Sarah and her grandmother, Glory Ann, make a pact to save the store, but Rosemary has worked her entire life to make sure her daughter never follows in her footsteps. She has her reasons–but she’ll certainly never reveal the real one.

1965. Glory Ann confesses to her family that she’s pregnant with her deceased fiancé’s baby. Pressured into a marriage of convenience with a shopkeeper to preserve the family reputation, Glory Ann vows never to love again. But some promises are not as easily kept as she imagined.

This dual-timeline story from Amanda Cox deftly explores the complexity of a mother-daughter dynamic, the way the secrets we keep shape our lives and the lives of others, and the healing power of telling the truth.

The Gold in These Hills by Joanne Bischof

No Comments on The Gold in These Hills by Joanne Bischof

Goodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1902 – California

One wild and mysterious ghost town. Two second-chance love stories. And the century-old legacy that binds them together. 

Upon arriving in Kenworthy, California, mail-order bride Juniper Cohen is met by the pounding of the gold mine, an untamable landscape, and her greatest surprise of all: the kind and loving man who awaits her. But when the mine proves empty of profit, and when Juniper’s husband, John, vanishes, Juniper is left to fend for herself and her young daughter in the dwindling boomtown that is now her home.

Juniper pens letters to her husband but fears she is waiting on a ghost. Perhaps worse, rumors abound claiming the man she loves could be an outlaw. Surviving in a ghost town requires trusting the kindness of a few remaining souls, including the one who can unlock the mystery of her husband’s disappearance—and Juniper’s survival depends not only upon these friends but also the strength of heart she must fight to maintain.

Present day. Trying to escape the heartache of his failed marriage, Johnny Sutherland throws himself into raising his children and restoring a hundred-year-old abandoned farmhouse in what was once known as Kenworthy, California, in the San Jacinto Mountains. While exploring its secrets he uncovers Juniper’s letters and is moved by the handwritten accounts that bear his name—and as a love story from the past touches his own world, Johnny might discover yet that hope and resilience go hand in hand.

Paint and Nectar by Ashley Clark

No Comments on Paint and Nectar by Ashley Clark

Goodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1929 – South Carolina

In 1929, a spark forms between Eliza, a talented watercolorist, and William, a charming young man with a secret that could ruin her career. Their families forbid their romance because of a long-standing feud over missing heirloom silver. Still, Eliza and William’s passion grows despite the barriers, causing William to deeply regret the secret he’s keeping . . . but setting things right will come at a cost.

In present-day Charleston, a mysterious benefactor gifts Lucy Legare an old house, along with all the secrets it holds–including enigmatic letters about an antique silver heirloom. Declan Pinckney, whom Lucy’s been avoiding since their disastrous first date, is set on buying her house for his family’s development company. As Lucy uncovers secrets about the house, its garden, and the silver, she becomes more determined than ever to preserve the historic Charleston property, not only for history’s sake but also for her own.

The Rose Keeper by Jennifer Lamont Leo

No Comments on The Rose Keeper by Jennifer Lamont Leo

Goodreads ~ Purchase ~ Sample

1915/1944 – Illinois

July 1944. Chicago nurse Clara Janacek has spent her whole life taking care of other people. Grumpy yet loveable, all she wants now is to live out her life in peace, tending her roses and protecting her heart. But beneath the gruff exterior lies a story, and when new neighbors move in and shake up her quiet world, Clara must grapple with long-buried realities.

July 1915. The picnic across Lake Michigan was to be the highlight of the summer for young nurse Clara—a day filled with laughter, dancing, and budding romance aboard a stately excursion steamer. But when unspeakable tragedy strikes, Clara’s life is changed forever.

By turns funny, tender, and bittersweet, The Rose Keeper celebrates the redemptive hope found in friendship, faith, and the search for belonging.