Top Ten Tuesday: Where Have You Been All My Life?

Posted December 8, 2015 by meezcarrie in Becky Wade, Camille Eide, Carla Laureano, Dawn Crandall, Jamie Lapeyrolerie, Jennifer Beckstrand, Melissa Jagears, Pam Hillman, The Shoppe, Top Ten Tuesday, Victoria Bylin / 140 Comments


toptentuesday

*Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly blog linkup hosted by The Broke and The Bookish*

This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday is “New-to-me Favorite Authors I Read for the First Time in 2015“.  The great thing about starting a book blog this year is that I have been introduced to books by so many wonderful authors I hadn’t read before now!  Narrowing down to 10 this week is difficult, so for brevity’s sake I didn’t include debut authors from 2015 in this list. Otherwise – Varina, Sarah, and Pepper, you would totally be leading the pack!

Without further adieu and in no particular order…

dawn crandall

dawn crandall

everstone chronicles

My Review of The Hesitant Heiress

My Review of The Bound Heart

Dawn writes such wonderful swoon-worthy kisses.  In fact they earn a level 05 rating on my KissingBook scale, which basically means you will be reduced to an incoherent puddle on the floor and may need to stick your head in the freezer to recover 😉 The fourth book in the Everstone Chronicles releases Fall 2016, and I’m so excited about The Cautious Maiden I can hardly stand it! The best part about discovering Dawn’s books this year (toe-curling kissing scenes notwithstanding) is discovering Dawn herself.  She is such a sweet person, and I truly consider her a friend. (She may consider me a stalker but there you have it… lol.)

jennifer beckstrand

jennifer-beckstrand

matchmakers of huckleberry hill

My Review of Huckleberry Hearts

Jennifer Beckstrand is a new new-to-me favorite author lol.  I just fell in love with her books a week or so ago, and crazily I started at the end of her most recent series.  So now OF COURSE, I must go back and read the others! Jennifer writes so engagingly and with such humor and heart. The romance prompted me to go in search of a trusty fainting couch – just in case.  Basically, I just had a smile of delight on my face from beginning to end with Huckleberry Hearts. She’s starting a new series next year, and I’m excited to read that one from the beginning 🙂

carla laureano

carla laureano

macdonalds Collage

My Review of Five Days in Skye in which I gush about James

My Review of London Tides in which I gush some more about James

henry-cavill-as-James-224x300

James.

(or Henry Cavill)

We all know of my somewhat-unhealthy-but-let’s-face-it-not-seeking-a-cure obsession with James MacDonald, the hero in Carla Laureano’s MacDonald Family Trilogy.  Okay, okay. So he’s only the focus in the first book, Five Days in Skye, but whatever 😉 Beyond her ability to write heroes that make readers babble incoherently, Carla’s novels have great charm and carry poignant themes of hope. I’m eagerly waiting for the third book in the trilogy – Under Scottish Stars – which is due out in June.  And yeah… even though the book is about Serena MacDonald and not James, I’ll probably still find a way to gush about him again in my review.

becky wade

Becky Wade

porter family Collage

My Review of A Love Like Ours

If anyone could give James some fictional competition for my heart, it would be Ty Porter from Becky Wade’s Meant to Be Mine. In fact, I’m very fickle.  When Ty is in the room, I completely forget about James.  (Just don’t tell James, okay?) Becky’s books have it all – romance, humor, a delightful writing voice, and compelling messages of redemption and grace. And right now is a marvelous time to introduce you because her books are on sale. The ebook of Undeniably Yours is currently FREE (can’t beat that), and both Meant to be Mine and A Love Like Ours are both only $4.99.  She’s also written a Christmas short story called The Proposal that falls between A Love Like Ours and the upcoming Her One and Only. It’s available on Amazon for only $0.99!!

victoria bylin

victoria bylin

bylin collage

My Review of Together With You

Victoria Bylin writes about men and women realistically trying to figure out how to live the raw reality of what it means to follow Jesus. Both of her books that I’ve read so far have dealt with tough decisions, difficult-to-keep commitments, and pivotal circumstances that lead to a crisis of belief. And refreshingly, she guides her characters along the journey with humor and warmth and poignancy.  I’m so glad I somehow stumbled into an early-read list for Until I Found You because I found a new favorite author in the process.

camille eide

camille eide

camille eide collage

I discovered Camille Eide while reviewing her latest book for RT Book Reviews Magazine.  Because of contractual obligations, I’m not allowed to do more than refer you to my review on the magazine’s website but do go there and read it to round out this synopsis.  I plan to have reviews of her exquisitely beautiful Like There’s No Tomorrow and Like a Love Song posted here on the blog in the near future so stay tuned!!

pam hillman

pam hillman

pam hillman collage

My Review of The Homestead Brides Collection

My Review of Stealing Jake

My Review of The 12 Brides of Christmas Collection

Pam has a very natural writing voice and creates characters who are extremely likable and plots that are emotionally compelling. The romance in her stories may steal your breath on occasion and for sure will make you “awww” in swoonish delight. Her contributions to novella collections always have the feel of a full-length novel thanks to her expert plot crafting and character development.

melissa jagears

melissa jagears

jagears collage

My Review of A Bride At Last

Y’all.  Melissa Jagears writes a good kissing book! Plus, like me, by trade Melissa is an English as a Second Language teacher to adult learners. So… already I loved her. And then I read Love By The Letter and didn’t stop reading until I had finished A Bride At Last.  Well, except for when I had to pause and fan myself… or take a swooning break… or stick my head in the freezer to recover because a kissing scene had reduced me to an incoherent puddle on the floor. (For those of you keeping track at home, that’s a level 05 on my new KissingBook scale.)

myra johnson

Myra Johnson 2014

johnson Collage

My Review of The Sweetest Rain

When I agreed to review The Sweetest Rain for Franciscan Media, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Myra Johnson. This was, after all, the first time I would read a book she had written.  Any worries I may have had were quickly dispelled as I became captivated by the story and the compelling characters.  Myra took a rather depressing era (no pun intended) and infused it with hope, thanks to a cast of characters that gave it light and joy as well.  I’m so looking forward to future books in that series!

jamie

jamie the shoppe

jamie Collage

Ok. So technically Jamie isn’t a new-to-me author but she was a new-to-me book blogger that I discovered this year – and she quickly became one of my faves.  I’m super excited about her new venture – The Shoppe – where you can find the awesome book blogger’s planner pictured above.  I’m already using mine and it’s so nice to have everything there right at a glance!  It features six Non Dated Months with plenty of space for notes, 28 Weeks of the Weekly Checklist and Weekly Notes page, pages to record the books you’ve read, and pages to write down quotes. (You know… for next year’s Top Ten Tuesday post calling for your favorite quotes from the year. lol)  You can also find her line of “For the Love of Literature” postcards which are just gorgeous and high-quality and her Inklings Collection of bookmarks, stickers, and cases for the iPad mini and iPad Air. paying tribute to two of the greatest minds in literature – C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. My personal favorite of the Inklings collection is the really nice bookmark taken from my absolute favorite quote in all of literature – “‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.”

And the best part is that when you purchase items from The Shoppe, you are also helping to change the world! A portion of the profits goes to:
● World Vision’s work with refugees
● Compassion’s work with students and education
● Children’s Hunger Fund work to help kids in America and around the globe with supplies
they need to go to school
● Mocha Club’s Action Project

Check out Jamie’s blogs at Books and Beverages and She Laughs With Dignity for more info. If you enjoy a Podcast, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, please check out Jamie’s podcast, Jack & Tollers: An Inklings Podcast.

That’s my list of 9 new-to-me favorite authors that I read for the first time in 2015, plus one awesome book blogger who has made my planning so much easier. Which authors were new-to-you this year?

carrie reading xmas

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140 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday: Where Have You Been All My Life?

  1. I’ve read Victoria Bylin before, but somehow I missed those titles! *Adds to wishlist now* Haven’t heard Carla Laureano, but the series sounds good!

  2. Fun choices! I especially love the cover to When the Clouds Roll By – gorgeous. Jamie’s blog and store look amazing! I am definitely checking those out. 🙂

  3. Love this list! Funny thing is the ones I’ve read, like Dawn, Melissa, Pam…etc are all new ones for me too this year! There’s several I have not read yet, and would love to soon! Thanks Carrie!

  4. Definitely going to get one of those book blogger’s planners – I’m always jotting down lists everywhere and losing them, so that’ll help keep all of my thoughts in one place!
    I haven’t many of the authors that you’ve chosen, but with covers that gorgeous I don’t think I’m going to be able to hold off for much longer.

  5. Dawn Crandall

    Wow, thanks so much, Carrie! I do love it when readers/book bloggers appreciate a good kissing scene! I’m fairy addicted to writing them. I can’t wait to see your review for The Captive Imposter!

  6. Looks like I need to go shopping at The Shoppe – that planner and those postcards look awesome. I could certainly use a planner like that to keep all of my blog ideas organized and in one place.

  7. I agree with so many and the others I have to read and find out. I am so intrigued by Molly Jebber’s books, because they are on top of so many lists and I just received Camille Eide’s, Like There’s No Tomorrow. I’m pinning your list so I don’t forget some of those that I want to read. If they are put of my never-ending TBR list, they get lost. This is what I get for being such an eclectic reader – too many genres to keep up with. Tell me there will be books in heaven. 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Carrie.

  8. What a fun list! The fact that several of the authors you mentioned are friends of mine made it all the better. Thanks for including me, Carrie! I’m honored.

    p.s. Ty says hi.

  9. *happy sigh* Becky Wade’s books = AMAZING! Love her stuff. And secondly, yay for the Jamie shout-out! She is indeed an awesome book blogger and friend. So excited for this new venture of hers. Betting it’ll be spectacular. 🙂

  10. I actually haven’t heard of ANY of these authors! but their books sound great! also, i think it’s really cool that you included a book blogger in your post!

  11. Dawn Crandall sounds lovely and I’ve already added Carla Laureano to my TBR based on your previous recommendations. I have some reading to do! (Don’t I always? 🙂 )

  12. These are all of new-to-me authors! I’m especially intrigued by Jennifer Beckstrand and Myra Johnson. And I definitely will be looking into The Shoppe. I am obsessed with planners!

  13. I saw a book by Becky Wade on goodreads a while back and have been wanting to check her out. It sounds like you got some good reading done this year!

  14. Great list- even though I don’t read much romance, these authors all look like they tell great stories. 🙂 And the blogger you spotlighted has some neat gifts as well- I love the idea of the Inklings bookmark.

    Have a great day!

  15. I will have to check out Camille’s books, since they look wonderful from their gorgeous covers. lol.
    I loved Five Days in Skye! Now, I need to read her other two books…
    Great list!

  16. J.E. Fountain

    Can’t say I’m familiar with any of these…but I’m on an almost strictly classics diet at the moment.

  17. Jen

    I haven’t read books by any of these authors, but being reduced to an incoherent puddle on the floor sounds good to me! 🙂

  18. Dawn Crandall and Melissa Jagears both look pretty intriguing! Do the Jagears books have frontier settings? Glad you had some good reading this year!

  19. Oh man I’m totally bookmarking this! I’ve gotten worried I’m going to go through all my go to authors (Tessa Dare, Julia Quinn, Courtney Milan, and Sarah MacLean) and then by utterly stranded because I don’t know where to go from there, but here is this perfect list for me to choose from!

  20. terirose22

    Fabulous, fabulous list! I’ve had the good fortune to discover some of these same authors as well this year, and I’ve read more than I have in years! Camille Eide is my new favorite!

  21. I am familiar with some of the authors on your list and will have to check out the others. Becky Wade is popular at my library so I order her titles for our collection. Amish fiction is incredibly popular (I live in Amish country Ohio) so I’ll have to look for that Huckleberry series. Nice list! I love the book blogger planner. What a cool idea!

  22. I’m going to echo your comment on my TTT post and say that sadly, I haven’t read any of the authors in your list. 😛 But I wish I had known about that book blogger planner before I bought my 2016 Kikki.K planner!

  23. Liza @ Reading with ABC

    I haven’t read any of these, which obviously means that I have a lot of reading to do!

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