Category: General

Hawaii. A land of deep tradition and rich culture. A people of family and faith. A paradise on earth.

Jonathan Napela is a descendant of the Hawaiian royal line, and his future is bright with a new wife and a position of influence in the community. As a devout man, he believes in God, but he feels there is something more—something he is missing. When he meets Elder George Q. Cannon and is introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jonathan feels as though he has finally found where he belongs.

Jonathan’s friendship with George provides remarkable opportunities for the young Hawaiian to grow in his new faith. His joy in the gospel is tested though, when he is challenged by those he once called friends, and later when he struggles to gather Saints to Laie. And when leprosy threatens to take his beautiful wife, Kitty, from him, Jonathan faces an impossible choice: send his wife to the leper colony of Moloka’i alone, or risk how own life to accompany her. Drawing on his deep reservoirs of faith, Jonathan comes to understand that opening his heart to sacrifice is the purest expression of love.

This novel, based on a true story, is an extraordinary example of a man who chooses to serve God and family when others might have given up.

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Title: Belonging to Heaven

Author: Gale Sears

Publisher: Deseret Book

Release Date: April 2013

ISBN: 978-1609071592

Size: __ pages, 6×9, hardcover? softcover?

Genre: General

Reeling from the sudden loss of his wife, his home, and his business, Alan Christoffersen, a once-successful advertising executive, has left everything he knew behind and set off on an extraordinary cross-country journey. Carrying only a backpack, he is walking from Seattle to Key West, the farthest destination on his map.

Now almost halfway through his trek, Alan sets out to walk the nearly 1,000 miles between South Dakota and St. Louis, but it’s the people he meets along the way who give the journey its true meaning: a mysterious woman who follows Alan’s walk for close to a hundred miles, the ghost hunter searching graveyards for his wife, and the elderly Polish man who gives Alan a ride and shares a story that Alan will never forget.

Full of hard-won wisdom and truth, The Road to Grace is a compelling and inspiring novel about hope, healing, grace, and the meaning of life.

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Title: The Road to Grace (The Walk #3)

Author: Richard Paul Evans

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Release Date: May 8, 2012

ISBN: 978-1451628180

Size: 256 pages, hardcover

Genre: General

Series: The Walk (bk 1), Miles to Go (bk 2)

Motherhood is not for the faint of heart. And no one knows that better than Daisy. Raising two kids as a divorced, single mom, Daisy has faced each and every one of the obstacles in her life with courage and determination.

Now with her oldest daughter ready to have a baby of her own, her youngest daughter ready to graduate from high school, and her new husband, Paul, ready to embrace the life of an empty-nester, Daisy feels like she might finally be able to check “motherhood” off her list of things to do.

Except life often has a mind of its own. When, at the age of forty-six, Daisy suddenly finds herself facing a very different future than the one she had planned—and an uncomfortable evaluation of the past she thought she understood—she realizes that there is still some growing up she needs to do.

Looking for a distraction to escape the growing tension at home, Daisy joins the Newport Ladies Book Club, where she meets Paige, Athena, and Olivia—unlikely friends who offer encouragement and support when Daisy’s perfectly crafted life is turned upside-down.

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Title: Daisy (The Newport Ladies Book Club, book 2)

Author: Josi S. Kilpack

Publisher: Covenant

Release Date: April 28, 2012

ISBN: 9781609070083

Size: __ pages, 6×9, softcover

Genre: General/Women

The Newport Ladies Book Club: Olivia by Julie Wright (bk 1)

Sydney hates funerals, overlong programs, creepy corpses, warbly singing. But she loves gooey, cheesy funeral potatoes. And these days, between her ward and neighborhood and extended family, it seems like there’s always a funeral for the Relief Society president to attend. Not fun occasions, of course, but not terribly traumatic either which is good, considering how crazy life is already with taking care of four little kids and one inactive brother.

Ted is the lone black sheep amongst the blond-haired, blue-eyed OllerVanKeefers (rhymes with overachievers) and his lack of a testimony coupled with his lack of overall ambition has Syd concerned perhaps a bit too concerned, given how she sometimes prays for a not-too-serious car crash to shake him up a bit. But when a real crisis hits the family and Syd sees the shadowy side of picture-perfect happiness, she realizes that she’s been praying for the wrong things, and that nobody needs to run faster than she has strength even if (especially if) you’re a former all-state track star. You’ll laugh out loud with this enchanting tale that will help you find the joy in your own less-than-perfect family and in life’s little comforts, like funeral potatoes.

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Title: Funeral Potatoes

Author: Joni Hilton

Publisher: Covenant

Release Date: February 2012

ISBN: 978-1-60861-920-7

Size: 194 pages, 6×9, paperback

Genre: General, Humor

The Robbins household looks perfect from the outside: no dust, no stains, no wrinkles. Yet a glimpse into its heart reveals no laughter, no closeness, no joy. Olivia thinks that if she keeps everything tidy and serves delicious meals on time, family life is bound to get better. But when her husband, Nick, misses their anniversary, she realizes no amount of domestic success will compensate for failure in their marriage, or for her own failure to develop her identity, always busy as a mother, wife, and neighbor, she has forgotten how to be a unique and vibrant individual.

Determined to make a change, Olivia joins a local book club, where she nurtures new friendships and explores new ideas. But her growing confidence falters when Nick declares his independence, and while her new friends lovingly encircle her with support, only Olivia can reach into the depths of her fledgling self to find the faith, hope, and love her troubled family needs.

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Title: Olivia (The Newport Ladies Book Club, book 1)

Author: Julie Wright

Publisher: Covenant

Release Date: February, 2012

ISBN: 978-1608618439

Size: 224 pages, 6×9, paperback

Genre: General/Women

Life’s most unexpected turns can sometimes produce the greatest joys.

Olivia Spencer wants to be a mother more than anything else, but years of infertility have left her soul wounded and her marriage strained.

Allison Campbell is a young, single woman who discovers that a moment of excitement has led to an unplanned pregnancy and an overwhelming heartache.

As the lives of these two women touch, you’ll see that deep love can pave the way for sacrifice.

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Title: Delivering Hope

Author: Jennifer Ann Holt

Publisher: Bonneville Books/Cedar Fort

Release Date: February 7, 2012

ISBN: 978-1599559025

Size: 224 pages, 6×9, paperback

Genre: Women’s, General

New York journalist Jedediah Pratt Russell is the victim of an inexplicable divorce. A loving father, a dutiful bread-winner, a sensitive lover—he thought he’d given Sarah everything. Jed finally abides Sarah’s insistence on psychiatric help, hoping it will mend whatever’s broken between them.

Instead, his experience with Dr. Irving “Quack Quack” Rosenbaum prompts Jed to seriously pursue the autobiographical novel that’s been gnawing at him for years, and through it to confront all the simmering issues that plague his life: his bond with his father-in-law Old ROT, a former OSS operative suffering from a mysterious disease; his record-setting missionary work and love-hate relationship with Church doctrine; a secret tryst with an old flame right up to her marriage to Jed’s distant cousin; his fascination with marriage and polygamy both in his ancestral line and the present.

With the confidence of Rebe, the “way, way too young” assistant to Quack Quack, Jed finds himself spinning toward the Mormon heritage he’d left behind decades ago, and into the heart of Utah, where the many open circles in Jed’s life converge in startling ways. Unabashed, heartfelt, and brutally open, Closing Circles is Jed’s exploration of obsessions, fantasies, family history, and Mormonism—an exploration that will make him reconsider everything he’s ever believed about marriage, divorce, faith, and himself.

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Title: Closing Circles: Trapped in the Everlasting Mormon Moment

Author: R.B. Scott

Publisher: Gray Dog Press

Release Date: January 19, 2012

ISBN: 978-1936178490

Size: 380 pages, 6×9, softcover

Genre: General

A Novel of Three Mothers & One Baby

How many lives can be affected by one child’s birth?

Unmarried teenager Kim Sonkens doesn’t want the baby she’s carrying. Her mother doesn’t want her to give it up. Melody Farr is willing to go through any medical procedure, no matter how painful, to have a child of her own.

During the months to follow, all three women will be tested beyond what they feel they can endure.

Their three lives now depend on the decisions of a teenager. But no matter what Kim chooses, they’ll all have to find their own path to happiness.

This book is a touching story of choices we all have to make, some of them heart-breaking and some of them bringing great joy.

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Title: Baby Mine

Author: Heather Horrocks

Publisher: Word Garden Press

Release Date: January 5, 2012

ISBN:

Size: 200 pages, eBook; print coming soon

Genre: Women’s/General

Title: House of Diamonds

Author: Karen Jones Gowen

Publisher: WiDo Publishing

Release Date: November 22, 2011

ISBN: 978-0979607097

Size: 235 pages, 5×8, paperback

Genre: General

Series: Uncut Diamonds (bk 1)

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In this sequel to Gowen’s debut novel, Uncut Diamonds, she follows sisters Cindy and Marcie as they reach a crossroads in their lives. House of Diamonds tells the story of two women, one facing opportunity the other tragedy. Can their bond endure? Marcie pursues her dream of becoming a published writer while Cindy faces a terrible tragedy. In this gripping story of faith, loss and the transcending nature of sacrifice, Gowen gives voice to a beloved baby who has none. She shows the incredible power that comes to families when they pull together to overcome challenges. It is at these times that a house of pain can become a house of diamonds.

Available for purchase from:
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eBook: | Kindle | Nook |

Title: Paint Me True

Author: E.M. Tippetts

Publisher: Self

Release Date: November 7, 2011

ISBN:

Size: ebook only (for now)

Genre: LDS Women’s Fiction

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Eliza Dunmar is about to turn thirty-one and fears her best days are behind her. Her career as a painter is no longer considered cool, and she feels too old to use the excuse that she’s “just starting out” to explain why she still can’t pay the bills. The only man interested in her is a scruffy, video game addicted nerd who is the first to admit that they are all wrong for each other.

When her beloved Aunt Nora calls from England and begs her to visit, Eliza leaps at the chance. Even better? Nora had the perfect romance with her late husband and is eager to share the tale. As Eliza sets out to immortalize this courtship in a series of paintings, she learns a lesson that will change her outlook on life and love forevermore.

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Title: Nourish & Strengthen

Author: Maria Hoagland

Publisher: Sisters Ink Publishing

Release Date: November 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0615535616

Size: 247 pages, 6×9, paperback

Genre: General

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Chloe Taylor has the perfect life: a model’s figure, a husband who adores her, three healthy children. So why does she feel so much less than perfect?

After losing forty pounds, Chloe Taylor is finally happy with her body. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s not the one in control. When Chloe is called as the Primary president, she discovers that managing the highs and lows of a chronic illness may be easier than the ups and downs associated with family, friends, and church callings.

Consumed by her own challenges, Chloe fails to recognize the issues her friends are facing and is in danger of losing their friendship. As Chloe strives to develop Christ-like love for herself and those around her, she learns that outer appearances are far less important than inner peace and spiritual strength. But is she strong enough to face her most difficult trial yet?

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Title: The Scholar of Moab

Author: Steven L. Peck

Publisher: Torrey House Press, LLC

Release Date: November 8, 2011

ISBN: 978-1937226022

Size: 300 pages, 5×8, paperback

Genre: General? Speculative? Not sure.

Caution: This book may contain objectionable content.

What happens when a two-headed cowboy, a high school dropout who longs to be a scholar, and a poet who claims to have been abducted by aliens come together in 1970’s Moab, Utah? The Scholar of Moab, a dark-comedy perambulating murder, affairs, and cowboy mysteries in the shadow of the La Sal Mountains.

Young Hyrum Thane, unrefined geological surveyor, steals a massive dictionary out of the Grand County library in a midnight raid, startling the people of Moab into believing a nefarious band of Book of Mormon assassins, the Gadianton Robbers, has arisen again.

Making matters worse, Hyrum’s illicit affair with Dora Tanner, a local poet thought to be mad, ends in the delivery of a premature baby boy who vanishes the night of its birth. Righteous Moabites accuse Dora of its murder, but who really killed their child? Did a coyote dingo the baby? Was it an alien abduction as Dora claims? Was it Hyrum? Or could it have been the only witness to the crime, one of a pair of Oxford-educated conjoined twins who cowboy in the La Sals on sabbatical?

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Title: The Death of a Disco Dancer

Author: David Clark

Publisher: Zarahemla Books

Release Date: October 21, 2011

ISBN: 978-0984360338

Size: 336 pages, 5.5×8.5, paperback

Genre: General

One night, eleven-year-old Todd Whitman receives a terrifying but hilarious midnight visitor: his cockatoo-plumed, dementia-stricken, John Travolta-smitten Grandma Carter. In constant nocturnal search of the mysterious “Dancer,” Grandma clutches her absurdly precious Saturday Night Fever album cover and giggles her way through the dance steps of her youth.

When forty-something Todd returns home to help his dying mother, he reflects on that pivotal summer of 1981: the unique relationship he developed with his grandmother, the chaos of finding his place in a large Mormon family, the near misses of impressing the one-and-only Jenny Gillette, and the utter social catastrophe of junior high.

Ultimately, despite the ups and downs of life, Todd finds peace and strength through the selfless and dedicated lives of his grandmother and mother.

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Title: Called To Serve Again

Author: Jeffrey Olsen

Publisher: CreateSpace

Release Date: November 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-61555-557-7

Size: 243 pages, 6×9, paperback

Genre: General

Called To Serve Again tells the story of Bill Hughes, a recent college graduate who has everything going for him: a new job, two beautiful daughters, and a loving wife. However, when he is tragically killed in a car accident, Bill reluctantly learns there is no such thing as coincidence, and there was a special reason for his death. The events that transpire have eternal consequences not only for Bill and his wife, but also for his nineteen-year-old brother who is struggling with his decision whether to serve a mission for the LDS Church. This book follows Bill and his family through a unique and faith-promoting journey told from both sides of the veil that will appeal to adult and young adult readers alike.

Available for purchase from:
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eBook: | Smashwords

Title: The Shaken Earth

Author: Toni Sorenson

Publisher: Covenant

Release Date: October 10, 2011

ISBN: 978-1608612796

Size: 368 pages, 6×9, paperback

Genre: General

Fragile, twelve-year-old Yolisha is afraid thinking about her first ride on a brightly painted tap-tap. The city is much farther than she has ever been from her small village of Makak, but Yolisha must go. Tomorrow she has an appointment in Port-au-Prince with the doctor who understands her special illness. But she is terrified that she might lose the grasp of her mother’s hand on the clattering, noisy bus crowded with people and livestock.

In truth, Yolisha is frightened of anything, or anyone, that might separate her from the only anchor in her life: her mother. The next day, Yolisha is slammed with the realization that her greatest danger was not in the bus ride at all. When the earth begins violently shaking, the walls of the clinic crumble, and her mother is torn from her, she fears that her innocent wishing game might have caused the devastating earthquake that has just thrown her into a terrifying world of survival.

But what if the same game can uncover hidden strength in Yolisha as she searches for her missing mother? Might the elderly man who plucks her from the rubble save her life . . . while the man’s colorful and determined friend saves her soul by introducing her to the gospel?

With penetrating insight, Toni Sorenson immerses you into a beautiful, beleaguered country and guides you on a poignant and compelling journey that explores questions of faith and fate, selflessness and self-preservation, the story of a girl who holds on to hope, even in an overwhelmingly hopeless situation.

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