By Rel Mollet
In a world full of heartache and pain, these five talented authors have penned stories that reflect the reality many live in – tenuous marriages, poor choices, tragedy, and grief – offering stories of hope, healing, and authentic faith.
A Life Less Lived by Liz Watkins
Drawing on her own experience as an unwed pregnant teenager, Liz Watkins has penned a tale of heartache and hope, dealing with issues of abuse, abortion, and illness through the story of an aspiring actress, Poppy, and a beautiful young woman called Sarah. A Life Less Lived (Deep River Books) will resonate with many who have experienced such difficult circumstances.
Life After by Katie Ganshert
Autumn Manning may have survived an explosion on a Chicago train, but her life has spiralled into anxiety and fear ever since, haunted by those who lost their lives. Paul Elliott wants nothing more than to move past the tragedy that took his wife and forever altered the future of his children. Heart wrenching in its authenticity, Life After (Waterbrook) tackles questions of purpose, hope, and forgiveness.
The Memory of You by Catherine West
A family tragedy left an indelible impression on Natalie Mitchell, wrenching her life into two halves: before and after. Reluctantly returning to the family-owned winery where she lost her sister, Natalie faces vintner Tanner Collins, desperate to save the winery Natalie’s father wants to sell and to uncover the unlikeable hard shell that surrounds the woman he knew as a child. Natalie needs to let go of the past to find her future in The Memory of You (Thomas Nelson).
A Fragile Hope by Cynthia Ruchti
Cynthia Ruchti’s A Fragile Hope (Abingdon) reminds us that hope is powerful and healing. His own marriage dissolving before his eyes, Josiah Chamberlain’s expertise for repairing other people’s marriages proves useless. Crippling their marriage is his wife’s unexplained distance and overwhelming depression. Feeling a failure in all the things that matter, Josiah faces a personal crisis of love and faith.
Home by Ginny Yttrup
Novelist Melanie Vander escapes into her world of fiction, emotionally disengaging from her husband, their marriage, and their financial difficulties, becoming enamoured with the characters in her head. Desperate, Melanie’s husband Craig, grasps at a financial solution offered by a beautiful client who tempts him with more. Home (Shiloh Run Press) wrestles with issues of grief, obsessive compulsive disorder, fidelity, yet always hope.