Faith 'n Fiction Saturday - Anticipated Reads for 2009

This is my first blog post as part of Faith 'n Fiction Saturday, courtesy of My Friend Amy. Why don't you join in the fun as Amy poses this question on her blog today:

There are a lot of great new books being published in 2009! But which ones are you the most excited about? Please pick some Christian fiction books you are excited to read this year and tell us all about them! But just to give this a little twist...be sure to visit everyone else's posts and find some books you might be interested in reading as well that are different from your picks! It will come in handy for a fun bonus question next week!

There are so many great books coming out this year that sound too good to pass up. This is just a sampling of the dozens of books I've got my eye on.

Turning the Paige by Laura Jensen Walker (March)

Welcome to the in-between world of Paige Kelley.

At thirty-five, she’s put her dreams on hold to care for her ailing, high-maintenance mother. Three years after her divorce she’s still not dating, still working at her temp job, and still longing for motherhood even though, as her own mother often points out, “You’re not getting any younger, you know!”

When her Getaway Girls book club friends urge Paige to break free and get on with her life, she desperately wants to try. But how? What about her mom? The unexpected answers come from a surprising source. A trip to Scotland and a potential new love interest help launch an exciting new chapter in her life, and lead Paige to discover that God’s plan for her life promises to be more than she ever imagined.

Play it Again SAHM by Meredith Efken (March)

After years of friendship, the women of the SAHM I Am email loop are finally meeting in person. But with two new moms trying to blend in with Dulcie and the gang, there's bound to be trouble!
Earth mother Iona and young mom Hannah are thrilled to join the weekend getaway sans hubbies and kids. But sparks fly when Hannah's know-it-all attitude clashes with "Queen of Ego" Rosalyn. When things go from bad to worse, one mom must step in to save the weekend from total disaster!

The Secret by Beverly Lewis (March)

In the seemingly ordinary Amish home of Grace Byler, secrets abound. Why does her mother weep in the night? Why does her father refuse to admit something is dreadfully wrong? Then, in one startling moment, everything Grace assumed she knew is shattered. Her mother's disappearance leaves Grace reeling and unable to keep her betrothal promise to her long-time beau. Left to pick up the pieces of her life, Grace questions all she has been taught about love, family, and commitment. Heather Nelson is an English grad student, stunned by a doctor's diagnosis. Surely fate would not allow her father to lose his only daughter after the death of his wife a few years before. In denial and telling no one she is terminally ill, Heather travels to Lancaster County--the last place she and her mother had visited together. Will Heather find healing for body and spirit? As the lives of four wounded souls begin to weave together like an Amish patchwork quilt, they each discover missing pieces of their life puzzles--and glimpse the merciful and loving hand of God.

Shepherd's Fall by W L Dyson (April)

He is about to face the hunt of a lifetime.
Bounty hunter Greg Price is fearless when it comes to chasing down criminals. It’s his difficult ex-wife, rebellious teenage daughter, and dysfunctional siblings that keep him awake at night. In charge of the family business, the Prodigal Recovery Agency, he thinks of himself as a shepherd of sorts. When his “flock” is out of his control, Greg’s well-ordered universe falls into chaos.

Danger comes too close to home.
Prodigal Recovery’s search for Zeena, a prostitute on the run, leads to a faulty arrest, complicating Greg’s business. He is thrown together with Zeena’s twin, the beautiful Annie, and the two find themselves on a desperate search. The stakes significantly increase when Greg’s daughter is kidnapped.

Can the shepherd stand?
Greg and Annie unwittingly uncover a drug trafficking ring that further condemns the kidnapper. Now, to save someone he loves, Greg must risk everything…but will it be enough?

The Night Watchman by Mark Mynheir (May)

Eleven months ago, Ray Quinn was a tough, quick-witted Orlando homicide detective at the top of his game–until a barrage of bullets ended his career…and his partner’s life.

Now medically retired with a painful handicap, Ray battles the haunting guilt for his partner’s death. Numbing the pain with alcohol and attitude, Ray takes a job as a night watchman at a swanky Orlando condo.

But when a pastor and an exotic dancer are found dead in one of the condos in an apparent murder-suicide, Ray can no longer linger in the shadows. The pastor’s sister is convinced her brother was framed and begs Ray to take on an impossible case–to challenge the evidence and clear her brother’s name.

Ray reluctantly pulls the threads of this supposedly dead-end case only to unravel a murder investigation so deep that it threatens to turn the Orlando political landscape upside down and transform old friends into new enemies. As Ray chases down leads and interrogates suspects, someone is watching his every move, someone determined to keep him from ever finding out the truth–at any cost.

Sunset Beach by Trish Perry (June)

Meet Aralyn Miller, a recent college graduate with plans to get her master’s degree in psychology. With the intention of resolving some family drama and putting her academic interests to the test, Aralyn cleverly invites her mother, Teresa, and her mother’s estranged twin, Aunt Melanie, to the quiet and quirky beach house. They both show up...and with surprises of their own. Teresa, a successful opera singer, brings her latest protégé, Irina, and Melanie brings along secrets about Teresa and the identity of Aralyn’s long–gone father.

The strong personalities cause some big waves, and Aralyn is in over her head. Soon she is drawn to the faith of Irina and Irina’s charming brother, Grigori, and to their story of being adopted as children from a Russian orphanage by a Christian couple from America.

Finding Dwain by Beryl Cahoon (June)

Dane Campbell will be seventeen on September 30th and so will the twin brother he has never metDwain. Dane has asked God to bring his brother home and he, along with his entire senior class, is determined to do whatever it takes to find Dwain and get him home. Social Worker Zelda Cloud has blocked every effort of returning Dwain to his family. She wont let anyone undermine her authority. She will see Dane and his whole senior class locked behind bars before she will allow them to use information someone has taken from her file cabinet. Wealthy land owner George McCain has adopted five healthy sons. Zelda assured him that every one of them is from strong farming families. So why does the senior class project, Finding Dwain, make George McCain uneasy?

Offworld by Robin Parrish (July)

The return of NASA's first manned mission to Mars was supposed to be a momentous day. But when the crew loses touch with ground control before entry, things look bleak. Safe after a treacherous landing, the crew emerges to discover the unthinkable--every man, woman, child, and animal has vanished without a trace. Alone now on their home planet, the crew sets out to discover where everyone has gone--and how to get them back--only to discover they may not be as alone as they thought.

The Justice Game by Randy Singer (July)

After the target of an investigative report storms a Virginia Beach television station, he kills one of the anchors before the SWAT team takes him down. Following the victim’s funeral, her family files a lawsuit against the gun company who manufactured the killer’s weapon of choice. The lawyers for the plaintiff and defendant—Kelly Starling and Jason Noble—are young, charismatic, and successful. They’re also easy blackmail targets, both harboring a personal secret so devastating it could destroy their careers. Millions of dollars—and more than a few lives—are at stake. But as Kelly and Jason battle each other, they discover that the real fight is with unseen forces intent on controlling them both

Sweet Waters by Julie Carobini (August)

There’s nothing left for Tara Sweet in landlocked Dexton, Missouri. Her fiancé called off their wedding, her sister is moving to Manhattan, and now her mother is marrying a much younger man with plans for a yearlong honeymoon in Europe. Tara believes a move back to her childhood home of Otter Bay, California, will help restore the fun and fearlessness she’s already missing in her twenties. Playing back memories of idyllic times spent there with her father along the majestic coast, a fairytale seems just around the corner.

Better make that a soap opera. After Tara finds a job in Otter Bay, makes friends at The Red Abalone Grill, and perhaps even a new flame in firefighter Josh, she begins to uncover shocking secrets about why her family left this heaven on earth all those years ago. And though she will have to question everything she has ever known, the faith that Tara must depend upon will be sweeter than ever before.