Recommended Reading Courtesy of ACFW

I’m passing along this because I honestly believe these awards highlight the best of the best. If you’re longing to try a new genre, choose one of these books and have at it!

Debut Author

* A Passion Most Pure (Julie Lessman)
* Courting Miss Adelaide (Janet Dean)
* Every Good and Perfect Gift (Sharon K. Souza)
* Hero, Second Class (Mitchell Bonds)
* In the Shadow of the Sun King (Golden Keyes Parsons)

Lits

* Faking Grace (Tamara Leigh)
* Picket Fence Promises (Kathryn Springer)
* Single Sashimi (Camy Tang)
* Sweet Caroline (Rachel Hauck)
* Truffles by the Sea (Julie Carobini)

Long Contemporary

* Lookin Back Texas (Leanna Ellis)
* One Holy Night (J.M. Hochstetler)
* Stuck in the Middle (Virginia Smith)
* Summer of Joy (Ann H. Gabhart)
* Symphony of Secrets (Sharon Hinck)

Long Contemporary Romance

* Along Came a Cowboy (Christine Lynxwiler)
* Controlling Interest (Elizabeth White)
* The Convenient Groom (Denise Hunter)
* Finding Stefanie (Susan May Warren)
* Zora and Nicky: A Novel in Black & White (Claudia Mair Burney)

Long Historical (6 finalists due to a tie)

* The Apothecary’s Daughter (Julie Klassen)
* Calico Canyon (Mary Connealy)
* Deep In the Heart of Trouble (Deeanne Gist)
* From A Distance (Tamera Alexander)
* I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires (Cathy Gohlke) MOODY Book!
* My Heart Remembers ( Kim Vogel Sawyer)

Mystery

* The Case of the Bouncing Grandma (A.K. Arenz)
* Death on a Deadline (Christine Lynxwiler, Sandy Gaskin, and Jan Reynolds)
* Drop Dead Diva (Christine Lynxwiler, Sandy Gaskin, and Jan Reynolds)
* For Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls (Nancy Mehl)
* Of Mice . . . and Murder (Mary Connealy)

Novellas

* The Cookie Jar (Janet Lee Barton in A Connecticut Christmas anthology)
* Dressed in Scarlet (Darlene Franklin in Snowbound Colorado Christmas anthology)
* Santa’s Prayer (Diane Ashley in A Connecticut Christmas anthology)
* Snowbound for Christmas (Gail Sattler in A Connecticut Christmas anthology)
* Stuck On You (Rhonda Gibson in A Connecticut Christmas anthology)

Short Contemporary

* Buffalo Gal (Mary Connealy)
* Clueless Cowboy (Mary Connealy)
* Family Treasures (Kathryn Springer)
* Her Unlikely Family (Missy Tippens)
* White as Snow (Janice Thompson)

Short Contemporary Suspense

* Bayou Paradox (Robin Caroll)
* Broken Lullaby (Pamela Tracy)
* Countdown to Death (Debby Giusti)
* Forsaken Canyon (Margaret Daley)
* Killer Cargo (Dana Mentink)

Short Historical

* Family of the Heart (Dorothy Clark)
* Masked by Moonlight (Allie Pleiter)
* Reckless Rogue (Mary Davis)
* Return to Love (Susan Page Davis)
* Sandhill Dreams (Cara Putman)

Speculative

* The Book of Names (D. Barkley Briggs)
* DragonLight (Donita K. Paul)
* The Restorer’s Journey (Sharon Hinck)
* Shade (John B. Olson)
* Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy (Theodore Beale)

Suspense

* Anathema (Colleen Coble)
* The Black Cloister (Melanie Dobson)
* Fossil Hunter (John B. Olson)
* Lonestar Sanctuary (Colleen Coble)
* Perfect (Harry Kraus)

Women’s Fiction (7 finalists due to a tie)

* A Month of Summer (Lisa Wingate)
* Every Good and Perfect Gift (Sharon K. Souza)
* My Sister Dilly (Maureen Lang)
* The Perfect Life (Robin Lee Hatcher)
* The Shape of Mercy (Susan Meissner)
* Stepping into Sunlight (Sharon Hinck)
* Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon (Debbie Fuller Thomas) A MOODY book, Yippee!

Young Adult

* The Big Picture (Jenny B. Jones)
* The Fruit of My Lipstick (Shelley Adina)
* It’s all About Us (Shelley Adina)
* The Owling (Robert Elmer)
* Trion Rising (Robert Elmer)