A Bigger Life is a touching, realistic look at authentic characters grappling with complicated choices and painful circumstances on the backdrop of a quirky Texas town. Smith’s characters exude gritty humanity, still revealing snatches of grace and beauty in the midst of life’s fickle circumstances. If you enjoy modern southern drama, with well-drawn characters and a beckoning plot, pick up this book.

Those who enjoyed rollicking through life with Becky Miller will enjoy Sharon Hinck’s honest and beautifully written sequel, Renovating Becky Miller. Hinck’s ability to get us behind Becky’s paranoia, self-talk, and angst illuminates the reader’s need for inner renovation. I felt like I spent a month with a family—a real, breathing, normal American family who struggled with following Jesus in the midst of sticky circumstances.

Susan Meissner’s strength is making characters so real, you root for them as you welcome them into your life. Sticks and Stones is no different. Plagued by an unsigned letter about the disappearance of a bully from twenty years prior, Rachael Flynn finds herself caught up in a gently-unfolding mystery of truth, fear, and childhood vigilance. Through the pages, find yourself enthralled, challenged, and uplifted.

Keri Wyatt Kent offers a unique framework for intensifying and deepening your walk with Jesus. Full of relevant stories, interesting spiritual activities, and an admonition to slow down and rest, Oxygen, when taken in systematic doses, will enliven a person’s spiritual life.

Claudia Mair Burney is a writer who knows her stuff and struts her wordsmithing with style and sass. Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Man renews my trust in fiction for the Christian market. Chock full of characters who live and breathe like real human beings with very normal struggles, a plot that twists and surprises, and a narrator’s voice that smacks beauty and authenticity, this book will entertain, challenge, and move readers.