I found Alpha Redemption a curious mix of Science Fiction, backward Coming of Age story, and Women's Fiction, though the main character is a man written by a man.

The Science Fiction part is that the book takes place on a space ship as Brett travels to the Alpha Centuri star by way of near light speed for two months, then regular speed for a month as Brett's body rebuilds strength for the next jaunt.  The speculative part is that somehow Brett's body is lessening in age every leg of the journey.  Oh, and his only companion is a computer that he names Jay who has the ability to learn … and teach.

The Coming of Age part is that the plot of Alpha Redemption is all about Brett learning who he can be in Christ as he revisited each stage of his life, backward, coming to realize all the misteps he took away from God his first time through life.

The Women's Fiction is my own take because the majority of the plot is internal tension and growth.

The only drawback I found in this book was the short amount of story time that was spent near the Alpha Centuri star they had given so much time and effort to reach.

This isn't your average Christian redemption story so come prepared to allow your horizons to be widened.  The ending comes quickly and took my breath away with the powerful picture it left in my mind.

Great cover.  (See my home page, this site.)

Karen is one of my online critique buddies, so I feel invested in her writing … which doesn't matter because all of my reviews here are purely subjective to how the book hits me at the time I read it.

Head in the Clouds is a straightforward, fun historical romance set in Texas in 1883.  But the hero is an English gent turned Texas sheep farmer.  The heroine is a romantic who feels foolish when she finds herself without her teaching position or prospective husband.  But she's also practical and full of faith in God's williness to travel with her.

Adelaide lands the position of governess to Gideon's mute daughter.

The problems build when her evil uncle arrives from England, intent on serving himself at the expense of the makeshift family Adelaide is holding together with sunshine and prayers.

The thing I always love about Karen's characters is their Christian maturity.  It's not tacked on.  It doesn't just show up at the end of the story.  It flows out of Karen as she creates them.

Always a good read.

So this past Wednesday when I was working on printing copies for the folders we hand out each year at One Day Writers Conference, I was marking prices on the books for sale by our keynote speaker, Kathi Macias, also.  To add to this story, I am also in the process of reading Red Ink by this same author for our ACFW book club this month.

But as I was marking prices, I cracked open My Son, John to see how this book that I'd heard so much about a few years ago began.  It began in such a way that I carried it back into my office as I continued making copies.  I carried it out to the kitchen when I decided to eat.  In fact, I carried it into my bedroom that night where I finished reading it.

Emotional. Written mostly in the mom's, Liz Peterson's, pov, this book is about a family's pain and growth during an unexpected and horrifying crisis:  Liz's mom is murdered and Liz's son, John, is arrested for the crime.

The tag line on the cover reads, "Can God bring healing to a family torn apart by a brutal crime?"  And the answer, of course, is a resounding, "Yes!"  But the journey … oh, the journey is what you'll want to read.

Yes, I confess I find it humorous to read a murder mystery written by a fictional character.  Like the competition in this business isn't difficult enough, now we authors are vying for shelf space against made up authors.  But kudos to whoever had the nerve to make it happen.

Plot-wise Naked Heat reads like an episode of ABC's Castle — of which I'm a fan.  God-wise Naked Heat lacks the spiritual depth in characters that I've come to enjoy in Christian fiction.  And to find at the end of the story that the villain's motivation was simply about money was a bit of let down after the twisted villains often found in Christian fiction — but not out of character for this story of fast-lane politicians, sports figures, and singers.

This is my second foray into the lives of Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook.  I've spent a few years with Kate Becket and Richard Castle, so it doesn't surprise me that I like the latter pair of characters more than the former.  But that Nikki Heat is a resourceful girl and she has impressive moments of ingenuity and strength in Naked Heat.

I also liked the one defining setting gimmick — a trash strike in New York City.

This is the first book in Lynette's Women of Justice series.  She's written some Love Inspired Suspense, but this is the first long book of hers that I've read.  I liked it.

The scenes in the villain's point of view were creepy and informative and amped up the suspense.

I liked both the heroine and the hero, probably Samantha a bit more than Connor, but even Connor's way of dealing with problems — running — didn't bother me too much because I knew he was going to have to get over it and grow from his issues.  Which he did.

And the topic — hmm — I've not read a book dealing with growing black-market babies for adoption, so I'm saying it is current and powerful.

Be prepared for the secondary characters to engage you enough to want to buy book 2.

I believe this is Susie's first published novel.  I'd read the 2nd in this series years ago, but never seemed to get my hands on Happily Ever After.  I picked it up on Kindle last month.

Simple romance, with plenty of angst and problems from the past, some problems in the present as the heroine attempts to set up her dream of a coffee house/bookstore, and the hero hires on as her handyman.  Of course he has issues of his own.  But it all turns out happily ever after.

Susan May Warren is a guaranteed good read in my book.  Try her stuff if you haven't.  She writes suspense as well as straight romance.

Austen is always a fun read.  I love her characterization.  She presents the human warts as simply and as unagologetically as she does our heroic qualities.

For those who have never read Jane Austen's novels, you might find them slow starters, but they provide a satisfying ending of true love.

I will confess, however, that I was clear to the scene where Louisa gets hurt at the seaside before I thought, "I think I saw this as a movie."  Go figure.  I had.

This was one of the spookiest books I've read in a long time.  A cross between suspense and spiritual warfare, Darlington Woods contained similar bad guys — a cross between demons and horrific people — and that's what left me scared.

The hero of the novel, Rob Shields, doesn't know a thing about fighting demons.  In fact, he's running from God.  And the man doesn't have any experience fighting bad guys either, because he's just a regular guy.  (Don't think Harrison Ford with a blender; think of your own dad, especially if he loves you very much.)

A happy ending?  Yeah, I guess.  An important theme?  By all means.  Fear will win unless we let the Light of Jesus shine.

This is the ACFW book club book for February, so I reserve the right to add to this post after discussion.

Ancient Rome.  Slavery.  True love.  You know the kind that sacrifices for another.  The kind we all wish we had the courage to live out every day.

David does as he fulfills God's will for his life even as a slave for a Christian-hating Roman master.  David also loves the master's granddaughter.

The Master's Wall isn't a light romance by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly challenges its readers to live up to what being a Christian should be:  sacrificing like Christ.

Good characterization from evil to nearly divine and both extremes having bits of the other.  Great setting that gives a taste of first century life in Rome.  Moving plot, especially considering that the author covered seven years of their lives.  Some gritty parts, but parts that were absolutely necessary to this story.

I won't be surprised to hear that you liked this one too.

As former president of American Christian Fiction Writers, Cynthia Ruchti has shown her wonderful and clever way with words and phrases in topics of the week, in newsletter articles, and now in a full length novel.  They Almost Always Come Home begins with a delightful premise:  Did Libby's husband leave her before she had the chance to leave him, or has something more sinister happened on his wilderness vacation?

Because I am a big fan of Cynthia's, I was surprised at how the beautiful writing kept slowing down the story for me.  But then, literary writing and first person stories aren't my favorite.  Still the question of what happened to Libby's husband kept me turning the pages, especially as his character became more understood.

By the time Libby was sincerely grieving her husband's death, I was searching my mind frantically for what possible thing could have kept him from her, but not killed him. Then 3/4 into the novel I flip the page to "Greg's story: the day he left." I couldn't believe Cynthia would kill off her hero, but it now seemed likely.

I read and didn't sleep until I knew the truth.

I suggest you do the same; it's worth the angst.