Five Fall Favorites // Novellas

Hello, hello, hello! 

Today I pop up in your inboxes and on your dashboards (just...not the car ones...) to bring to you my five favorite novellas! :D Sounds like fun, huh? 

In case y'all missed the invitation I posted the other day or you haven't been taking part in all the hubbub on several lovely blogs, I suppose it's up to me to enlighten you. ;) Author Rebekah Morris at Read Another Page is hosting a blog party! All week long (September 26th-30th), posts filled with book recommendations are popping up there. The other participants are Blessing Counter at Counting Your Blessings One by One, Sarah Holman at The Destiny of One, Amanda Tero at With a Joyful Noise, Kellyn Roth at Reveries, and Kate Willis at Once Upon an Ordinary. :D 

After noting the invitation to post about your own five favorites in a certain genre, I decided to do just that. :) I was going to do this post on my five favorite WWII historical fictions. (Because, let's be real. I could talk about that for hours.) I had titled the post, picked out the five books (a chore in itself), and was copying over the synopses from Goodreads when...I changed my mind. Y'all hear about that enough. So here I am, trying to be 'original' *wink* and giving you five of my favorite novellas. :D 

A Dream Not Imagined by Shantelle Mary Hannu 

A Maid, a Prince, and a Duke. A Gardener, a Stepmother, and a secret... 

Ellie Abbington, a beautiful yet unassuming young woman, quietly longs for her life to change. Too privileged to associate with the servants—too underprivileged to associate with her own family; she dreams a dream of a prince and a happily ever after. 

But it could be that her own stepsisters, conniving Dezmarie and easily-influenced Adelaide, are dreaming the same dream...of the same prince. 

In the end, are dreams even all they're made out to be? Especially with deep and long-hidden secrets about to be unearthed? 

A Dream Not Imagined is a non-magical fairytale novella based loosely on the classic tale of Cinderella. 

This is such a sweet fairytale retelling! Ellie and ___ (sorry, spoilers! :P) were just so adorable! I've read this novella at least twice and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a sweet, short, God-honoring love story. :) 

Dearest Jean, Dearest Walter by Rose Holman

During the last days of World War II, a young married couple exchanges letters, and their hearts, across an ocean. This is a fictional tale love, faith, and struggle, told through their letters to each other.

A story told through the letters of a young husband and wife during war-times, what could be sweeter?! And then the whole story of the Bible was just...amazing. :) I picked this one up for 99¢ and wasn't disappointed in the least. :D 

Waltz into the Waves by Sarah Holman

Amelia has always lived in a manor by the sea with her father, and looks forward every summer to a visit from Alex. However, her perfect life is dashed one summer when tragedy strikes. Will her life ever be happy again? 

A 7,000 word short story of faith, love, and happily ever after.

*happy sigh* Ahhh, yes. Another Cinderella retelling. What can I say? This was a free ebook when I snatched it up...and I read it within the hour. It was so sweet, people! Seriously, if you enjoy a sweet story...read this one! 

Finally Home by Deborah Raney

After being injured in Vietnam, Brian Lowe returns home in a wheelchair to the family mansion on the Mississippi River in Missouri—and to a nation that has seemingly turned against the very men and women fighting for its freedom. As if life couldn’t get any more complicated for Brian, he is assigned a beautiful, sassy physical therapist who just happens to be an outspoken war protestor. Kathy Nowlin has lived her life with passion, but her passions for her career and her strong feelings about the war collide in the person of Brian Lowe. Can these two searching souls ever find common ground? 

Set against the nostalgic backdrop of bell-bottoms, Volkswagen Beetles, tie-dye, and rock and roll, the darker rumblings of the Vietnam War era cast their shadow as Raney's novella explores timeless questions of life, love, and faith. 

(This on is not a retelling or WWII related...promise. ;)) Until picking up this one as a free ebook back in May (Memorial Day weekend, actually) I hadn't read much of anything set in the 70s or centered around the Vietnam war. I was so happy to see that change. ;) This books was so great! I love Brian and Kathy, seeing how the war had effected them and watching their relationship progress. :) 

This Quiet Sky by Joanne Bischof 

There is nothing extraordinary about Tucker O’Shay’s dreams. 
Go to college. Become president. Fall in love. 
And pretend like he has enough time to get it all done. 

Sixteen-year-old Sarah Miller doesn’t expect anything out of the ordinary when she begins her first day at the one-room-school house in her new hometown of Rocky Knob. But when she meets seventeen-year-old Tucker O’Shay—the boy with the fatal illness who volunteers to tutor her in algebra—she finds herself swept up in a friendship that changes the way she sees the world and a love that changes her life. 

*cries just looking at the beautiful cover* This book...THIS BOOK!!! Written in the fresh style of first-person, present-tense, I fell in love with this story right away. That Saturday this month when I read This Quiet Sky, I laughed and cried with Tucker and Sarah (and was an emotional wreck for hours, but...). *hugs book* Gaahhh. I...I just...I can't. Trust me, you have to read it. It's *that* beautiful. 

And that wraps it up! I hope y'all are having a great week and I'll see you Saturday, Lord willing, with my September recap. :) 

Oh! And be sure to check out Rebekah's blog for the awesome giveaway!! :D If they reach 100 entrants a third place prize will be given. They were at 94 when I check, just a few minutes ago!

~Faith