Prolific Lutheran author Jody Hedlund has started a new series, Colorado Cowgirls, and today the first book hits the shelves: Committing to the Cowgirl. Here’s the Amazon blurb: After years away, Astrid Nilsson has returned home to Colorado, hoping to become Fairplay’s second doctor . . . and to find healing for her reoccurring consumption. Spirited and independent, Astrid doesn’t want her illness to be a burden to those she loves, so she has resisted getting serious about any man. As the current doctor of Fairplay, Logan Steele is seeking to hire a male physician to take over his clinic afte ..read more

I just got Johannes Quenstedt’s Atonement in Lutheran Orthodoxy for $.99 for Kindle Woah! I won’t have to read it in the foreseeable future, but yay! Here’s a description: Johannes Quenstedt’s De Officio Christi is an antidote to errors about atonement in Lutheran circles. Lutheran Orthodoxy teaches that an indispensable part of atonement is vicarious satisfaction. Adversaries deny vicarious satisfaction. Their errors existed already in Quenstedt’s time. Robert D. Preus says, “Quenstedt was the Thomas Aquinas, so to speak, of Lutheran Orthodoxy, the last great representative. … [H]e was fair ..read more

Ladies & Gentlemen, you’re going to love this. Rev. Andrew Richard and Mr. Nathanael Hahn have been writing plays for their Lutheran school, Mount Hope Lutheran School in Casper, Wyoming. Now they have published three plays: Three Plays: The Travels of Sir Neil Bradley, Linus the King and the Tragedy of Thebes, The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth! AWESOME! This is the kind of writing I like best: combining a love for words and art with a love for others and vocation. Yay! I hope to find time to read this. It’s available for the cost of printing, and I’m sure they are just great! Do you know o ..read more

Lutheran author and professor Dr. Mark C. Mattes has released a new book: Christianity’s PR Problem and What to Do About It: A College Professor Accepts the Challenge. Here’s the Amazon description: Let’s face it: Christianity has a PR Problem. The secular world often paints Christian faith as intolerant, oppressive, superstitious, and incompatible with the modern world we live in. Amidst such attacks, faithful Christians can feel powerless in defending their views, especially when the opposition points to wrongdoings done in the name of Christianity or by Christians. In Christianity’s PR Pr ..read more

Here are a few recent releases from prolific Lutheran author Jonathan Moeller. Iron Drive (A short story): Innocents suffer when the Shadowlands stir. Nadia MacCormac is the Marshal of the Great Gate, defending humanity and Elves from the creatures of the Shadowlands. But when orcish raiders emerge from the Shadowlands, everyday men and women must take up weapons to fight for their lives…  Sevenfold Sword Online: Creation (Book One of a brand new series!): The greatest epic fantasy MMORPG in history has a ticking time bomb at its heart. Noah Carver used to work for Maskell Entertain ..read more

Today’s post is a review of Lutheran author Rev. D. Axtell Boyd‘s children’s story, Larkin and the Lightman. Larkin and the Lightman Review This book is beautiful in many ways and, in 73 large-fonted pages with occasional pictures, it really packs quite a punch. A family during the Middle Ages is relieved when an infant lives, but heartbroken upon realizing his ears are “broken.” Yet this story follows both familial and spiritual growth as the family develops with one another in the shadow of a grand cathedral. The main plot, of course, is Larkin discovering the Lightman through his father’s o ..read more

Here’s my big news: I have a new job! I’m going to be the lower school dean at Memorial Lutheran School in Houston. And, my first act will be . . . to also stand in as fifth grade teacher! So, um, there’s a lot on my plate for the next year. But it will be good. And I’ll still review Lutheran books as I get a chance. Today’s post is a review of Shelley Shepard Gray‘s Sycamore Circle, Book 2 in The Rumors in Ross County series. Sycamore Circle Review I have really enjoyed this series. There’s something refreshing and hopeful about the extra care and attention given to second chances and honora ..read more

Here’s a new book from a Lutheran author: (Dis)ordered: Lies about Human Nature and the Truth That Sets Us Free by Rev. Christopher Esget. Out by Concordia Publishing House. Here’s the Amazon blurb: Culture likes to tell us who we are. How are we supposed to navigate our desires, fears, and longing for purpose when culture claims that we’re just born a certain way and can’t help it? With (Dis)ordered: Lies about Human Nature and the Truth That Sets Us Free, readers will dive into difficult topics that increasingly press in on churches, workplaces, and daily lives. Readers will affirm their i ..read more

I went on a weekend trip a few weeks ago and indulged in some nice, relaxing reading at the airport. One of the books I read was Lutheran author Valerie Bodden‘s Not Until This Day, Book Six in her Hope Springs series. My review is below. Not Until This Day Review I think this may be my favorite in the series so far. The problems are real and serious, but the people are relatable and you just inwardly root for them both. There are scary parts. There is homelessness and domestic violence. But there is also a gradual relaxing of tensions, a smooth–for the most part–transition into a healthier, s ..read more

Today’s post is a review of Wait for Me: A Waters of Time Novel, which prolific Lutheran author Jody Hedlund releases today. Wait for Me Review Another time travel romance that whisked me away! This time, the blinded brother who was left behind becomes involved in the search for holy, healing, transporting water. The irony is that he, who seemingly had lost so much, ultimately does have such an important stake in the present time! Another well-written, well-plotted, beautifully descriptive work by Jody Hedlund. List of Other Books Judy Hedlund has written a LOT of books! (Yes, I’m u ..read more