Carol Award Finalists – Short Novel + 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 2025 finalists are books published in 2024. You might have read them already, you might not. I’ll include links to books I’ve read and reviewed.

Carol Award Winners will be announced on September 6 2025 at the ACFW Gala in New Orleans, Louisiana (wouldn’t you love to be there?!)

How does this giveaway work?

You select which of the Carol Award finalists 2025 —Short Novel 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. 

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:

Giveaway details may vary with each book (print, ebook only or winner’s choice of either, plus audible options for Canadians.) Edition availability will be noted in bold after the title/author/publisher of each entry. ALSO NOTE: Giveaway is for US and Canada OR ebook international if you have US Kindle account.

Short Novel Finalists

Twenty-One Stones by Janice Boekhoff – Indie – Editor: Linda Yezak – Giveaway options: US and Canada: ebook (also available on Kindle UnLimited), International: ebook with US Kindle account.

A genius with a reckless streak. A risky scientific breakthrough. Is saving a life worth the cost?

Mars Lockporte lives for excitement. Brilliant but impatient, the quantum physics major chases each new blood-pumping high with the cockiness of an action hero. So when his best friend is murdered, the loyal adrenaline junkie doesn’t hesitate to use his untested invention to jump back in time and stop the killer… but instead ends up in the middle of the Civil War.

Scrambling to survive the Battle of Antietam, Mars is shocked to discover his foe’s distant ancestor is a male nurse patching up wounded Union soldiers. And with scant hours left before he’s returned to his own era, the bright young scientist fears his only opportunity to alter his friend’s deadly fate means destroying an innocent life.

Will Mars change history at the price of his soul?

Twenty-One Stones is the intriguing first book in the Leap Limit time-travel science fiction series. If you like smart but flawed heroes, historical backdrops, and facing difficult decisions, then you’ll love Janice Boekhoff’s fascinating what-if.

Matchmaking the Cowboy by Emily Conrad – Indie – Editors: Brandi Aquino and Judy DeVries – Giveaway Options: US and Canada: paperback or ebook (also available on Kindle UnLimited) International: ebook with US Kindle account.

What’s a little covert matchmaking between friends?

Lucy Aveline’s ex has a knack for making her feel small and helpless. She’d avoid him entirely, but he still owns a piece of her heart in the form of the pets he purchased for her but kept for himself. She visits Rosie and Jasmine when she can, vows to avoid another controlling boyfriend by staying single, and focuses on her large animal veterinary practice. Or that’s the plan until some longtime family friends attempt to set her up with former rodeo star Hollis Price. Lucy convinces them to drop the plot only when she promises to find Hollis a good match herself.

Hollis is more concerned with surviving his first Christmas after losing his dad than with finding love. Dad’s champion horse is aging, and rumors started by an unhappy client threaten the horse training business Hollis inherited from his father. When the kind and talented Lucy offers friendship, he accepts simply to add cheer to the season.

It’s not long before his interest in Lucy deepens, but so do problems at his ranch. Saving his father’s legacy begins to look as impossible as earning Lucy’s trust. Especially when her ex continues to use her love of animals against her and she won’t stop pushing her single friends at Hollis long enough to notice she’s the one he’s falling for.

Return to Redemption Ridge, Colorado and enjoy the faith, friendships, and forever-afters in this Christian Christmas Romance.

Waiting for Gilbert by Tasha Hackett – Indie – Editors: Megan Schaulis and Crystal Nelson – Giveaway options: US: paperback or ebook, Canada: paper, ebook or audible, International: ebook with US Kindle account.

“I’m just a girl, standing in front of a phone, asking her landlord to come to dinner.”

Cute and fun Cordelia is history. From now on, I’m serious and focused CJ Thompson. No more snappy one-liners. No more dance-parties-for-one in restaurant booths. Anne-girl is out. Marilla Cuthbert is in. It’s time to grow up!
If only it were that easy. With less than two weeks until a massive work deadline, I signed a 12-month lease on a cottage sight-unseen because I couldn’t bear to stay in the city another day after my broken engagement. It’s all well and good until my landlord knocks on my door at two in the morning.

Who knew living next to a house-flipping, cello-playing, swooney-smiling, flesh-and-blood man named Gilbert would be so distracting?

To Do…
17. Finish unpacking
18. Drink coffee
19. Ask Gilbert to marry me

*********
This is a no-door, kisses only romance with beautiful raw emotions and silly and wonderful characters.

My Review: https://kavsbestreads.ca/2024/12/17/waiting-for-gilbert-giveaway/

Amish Witness to Murder by Dana R. Lynn – Love Inspired – Editor: Tina James – Giveaway Options: US and Canada: paperback or ebook. International: ebook with US Kindle account.

To identify her father’s killer…she must stay alive.

After finding her family’s barn in flames and witnessing her father’s murder, Beth Troyer becomes the killer’s next target. She narrowly escapes death when the murderer turns on her, but now she’s left temporarily blind. She’ll have to rely on former family friend Gideon Bender to keep her safe until her eyesight returns. But with a killer who’ll stop at nothing to find her, staying alive might just be impossible…

Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday July 26 2025. REMEMBER TO CHECK EDITION AVAILABILITY FOR EACH BOOK.