Fiction

This lighthearted and heartwarming Midwest romance is laugh-out-loud funny, especially during the text message exchanges, and the characters will feel like friends. Secular readers will also enjoy this chaste offering, similar to Famous for a Living by Melissa Ferguson and The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh.

Based on a verse in the Book of Hebrews about entertaining angels unaware, Luesse’s (Letters from My Sister) latest brings the quintessential Southern novel to life with a touch of the supernatural and a ton of spunk. Fans of Rachel Hauck’s The Wedding Dress or the TV series Touched by an Angel will love the quirky characters and down-home wisdom in this book.

Deese has penned another riveting novel, a sequel to The Roads We Follow, with swoony romance and anything-but-cookie-cutter Christian families. Audiobook fans will cheer at an insider’s glimpse into the industry, as will deaf readers, who get a thoughtful examination of the struggles and blessings of living in the quiet of a loud world.

Gohlke (Ladies of the Lake) delivers another heart-stopping family drama that reminds readers that everyone is a prodigal searching for the way home. Infused with wry humor and the beautiful language of flowers and plants, many will see themselves in the brokenness of the Pickering-Boyden clan. Read-alikes include The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman and Leota’s Garden by Francine Rivers.

Coble (Fragile Designs) capitalizes on her success with Rick Acker in the “Tupelo Grove” series to create a new spin-off in the same southern Alabama setting. Romantic suspense fans will be drooling over this new offering and eager for more installments.

This is even more chilling but just as highly recommended in 2025 as it was in 1985, as historical events have made its grim science-fiction seem all too plausible. Readers who love seeing just how bad things can get and are searching for books with similar, terrifying themes will also want to read C.J. Carey’s Widowland, Sherri S. Tepper’s classic The Gate to Women’s Country, and Emily Tesh’s award-winning novel Some Desperate Glory.