Carol Awards Semi-Finalists 2023 – Novella + 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 — Novella 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 Novella Semi-Finalists.

By Far and Away by Brett Armstrong (The Near Distant Collection); Expanse Books — paperback and ebook giveaway —

On a day trip into the wilderness around Lake Tahoe, college students Ned, Tyler, and Everly stumble upon a monolith. No one knows its origin or purpose, but structures like this one have popped up all over the world, making national headlines. While not the local legend the group hoped to find, they decide to investigate, only to be engulfed by a blinding, powerful pulse of light. Instantly, the three friends find themselves in separate and drastically different worlds. They must quickly adapt to their new surroundings or perish.

If they can survive, the mystery of how to return to Earth becomes entangled in another question fundamental to our humanity: Where do I belong?

The Christmas Gift by Kathryn Cushman (Christmas at the Winter Palace Collection); Seventh Pew Press — paperback or ebook giveaway

“I make no pretensions of being anything close to an honorable man. However, as we have been joined in matrimony, I shall do my best to behave in a manner more worthy. More than that, I cannot promise.”

Not exactly the words a girl longs to hear on her wedding day.
Still, Countess Alyona Arkadyevna Vorontsova enters her arranged marriage with dreams of a happy family on a happy estate. Her much older husband, Count Lev Petrovich Vorontsov, enters the marriage eager for a son and heir.
When children are slow in coming, things begin to fall apart. Can Alyona still find peace, and even joy, when dream after dream fades away?

A Single Spark of Light by Sara Davison (A Whisper of Peace Collection); The Mosaic Collection — paperback or ebook giveaway — Jesus came into this world silently, bringing the gift of peace to a hurting world. In the midst of the crazy, messy lives of the people in these stories, will they be able to hear His whisper of peace over the clamoring of their hearts this Christmas season?

Kiss Me On Christmas by Sarah Monzon; Indie — paperback giveaway –– Single mom Kaitlyn Stafford has never considered Christmas a balancing act, but when her sister calls with the news that she’s getting married in less than two weeks—on Christmas Day—that’s exactly what the holiday looks like becoming. Helping with the out-of-state wedding will be fun. The challenge will be doing so while accommodating her neurodivergent son’s need to keep every single one of their Christmas traditions while they’re away from home. It’ll be tricky, but she can do it.
At least, that’s what she thinks before her son’s favorite YouTuber, Beckett Walsh, shows up on the scene, knocking her world off-kilter with his speaking glances and knowing smiles. How on earth is she supposed to pull off her balancing act when her world’s just tilted on its axis?

Not for Love by Naomi Musch (Lumberjacks and Ladies Collection); Barbour Fiction — paperback and ebook giveaway —
1881—Wisconsin
Widowed, Maggie seeks a husband—in name only—from the logging camps, but the man who answers her letter is a surprise. Can she open her heart to love again?

The Wondrous Gift by Deborah Raney (O little Town Collection); Kregel Publications — paperback or ebook giveaway — High school football coach Caleb Janssen and music teacher Rachel Hamblin bond when they both lose their jobs at a Christian school. But when they discover their plans for the future are mutually exclusive, the fallout threatens to tear them apart.

https://bestreads-kav.blogspot.com/2022/10/o-little-town.html

While Mortals Sleep by Janyre Tromp (O Little Town Collection); Kregel Publications — paperback or ebook giveaway — While World War II rages overseas, news reporter Eleanor Sweers returns home to Mapleview to face the repercussions of the death of her sister and her nightmare of Christmases past. But the homefront isn’t as far from the war as she thought: a bomb has landed in the middle of the U.S. Now Eleanor and family friend Gideon Braum may have to choose between the scoop of a lifetime and the love of a lifetime.

https://bestreads-kav.blogspot.com/2022/10/o-little-town.html

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 July 15, 2023. Good luck

43 thoughts on “Carol Awards Semi-Finalists 2023 – Novella + Giveaway”

  3. A Single Spark of Light by Sara Davison from A Whisper of Peace. That cover just invited me in. leliamae54(at)aol(dot)com

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  4. I’d love to read them all but my eyes have been watching “O Little Town” which includes one of my favorite authors Deborah Raney and 2 others I don’t recognize.

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  6. Not for Love by Naomi Musch (Lumberjacks and Ladies Collection) is my choice! I first saw the book on one of our Readers Choice weeks and fell in love with the cover. I’m so happy to see one of the stories in the collection as a semifinalist!! Naomi is a new-to-me author and the marriage-of-convenience/mail-order bride troupe is a favorite of mine 😊 Plus, Barbour puts out some great novella sets and I have quite a few of them on my bookshelves!

    teamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  10. So many great books in this Carol Awards giveaway! I’m going to choose The Christmas Gift by Kathryn Cushman (Christmas at the Winter Palace Collection). I have always been fascinated with the Russian Imperial court so this collection really intrigues me. Plus, I love Christmas stories!
    😀 ❤️🎄

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

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  12. Love me some Christmas in July! If I were fortunate enough to be selected, I would love the opportunity to read the whole “O Little Town Collection”. “While Mortals Sleep” by Janyre Tromp hits not on a Christmas story block, but also the era that I love to read stories in. I would take the paperback if selected.

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

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  14. This was rather a hard choice but I’ve been wanting to read the O Little Town collection so I’ll go with that.

    pmkellogg56[at]gmail[dot]com

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  15. I’m going to go with A Single Spark of Light by Sara Davison. I’ve never rad any of her books but hear good things about her work. Sarah Monson’s was tempting, too.

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  17. I’ll go with A Whisper of Peace story by Sara Davison. I already have a copy of O Little Town and I loved it. And that cover! That alone made me want the book 🙂

    ckbarker at gmail dot com

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  18. How to choose when they all sound so good and I haven’t read any of them? I know the authors of O Little Town are fantastic so that is my choice!

    Thank you. Sandyavery at comcast dot net

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  19. O Little Town’s summary and then the blog comments certainly pique my interest. It will be so interesting to see which books actually win in their categories. This focus of yours really helps refresh our memory about the books or, in my case, it educates me on many of which I was totally unaware. Thanks!

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