Here is a ten-day early Books That Changed Me: 2024 Winter Edition! If you were looking to put books under your tree, like I do, one of these might be perfect for someone on your list.
I couldn’t narrow it down to just three picks this time. I had many recent favorites, some of which will appear in other seasons.
Here’s a fun fact: This is the second time two talented sisters have been on this winter list together.
These aren’t my reviews but the blurbs for the books. Click on the title for the Amazon purchase link!
Blood Red Dawn: Legends of Madeira Book Two
By Joan Hall
Connected by the past. Torn by the present.
Honorably discharged, former Navy SEAL Connor Hughes returned to Madeira, New Mexico to start the next phase of his life. Now he owns a shooting range and volunteers with a veterans’ support group. He’s even overcome a misunderstanding with his high school sweetheart and has begun to mend those broken fences.
Abbey Lane’s gift of premonition once drove Connor away, and since they’ve reconnected, she’s sworn to not make the same mistake twice. When she learns the tragic tale of a young couple whose happiness was destroyed in the 1870s—a couple with whom she and Connor share uncanny similarities—she fears she may not be able to keep her vow.
Connor’s emotional baggage swamps him with doubts. As he wrestles with past demons, unable to leave the horrors of battle behind, someone bent on revenge emerges to destroy him. Abbey’s gift—a skill he once denied—may be the only clue he has.
And the only way to keep them both safe.
By Staci Troilo
Who once was lost now is found. But grace didn’t lead her home.
For the last year, the sinister shadow of unsolved kidnappings has haunted Detectives Holden Walsh and Cabe Paxton. Their cold case turns hot when one of the abductees returns, but her traumatized silence only sparks more questions.
As the detectives unravel a web of deception, they discover depraved horrors spreading further than either imagined. Confronted by secrets and stymied by lies, they finally uncover the truth—though not fast enough.
Another girl is taken.
With their friendship straining under the weight of the case, Walsh and Paxton race to find and stop the ruthless predator, all the while battling an unforgiving clock—and sometimes each other.
The past threatens to repeat itself. Because only some people are born to seek justice.
Others are born for revenge.
By Jan Sikes
A true testament of character, resilience, and the magic of never giving up.
The year is 1948 and folks in the sawmill town of Crossett, Arkansas, work hard and play hard. Oliver Quinn does both. Oliver is the son of Irish immigrants who firmly believe in pursuing the American dream. His deepest desire is to play major league baseball. He only needs one chance to prove himself.
Rose Blaine is living in a nightmare where dreams don’t exist. She’s suffered for years at the hands of her violent moonshiner father and his partner. During a brutal attack, she must fight back or die. The aftermath is devastating.
Fueled by desperation, Rose strikes a life-changing bargain with Oliver. If he’ll take her and her brother to St. Louis, Missouri, she’ll introduce Oliver to her uncle, a baseball legend.
While their journey is fraught with unseen perils, they forge an unbreakable bond and make surprising allies.
When destiny throws them a curve ball, they must find the courage to create a hopeful future out of the ashes of shattered dreams with newfound fortitude.
By Linda Broday
Secrets, lies, and danger hide deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas during the Depression of 1930.
For years, Sicily Rossi has tapped into nature’s remedies to try and ease pain and sickness in her small Texas town. With the Depression raging, most of the residents struggle to survive with no money and little food. When the town bully is found dead, rumors run wild and suspicion falls to Sicily who has been helping his tormented wife escape his clutches.
Though threatened and treated like a criminal, the law is slow to put Sicily away on gossip alone. As the stakes climb higher each day, she knows she will need some help if not a miracle.
It is not until the townspeople push back against tyrannical power and take hold of their own fate they see the faint glimpse of a better future. Their tenuous hope is on the line but will they grab hold of a better tomorrow and help Sicily, or will they give up and allow despair to wash over them once again?
Bonus one for the kids!
By Lauren Scott, Chris Mendez (illustrator)
Cora is a curious fawn who loves spending time with her parents. On one beautiful day, they take a stroll deep into the wilderness. They trot along on the trails, and Cora finds other animals fascinating. They skitter and fly around her with joyful purpose. Every unique sound catches her attention, stirring her curiosity to discover just where that sound came from. But suddenly her delightful family day takes a turn that begins to test the courage inside of her…
NOTE: My post tomorrow for the Cookie Exchange will be my last post of the year. Watch for my Newsletter also on the 12th. Then I’ll be on a holiday break until next year.
Embrace your inner child by giving the gift of an amazing story! Happy Holidays 🙂 D. L. Finn
