Three New Books of Christian Fiction From Revell

by Susan Roberts

Even though Revell is a new publisher for me, it's been publishing books for over 100 years. Based in Ada, Michigan, their goal is to bring the Christian faith to everyday lives.  I have read many of their new books and find them very comforting without being preached to.  Here are reviews for three of their books publishing between August and October 2022.

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The Last Way Home by Liz Johnson

August 2022; Revell; 978-0800741495
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); Christian romance

“Maybe God doesn't always fix what's shattered. But he can make something new and beautiful out of what's been broken."

This new book by Liz Johnson is a beautiful look at love and forgiveness and becoming whole again after dealing with pain and brokenness in life.  She writes about a family that she's introduced to us before but this time she deals with two broken people who are keeping secrets and not admitting that there is hope for change in their future.  The whole story is tied together by two families who continue to forgive and love their children no matter what happened in the past.

Eli Ross left his family in Prince Edward Island over ten years earlier to join the NFL.  He hadn't talked to his two brothers or his mother during the years he was gone.  He became a big sports star in the NFL and lived the high life until suddenly he was let go by his team and disappeared into obscurity.  Now he's come home.  He knows that his family won't forgive him but he has nowhere else to go and he's in big trouble with some mob enforcers.  He has no intention of sharing his secrets with his family or endangering their lives with his past mistakes.  When he arrives home he meets Violet who works at the pottery shop with his mother and almost seems to be part of his family.  She, too, is keeping secrets from her past because she feels that there is no way she can be forgiven for things that she's done.  She knows the pain that Eli has caused his family so she is very unfriendly and unforgiving to him...until they begin to spend some time together and realize that they have both had difficult and hidden pasts and that there is hope for their futures.    Will they be able to let go of their pasts and mend the broken pieces of their lives and or will their pasts continue to control their futures?

This story is a beautiful and well-written look at how family and love can heal the past if people are only willing to accept it.

Note:  This is the second book in the Prince Edward Island series but can be read as a standalone with no problem. See my review of Book 1 - Beyond the Tides.

Buy The Last Way Home at Amazon

Dangerous Beauty by Melissa Koslin

September 2022; Revell; 978-0800742263
ebook, print (368 pages); Christian mystery

What is the price of freedom?

Dangerous Beauty is a  look at the effects of human trafficking.  It's a powerful story about a woman who was being transported from Mexico to the United States and the man who rescued her.  She had to decide whether to remain feeling like a victim or decide if she had the strength to become a survivor and reach out to help other victims of this horrific crime.  

Liliana has been taken from her home in Mexico by the cartel to be sold to the highest bidder in the US.  When she escaped, she ran into a truck stop to try to find a safe place to hide from her captors.  While there, she meets Meric - who rescues her from her captors who are close to finding her.  He knows that without his help, she'll be sent back to Mexico to become prey for the traffickers.  Meric knows that there's only one way to protect her and offers to marry her - tonight! - to keep her safe in the US.  He explains that he's very rich and will protect her but that this will only be a marriage of convenience.  She really has no choice and agrees to the marriage.  When the man who wanted to buy her finds out what has happened, he declares vengeance on Meric and vows to get Liliana by any means possible and there are several very suspenseful attempts that had me turning pages.  As  Liliana and Meric learn about each other and begin to understand each other, the 

sparks slowly begin to fly between them.   

This is an interesting well-written book about a horrific topic.  Liliana was a strong beautiful woman who didn't want to think of herself as a victim but instead wanted to help other women who were being trafficked.  Meric is a strong silent hero who has lots of secrets in his past.  I wasn't sure about this book in the beginning when I knew what was going on was totally unrealistic -- a rich man who volunteered to marry someone to save her from the bad guys.  I just don't think that happens in real life...but once I got past that, the rest of the book was interesting and suspenseful enough to keep me turning pages to find out if Liiana and Meric could get past their histories and have a future together.  

Buy Dangerous Beauty at Amazon

The Secrets of Emberwild by Stephenia H. McGee

October 2022; Revell; 978-0800742270
audio, ebook, print (352 pages); historical fiction

"Her independence always came at a price."  (p 9)

It's the early 1900s and women in Mississippi are expected to be married and running their own households.  Nora, much to her mother's dismay, prefers horses to men and would sooner be in the stables training horses than in the house.  When her father dies and leaves his home and stables to his brother, Nora's freedom to be in the stables is drastically lessened and she is expected to make a good marriage and follow the normal life for women.  However, she knows that she has a prize colt and if she can just train him well enough to win at the State Fair, she will make enough money to enable her to be independent.  When her uncle hires Silas to train the horses, she wants nothing more than to see him gone.  Plus he asks a lot of questions that make her think that he has a motive for being there other than training horses.  Silas's father died in mysterious circumstances and he thinks that there may be a connection to Nora's horse farm, Emberwild.  As the secrets come to light, Nora and Silas must decide whether they can have a life together and live happily ever after.

This book was well written and interesting to read.  I always enjoy books about women in this time period who are fighting for their independence instead of following the norms of the day.  Nora was an intellectual who knew that she wouldn't be happy unless she could train horses.  Silas had an ulterior motive for being at Emberwild but as his respect for nor began to grow, he began to change and grow as a person who cared more about the future than about the past.

Buy The Secrets of Emberwild at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.  You can connect with her on Facebook.

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