So Underrated

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is all about our favorite books that have under 2000 ratings on Goodreads. I was actually really surprised to find that a lot of books I love fit into this category, so I tried to add some of the older ones that I maybe haven’t mentioned as much to this list. I will say, I really enjoyed how different this topic is! It’s quite unlike any topic I’ve done before, so it really made for an adventure! And you can be sure, just because these books aren’t the highest rated books on Goodreads, doesn’t mean they aren’t fantastic reads!

Where Willows Grow by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Her heart aches for his return…but is the distance between them measured by more than miles?

Anna Mae isn’t sure her husband is being completely honest about his job with the Works Progress Administration. They’re building a castle? In Kansas? Harley promised he’d be at the worksite only long enough to earn enough cash to keep their farm. But the money hasn’t arrived, and Anna Mae fears Harley may be gone for good.

Harley Phipps has never been a man in need of luxuries, but he wants to do right by his wife and two little girls. He was about to lose all he’d worked for if he didn’t do something. There was no way he could pass up the government job, even if it meant leaving his family for a while. Anna Mae was awful mad when he sold the mules, packed his bag, and headed out. If only she’d send him a short note to let him know she and the girls are all right…

In the Company of Secrets by Judith Miller

In the Company of Secrets is the first book in Judith’s Postcards from Pullman series.

The truth could cost her everything…

Olivia Mott didn’t intend to lie. Somehow, it just happened. And wasn’t it all Lady Charlotte’s fault anyway?

Now Olivia’s position as assistant chef at Pullman’s elegant Hotel Florence is dependent upon her keeping her secrets. And sometimes lies have a way of leading to other lies. Should Olivia admit her real past and accept the consequences or keep quiet in order to preserve her comfortable new circumstances?

Deception seems to be part of everyday life in the company town of Pullman, Illinois, where the grand Pullman Palace Car is manufactured. Samuel Howard, Olivia’s friend and the town manager, seems to think everything is fine, but Olivia observes something quite different. Could it be that Olivia is not the only one harboring secrets?

Another Homecoming by Janette Oke

In the wake of her husband’s presumed death, a young war bride makes a desperate choice to give her baby a better life. However, her choice will have unforeseen ramifications for more lives than she ever expected. The baby girl, named Kyle by her adoptive parents, grows up with no knowledge of her humble beginnings. When a heartbreaking loss pits Kyle against her high society mother, secrets from Kyle’s past come to light. Suddenly, she finds herself searching for the family she never knew and a faith she’s only beginning to understand. With all that has come before, will Kyle ever be able to find home?

Murder Simply Brewed by Vannetta Chapman

Murder Simply Brewed is the first book in Vannetta Chapman’s Amish Village Mystery series.

When the coffee shop manager is murdered in Middlebury’s Amish Artisan Village, two women from different walks of life must join together to solve the mystery.

Spring has arrived in Middlebury, Indiana, and Amber Wright is optimistic about the growing profit from her collection of Amish shops—until she receives a call that Ethan Gray is dead. Hurrying over to A Simple Blend, she finds a solitary hole in the front window and the store manager lying next to the espresso machine, dead from an apparent heart attack. All the money is still in his register.

When Amber hires a young Amish woman, Hannah Troyer, to take over the shop’s duties, the two women become fast friends—as well as amateur sleuths. The police believe Gray’s death is a by-product of vandalism, but Amber and Hannah aren’t convinced.

Clues that don’t add up, a neighbor who is pulled into the midst of the investigation, a town with secrets to hide, and a blossoming romance—all will combine to push Amber and Hannah into unfamiliar roles in order to reveal answers to the mysteries around them.

You Shouldn’t Have to Say Goodbye by Patricia Hermes

Thirteen-year-old Sarah Morrow doesn’t think much of the fact that her mother winced a little when she hugged her. In fact, that first small indication of something wrong escapes the whole family. Three weeks later though there can be no escape. Sarah’s mother has been diagnosed with incurable cancer and the love this family shares becomes a desperate clinging.

But Sarah’s mother has a gift. A gift for reaffirming life. And even as she leaves that gift, another one, a letter, will help bring Sarah through the most painful and trying time she has ever had.

Circle of Spies by Roseanna M. White

Circle of Spies is the third book in Rosanna’s Culper Ring series, coming after Ring of Secrets and Whispers from the Shadows.

A glimpse was all she had…a glimpse was all she needed.

1865—Marietta Hughes never wanted to be a spy, but the family legacy of espionage is thrust upon her as the War Between the States rolls on. Unknown to her, the Knights of the Golden Circle—a Confederate secret society bent on destroying the Union her brother died for—has been meeting in a hidden lair beneath her home. Faced with the secrets of her late husband and his brother, whom she thought she could trust with anything, Marietta’s world tilts out of control. Can she right it by protecting a Union agent infiltrating the KGC?

Slade Osborne, an undercover Pinkerton agent, is determined to do whatever is necessary to end the conflict between the North and the South. When he infiltrates this secret cell, it isn’t just their inner workings that baffle him—it’s the beautiful woman who seems to be a puppet for their new leader and yet…so much more.

Do they dare trust each other in this circle of intrigue? Will their shared faith sustain them? And an Mari and Slade stymie the enemy long enough to see their beloved country reunited?

Safe in His Arms by Colleen Coble

Safe in His Arms is the second book in Colleen’s Under Texas Stars series, coming after Blue Moon Promise.

Sometimes it takes a stranger to see you as you really are.

Born and raised on sprawling Texas land, Margaret O’Brien prides herself on her competence as a rancher. But her father believes she’s made for more than just dawn-to-dusk work. He wants her to have the love of a good man, to raise children, to build a life. But Margaret gave up such dreams years ago. She’s convinced no man would have her, that the ranch is her life now.

So when Margaret’s father hires Daniel Cutler as a new foreman, she’s frustrated and suspicious. Then an overheard conversation links him with a gang of bank robbers, and she’s downright worried. Daniel swears he’s not involved, but Margaret’s not convinced. She knows the man still has secrets. But would a criminal be so kind and talk so convincingly of his faith? As a series of tragic “accidents” threatens all she holds dear, Margaret must decide what to trust: her own ears, her best judgement…or what her heart keeps telling her.

Leaving Carolina by Tamara Leigh

Leaving Carolina is the first book in Tamara’s Southern Discomfort series.

Piper Wick left her hometown of Pickwick, North Carolina, twelve years ago, shook the dust off her feet, ditched her drawl and her family name, and made a new life for herself as a high-powered public relations consultant in LA. She’s even “engaged to be engaged” to the picture-perfect U. S. Congressman Grant Spangler.

Now all of Piper’s hard-won happiness is threatened by a reclusive uncle’s bout of conscience. In the wake of a health scare, Uncle Obadiah Pickwick has decided to change his will, leaving money to make amends for four generations’ worth of family misdeeds. But that will reveal all the Pickwicks’ secrets, including Piper’s.

Though Piper arrives in Pickwick primed for battle, she is unprepared for Uncle Obe’s rugged, blue-eyed gardener. So just who is Axel Smith? Why does he think making amends is more than just making restitution? And why, oh why, can’t she stay on task? With the Lord’s help, Piper is about to discover that although good PR might smooth things over, only the truth will set her free.

Under the Cajun Moon by Mindy Starns Clark

What secrets can be found by the light of the Cajun moon?

New Orleans may be the “Big Easy,” but nothing about it was ever easy for international business etiquette expert Chloe Ledet. She moved away years ago, leaving her parents and their famous French Quarter restaurant behind. But when she hears that her father has been shot, she races home to be by his side and to handle his affairs—only to learn a long-hidden secret that changes everything she knew to be true about herself and her family.

Framed for murder, Chloe and a handsome Cajun stranger must search for a priceless treasure, one whose roots weave through the very history of Louisiana itself but can Chloe depend on the mysterious man leading her on this cat-and-mouse chase into the heart of Cajun country? Or by trusting him, has she gone from the frying pan into the fire?

The Sweet By and By by Sara Evans & Rachel Hauck

The Sweet By and By is the first book in Sara and Rachel’s Songbird series.

It begins with a little red envelope…

…the one Jade doesn’t want to send. The envelope that invites her mother, Beryl, to her wedding—and opens up more of her past than she cares to deal with. Jade has worked so hard to put her hardscrabble childhood behind her.

And she’s found everything she wanted in the beautiful green hills of Whisper Hollow, Tennessee. A thriving vintage shop all her own. A lovely one-eyed shepherd dog named Roscoe. And Max, the almost-too-good-to-be-true man she plans to marry in just a few weeks. For the first time in her life, her heart feels at home, and she can’t wait to step out into their beautiful future.

But can she really have a sweet by and by if she can’t come to terms with yesterday?

Those are my top ten books that have under 2000 ratings on Goodreads! What about you? What are some of your favorite underrated novels?

Happy Tuesday and happy reading!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party page.

All credit for the italicized synopses goes to each author and their respective publishers.