Christian Fiction lovers you are in for a treat in 2019! We took a look forward at some of the books that will be released later this year – and we’re pretty sure these reads won’t disappoint. Some of our favorite authors will be making a return to delight their readers, including Colleen Coble, Karen Kingsbury, Dani Pettrey, and Joel C. Rosenberg.

While we couldn’t list all of the fiction we’re looking forward to this year, you can find more to look forward to in our Christian fiction store by clicking here. Or if Christian Living books are more your thing, click here to see what’s coming your way soon! 

Whether you’re a fan of an Amish read or a suspenseful page-turner, you’re sure to find something to add to your bookshelf on this list.

Secrets at Cedar Cabin by Colleen Coble

Releases January 22, 2019

Filled with Colleen Coble’s custom blend of suspense and romance, Secrets at Cedar Cabin sweeps readers off to the evocative landscape of Washington’s coast where nothing is quite as it seems. Readers will be introduced to Bailey Fleming, a women running for her life in the wake of her mother’s murder. Intending to finally get to the truth behind the lies of her past, Bailey only finds more questions when bodies are discovered near her cabin hideout. Not to mention the tell-tale signs of a human trafficking ring nearby. Forming an unlikely partnership with FBI agent Lance Phoenix, Bailey races to understand the mystery surrounding her life. Meanwhile, Lance is determined to rescue his sister who was abducted after running away as a teenager. An unexpected lead brings Lance calling to Bailey’s remote cabin – and he can’t help but be suspicious of her past and strange connections to his sister’s case. Is she really who she claims to be? And can she somehow lead him to his sister?

Forgiving Jar by Wanda E. Brunstetter

Releases February 5, 2019

What would you do if you found out someone has been impersonating you? That’s the question readers will ask themselves after reading Wanda Brunstetter’s upcoming releases, Forgiving Jar. Sara Murray had never met her mother’s parents and was surprised to learn that they were Amish living in Pennsylvania. When she is finally able to make the trip to meet them, she is shocked to learn someone else has been living with them – and pretending to be Sara. When her grandparents are quick to forgive the imposter, Sarah is dismayed. She is tired of the lies and deceit that seem to follow her everywhere. Enter Brad Fuller, a man who visits her grandparents during Christmas. Sara finds herself immediately drawn to the man, but even he seems to pull away from her. Struggling with the situation, Sara finds an old canning jar hidden in the barn, full of encouraging prayers. Can she find a way to forgive the past and move on to build new relationships?

The Sky Above us by Sarah Sundin

Releases February 5, 2019

Lovers of historical and war-time fiction, The Sky Above Us is the read for you. Numbed by grief and harboring shameful secrets, Lt. Adler Paxton ships to England with the US 357th Fighter Group in 1943. Determined to become an ace pilot, Adler battles the German Luftwaffe in treacherous dogfights in the skies over France as the Allies struggle for control of the air before the D-day invasion. Violet Lindstrom wanted to be a missionary, but now she serves in the American Red Cross, where she arranges entertainment and sets up programs for local children. Drawn to the mysterious Adler, she enlists his help with her work and urges him to reconnect with his family after a long estrangement. Despite himself, Adler finds his defenses crumbling when it comes to Violet. But D-day draws near… and secrets can’t stay buried forever.

Of Fire and Lions by Mesu Andrews

Releases March 5, 2019

If you prefer reading more Biblical fiction, we’re sure you’ll be happy to hear that Mesu Andrews will release Of Fire and Lions this March! Readers will be transported to Babylon through the eyes of Belili. As a young Hebrew girl she escaped death as the Babylonians ransacked Jerusalem and took their finest as captives. Belili thought she perfected her survival instincts through the many years she spent amongst the Magoi and the idol worshippers, pretending, along with all the others in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court. Now, as Daniel’s wife and a septuagenarian matriarch, Belili thinks she’s safe and she can live out her days in Babylon without fear–until the night Daniel is escorted to Belshazzar’s palace to interpret mysterious handwriting on a wall. The Persian Army invades, and Bellili’s tightly-wound secrets unfurl with the arrival of the conquering army. What will the reign of Darius mean for Daniel, a man who prays to Yahweh alone?

The Persian Gamble by Joel C. Rosenberg

Releases March 12, 2019

We don’t know about you, but we always eagerly await the next suspenseful read from Joel C. Rosenberg. They always sound like they can be ripped from today’s news headline! In The Persian Gamble we meet former U.S. Secret Service agent Marcus Ryker who finds himself facing an impossible task after being shot out of the air in enemy territory. Not only does he have to somehow elude detection and capture by Russian special forces, but he must convince his own government to grant safe harbor to the one man responsible for the global mayhem – Russian double agent and assassin Oleg Kraskin. While negotiating with the White House, Marcus learns the unstable North Korean regime plans to use the chaos as a smokescreen to sell nuclear weapons to Iran. With the fate of the free world on the line, Marcus makes a deal with the U.S. to go back and work as an international operative and track down the WMDs. Marcus and Oleg worked together before to avert a world war. Can they now find a way to stop world destruction?

Daughters of Northern Shores by Joanne Bischof

Releases March 12, 2019

Aven Norgaard understands courage. Orphaned within an Irish workhouse, then widowed at just nineteen, she voyaged to America where she was wooed and wed by Thor Norgaard, a Deaf man in rural Appalachia. That the Lord saw her along the winding journey and that Aven now carries Thor’s child are blessings beyond measure. Yet while Thor holds her heart, it is Haakon—his younger brother and rival—who haunts her memories. Having fled the Norgaard orchard after trying to take Aven as his own, Haakon sails on the North Atlantic ice trade, where his soul is plagued with regrets that distance cannot heal. When the winds bear him home after four years away, Haakon finds the family on the brink of tragedy. A decades-old feud with the neighboring farm has wrenched them into the fiercest confrontation on Blackbird Mountain since the Civil War. Haakon’s cunning and strength hold the power to seal many fates, including Thor’s—which is already imperiled due to a grave illness brought to him at the first prick of warfare. Now Haakon faces the hardest choice of his life. Daughters of Northern Shores is another great read from Joanne Bischof!

Driftwood Bay by Irene Hannon

Releases April 2, 2019

Irene Hannon returns once again with another dramatic romance – Driftwood Bay will have you absolutely hooked from start to finish! After tragedy robs Jeannette Mason of everyone she loves, she retreats to the tiny Oregon seaside town of Hope Harbor to create a new life. Vowing to avoid emotional attachments, she focuses on running her lavender farm and tea room until a new neighbor with a destructive dog and a forlorn little girl invades her turf. But she needn’t worry. Dr. Logan West is too busy coping with an unexpected family, a radical lifestyle change, and an unruly pup to have any interest in his aloof and disagreeable neighbor. Yet when both Jeanette and Logan find themselves pulled into the life of a tattered Christian family fleeing persecution in war-torn Syria, might they discover that love sometimes calls when it’s least expected?

Two Weeks by Karen Kinsgbury

Releases April 2, 2019

The Baxter family are back! In Two Weeks, we follow Cole Blake, the son of Landon and Ashley Baxter Blake. Cole is months away from going off to college and taking the first steps toward his dream – a career in medicine. But as he starts his final semester of high school, he meets Elise, a mysterious new girl who captures his attention. Elise is set on mending her wild ways and rediscovering the girl she used to be. But not long after the semester starts, she discovers she’s pregnant. Eighteen and alone, she shares her secret with Cole. Undaunted by the news, Cole is determined to support Elise – even if it means skipping college, marrying her, and raising another man’s baby. When Elise decides to place the baby for adoption. But as the due date nears, she becomes focused on one truth – she has two weeks to change her mind about adoption. Elise makes an unexpected decision – one that changes everyone’s plans.

Vow of Justice by Lynette Eason

Releases August 6, 2019

Bestselling and award-winning author Lynette Eason returns to close out her Blue Justice series with Vow of Justice – a story that will have you tearing through the pages to get to the stunning conclusion. FBI Special Agent Lincoln St. John is living his own personal nightmare. When the woman he loves, Allison Radcliffe, is killed, he devotes his life to tracking down the killers and making them pay for their crimes. He expected it to be a challenge. What he never expected was to find Allison very much alive shortly after her “murder.” As his anger and hurt mix with relief, Linc isn’t sure how he’s supposed to feel. One thing he does know for sure: he and Allison will have to work together to stop a killer before she dies a second time – this time for good.

The Killing Tide by Dani Pettrey

Releases August 6, 2019

Now, we’ve got a little ways to wait for the release of this upcoming book from Dani Pettrey – but something tells us it will definitely be worth it! In The Killing Tide, Coast Guard Investigative Service special agent Finn Walker faces his most dangerous crime year after a Coast Guard officer is found dead and another missing. His only clues are what little evidence remains aboard the dead officer’s boat, and the direction the clues point to will test Finn and the Guard to their limits. When investigative reporter – and Finn’s boss’s sister – Gabby Rowley arrives, her unrelenting questions complicate an already volatile situation. Now that she’s back, the tug on Finn’s heart is strong, but with the risks she’s taking for her next big story, he fears she might not live through it. Thrown together by the heinous crime, Finn and Gabby can’t ignore the sparks or judgments flying between them. But will they be able to see past their preconceptions long enough to track down an elusive killer, or will they become his next mark?

For more great Christian fiction reads coming soon, click here!

The post Most-Anticipated Fiction of 2019 appeared first on Christianbook.com Blog.

Award-winning author, Mesu Andrews, returns in 2018 with Isaiah’s Daughter. Andrews’ eighth book is an epic Biblical narrative about  a young woman taken into the prophet Isaiah’s household. Any fans of Andrews’ previous work – Love in a Broken Vessel and Love Amid Ashes, to name a few – are sure to enjoy this latest release!

Mesu Andrews answered a few questions about the inspiration behind the book as well as what stories she is planning to pen in the near future.

Q: Can you tell us about your new book, Isaiah’s Daughter?

A: Isaiah’s Daughter is a story of both tragedy and triumph. It tells of difficult days in Judah’s history under King Ahaz’s reign, when moral bankruptcy and child sacrifice led to a nation on the verge of destruction. A little girl named Ishma sees her parents brutally murdered and is led into captivity, but a series of events finds her miraculously delivered to the prophet Isaiah’s home to live – so it seems – as a servant in his household. The rest of the story follows this little girl from captive orphan to captivating queen, and I hope readers will feel the same wonder I felt as I watched the story unfold through my research.

Q: What drew you to research the history of the main character, Hephzibah?

A: I don’t remember the first time I discovered the prophet Isaiah had a daughter, but I was immediately intrigued. The Bible mentions his two sons (Isa. 7:3; 8:1) and calls his wife a prophetess (Isa. 8:3), but there’s no direct reference to a daughter – at least not specifically calling her a daughter. In Isaiah 62:4, Isaiah mentions the coming of a “vindicated” Jerusalem and calls the new and righteous city, Hephzibah. Imagine my surprise when I discovered rabbinic tradition that teaches that King Hezekiah’s wife – Hephzibah – was Isaiah’s daughter! Connecting Hezekiah’s wife with Isaiah’s daughter opened all sorts of “what ifs” in my imagination.

Q: Your biblical fiction novels tend to use biblical and historical facts as a foundation. What is your process like for interweaving these facts with fictional details?

A: Research is my favorite part of the writing process. I get to dig into ancient texts and Bible commentaries. Dictionaries, encyclopedias, cultural commentaries and all sorts of archaeological data make this part of writing like a big treasure hunt. Weaving them all together is somewhat less glamorous than you might imagine. I open a blank Excel sheet and start filling in confirmed dates on the left side – column A. I then put important “Names” across the top (Row 1) and begin listing events in the appropriate cells corresponding with date and name as I find information in biblical and historical resources (making note of which resources used). I begin a second sheet in the same Excel document, labeled “Historical/Biblical/Fiction,” and again place all the dates in column A. This time, however, I put only three divisions across the top: Historical, Biblical, and Fictional. Then I fill in events from the first sheet under the proper category – never changing the truth of Scripture or facts of history – and begin to “connect the dots” by adding whatever fictional details in the third column will smooth out the story for a believable plot.

Q: What was the most fascinating information you discovered in your research for this book?

A: I think the prophet Isaiah walking around barefoot and naked for three years (Isa. 20) was pretty fascinating – and quite shocking! Perhaps even more fascinating was the idea that Isaiah may have though Hezekiah was the suffering Messiah he spoke of in Isaiah 53. Christians see that chapter as a clear description of Jesus Christ, but some research made a strong case that Isaiah might have though Hezekiah “took up [Jerusalem’s] pain and bore [their] suffering” with his near-death illness in Isaiah 38. This book really make me think about how prophets might have viewed their own words in their current circumstances.

Q: Which character do you most identify with from any of your books? Why?

A: That’s easy. I’m Gomer from Love in a Broken Vessel. Though I wasn’t an actual prostitute, and my husband isn’t the prophet Hosea, I lived a pretty hard life before that good man followed God’s call and loved me in spite of my brokenness. He showed me what unconditional love really meant and introduced me to a personal relationship with Jesus. Then married me six months later.

Q: What do you hope your readers will take away from Isaiah’s Daughter?

A: Two things. I hope they’ll realize that our only true security rests in the eternal love and life Jesus provides. And I hope when they get confused or discouraged in their faith – that all they do know about Him will help them trust Him for all they don’t know about Him.

Q: How has your research and writing of biblical fiction impacted your understanding of God?

A: Thankfully, I’ve had two incredible editors, who won’t allow me to just write a story. They make me dig deeper into the characters to pull out meaning from the conflicts and events of the plot. When the characters learn something – that means I have to learn it with them. It’s not always fun; and it’s never easy; but it’s always worth it.

Q: What can readers expect from you in the future?

A: Summer of 2018, I’ll release a novella in The Psalm Series, based on Psalm 137, called By the Waters of Babylon. It follows one of Jerusalem’s exiles into Babylon and explores her emotional transition to a foreign land. But it also affirms the truth that God always keeps His promises.

Winter of 2019 follows with a full-length novel on Daniel’s life and ministry in Babylon. I’m really excited about this time-slip format that spans Judah’s seventy years in exile. Daniel’s earnest desire to find the Ark of God’s presence so he can send it with the remnant of Jews returning to Jerusalem. Unfortunately, no one seems to know if the Ark made it to Babylon after King Nebuchadnezzar’s three attacks on Jerusalem. In an effort to find the Ark in Babylon’s empire, Daniel and his wife, Abigail, recount the beloved stories in the Book of Daniel, and we join generations of treasure hunters in pursuit of the lost Ark.

Fore more great reads by Mesu Andrews, click here! 

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