July New Releases + Giveaway

Not only is it time to say ‘Hello July’ , it’s Canada’s birthday too! Woohoo! So, HAPPY CANADA DAY! Now onto the business of the day. 🙂

It’s a new Best Reads blog tradition! Celebrating the month’s new releases the first week of each month.

Because I recently discovered that a book’s success or failure is often determined by first month sales! (Though I bet preorders play into that as well.) Publishing houses look at those stats to determine whether they’ll add on to a series or accept the author’s next manuscript! All that literary goodness hanging in the balance but for a month’s worth of sales! (This was a cozy mystery author, but I imagine all traditional publishers use the same ‘system’.) So, I thought I should do my wee little bit to promote Christian Fiction.

By hosting a special “Hello — insert month” giveaway. It’s easy to play along. You just have to choose one of the July 2025 new releases on your TBR wishlist (must be Christian Fiction) and mention the title in a comment below (or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca.) If your name is drawn, that July release is the book you will win and we’re one book count closer to keeping our fave authors in business.

2025 Carol Award Finalists – 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 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 20245at the ACFW Gala in Springfield, Missouri (wouldn’t you love to be there?!)

How does this giveaway work?

You select which of the Carol Award finalists 2025 —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. 

Downfall (from the Cornered novella collection) by Lynn H. Blackburn – Revell – Editors: Kelsey Bowen and Jessica English – Giveaway options: US: choice of paperback or ebook copy of the Cornered Novella Collection (Eason, Blackburn, Walters), Canada: ebook copy of Downfall only OR audible edition of the Cornered Novella Collection. International: ebook of the Cornered Novella Collection for US Kindle account.

When their lives hang in the balance, they’ll have to rethink the meaning of following their dreams. 

All Cassie Quinn has ever wanted is to run her own restaurant. She left home to pursue her dream, but circumstances beyond her control destroyed it, and she returned to Gossamer Falls to regroup. When she’s given an offer she can’t refuse–to fill in as chef at a fine dining restaurant for the social elite–she jumps at the chance to restore her reputation. 

But when the kitchen is destroyed, it becomes clear that Cassie is in danger. She’s forced to accept the help of her ex-boyfriend, Officer Donovan Bledsoe, to find the culprit and secure her safety. Donovan’s primary mission is to keep her safe. His secondary mission is to win her back. 

Escape the web of deceptive criminals in this fast-paced romantic suspense novella with themes of cooking and culinary expertise, hometown reunion, and second chance romance.

My Review: https://kavsbestreads.ca/2024/11/25/cornered-giveaway/

Jingle Bell Matchmakers (from ‘A Match Made at Christmas’) by Lori DeJong – Scrivenings Press – Editors: Linda Fulkerson and Elena Hill – Giveaway options: US: ebook only, Canada: choice of paperback or ebook, International: ebook with a US Kindle account.

When country music star Aubrey Mayfield is lured home after years away, she’s bewildered when she and ex-fiance-now-widowed-dad Cody Lansdale keep finding themselves in the same place at the same time. As they become reacquainted, however, old feelings stir. Aubrey’s at a crossroads in her career and is contemplating a change. But when a chance at headlining her own tour takes her back to Nashville, Cody realizes her dreams may once again come between them. Unless God, with a little help from the Jingle Bell Committee, has a better plan.

Sleigh Bells and Stalkers (from the ‘Christmas in Nutfield’ Collection) by Robin Patchen – Indie – Editors: Ray Rhamey and Pegg Thomas. – Giveaway options: US and Canada: choice of paperback or ebook. International: ebook with a US Amazon Kindle account.

Threats lurk in the shadows this Christmas season.

It was strange enough when a woman Daniel Nolan had taken on one date suddenly showed up everywhere he went, but when he discovered her in his college apartment, he knew he had to go to the police—who did little but snicker when he made his report. Headed home to Nutfield for Christmas break, Daniel decides not to tell his police-detective father. The last thing he wants is for Dad to think he’s scared of a girl. Which he’s not, of course. He just wants her to leave him alone. He’s looking forward to a fun, relaxing, and stalker-free holiday at home with his family.

After Mom abandoned the family—and with Dad away so often on business—Star Brightwell stepped into the role of cook, cleaner, and babysitter to five younger siblings. On top of that, she’s stuck with organizing the live nativity—which used to be Mom’s job—at the annual Christmas festival. Star can’t let the program be canceled. It would devastate her siblings to lose this tradition, especially after Mom’s betrayal. Between her ornery brothers and sisters, her job, and now the nativity, she’s alone and overwhelmed and can’t wait for the season to be over. That is until her older brother’s handsome best friend, Daniel, offers to help. She’s gotten over her longtime crush. Now, she’s just happy for the extra set of hands.

But Daniel’s stalker has followed him to Nutfield, and she doesn’t take kindly to the pretty girl who’s caught his eye. Determined to reclaim Daniel’s attention, the stalker sets her sights on the woman who stands in her way.

A best-friend’s-sister romance and a stalker suspense wrapped up with a sparkly Christmas bow.

Reader’s Choice Week Summer 2025 Winners

This week was sooooo much fun! Thanks to everyone for contributing to my drastically overgrown wishlist…I think 🙂 We have a lot of reading ahead of us! Woohoo!

Time to indulge my inner stats nerd (who knew she was lurking inside of me for all these years?!) I tallied all the books mentioned on the 3 specific genre days and came up with the popular pick for each one and here they are:

And now for the rest of this Reader’s Week winners!

But wait, it’s not over yet. The Vanity category has become a blog tradition. It’s where a book is actually judged by its cover and I choose my favourite cover art per genre and then draw from a pool of readers who requested that title. Here are COVER LOVE winners!

I think this is such a pretty Christmassy cover! The pop of read in her clothes, the stars in the background and the light from the lantern leading the way. Perfect anticipatory ambiance.

I might be biased because of the world ‘Irish’ on the cover but there’s also a castle! And a moody sky. And Celtic knots. And the lure of an Irish setting. Cannot resist!

I’m surprised I like this cover so much. It’s stark, plain even, but the way the words pop out against the atmospheric background totally captivates me.

WAIT! Don’t go away ’cause we’re not through yet. We have another Reader’s Choice tradition of picking a random number which becomes a ‘just because giveaway’ on the genre specific days. If that doesn’t make sense, all you need to know is that it means more book giveaways. Woohoo! This time the number is 75.

And let’s not forget our Conversations with Kav Winner!

That’s another RC wrap up. I’ll send winners an email stating their book win, publication date and requesting contact info so that I’ll have everything ready for release day. Then I’ll email you once again once the book has been ordered. Oh — and if you didn’t include your email in your comment it’s up to you to contact me.

LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK:

I’m computer cross-eyed after this week plus it’s Canada Day weekend (official day is Tuesday but some of us are getting festive early!) so there won’t be any conversationing tomorrow but the rest of the week looks like this (without the graphics because eyes are soooo tired.)

Monday June 30 – Carol Awards – novellas

Tuesday July 1 – Happy Canada Day and Hello July – time to check your updated lists for a July release to enter in the giveaway!

Wednesday July 2 – These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas

Thursday July 3 – the official start to Christmas in July at Best Reads. At least one Christmas book will be featured every week and one every day between July 21 – 25. This week it’s Snowed in at Silver Lake by Stephanie Fowers.

Friday July 4 – Happy Fourth of July! – For Duke’s Sake by Donna Andrews – 37th Meg Langslow mystery!!!!!

Reader’s Choice Giveaway – Summer 2025 Edition – Goal Reviews

Quarterly reading goal reviews have become a Best Reads Blog tradition. I’ll share my progress (or not!) here just for some fun, book nerdy stats and, if you’re so inclined, you can share a goal or two in the comments. But no pressure – a goal can be as simple as ‘read a book.’

So, to enter this giveaway, just share anything goal related in the comments. Then, in the same comment, list a book that will help you reach your goal. So it looks like this:

“I want to catch up on some suspense series. Night Prey by Susan Sleeman.”

NOTE: BOOKS MUST BE CHRISTIAN FICTION

You can enter up to three times in three separate comments — and you can use the same goal or a different one each time, but a different title for each entry.

Books can be published any time up through to September 2025. Currently published books will be ordered this coming week for winners, otherwise it will be an IOU for a title releasing later.

See? Easy Peasy. But if you’re still not clear, don’t be shy about asking questions.

So, half way through the year and this is how my goals are shaping up.

Overall not too bad. I’m on track to reach my Good Reads number goal and I managed to increase the number of indie books by a wee bit, still aiming for more though. Here’s what I’m going to concentrate on during the third quarter:

  • Even more Indie Books!
  • Look for Diversity in authors, characters, settings
  • Concentrate on my 3 Read to Zero authors and hopefully catch up with two of them – Hannah Linder and Irene Hannon. Sarah M. Eden is going to take a ten year plan. 🙂
  • Get more strategic with the series I want to complete. I’ve been doing this haphazardly and some of the series I really want to finish are getting overlooked.

Okay, that’s enough nerdy stats stuff. Let’s get on with the giveaway!

Share below and remember to include a book title that will help you achieve any kind of reading goal. You can enter three times in three separate comments using the same goal or different ones. What ever strikes your fancy. Just make sure each entry is for a different title.

DRAW WILL BE HELD AND WINNER ANNOUNCED ON 

Saturday June 28 2025

OFFER OPEN TO ANY READER WHO HAS A US KINDLE .COM ACCOUNT FOR EBOOKS. OTHERWISE IT’S WINNER’S CHOICE OF PAPERBACK OR EBOOK FOR US AND CANADIAN ENTRIES.

Reader’s Choice Week – Summer 2025 Edition – General Christian Fiction

Reader’s Choice Giveaway – Summer 2025 Edition – Mystery / Suspense

Reader’s Choice – Giveaway – Summer 2025 Edition – Contemporary Romance / Fiction

Reader’s Choice Giveaway – Summer 2025 Edition – Historical Fiction

Conversations with Kav – Chasing Sunbeams – Summer Blog Tag + Giveaway

Here’s a fun little Q&A tag that Stephanie shared in a comment this week and challenged me to give it a go. So here w are. You can read her answers here: https://stephaniesninthsuitcase.com/2025/06/15/chasing-sunbeams-summer-blog-tag/

And compare them to mine here:

What’s a book you read with a summer vibe?

I can’t say for certain if this one is set in summer but this book has been on my mind and is definitely going to make it into my reread pile this summer: A Shore Thing by Julie Carobini. I mean it has a dog called Moondoggy! An endangered piece of shoreline with the hero and heroine on opposite sides of a development project. So angst riddled, but funny too. My first Julie Carobini!

If you could travel anywhere this summer, where would you go?

Ireland!!!! Irish born, Canadian reared but there’s a huge chunk of my heart that sill belongs to the ‘ol’ sod’ and I would head there in a heartbeat. A cottage by the sea would be nice, especially since they have had some unseasonably hot weather the last few years. But close to a village with a bookshop and a library and a quaint stone church and I’d be all set for the summer!

What poem or quote reminds of you the summer?

Okay, so I might have gardening on the brain and for me, gardening is summer! I just happen to collect gardening quotes in a little gardening journal and here are a few favourites:

“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.” – Alfred Austin

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” – Audrey Hepburn

“Gardening is an instrument of grace.” – May Sarton

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Describe your favourite summer memory.

The summer I was nine and discovered Edward Eager’s magic books at the library. I read them all multiple times over the summer. Half-Magic, Magic by the Lake, Knight’s Castle, Seven-Day Magic, Magic or Not? The Well-Wishers. They opened up a whole new genre for me and led me to E. Nesbit (Five Children and It is still my favourite!) and Narnia, of course. What a magical summer! Up until then I’d mainly read realistic fiction and the occasional sci-fi.

Your ideal summer if filled with ______, _______ & _________.

Books, Gardening, and Merry Dairy Vegan Ice Cream! 🙂

What is your favourite summer food?

Strawberry rhubarb pie! Ohh and peach pie! And cherry tomatoes right off the vine. Peas and yellow beans.Fresh salads every day. Fresh locally grown fruit. Watermelon!!! And the aforementioned Merry Dairy Vegan Ice Cream.

Favourite summer activities?

Why reading, of course. (Is anyone surprised?) And gardening (bet you didn’t see that one coming!) Going to local fresh food markets. The Highland games! Walks along the canal. Summer theatre in the park.

What is a song that reminds you of summer?

Um….I’m too busy reading to listen to music. The only thing that comes to mind is Eensy Weensy Spider — bwahahaha!

What are you must excited for this summer?

Ummm….Summer Book Bingo, of course! 🙂 (shameless plug) And loading up my wishlist with all the summer releases I’m going to find during Reader’s Choice Week. Eeeeeeppppppp!!!!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

Well, that was fun! Now it’s your turn – answer one of the questions (or more) in a comment to be entered in a giveaway – $10 Baker Book House gift card for US readers or $10 Amazon gift card for Canadian readers. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday June 28 2025.

June Giveaway – Week Three

Winners will be contacted if they left their email address, otherwise it’s up to the winner to contact me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca (please note it’s ca as in Canada, not com.) From time to time a winner and I do not connect so I have a one month time frame on giveaway wins. If I haven’t been able to reach you within 30 days of your win, it will be forfeited. This has happened a few times now, so please, DON’T BE SHY — CONTACT ME IF YOU DIDN’T LEAVE AN EMAIL OR IF I HAVEN’T BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN REACHING YOU!

LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK:

Conversations with Kav – a place for us to chat about bookish topics if anyone is so inclined. Sometimes there will be giveaways, sometimes there won’t. It will just depend on the topic of the day. Hope to see you there! Otherwise my inner book nerd and I will carry on by ourselves. Bwahaha!

And then the rest of the week will be devoted to….drumroll please…

READER’S CHOICE WEEK – SUMMER 2025 EDITION!

Of note: Harper Muse books won’t be considered as giveaway options this time round as they are not Christian Fiction and may have some questionable content – usually mild – but this week is all about celebrating Christian Fiction. I know some wonderful authors are publishing with Harper Muse and I have read some stunning novels so certainly feel free to share any upcoming releases that interest you in addition to the novels you would like entered in the giveaway.

For folks new to the blog: Reader’s Choice is a week we eagerly look ahead for new books in the CHRISTIAN FICTION genre coming out over the next three months. So this time ’round it will be books releasing in July, August or September 2025. You recommend genre specific titles (up to 3 suggestions per genre day) and you have a chance to win one of your recommendations! Full details will be included in each day’s blog post so be sure to read them. And feel free to ask any questions along the way. Often helpful reader friends will answer them even before I get a chance to.

Monday June 23 – Historical Romance / Fiction — a full length story or novella or collection of novellas set in any time period before 1980. May cross genres such as YA, Suspense, Amish etc and may include dual timelines.

Tuesday June 24 –  – Contemporary Romance / Fiction — a full length story or novella or collection of novellas set in any time period after 1980. May cross genres such as YA, Suspense, Amish etc and may include dual timelines.

Wednesday June 25 – Mystery/Suspense Fiction — a full length story or novella or collection of novellas where mystery is an important part of the plot. The hero or heroine (or both) are often in peril (more so in suspense.) Can be set in any time period and may cross genres such as YA, Amish etc and may include dual timelines.

Thursday June 26 – General Christian Fiction — a full length story or novella or collection of novellas. Any genre, including previous selections you made on other days this week as well as specific genres not covered yet such as Amish, Women’s Fiction, Speculative, SciFi etc.

Friday June 27 –  Goals in Review  – where we share our reading progress and suggest books that can help us reach a goal. (can include books published any time up to and including September 2025)

  • Draw will be held and winners announced on Saturday June 28
  • You have until noon on the 28th to enter any of the giveaways
  • It will take a good bit of the afternoon for me to calculate the winners so they won’t be posted until later in the day.