Welcome to my only Christian/inspirational fiction post of
2024. For those who do read Christian fiction, who are your favorite authors
and why?
<This is the first
novel in a series.>
With a flair for the bold, Lady Marigold Fairfax’s wardrobe
isn’t fashion-forward because she’s style-obsessed. Instead, her eye-catching
choices as Lady Marigold disguise her alter ego as Lady M and also one of the
founding members of The Imposters, Ltd., with her brother, Yates, and two
friends, Gemma Parks (a.k.a. G.M. Parker, a columnist renowned for her high
society stories) and Graham Wharton. Left with an estate (and an earldom for
Yates) on the brink of bankruptcy after their father’s death, the brother-sister
duo opened a private investigation firm for the elite to spy on the elite. They
have collected many secrets and are shocked when Lieutenant Colonel Sir Merritt
Livingstone finds their card and hires the anonymous group to investigate Lord
Thomas Hemming, their late father’s good friend. He might be a traitor, as
someone is leaking information to Germany as tensions mount (it’s England in
1909). Sir Merritt has been a dedicated man of the Crown with exemplary
service, having recently spent a decade serving the reigning monarch in the
Coldstream Guards, but pneumonia lands him a desk job in the War Office
Intelligence Division where Lord Hemming also works. The Imposters, Ltd.’s
investigative services are beyond compare, but will they find innocence in
their father’s friend? Or something nefarious?
From
bejeweled ballrooms to covert intelligence offices in London to an acrobatic
Tower in Northumberland, the first in The Imposters series is
engaging from the first page until the last. It’s a story showcasing hard work,
up to and including manual labor, in an aristocratic society where money isn’t
oft seen as an issue, but for the Fairfax siblings, the burden to keep afloat
and maintain appearances is a weighted one. White crafts a series starter
replete with great characters and a forward-moving plot set in Edwardian
England that is interspersed with romance and investigation and fueled by
faith. It’s a delightful, inspirational fiction, sleuthing adventure!
Favorite
line: “She simply preferred not to sit like a letter of the alphabet and
pretend a ruler was jammed into her corset.” (p. 211)
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The Heirloom (Sept. 12, 2023) by Beverly Lewis.
<This is
a standalone novel that’s a prequel to The
Shunning.>
With grief over her mother’s passing still feeling fresh with
her father already remarried and reeling after a breakup with someone she
thought was the one, 19-year-old Clara Bender doesn’t feel like she
fits in in her more progressive Amish community in First Light, Indiana. With a
new stepmom, Clara isn’t needed to manage her dad’s household, and there are
few available young men in her small community. When she comes across letters
from her mother’s dear aunt Ella Mae Zook, and reaches out to this great aunt
whom she’s never met, she soon finds herself invited to Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania’s, Hickory Hollow and the Old Order Amish community where Ella
Mae, the Wise Woman, resides. Clara’s arrival for a week turns into a summer,
and it’s an answer to prayer, because Ella Mae isn’t ready to move from the
home she made with her late, beloved husband. The two women form a close bond
quickly over their love of Clara’s mother and quilting. Together, the two of
them set to restoring an heirloom wedding quilt from 1911 that once belonged to
Ella Mae’s mother. Clara finally opens up about the relationship that fell
apart, and Ella Mae shares the “unspeakable” tragedy from her courting years.
Clara makes quick friends, including Katie Lapp (features in The
Shunning), Lettie Zook (granddaughter to Ella Mae) and Rosanna Ebersol (a
shy 16-year-old). She also meets some eligible young men from Hickory Hollow.
Will she become flirtatious Tom Glick’s sweetheart girl? Or might thoughtful
Aaron Ebersol catch her heart?
Lewis’ prequel
to The Shunning is an intergenerational novel of healing,
love, new beginnings and moving forward. If Clara follows her heart, she’ll
stay in Hickory Hollow amongst the strict Old Order Amish with their
straitlaced bishop, but her father’s been adamant that she’ll return to First
Light at summer’s end, where their Amish community focuses more on grace than
excessive rules. Lewis graces readers with another tender,
heartstrings-tugging, clean romance. Make a sweet, minty batch of meadow tea, find
your favorite lap quilt and settle cozily in for this gladdening tale.
To Spark a Match (Nov. 14, 2023) by Jen Turano.
<This is
the second novel in a series.>
Even though she’s a member of the New York Four Hundred, with
multiple unsuccessful Seasons and a penchant for catastrophe, Miss Adelaide
Duveen has long since resigned herself to the wallflowers section at parties
and accepts that she’s destined to remain a spinster forever at her overripe
age of 23. She doesn’t view this dismally, for it allows her to concentrate on
her favorites: cats and books. She delights in spy novels, and when she
inadvertently stumbles upon Mr. Gideon Abbott engaged in a clandestine activity
during a dinner party, Adelaide is all but convinced that she must help Gideon
solve the case. This is the last thing that former naval intelligence agent
Gideon wants. A well-known gentleman amongst the Four Hundred membership, he
doesn’t want others to know the “accounting firm” he works for is a front for
an investigation service. He also doesn’t want to risk others getting hurt.
Considering he’s prevented Adelaide from pitching over a steep edge and put her
out when she caught on fire, there’s no way Adelaide can be involved. He asks
Miss Camilla Pierpont, a good friend of his, to take Adelaide in hand. Camilla,
another member of the New York Four Hundred and an Incomparable when she
debuted, has her work cut out for her. Adelaide’s putting up with it, because
her mother’s overjoyed at Camilla’s involvement. Gideon, meanwhile, wonders
aloud how Adelaide’s still alive, doing things like taking the El alone and
shopping at Bainswright Books, which is in a seedier area of the city, and wandering
down shady alleys unaccompanied. When Adelaide’s books are stolen right out of
her hands, the potential for danger becomes real, and reinforces Adelaide’s
drive to be part of the investigation. There’s clearly a spark between Adelaide
and Gideon, but is it a spark of love or disaster?
As someone who
also loves cats (though I only have two, not 20+) and books, I definitely felt
a kinship with Adelaide’s character. Turano’s stories are always charming,
suffused with engaging characters, including forward-thinking, independent
women, humorous dialogue and a fast-paced, energetic plot. Turano’s fans will
sail through this fun, lighthearted romp amidst another matchmaking season.
There is elegance and refinement mixed with sleuthing and adventure -- oh, and
plenty of misadventure, too.
Book One: A Match in the Making
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