Tag Archives: catholic fiction

Book Review: The Gift of Summer Snow

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The Gift of Summer Snow by Donna Alice Patton is a beautiful, wholesome quality mystery novel for young girls about age seven to thirteen.

Eleven-year-old Becky loves to garden and she is determined to win a top prize at the county fair with her Summer Snow rose. The problem? Someone is snatching her best blooms! With time running out, Becky determines to hunt down the culprit and solve the mystery. Along the way, she learns lessons in faith, friendship, and kindness. She also increases her devotion to a favorite saint, St. Theresa.

The writing, plot, and characters are lively and entertaining enough to hold the attention of the most reluctant readers, and suspense will keep readers turning pages to reach the satisfying conclusion.

The Gift of Summer Snow is a refreshing, sweet, and interesting story that you can feel good about giving your daughter to read. The role models and the depiction of a solid family unit are inspiring. This book would make a great gift or addition to a homeschool collection. In addition, the black and white illustrations are quite charming.

I would have loved the opportunity to read this book as a child. My little girls will read this someday for sure. It’s a keeper!

The Gift of Summer Snow is available in paperback from the author’s website.

Book Review: A Subtle Grace

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There is plenty to love about this beautiful novel, including the graceful flow of the story, the genuine characters, the description, the rich historical detail, the joyous moments, and the frightening ones.

A Subtle Grace by Ellen Gable is an inspirational historical romance, and more. It takes you on a genuine journey into the past, into the lives of the endearing O’Donovan Family. While the main story focuses on the oldest daughter, Kathleen, I enjoyed the intertwining, equally interesting, stories of the close-knit Catholic family and how they coped with life’s challenges: losses, tragedy, vocations, and temptations.

At 19 years old and living a privileged life in 1896 Philadelphia, Kathleen longs to be married and to begin a family before she reaches “old maid” status. She becomes fascinated by the attentions of a certain young man, but when her sparkling expectations for the future are savagely crushed, she has to learn to hope and love again. With time and trials, she matures into a selfless, instead of a somewhat self-absorbed, young woman. Even though she cannot fathom God’s plan for her life, she must trust in Him. Meanwhile, a lurking threat follows her like a dark shadow, marring her happiness.

A Subtle Grace is the sequel to the lovely book In Name Only, yet A Subtle Grace can be enjoyed independently. Of course, readers of the first book won’t want to miss this one! We get to see where life has taken Caroline and David and their family, and how the journey of life continues. The story kept me so interested that I hardly realized this was, in fact, a lengthy book.

A Subtle Grace is a novel to stir your heart, your emotions, and your soul. I highly recommend it!

A Subtle Grace is available as a Kindle ebook and will soon be available in paperback as well.

A Visit with Catholic Mystery Author Erin McCole Cupp

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Erin McCole Cupp, author of the recently Erin McCole Cuppreleased mystery Don’t You Forget About Me, shares what it means to be a writer of Catholic mysteries in her guest post on Catholic author Therese Heckenkamp’s blog:

I Don’t Know. It’s a Mystery:
The Catholic Mystery Author

The camera lens glared in my peripheral vision like an outsized doll’s eye. I stood with a proof of Don’t You Forget About Me in my icy, trembling fingers. Don't You Forget About MeMy publisher and another Full Quiver Author hovered in the background, giving me “thumbs up” signs and encouraging grins. My mind was a great jumble of cries to the Holy Spirit, all of which could be translated best as, “HELP ME!”
Continue reading here.

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Please note that the owner of Catholic-Fiction.com has not read each and every book (or watched every movie) included on this site and therefore cannot personally vouch for the true and traditionally faithful Catholic nature of the content and teachings contained in the listed books (and movies).

Your own discretion is suggested, and if a book or movie is discovered to be offensive to the Faith, please do contact Catholic-Fiction.com (by using the box below) so we can investigate and remove the listing if necessary.

Thank you and God bless you.

Book Review: Roses are Red, Diamonds are Blue

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From the clever title and stunning cover, to the well-written story, Roses are Red, Diamonds are Blue by Donna Alice Patton is a mystery suspense novel that delivers what it promises.

The novel has an engaging beginning with plenty of tension. A mere week before Christmas, Laura Barkley receives a desperate call from her husband, Peter, right before he dies tragically in the museum where he works. When the priceless blue Anastasia Diamond is revealed missing, suspicion falls on Peter—and thus Laura—adding to her burden as her life crumbles around her.

Eleven months later, Laura is doing her best to eke out a stable existence for herself and her little twin daughters, when the threats and fear begin anew. Whom should she trust and where should she go? And will she ever be able to decipher Peter’s final clue and find the Anastasia Diamond before it’s too late?

The mystery kept me reading, and the touches of romance added to the enjoyment of the layered story. Characters are rounded and real, and I truly felt for Laura and her girls and all the hardship they’ve endured. This is a novel that grabs at your emotions and a book that any lover of suspense could enjoy.

Many potential readers will also be happy to know that this is a clean read. The Catholic faith elements are minimal, but a very nice touch. Laura progresses from a lapsed Catholic who thinks she must rely on herself for everything, to realizing that, both humanly and spiritually, she can’t (and shouldn’t) always go it alone.

Roses are Red, Diamonds are Blue is set in the late 1970s, a time period that I don’t often come across in a novel, so I found it quite interesting as well as unique. The time period and setting always felt authentic to me, and I particularly enjoyed experiencing the Blizzard of ’78 in the climax.

Thank you, Ms. Patton, for a great story!

Roses are Red, Diamonds are Blue is available as a Kindle ebook.

Book Review: Finding Grace

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Laura H. Pearl’s first novel, Finding Grace, was a pure delight to read. The story is absorbing on so many levels.

The main character, Grace, is thirteen at the beginning of the book, but her story spans the years of 1972-1980 as she becomes a young woman in a world fraught with challenges. She strives to live as a good Catholic so that she may one day become a saint; but goodness doesn’t come easily, and as she struggles to live her faith, she encounters life in all its many facets of good and evil, joy and disappointments. Add to this the pain of falling deeply in love with a young man who sees her only as a friend, and I had to keep turning pages, staying up late, to find out how everything turns out.

The characters are fully developed, easy to relate to, and real. Grace’s relationships with her parents, her many brothers, and her friends, are genuine. Readers will become invested in Grace’s fate, and yearn for her to win her true love in the end. While this book is a wonderful coming-of-age story for teens, it is also great for adults looking for a romantic story that is deep and meaningful. Not a shallow romance, Finding Grace has all the hallmarks readers could want: romance, conflict, humor, life, love, laughter, and tears.

Parents can feel confident in buying this for their teens. Finding Grace is a moral read, without being bland or boring. The importance of family and faith is highlighted. Yes, there are lessons to be learned, but readers will be highly entertained along the way.

I laughed out loud. I shared in the heartaches as Grace learned who she is, and who she can be, with the grace of God. I really do miss the characters and I’m sad to be done with the novel, even though it has a beautiful ending! This is a book that I will definitely recommend to my own daughter someday.

Finding Grace is available in paperback and as a Kindle ebook.

“Frozen Footprints” Catholic Thriller Just Released

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Catholic publisher Tumblar House has just released a new Catholic novel,                 Frozen Footprints by Therese Heckenkamp.

$12.95 Paperback
$4.95 Kindle Ebook

“Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.”

Eighteen-year-old twins Charlene and Max Perigard have grown up under the wealthy but tyrannical rule of their oil-tycoon grandfather. When Max disappears and a ransom note shows up, Charlene’s world is shattered. Fearing the worst, she determines to find her brother before it’s too late.

Her quest hurls her into a twisted, frigid world of snow and ice that leads to terror in an isolated cabin. Together the twins struggle for survival while enduring fierce trials of mind, body, and spirit. Devoid of all worldly comfort and consolation, will faith and hope be enough to get them through this chilling nightmare?

Review of “Angela’s Song”

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In her debut novel, Angela’s Song, AnnMarie Creedon has crafted an engaging story that blends the ups and downs of real life with the beauty of God’s plan. Unlike many of today’s romances, Angela’s Song is not a fluffy, shallow read, but a deep and meaningful one. It offers a refreshing view on dating, true love, engagement, and marriage, all within a Catholic framework.

Yet the main character, Angela, is not a perfect Catholic, which makes the story all the more interesting and realistic. Angela (or Jel, as her late husband called her) has a full life caring for her three kids while being involved with numerous charitable projects, but her life and faith are lacking. When she meets a charming man named Jack, all her problems are not suddenly solved; in fact, the problems multiply. But through all the challenges, Angela’s faith grows and she learns to truly trust in God, finding a love that she never dreamed possible.

Angela’s Song is a novel for adult readers, as it brings up serious issues and emotions. At the same time, the story remains entertaining, touching, romantic, and even humorous. The many Catholic elements are woven in naturally, and the characters are convincing, likable, and easy to relate to. As a reader, you will feel a part of the family and enjoy the day-to-day interactions that are real, but never dull. This book did a great job of keeping my interest without relying on convoluted plot twists—just the sweet simplicity and tangles of everyday life.

I’ll also note that it takes a skilled writer to pull off a novel written in the first person, present tense, as this author has done. Her writing is smooth and effective, never distracting, and since the events seem to be happening right now, it makes the story more powerful.

Angela’s Song is a beautiful Catholic romance that is wonderfully inspirational, and readers won’t be disappointed.