Carol Award Semi-Finalists 2023 – Historical Fiction + Giveaway

First off — what exactly are the Carol Awards?

They are awards given out by American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) in recognition of outstanding Christian fiction in the previous calendar year. So these 2023 finalists are books published in 2022. You might have read them already, you might not. I’ll include links to books I’ve read and reviewed.

How does this giveaway work?

You select which of the Carol Award finalists 2023 — Historical Fiction Category you would like to receive. Mention the title in your comment (or an email if you’re entering that way) and if you win, that’s the book that will be sent to you. Easy Peasy.

Of Note: In past years, ACFW has announced the three finalists of each category in June and then the winners during their annual Writer’s Conference in late August/early September. This year they’ve switched it up and have announced seven semi-finalists in each category which will be whittled down to three finalists the first day of the conference at the end of August and then the winners in each category will be announced on the final day of the conference. So., with only two days in between the finalist announcements and the winner announcements, we’re going to have to go with wading through the seven semi-finalists so these weekly giveaways are going to be lengthy. Sorry about that. And now here are the Historical Fiction Semi-Finalists.

The Hidden Prince by Tessa Afshar; Tyndale House — paperback or ebook giveaway —

The beloved daughter of Jewish captives in Babylon, Keren is sold into Daniel’s household to help her family survive. She becomes Daniel’s most trusted scribe, while taking lessons and swordsmanship training alongside Daniel’s sons and their best friend, Jared.

But after a tragic accident changes the course of her life, Keren finds herself in a foreign country, charged with a mysterious task: teaching a shepherd boy how to become a lord. When she overhears whispers that hint at his true identity, she realizes she must protect him from the schemes of a bloodthirsty king.

Jared cannot forgive Keren. Still, he finds himself traveling over mountains to fetch her back to the safety of home. When he discovers the secret identity of Keren’s pupil, Jared knows he must help protect him. Love battles bitterness as they flee from the king’s agents, trying to save the boy who could one day deliver their people from captivity.

When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnett; Kregel Publications — paperback or ebook giveaway —
Kieran Lucas’s grandmother is slipping into dementia, and, when her memory is gone, Kieran’s last tie to the family she barely knows will be lost forever. Worse, Granny Mac is being tormented by flashbacks of her mother’s death and the loss of their home.

In 1931, Rosie McCauley’s Smoky Mountains home is threatened by the Tennessee Great Smokies Park Commission as they create a new national park. But Rosie vows the only way they’ll get her land is if they haul her out in a pine box. When a compromise offers her and her disabled sister the opportunity to stay for her lifetime, it seems too good to be true.

Ornithologist Benton Fuller arrives to conduct a bird survey for the park and the two form a tenuous bond. But their friendship broadens a rift between her and the other mountain folk who are suspicious of any government connections. Then the discovery of an illegal still in the woods near her cabin leads to a violent clash between sides that could destroy them all.

Eighty-five years later, Kieran heads back to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to find answers to her great-grandmother’s mysterious death and bring peace to Granny Mac before it’s too late. Park Historian Zach Jensen may be the key to locating both the answers and a precious family heirloom. But just as in the past, Kieran’s needs clash with government regulations. Will Zach block her from recovering what she needs and solving this family mystery?

Read and Reviewed: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4826547161

The Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson; Tyndale House — paperback or ebook giveaway —

In this gripping split-time novel, Grace Tonquin is an American Quaker woman who works tirelessly in Vichy France to rescue Jewish children from the Nazis. After crossing the treacherous Pyrénées, Grace returns home to Oregon with a brother and sister whose parents were lost during the war. Though Grace and her husband love Élias and Marguerite as their own, echoes of Grace’s past and trauma from the Holocaust tear the Tonquin family apart.

More than fifty years after they disappear, Addie Hoult arrives at Tonquin Lake, hoping to find the Tonquin family. For Addie, the mystery is a matter of life and death for her beloved mentor Charlie, who is battling a genetic disease. Though Charlie refuses to discuss his ties to the elusive Tonquins, finding them is the only way to save his life and mend the wounds from his broken past.

Read and Reviewed: https://bestreads-kav.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-winter-rose.html

When the Meadow Blooms by Ann H. Gabhart; Revell (Baker Publishing Group) — paperback or ebook giveaway —

Widow Rose Meadows eagerly accepts her brother-in-law’s offer for her and her two daughters to live on his farm after her treatments in a sanatorium finds them needing a home. But is this scarred and reclusive man ready for all the changes these women will bring to his life?

Not By Sight : a novel of the patriarchs by Elizabeth Jacobson; WordCrafts Press — ebook giveaway —

What could make a man turn to God when every event in his life screams that God has turned his back on him?

Joseph, the eleventh son of the patriarch Jacob, had his father’s favor, and that was his downfall. Sold into Egypt by his enraged and jealous brothers, Joseph is left with nothing to cling to except the stories of his father’s God, a seemingly remote and unreachable figure. Faith may prove futile, but Joseph is desperate – for the very hate that enslaved his brothers has begun to overtake him.

The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano; Revell (Baker Publishing Group) –– paperback or ebook giveaway —

When concert pianist Vivienne Mourdant’s father dies, he leaves to her the care of an adult ward she knew nothing about. The woman is supposedly a patient at Hurstwell Asylum. The woman’s portrait is shockingly familiar to Vivienne, so when the asylum claims she was never a patient there, Vivienne is compelled to discover what happened to the figure she remembers from childhood dreams.

The longer she lingers in the deep shadows and forgotten towers at Hurstwell, the fuzzier the line between sanity and madness becomes. She hears music no one else does, receives strange missives with rose petals between the pages, and untangles far more than is safe for her to know. But can she uncover the truth about the mysterious woman she seeks? And is there anyone at Hurstwell she can trust with her suspicions?

Fan-favorite Joanna Davidson Politano casts a delightful spell with this lyrical look into the nature of women’s independence and artistic expression during the Victorian era–and now.

Read and Reviewed: https://bestreads-kav.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-lost-melody.html

Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Lyn Tromp; Kregel Publications — ebook giveaway —

Charlotte Anne Mattas longs to turn back the clock. Before her husband, Sam, went to serve his country in the war, he was the man everyone could rely on–responsible, intelligent, and loving. But the person who’s come back to their family farm is very different from the protector Annie remembers. Sam’s experience in the Pacific theater has left him broken in ways no one can understand–but that everyone is learning to fear.

Tongues start wagging after Sam nearly kills his own brother. Now when he claims to have seen men on the mountain when no one else has seen them, Annie isn’t the only one questioning his sanity and her safety. If there were criminals haunting the hills, there should be evidence beyond his claims. Is he really seeing what he says, or is his war-tortured mind conjuring ghosts?

Annie desperately wants to believe her husband. But between his irrational choices and his nightmares leaking into the daytime, she’s terrified he’s going mad. Can she trust God to heal Sam’s mental wounds–or will sticking by him mean keeping her marriage at the cost of her own life?

Debut novelist Janyre Tromp delivers a deliciously eerie, Hitchcockian story filled with love and suspense. Readers of psychological thrillers and historical fiction by Jaime Jo Wright and Sarah Sundin will add Tromp to their favorite authors list.

Come Down Somewhere by Jennifer L. Wright; Tyndale House — paperback or ebook giveaway —

For fans of WWII fiction comes a powerful novel by Jennifer L. Wright about two young women coming of age during the Trinity nuclear bomb test in 1945.

Sixteen-year-old Olive Alexander has lived on a ranch in the Jornada del Muerto region of southern New Mexico her entire life. But when World War II begins, the government seizes her family’s land for the construction of a new, top secret Army post.

While her mother remains behind, Olive is forced to live in nearby Alamogordo with her grandmother and find a place in a new school. When Jo Hawthorne crosses her path, Olive sees a chance for friendship―until she learns that Jo’s father is the Army sergeant who now occupies her beloved ranch. Already angry about her new reality, Olive pushes Jo away. But as she struggles to make sense of her grandmother’s lapses into the past and increasingly unsettling hints about what’s happening at the ranch, she slowly warms to Jo’s winsome faith and steady attempts at friendship . . . until one devastating day when the sky explodes around them and their lives are torn apart.

Seven years later, Jo returns to Alamogordo, still angry and wounded by the betrayals of that fateful day. Determined to put the past behind her once and for all, Jo hunts for answers and begins to realize the truth may be far more complicated than she believed, leading her on a desperate search to find her friend before it’s too late.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

Please pay attention to the book formats available for this giveaway noted after the publication info for each individual title. Ebook wins are available to anyone, anywhere who has a .com kindle account. Paperbacks are available to readers in US and Canada.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of one of these Carol Awards semi-finalists, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday June 24, 2023. Good luck!

70 thoughts on “Carol Award Semi-Finalists 2023 – Historical Fiction + Giveaway”

  1. I’ve read a couple of these books and heard great things about the others. I would choose When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnett. Thanks for showcasing these and for the chance to win!
    whthomas13 at yahoo dot com

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  6. Come Down Somewhere by Jennifer L. Wright would be my choice. This is one of my favorite genres and I’ve read two of the other nominations.
    pattymh2000(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  7. There are so many good ones this time around with familiar authors as well. It’s had to pick. I’ve read The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano and what a haunting story that is but so beautifully written. I enjoyed it immensely.
    I going to pick… The Hidden Prince by Tessa Afshar.

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  9. I’ve read several of these and loved them. It would be great to try When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnett. Thanks for the giveaway! Jolene – iwant2save34 at gmail dot com

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  11. Whew, this one is hard to choose. I’ve already read and loved Janyre Tromp’s Shadows in the Mind’s Eye, but there are three others that are really intriguing to me too. I’ll go with When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnett. Fingers crossed! 🙂

    ckbarker at gmail dot com

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  12. Thank you for highlighting these books. I didn’t read historical fiction until recently so imagine how many great books I have to look forward to reading! I’ll start with When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnett, it sounds fantastic.

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  14. Ann Gabhart would be my choice. I have read the Melody Dobson and the Jennifer Wright. And, I am heading to GoodReads to read more about Janyre Tromp. Thanks. Seems it might feel odd for this year as to how many authors show up for the meetings and festivities. 7 per category and then down to typical 3 after first day.

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    1. I haven’t heard why they decided to go with announcing the semi-finalists early-ish and then announcing the finalists just two days before the winner during the conference. There must be a solid reason — maybe to give more coverage to different Christian Fiction authors? Good luck, CC.

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  15. I have read several if these but have nit yet obtained When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnette. That is my pick! Thanks for the chance!
    paulamarys49ATgmailDOTcom

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  16. When the Meadow Blooms by Ann H. Gabhart sounds the most enticing to me of the ones I don’t have (though it was a hard choice between that and Joanna Davidson Politano’s The Lost Melody.) Great lineup they have here!

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    1. Wow what a great list. Thank you for doing this. It’s always fun to see the computation these books have. The books I haven’t read and would love to put my name in the hat for are

      The Hidden Place Tessa Afshar (Her books are deep and full of adventure)

      When Stone Wings Fly Karen Barnett. That sounds intriguing.

      I know you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover but

      Not By Sight by Elizabeth Jackson is gripping. I can not stop looking at the cover wondering what journey this author will take us on. It’s a new to me author too!

      Thanks again for all you do!! nora finding hope

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  17. When the Meadow Blooms was wonderful and the rest are all on my wish list. Now to choose. This is hard. The Winter Rose 🌹 leliamae54(at)aol(dot)com

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  18. So many good books up for this award! I would like to pick The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano. I have been wanting to read this book. Joanna is a great author!

    Alison Boss
    nj(dot)bossman(at)gmail(dot)com

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  19. oh my goodness, how to choose? I will start with my first choice: The Hidden Prince by Tessa Afshar. I have wanted to read one of her books for a while now. Thanks Kav. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

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  20. So many good ones!! I’ll go with “When the Meadow Blooms” by Ann Gabhart, such an intriguing sounding story. I somehow missed this one but I love her writing. 💖😊

    teamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  22. I’ve read three of these books; they were excellent. I’d choose The Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson. I always enjoy her books.

    pmkellogg56[at]gmail[dot]com

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  23. Would LOVE the opportunity to read and review “When Stone Wings Fly” by Karen Barnett. Sound absolutely marvelous and is on my TBR list.

    Thank you for the chance!
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  24. Hi, I have read four of these historicals ~ my favorite reading section. I would like to read When the Meadow Blooms by Ann H. Gabhart. Sounds different from what she usually writes. Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House kathleen[dot]e[dot]belongia[at]gmail[dot]com

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  30. I’ve read several of these titles but I’ve missed reading Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson. I’ll be anxious to see the winner!
    Connie
    cps1950ATgmailDOTcom

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