A great start to a new reading year! My husband put all my Christmas stocking money into an Amazon gift card, so I bought several newer releases for my Kindle, as well as some on sale that have been on my wish list! It’s so fun but so frustrating not to be able to read more quickly—or find more reading time. As hard as it is, I’m trying to prioritize writing and editing time these days, but I always read, so I managed to log plenty of finished books in January!
Here we go!
Love’s Healing Path by Lacy Williams
Yes, this was one of my editing jobs, but I love these Wagon Train Matches stories that they also count as books read! It’s such a good series. You can get this one on February 8. Or better yet, start the series! You can all the titles here.
The Hope in Hot Chocolate by Rachael Bloome
I will finish the Poppy Creek series this year since the final book is a Christmas novella, and I only have one more to go before that. I enjoyed the unusual paths this story took. So many plot surprises, though I did guess one of them before the heroine. Still, lovely story.
A Thieving at Carlton House by Erica Vetsch
Regency mysteries with romance. And side characters from previous books get their own stories. I love that so much! Can’t wait for the next one!
The Muse of Maiden Lane by Mimi Matthews
Loved this romance between two people who think the chance for love has passed them by. I adored this story as I have all the books in this series.
An American Immigrant by Johanna Rojas Vann
This 2025 Christy Award winner captured me from the beginning—especially knowing much of it was based on the author’s story and her mother’s story. I love how books like these about others’ experiences expand my view of the world and give me great empathy for others. I alternated reading and listening to this one.
Hope Like Wildflowers by Pepper Basham
A lovely story of redemption, but I missed the mountain setting of the other books in this series. Still, knowing it was based on the story of one of Pepper’s ancestors helped reconcile me to a different setting.
The Seaside Homecoming by Julie Klassen
I thought this was the final book of the On Devonshire Shores series—but it isn’t! There was one storyline left unresolved, which will wrap up in a Christmas novella! Yay! I’ve enjoyed the whole series, but this one was my favorite. (So far!) It has much the same premise as Hope Like Wildflowers, yet their redemptions play out in slightly different ways. So, so good.
The Conditions of Unconditional Love by Alexander McCall Smith
As usual, Isabel Dalhousie gets herself involved in too many people’s issues! But also as usual, it makes for a fun and thoughtful read.
Tea with Elephants by Robin Jones Gunn
This is the first book in her new Suitcase Sisters series and follows two longtime friends who travel to Africa to go on safari. I have loved Robin Jones Gunn’s friendship books in the past, and I wanted to love this one. Honestly, it moved a bit slowly for me. I had a hard time connecting to both friends. And sometimes I felt like I was watching someone else’s vacation photos rather than soaking up a location within a story. But that, of course, is just my opinion. You, on the other hand, might love it.
My lone non-fiction title this month is a continuation of Madeleine L’Engles The Crosswicks Journals series, which I am listening to. This was book two.
The Summer of the Great-Grandmother by Madeleine L’Engle
If you ever have or ever might deal with a parent losing their memory, this is a must-read. She is very honest about the final summer they brought her mother to Crosswicks, their home in the country. She details the joys and hardships of facing her mother’s death as well as dealing with her loss of memory. It is a hard but beautiful book.
That wraps up January. Have you read any of these? What did you think?