Thursday, November 7, 2024

Emily Conrad

 Emily Conrad

Amazon

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Multi-author Series

Bidding on a Second Chance

Officer Graham Lockhart had proposed publically two years ago. She’d said no. Redemption Ridge was a small town, but they’d avoided each other pretty well. Until now. Piper had been hurt, and he knew she needed to get some furniture ready for an auction to help one of the families in town. He had to help her for the sake of the family.

Piper Wells was full of fear. What if’s were ruling her life instead of her trust in God. How could she marry and have children if she’d lose them? And then there was Graham in her life again. Helping after she’d been hurt. Could she overcome the fear of a second chance?

I loved this story. The lovable characters had me turning the page to see what would happen next. If you cry easily, you may want tissues nearby.

Matchmaking the Cowboy
Hollis Price has a weight on his shoulders and a boatload of grief. After his dad got sick, he gave up the rodeo and came home to help with the ranch—family first. Only the ranch has considerable debt, and Hollis isn’t sure he can conquer it.

Dr. Lucy Aveline was sent to the Price Quarter Horses ranch because Dr. Carter couldn’t. Later, she found out he had only sent her there to try to matchmake! So, Lucy makes a deal to help matchmake Hollis if they stop meddling in her life. She had an ex-boyfriend who had taken her ability to trust men away. If she picked such a bad guy as Drake, how could she trust herself to choose better?

Intelligent horses, cute cows, and learning to trust God make this into a remarkable story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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The Many Oaks Romances

Novella: Now or Never
Tim Bergeron is on a cross-country trip with his daughter, Isabella. He hadn’t been in her life much until she was fourteen. Now that Tim’s a Christian, he’s trying to be the father he should’ve been. But then, he had a health scare and a wake-up call.

Gabby Voss has been a widow for ten years. She never thought she’d find love again, wasn’t looking. So when Tim walked into The Depot, she immediately felt something. But he was only passing through. And she had a daughter that still needed her.

Tim stopped in Many Oaks, Iowa, to check out a band at Philip’s restaurant. Philip had been a member of Awestruck but retired to be there for his young children and new wife.

Another page-turning story by this author. She took a man I wasn’t fond of in the previous series and turned him into a loveable character. I’m looking forward to more books in this series.

Book 1: A Surefire Love 

Blaze Astley hasn’t had the best life. An alcoholic mother had her growing up fast. Then, a baby sister became her responsibility. When she hit rock bottom, she ended up in church and became a Christian. She sings at The Depot a few nights, and now she’s helping with the youth group her sister is in. She couldn’t do it without God in her life.

Youth pastor Anson Marsh can’t believe the church board wants him to grow the youth group to help the church grow. The worst part is they want him to make it fun! He doesn’t want fun. He wants the students to hear the gospel. He could end up losing his job because it seems one man has a vendetta against him. His faith needs to be stronger than ever.

As these two opposite people get to know and support each other through tough times, a remarkable story comes to life.

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Rhythms of Redemption Romances 
Prequel: Between the Two of Us

Asher owns Superior Dogs food truck in Lakeshore, Wisconsin. He also helps his sister with his seventeen-year-old nephew, Noah. And that’s the problem. Noah wants to take a job at the Bible camp. Not that working at a Bible camp is bad; it’s just that Asher is trying to avoid Eva Warren, who took a liking to him. He’s also trying to avoid her twin sister, Leanne, whom Asher wouldn’t mind asking out.

Leanne Warren should have told Eva that she wouldn’t mind going out with Asher. Eva wouldn’t have gone after him and had her heart broken if she had. And in turn, now Leanne can’t date him because it would hurt her sister, who was also her best friend.

An excellent novella that I got free from Emily Conrad’s newsletter.

Book 1: To Bring You Back

Gannon Vaughn is the lead singer and guitarist in the band Awestruck. They’d made it big but at a cost. Nine years later, Gannon goes to look up an old friend. It’s time to talk about the past and to be free of it. If only it could be that easy.

Adeline Green had made a mistake and didn’t realize she punished herself for it all this time. She gave of her time to help out whenever she could. And never realized that she had been running so hard…and not living. Not genuinely accepting God’s grace.

I enjoyed this story so much that I couldn’t put it down. I’m hoping more books are coming in this series as it’s excellent. It was eye-opening to see fictional characters with their flaws so closely reflecting real life as a Christian. And knowing when you can help someone…and when you have to cut them loose.

Book 1.5 An Awestruck Christmas Medley

The guys from Awestruck only have two days before they finish their tour. For Gannon, that’s only two days with Adeline. Thanksgiving didn’t go over so well, so he’s determined to show her in those two days how much he loves her, now if he can only find the perfect Christmas present.

Philip’s dad and stepmom are meeting them in Chicago to head to Wisconsin. In two weeks, after the tour, he’ll be taking on full responsibility for Nila and Nason, his two children. After his wife’s death five years ago, it’s his time to step up as a father…and he’s not sure he can do that.

John wants to find that special woman like Gannon did. So he’s taking his current girlfriend home to meet his family for Christmas. But, after a few incidents on the way, John has to decide if he wants that happily-ever-after so badly that he might have rose-colored glasses on.

A snowstorm is threatening their travels. With no flights going out, they have to drive it. An excellent novella that lets the reader inside each of the band members’ thoughts. Along with Adeline’s. Loved the first book, To Bring You Back, Gannon and Adeline’s story, and looking forward to more.

Book 2: To Belong Together

John Kennedy, the drummer for Awestruck, wants to find what his friends Gannon and Addie found—true love and happiness. But, it is hard to trust when you’re rich and famous and have been burned, especially after his last girlfriend. So, when his new mechanic doesn’t recognize him…and he finds out she’s a Christian…hope blooms.

Erin Hirsh has never been girly. She’s taller than most men, and she loves tinkering with cars. Not high on the list as dating material. She’s fought hard to prove herself as a technician. It’s even harder being back here and working for her uncle and with her cousins, but she needed to move back because of her parents.

Between John’s trust issues and Erin’s insecurities, they keep misunderstanding each other’s motives. Especially when there are people around them helping add to the doubts they each have.

I love this page-turning series. Wonderful characters and storylines.

Book 3: To Begin Again

After Matt Visser was fired, widower Philip Miller replaced him as the bassist in the band Awestruck. It was a great move. And now that all the members had moved to Wisconsin, Philip had a stable home for his daughter and son. So besides finding the right nanny, it was going well. There was one other issue, but it was something Philip thought he had under control and well-hidden.

Michaela Vandehey needed this collaboration with Awestruck to help reach her dream of being on top of the charts with her songs. Gannon had been a mentor for her when she was on the reality show where he was one of the judges. And Michaela had won. But some bad choices had set her career back, and she needed to get ahead again. And, since Philip was the only single member, she decided to cozy up to him to help her convince Gannon to do the duet.

They both knew of God but had turned their backs on Him. Philip held it against God for not healing his late wife, Clare, of her cancer. Michaela just liked to be in fame’s light. Such an inspirational series. I love all the stories and characters.

https://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/2021/07/emily-conrad.html

Book 4: To Believe in You

Matt Visser hadn’t done well with fame and fortune. He took a path that finally led to him being fired from Awestruck. In his drug-induced stupors, it was always someone else’s fault. Only a wake-up call from God would get him on the right path. After a year of being clean and sober, he’s given a second chance to work in the field he loves most—and yet, almost destroyed him—music.

Galina “Lina” Abbey is the social media person for Awestruck. And now, she’s also working for Adeline’s charity. She was against hiring Matt to teach kids bass guitar, so when she asked and he refused, that was fine. But Awestruck’s manager, Tim, was persistent in getting Matt the job. Tim won.

I love this series so much. I love how the author writes their struggles with life and their Christian faith and how often we try to take the wheel from God and do it our way…which usually leads to failure. The characters come to life, and I’ll miss them if this is the end of this series.

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Justice
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