"Unforgotten" by Shelley Shepard Gray

Unforgotten (Nov. 5, 2024) by Shelley Shepard Gray.*

<This is the second book in a series.>

Seven years after an attempted assault and the accidental death of attacker Peter Miller, Bethanne Hostetler is taking steps forward. She’s no longer hiding in her room, and she’s leaving her parents’ home on her own. She watches as her Englischer cousin, Candace Evans, is crowned Miss Crittenden County and pops up unexpectedly at Jay Byler’s workplace. Jay was once Peter’s best friend, and Bethanne avoids him because of that connection, though it’s Jay who has always adored Bethanne and feels guilty that he didn’t know what Peter was capable of. Bethanne is slowly opening up her heart to his kindness and gentle caring, but when Candace reveals that she has a stalker, old fears come rushing in.

            Officer Ryan Mulaney is new to Marion and Crittenden County, Kentucky. A Northerner from Connecticut, his position on the police force isn’t permanent. While it seems like grunt work to be assigned to accompany Candace to her appearances around the county, Ryan finds that he would loathe any other officer accompanying her, though he tries to maintain professionalism. When Candace’s stalker endangers both Candace and Bethanne, Ryan, Jay, local law enforcement and both families race against time to save them.

            This Christian, contemporary, romantic suspense novel is also part Amish fiction. It’s a story of learning to trust and love after past trauma and holding onto faith when despair wants to set in. It’s a clean love story. It is easy to root for sweet Bethanne and considerate Jay, as Bethanne gets back on her feet, for they’ve known each other since they were kids. I did not connect with Candace’s and Ryan’s whirlwind spin to falling in love. I believe that kind of love can happen, but the way it’s written felt rushed and not genuine. The plot is fairly propulsive, and fans of the author’s work won’t want to miss this one. For me, though, it’s a 3.5/5.

            Book 1: Unforgiven

* Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are expressly my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"A Healing Touch" by Suzanne Woods Fisher

A Healing Touch (Oct. 1, 2024) by Suzanne Woods Fisher.*

<This is a standalone novel with overlapping Stoney Ridge characters.>

The kind of doctor who still believes in house calls, Ruth “Dok” Stoltzfus is in tune with addressing her patients’ physical needs as well as their emotional ones. When newly widowed Bee Bennett, breeder of Dutch Warmbloods, is facing breast cancer, Dok connects her with Fern Lapp. Bee doesn’t think she needs to talk to anyone, especially an Amishwoman that she expects to have zero connection with. Annie Fisher is Dok’s painfully shy office assistant, but she’s got a great mind for medical information and a calm demeanor in intense situations. When Annie feels called to something else, Dok will move mountains to help her, and she’ll recruit her brother David, Stoney Ridge’s Amish bishop, to assist. Annie will also discover that there just might be a young man out there that she’d like to marry. He happens to be an Amish EMT in a nearby town. And when an abandoned newborn mysteriously appears on the front step of her clinic one cold morning, Dok’s world takes a very unexpected turn.

            Anytime I pick up a novel by Suzanne Woods Fisher, I trust that it will be an excellent read. Yet again, this trust remains firm. The characters are endearing, if sometimes loud (Hank Lapp) or nosy (Sarah Blank, Annie’s friend), the plot is well-defined, the writing is engaging, and the setting is as charming as your most perfect day. It’s a delight to delve into this tight-knit community, strong of faith, but with very human struggles, too (e.g. extreme shyness, even a lack of faith). The author mesmerizes us with this Christian, contemporary Amish romance that encourages the soul like good medicine.

* Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are expressly my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"Fate Breaker" by Victoria Aveyard

Fate Breaker (Feb. 27, 2024) by Victoria Aveyard.

<This is the final novel in a trilogy.>

All must rise to fight or be destroyed by Queen Erida and Taristan, Prince of Old Cor, and her consort. The Companions have been rent from one another and are scattered over parts of Allward. Corayne an-Amarat forges on alone until the Elders of Sirandel in The Castlewood find her. Her Spindleblade lies broken amongst the ruins of Gidastern, but she’s taken Taristan’s, now the only Spindleblade in existence. Without it, he can’t open any Spindles or end the world, but with the might of Erida’s Gallish legion, the areas they’ve conquered, the Ashlanders (now with the newly dead from Gidastern and the battle that raged there) and their demon god, What Waits, power still rages from them, and they don’t plan to burn. The Companions, unsure where the others are and assuming the worst, are, all the same, converging on one spot for the final battle: Iona, the seat of the largest of the Elder enclaves. Andry Trelland is with Valtik – she’s probably the only one everyone feels assured is alive – Sorasa Sarn, Domacridhan of Iona and Sigaalbeta “Sigil” Bhur Bhar end up captured, and Charlon Armont runs away from Gidastern in fear and cowardice, but he’s bolstered and finds new courage when he reunites with his love, Garion, an Amhara assassin (but unlike Sorasa, he’s not exiled). Who will answer the call to action? The famed and feared Countless of the Temurijon (“The iron bones of the Countless will never be broken.”)? Who will arrive in time? The realm is vast, and travel isn’t swift, especially with the monsters of other realms lurking in the seas (krakens) and in the air (dragons). The battle of a lifetime is coming, and it will wait for no one.

            Here, evil is dynamic, the villains are complex, the heroes are a diverse and unlikely group, and goodness seems more a concept than anything tangible. With the Companions scattered throughout much of the book, having multiple narrators is helpful instead of overwhelming. The ultimate novel in the Realm Breaker trilogy, despite its 625 pages, has a continual sense of urgency. The final battle is expectedly fierce, like something epic in a Lord of the Rings movie, but (POSSIBLE SPOILER) the redemption arc right near the end fills me with disappointment. My expectation that there’d be a satisfying comeuppance didn’t come to pass, hence, I suppose, the disappointment. All the same, this YA fantasy is epic, fierce and ruthless. There is nothing haphazard about Aveyard’s writing. She’s an author who knows what she’s doing.

            Book 1: Realm Breaker

            Book 2: Blade Breaker