Wow. Another month has come and gone. In some ways it was fast, like wow, it’s already November??? And in others it’s like… wow, it’s finally the end of October. Lol
Once again, I read things I didn’t expect to read and didn’t read what I wanted to get read. I’m in a cycle of injustices against my own goals.
Here’s what I read in October!!
A Love Like Ours by Becky Wade
The third book in the Porter Family series. This one was so good (I say that every time…), but it really was. The characters were so stubborn in their own missions that it just about causes them to miss out on opportunities together and on what God has in store for them. It dealt with military PTSD and disabilities.
The Porter family dynamics are great and I would continue to recommend this series. I have two more things to read in this series after this one!!
The Proposal by Becky Wade
This took like 30 minutes to read. Short story of Amber’s marriage proposal – if you’ve read A Love Like Ours, you’ll know.
Cute story set at Christmas, only wish it had been longer. Definitely a proposal I’m glad happened to someone else, I don’t like the attention, lol.
This is the short story that’s wedges between book three and four of the Porter Family series.
It’s also the book I didn’t realize was so short. I really wanted it in paperback, like everything else, because I’m a book collector (hoarder?). Because of my inability to find this in paperback, I emailed Becky Wade directly. Why can’t I get this book? I need this!!! Basically.
She responded and said that it’s so short that printing it didn’t make sense and that even she doesn’t have a printed copy. I was shook, but very pleased she responded.
After receiving that email, I purchased the ebook from Amazon and it’s now loaded on my Kindle app on my phone.
Blessings on State Street by Rachael Bloome
I knew that I would love this story before I even knew what it was about. Then proceeded to read it in one sitting.
Rachael Bloome is the author of the beloved Poppy Creek series and this launches her second series in Blessings Bay.
I’m excited to get to know more of these characters in Blessings Bay! In this first story, set at Christmas time, we meet Abby and Logan in a hilarious way. The story line was cute, it not always believable. I enjoyed it nonetheless.
No idea when the second book will be out… so I guess I’ll have to wait.
Her One and Only by Becky Wade
This story had multiple elements going on around the two main characters, plus the story of Dru’s brother and sister in law. It wasn’t overwhelming, but it was a thicker book than the other books in the series. Dru and Gray’s story wrapped up the Porter family series really well. Obviously, I want to know what happens after… but, as I recall, some characters (one that I know of) from this series shows up in a later Becky Wade series since I took this way back and read this earlier series after I finished all her more recent works.
Issues discussed in this book were forgiveness (and lack thereof, the struggle to forgive childhood traumas), domestic abuse, alcoholism, immorality, lies and betrayal. There was plenty of action and suspense in this one! The ending is something I overlooked in reading so I was like oh, duh. Lol
I was shook by how long it took me to read this, but it is what it is. It’s hockey season now so I’m spending more time watching sports than reading… 🙂
Smitten by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt & Denise Hunter
This was a cute read! I’m excited to read the rest of the series now that I have all the three books!
The stories were kind of rushed it felt like since they were all intertwined and such a small amount of pages to get a good story out for each main character. Of course… the last story was my favorite. Denise Hunter is just my favorite and has a way with words like no other.
This is book one of the Smitten series by these authors.
Story time…
I ordered this book along with the other two and first received this one as a LARGE PRINT, HARD BACK book. Not okay. Thank the Lord for Amazon and their shipping location through Kohl’s! I returned that baby and re-ordered.
Secretly Smitten by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt & Denise Hunter
I loved this one. Loved it. Every story had its own little quirks and the stories just flowed better to me than book one. I thoroughly enjoyed this one the whole way through and might be a favorite!! The uniqueness of each story and struggle brought together by a common plot keeping them consistent until the end of the fourth story was very nice to read and keep me engaged.
Smitten Book Club by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt & Denise Hunter
Last book in the Smitten series, unfortunately. I really enjoyed this series, particularly the last two books. Adorable, quaint, and quick, romantic stories in a town named Smitten.
I’m not as familiar with Kristin Billerbeck and Diann Hunt as I am with Colleen Coble and Denise Hunter, but I enjoyed the their writing that ended up falling in line with theirs.
Would definitely recommend this series if you’re looking for romantic Christian short (~100pg) stories.
Merry Ex-mas by Courtney Walsh
Courtney Walsh writes deep, gripping stories. This one was filled with grief, lies and just plain old hurts.
I enjoyed the banter between Max and Marin. The exes to enemies, to fake romance to real second chances? Ugh, so good.
Typical Hallmark really. Adding to Christmas blog post!!
The Breakup Project by Carolyn Miller
I didn’t know if I’d finish another book for the month of October! I was getting down to the wire.
This book was found when I googled some Christian fiction books about hockey. Obviously.
Those are so hard to find! This series came out within the past year so I’m excited to read the rest.
This book wasn’t like my favorite, but I did enjoy the talk of hockey throughout and the journey they were on with God and finding what God had in store for them.
Thanks for reading! Share what you read in the comments. 🙂
All of your books sound soooo good!! I actually read the second smitten book last year (I think). I didn’t realize at the time that I jumped out of order. But I don’t remember a whole lot of what I read. So I might have to go through all 3. They sound delightful. I haven’t read anything else on your list. I will definitely need to look for some of these! My reading in October was slow for many reasons. But I did manage to complete 5 books:
– Full by Asheritah Ciuciu… This was a book about food and how our eating battles can be a spiritual issue. It was good and eye opening. But I did feel it was a little too long and could have been summed up in less words.
– Unwrapping the Names of Jesus by Asheritah Ciuciu… I really like this author, and have read most of her books. This was a good devotional for Advent. (But I must say I got a lot more out of her Lent devotional – Uncovering the Love of Jesus.)
– Help is Here by Max Lucado… This book was about the Holy Spirit and all the ways He plays a role in our lives. Max Lucado always includes interesting stories that make his books entertaining.
– Falling for the Cowgirl by Jody Hedlund… You already know all about this one! 😁
– To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer…. This was my first full length novel by Karen Witemeyer. It was really good. I like that the plot had depth and faith. And there was definitely drama too.
You could probably get away with reading the Smitten series out of order. I thought it was cool how there was like this back story behind all of them and then each book had a story and then each story within each book had characters with issues they worked through. Very well done actually since there so many plots going on and four authors!!
The books you read in October sound interesting! I haven’t read anything by Max Lucado yet… but I do have several of his books on my shelves waiting to be consumed.
I haven’t read Falling for the Cowgirl actually! I’m only on book #3 of that Jody Hedlund series lol I know, shocking!! 😅😄 I have book #3, don’t have the rest yet.
P.S. I forgot to say that I thought it was cool that you emailed Becky and she answered! ♥️
I thought so too! She’s great ☺️