The Path to Piney Meadows by Gail Sattler.

Meet Chad Allen, a business man living in the big city, who goes on this unexpected road trip to the small Mennonite town of Piney Meadows where he becomes stranded for the night when he runs out of gas and the gas station is already closed for the day. He is drawn to the church where he meets some nice people who want to help him. He gets offered a job and takes it on a whim, but he must learn how to deal with the Mennonite traditions and customs. Anna, literally the girl-next-door and coworker, tries to help him acclimate to his new town and its customs. As their friendship grows, Chad learns that Anna is not satisfied living in a small town for the rest of her life. She strongly desires to live in the big city and leave the peaceful, protected Piney Meadows. However, the two of them are falling in love. Will Anna choose to leave everything she has ever known and the love of her life who is choosing to stay in Piney Meadows or stay in the only home she’s ever known with a man she loves?

Sattler’s characters were very well written. I really admire the Mennonite community and want to go visit this quaint little town. Chad and Anna were such real characters with real dilemmas. Although, I found the pacing of the book to be quite slow, I guess it’s in line with the pace of living in a small town. I’m not saying that I couldn’t put the book down (because I was able to), but I did want to know the ending and that’s important. I was already a fan of Sattler, and this book is just another reason why.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in reading about the Mennonite community and anyone interested in clean, Christian romance.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for a review. The opinions are my own.

In his third installment of the Swipe Series, mysterious writer, Evan Angler, continues the saga of the Dust led by the markless Logan Langly. As we learned from the last book, Sneak, someone has activated the vaccine of a deadly virus that has no known cure, which is only in the Marked. Erin Arbitor, Marked but part of the Dust, has fallen ill. Desperate to find a cure while evading DOME (Department of Marked Emergencies), Logan and his crew search for the one person who could possibly help – the scientist who created the vaccine – in the tech mecca of Sierra.

Meanwhile, in Beacon City, the Markless hold protests and continually antagonize the IMPSs (International Moderators of Peace), with the hope of locating one of their own, Eddie, who was captured and brainwashed in the Markless prison, Acheron. As Eddie does his best to resist, he is under the constant watch and care of Logan’s sister, Advocate Lily, who is not what she seems.

As unity between the American and European Unions has produced the Global Union under both General Lamson and Chancellor Cylis, peace seems imminent, but will the imposed drought and the activated vaccine spell more unrest and devastation? Who can Logan trust?

Having read Swipe and Sneak, I was so thankful to get an advanced copy of Storm. I am definitely hooked on this fast-paced series. I’ve become quite attached to Logan and his crew and was excited to read what happened next. Angler’s characters continue to grow and develop as the series progresses. I didn’t want to put the book down – I read through the whole thing in less than a day. I highly recommend the book to those who like adventure and like to keep guessing till the end. Angler will have you shedding a tear, laughing, and yelling at characters while you read!

I received this book from NetGalley but was not required to give a positive review.

So you might think I’m a little bias when reviewing Camy Tang novels but in all fairness, her writing really is good. I love her storylines because I can relate to them and because I’m from the Bay Area too.

Narrow Escape is Camy Tang’s 4th Love Inspired Suspense by Harlequin. She continues with this fast-paced thriller set in Sonoma, CA. Meet Arissa Tiong and her three-year-old niece/adopted daughter, Charity. Charity’s father, Arissa’s brother, was killed in action as a LAPD narcotics cop. The story starts abruptly with Arissa waking up after having been kidnapped. She and Charity are able to escape but not before Arissa realizes that the kidnapping had something to do with her deceased brother, Mark. She borrows a friend’s car and drives to the only person she trusts to help her – her brother’s old parter, Nathan Fischer, who lives in Sonoma. Nathan is the first and last person she wants to see – she had strong feelings for him before he accused her brother of being a mole for the Filipino gang, LSL. Nathan is weary to help at first, but his protective and paranoid instincts kick in just in time before their lives are in danger. Nathan is sure that his partner was feeding information to the LSL but no evidence was ever found beyond what Nathan witnessed. He didn’t want anything to do with Arissa, a woman he had fallen in love with, but he can’t let her and Charity down. Nathan’s injuries and circumstances have led him to give up on God, but will he dare to trust again? Can Arissa and Nathan figure out what really happened with her brother and why the LSL are after her?

This story was so fast-paced and interesting. I loved everything except maybe how fast the ending was. I actually didn’t guess the ending, which was nice. I wish the ending hadn’t been so rushed (which is why the 4.5 instead of 5 rating).

I really enjoyed getting to know Arissa and Nathan as characters. They developed really nicely for the length of this book. They each had their fears and struggles – they were real and relatable, which is what I love about Camy Tang’s characters.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read an attention-grabbing story with a Christian message full of God’s protection and forgiveness.