Description
Realistic characters; real God.
Book 1: Forgive and Remember
A new kindergarten teacher. The five-year-old’s single dad. All that stands between them is one heavy secret.
Shelby Beaton is brand-new to the small coastal town of Hartport. She’s not running from her pain. She’s running toward an opportunity to serve God at Freedom Academy.
When danger threatens the small school, Lincoln Kallock brings his security team to protect the students. He quickly notices his daughter’s new teacher. She’s beautiful, kind, and brave.
She wants nothing to do with him. But fate keeps pushing them together, and despite her icy walls, she starts to warm up to him. Can he convince her to share her burden, so he can help her heal?
Book 2: A Good Day to Live
She almost died. He saved her. Can they move past that scary night and find forever?
When Trace Hiller comes upon an accident, he tries to help the woman trapped in her car. When he reads the chilling text she’s trying to write, he is even more determined to give her another chance at life.
But Paige Valeo isn’t sure she wants that chance. She’s battling a darkness Trace can’t understand. She wants to heal, but she can’t seem to find the way. Trace wants to help without getting in the way.
As truth starts to break through her darkness, she begins to see her life in a whole new light and wonders … What would happen if I let the love in?
Book 3: No Time to Win
Someone’s plotting her destruction, and he’s the only safe place to turn.
Kyra Carter is a talented basketball coach, driven to climb the career ladder, but her win-at-all-cost attitude has some people fuming. When those critics conspire to get her fired, the computer teacher is the only one she can trust.
She can’t believe he’s willing to help, since she recently rejected him, but Brad Foster is a peacemaker who loves to help others. But will his help be enough? Can two people take on an entire college community?
As they fight to clear her name, she tries to ignore her growing feelings. Settling down in this small town would be the end of her career. And no way would Brad leave his hometown to follow her. So, what’s the point in falling in love? She doesn’t have time for that.
Kyra will have to choose: career ladder or real love. If she doesn’t decide, she might end up with neither.
Book 4: Bridge to the Present
He’s stuck in the past, nursing his grief. She’s the saucy Maine wilderness guide who’s loving life.
Victory “Vic” Collins is content with the life she’s built as an independent woman working her dream job—until she meets the lumberjack.
Widower and single dad Colt Faro has become a recluse. He can’t imagine finding love again after the heart break of losing his first love.
But matchmaker Cindy understands how devastating it is to lose a spouse. She’s known Colt since he was a kid, and she isn’t going to stand aside while he withers away.
One missing dog, one disastrous VBS play, and one canoe trip later, it seems the two might stand a chance at happily ever after—if Vic can convince Colt that he can honor his first love and have a new one at the same time.
Book 5: A Good Man Is Hard to Lose
When he won’t let divorce have the last word…
They partied their way into marriage. But when Brent quit drinking and Samantha didn’t, things went bad quickly. He left her, and he didn’t do it nicely.
They went their separate ways, and both ways led to Jesus.
Now a new man, Brent wants his wife back. But is it too late? According to matchmaker Cindy, all he’s got to do is woo her. Woo her? He doesn’t know how to woo anyone! He doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body.
Or so he thinks.
Either way, he’s got to try.
But Brent doesn’t know that Samantha is secretly fighting a war against addiction. Can love really conquer all? Is love really forever?
Book 6: Picture Imperfect
She’s worked so hard to be perfect. He was her only mistake.
Lindsay’s life was on track—the prestigious college, the high honors, the perfect fiancé—until a long-buried secret bubbles to the surface and ruins everything.
Lindsay goes home for refuge and finds anything but. When her parents threaten to disown her, she runs away before learning of the lies they’re spreading about her old flame, Jake.
Jake has to find Lindsay in order to clear his name. But when he finds her, his bad reputation is the least of her worries. Her fiancé is gone. Her career hopes are dashed. Her whole future has been wiped away.
But Jake has always known that all of that was just a show. It isn’t who Lindsay really is—or who she really wants to be. Can he help her see the truth before her parents suck her back into their web of deceit?
Jake and Lindsay embark on a truth-seeking road trip—and suddenly they’re two teenagers again without a care in the world. But trouble is still brewing back home, and they will need to go face it.
Will Lindsay choose that perfect future her parents still have planned? Or will she choose true love?
Cindy –
I learned about this author through a friend and decided to give her books a try, starting with the first book in this series. I did not know, however, that in doing so I’d spend each night devouring one book after another until the entire series was finished, a few days later. Who needs sleep anyway, right?
Oh myyyy, the characters! They felt real. They were relatable. Some of them were a total mess—like me! And they drew me in completely. I became invested in their lives and their emotions, and It was so wonderful watching them grow and change and HEAL as the stories progressed.
What really blew me away about these books is that they touched on some pretty serious real-life issues without pulling me under, or getting too crazy in-depth about the gritty details. Instead, the focus was shifted to how those issues affected the characters, how God showed up, and the healing—yes, lots and lots of healing—which is what I prefer to read about. So, I was able to read about subjects that would normally leave me crying for days (okay, months), but instead of tears I was filled with a sense of joy and hope because the message of God throughout these books was so powerful.
I loved the way the author was able to portray Jesus through the actions and conversations of the characters, such as Cindy, the pastor, and other reappearing church members. They provided so much wisdom and guidance to the main characters, which was a gift to me as well, as I soaked it all in.
I am so glad my friend recommended this author to me. Her stories are filled with truth, faith, inspiration, sweet, sour, and all the stuff that makes you go, “Ahhhh.”
Katherine –
This is hands-down the best series I’ve read in the last year. There aren’t many authors who can write about real-world struggles without making the books feel heavy (and frankly, depressing). Somehow, Robin Merrill managed to do it – not just with one book, but with the whole series.
I was so bummed when I got to the end of the last book. The characters in the town had become like friends, and I wanted to go to Greater Life Church!
I can’t recommend this series highly enough – it has well-rounded, imperfect characters, friendship, romance, and snarky humor. Most of all, it delivers hope and a boost to faith in every story.