Must-Have March Releases

So, this is actually kind of late, but my must-have releases posts are some of my absolute favorites, so I still wanted to post my list for March! Even though it’s definitely already March, I figured this wasn’t too late to share the books I can’t wait for this month!

 

The White Feather Murders

Uncommon heroes…or unsuspecting victims?

Toronto, 1914, Merinda Herringford and Jem Watts never could have imagined their crime-solving skills would set them up as emblems of female empowerment in a city preparing to enter World War I at the behest of Great Britian.

Yet, despite their popularity, the lady detectives can’t avoid the unrest infiltrating every level of society.

A war measure adopted by Mayor Montague puts a target on Jem and her Italian husband. Meanwhile, deep-rooted corruption in the police force convinces their friend, Constable Jasper Forth, to quit his job and join Merinda in becoming a member of the Cartier Club—a group dedicated to weeding out the villains in local law enforcement agencies.

When a club member turns up dead, bearing a slanderous white feather, will Merinda, Hem, and those they hold dear be able to solve the high-stakes mystery before they’re all picked off, one by one?

 

The White Feather Murders is the third book in Rachel McMillan’s Herringford and Watts Mysteries series, coming after The Bachelor Girl’s Guide to Murder and A Lesson in Love and Murder. I enjoyed the first book in the series, and although I haven’t read the second one, I’m sure both that installment and this newest release will be fantastic!

A Bridge Across the Ocean

February, 1946. World War Two is over, but the recovery from the most intimate of its horrors has only just begun for Annaliese Lange, a German ballerina desperate to escape her past, and Simone Deveraux, Resistance spy.

Now the two women are joining hundreds of other European war brides aboard the renowned RMS Queen Mary to cross the Atlantic and be reunited with their American husbands. Their new lives in the United States brightly beckon until their tightly-held secrets are laid bare in their shared stateroom. When the voyage ends at New York Harbor, only one of them will disembark…

Present day. Facing a crossroads in her own life, Brette Caslake visits the famously haunted Queen Mary at the request of an old friend. What she finds will set her on a course to solve a seventy-year-old tragedy that will draw her into the heartaches and triumphs of the courageous war brides—and will ultimately lead her to reconsider what she has to sacrifice to achieve her own deepest longings.

 

A Bridge Across the Ocean is a stand-alone novel by Susan Meissner, and even though I haven’t read anything by her yet, this book sounds completely wonderful! I love historical novels, and this sounds just like it would be right up my alley!

For Love and Honor

Lady Sabine is harboring a skin blemish, one, that if revealed, could cause her to be branded as a witch, put her life in danger, and damage her chances of making a good marriage. After all, what nobleman would want to marry a woman so flawed?

Sir Bennet is returning home to protect is family from an imminent attack by neighboring lords who seek repayment of debts. Without fortune or means to pay those debts, Sir Bennet realizes his only option is to make a marriage match with a wealthy noblewoman. As a man of honor, he loathes the idea of courting a woman for her money, but with time running out for his family’s safety, what other choice does he have?

As Lady Sabine and Sir Bennet are thrust together under dangerous circumstances, will they both be able to learn to trust each other enough to share their deepest secrets? Or will those secrets ultimately lead to their demise?

 

For Love and Honor is the third book in Jody Hedlund’s An Uncertain Choice series, coming after An Uncertain Choice and A Daring Sacrifice. I’m a big fan of Jody’s, so I’ve been looking forward to this series for quite some time! I don’t even know how I haven’t started this series yet, but I’m excited to!

The Illusionist’s Apprentice

Harry Houdini’s one-time apprentice holds fantastic secrets about the greatest illusionist in the world. But someone wants to claim them…or silence her before she can reveal them on her own.

Boston, 1926. Jenny “Wren” Lockhart is a bold eccentric—even for a female vaudevillian. As notorious for her inherited wealth and gentleman’s dress as she is for her unsavory upbringing in the back halls of a vaudeville theater, Wren lives in a world that challenges all manner of conventions.

In the months following Houdini’s death, Wren is drawn into a web of mystery surrounding a spiritualist by the name of Horace Stapleton, a man defamed by Houdini’s ardent debunking of fraudulent mystics in the years leading up to his death. But in a public illusion that goes terribly wrong, one man is dead and another stands charged with his murder. Though he’s known as one of her teacher’s greatest critics, Wren must decide to become the one thing she never wanted to be: Stapleton’s defender.

Forced to team up with the newly formed FBI, Wren races against time and an unknown enemy, all to prove the innocence of a hated man. In a world of illusion, of the vaudeville halls that showcase the flamboyant and the strange, Wren’s carefully constructed world threatens to collapse around her. layered with mystery, illusion, and the artistry of the Jazz Age’s bygone vaudeville era, The Illusionist’s Apprentice is a journey though love and loss and the underpinnings of faith on each life’s stage.

 

The Illusionist’s Apprentice is the second book in Kristy Cambron’s Jazz Age Entertainers series, coming after The Ringmaster’s Wife. I absolutely loved the first installment in this series, so believe me when I say I’ve already preordered this new one! I really can’t wait to read it, and I already highly recommend it!

Her Secret

After a stalker went too far, Hannah Hilty and her family had no choice but to leave the bustling Amish community where she grew up. Now she’s getting a fresh start in Hart County, Kentucky…if only she wasn’t too scared to take it. Hannah has become afraid to trust anyone—even Isaac, the friendly Amish man who lives next door. She wonders if she’ll ever return to the trusting, easy-going woman she once was.

For Isaac Troyer, the beautiful girl he teasingly called “The Recluse” confuses him like no other. When he learns of her past, he knows he’s misjudged her. However, he also understands the importance of being grateful for God’s gifts, and wonders if they will ever have anything in common. But as Hannah and Isaac slowly grow closer, they realize that there’s always more to someone than meets the eye.

Just as Hannah is finally settling into her new life, and perhaps finding a new love, more secrets are revealed and tragedy strikes. Now Hannah must decide if she should run again or dare to fight for the future she has found in Hart County.

 

Her Secret is the first book in Shelley Shepard Gray’s The Amish of Hart County series, and is another book I’m really looking forward to. I really love Shelley’s novels, especially her mysteries, so I’m excited for this new series!

A Stolen Heart

From afar, Cimarron Creek seems like and idyllic town tucked in the Texas Hill Country. But when former schoolteacher Lydia Crawford steps onto its dusty streets in 1880, she finds a town with a deep-seated resentment of Northerners—like her. Lydia won’t let that get her down, though. All will be well when she’s reunited with her fiancé. But when she discovers he has disappeared—and that he left behind a pregnant wife—Lydia is at a loss about what to do next. The handsome sheriff urges her to trust him, but can she trust anyone in this town where secrets are as prevalent as bluebonnets in spring?

 

A Stolen Heart is the first book in Amanda Cabot’s Cimarron Creek Trilogy, and sounds really wonderful! I have enjoyed Amanda’s novels in the past, so I’m looking forward to this new one!

When Tides Turn

When Quintessa Beaumont learns the Navy has established the WAVES program for women, she enlists, eager to throw off her frivolous ways and truly contribute to the US effort in World War II. Determined to make admiral, Lt. Dan Avery employs his skills to fight U-boats, and the last thing he wants to see on his radar is fun-loving Tess. When Tess is assigned to work with Dan at the Anti-Submarine Warfare Unit in Boston, she finds her affections drawn by the no-nonsense officer, realizing he sees her as the greatest nonsense of all. As she works hard to prove her worth as a WAVE, she also investigates strange happenings in her friend Yvette Lafontaine’s group of French ex-patriates. Is there a spy in their midst? And has that spy infiltrated the anti-submarine research group? When Dan is assigned to a new escort carrier at the peak of the Battle of the Atlantic, he is torn between his lifelong career goals and his desire to help Tess on shore. While the German Navy challenges Dan’s skills, the changes in Tess challenge his notions—and his heart.

 

When Tides Turn is the third book in Sarah Sundin’s Waves of Freedom series, coming after Through Waters Deep and Anchor in the Storm. I am a HUGE fan of Sarah’s and have really enjoyed this series so far, so I’m super excited for this installment!

Written in Love

When a postal error creates pen pals of two young Amish people, can they put behind their past mistakes to see the bright future God has written for them?

Jalon Chupp has a past he isn’t proud to claim. He’s worked hard to overcome his youthful mistakes, and he has recommitted himself to his faith. When he receives a sweet note included in a piece of misdirected mail, he can’t help but write back. Soon, the letters he receives from Phoebe are the highlights of his days, and with a hopeful heart, he suggests they meet in person.

Phoebe, too, looks forward to every single one of Jalon’s letters. Living with her overbearing aunt, Phoebe doesn’t have too much to look forward to. But when Jalon suggests they meet, she panics—although she has shared some of the deepest longings of her heart with him, she hasn’t been entirely truthful about her past. But when Jalon shows up at her aunt’s doorstep, everything is revealed. And she can only pray he’ll forgive her for holding back the truth.

In order to reach beyond the errors of their pasts, both Phoebe and Jalon must put their faith in something—or Someone—bigger than either of them could pen.

 

Written in Love is the first book in Kathleen Fuller’s Amish Letters series, and since I’m a fan of Kathleen’s, and I love Amish novels, I’m super excited for this one!

Grace and the Preacher

The Kansas community of Fairland anticipates the arrival of their new minister and in recent months, late in 1882, postmistress Grace Cristler has communicated with Reverend Dille via letters, answering his questions about the little town, and developing affection for the man who pens thoughtful missives.

Theophil Garrison grew up under the loving influence of his saintly grandmother, but was roped into his cousins’ train-robbing plan. When they fail and are apprehended, Theo fled the scene, evading jail time. Now an angry cousin is out to avenge Theo’s duplicity, and he’s on the run. He encounters a fatally ill traveler—a minister. Seeing a way to keep hidden, Theo trades identities with the man, dons his fine black suit, carries a Bible, and prays that he’ll be accepted as Rufus Dille.

Once in Fairland, if Theo’s true identity is uncovered, what will be left of the world he has built for himself, Grace, and those in the town who have come to love and accept him?

 

Grace and the Preacher is Kim Vogel Sawyer’s most recent stand-alone novel, and is quite possibly one of the novels I am looking forward to the most. I am a big fan of Kim’s and I have loved everything by her that I have read, so I can’t wait for this new novel!

A Lady in Disguise

After the mysterious death of her father, Miss Gillian Young takes a new job as the principal costume designer at the renowned Drury Lane Theatre Royal. But while she remembers her father as a kind, well-respected man of the Police Force, clues she uncovers indicate he’d been living a double life: a haunting photograph of a young woman; train stubs for secret trips just before his death; and a receipt for a large sum of money. Are these items evidence of her father’s guilty secrets? His longtime police partner thinks so.

Then Gillian meets the dashing Viscount Thomas Lockwood. Their attraction is instant and inescapable. As their romantic involvement grows, Gillian begins to suspect even Lockwood’s motives. Does Lord Lockwood truly love her? Or is his interest a front for the desire to own her newly inherited property? And what should she make of her friend’s suggestion that Lockwood or men like him were involved in the murder of her father?

Soon Gillian is convinced that her father has left evidence somewhere that can prove his innocence and reveal the guilty party. But someone wants to stop her from discovering it. The closer she comes to uncovering it, the more menacing her opposition grows. With her life on the line, Gillian takes on an ingenious disguise and takes on the role of a lifetime to reveal the true killer—before it’s too late both for her and for those that she loves.

 

A Lady in Disguise is the third book in Sandra Byrd’s Daughters of Hampshire series, coming after Mist of Midnight and Bride of a Distant Isle. I really, really loved Mist of Midnight, so I’m super excited to finally read the rest of this series!

If I’m Found

Casey doesn’t know why Dylan let her escape just as the police were closing in, but she knows she’s got to hide again. New name, new look, new city, new job.

But hiding isn’t enough. Somehow, she’s got to bring Brent’s killer to justice. Can she gather enough evidence without getting caught? And even though she wants to trust Dylan, can she really?

When they go after her sister, Casey knows her time is running short. Turning herself in presents its own set of problems but if it will help protect Hannah, she’ll gladly do it—but will it?

 

If I’m Found is the second book in Terri Blackstock’s If I Run series, coming after If I Run. If I Run is quite possibly one of my favorite books I’ve ever read, and it ended with such a cliffhanger, so I’m extremely excited for this second novel!!!

The Memory of You

Thirteen years ago, Natalie lost a part of herself when her twin sister died. Will traveling back to the family winery finally put the memory to rest, or will it completely destroy her?

When Natalie Mitchell learns her beloved grandfather has had a heart attack, she’s forced to return to their family-owned winery in Sonoma, something she never intended to do. She’s avoided her grandparents’ sprawling home and all its memories since the summer her sister died—the awful summer Natalie’s nightmares began. But the winery is failing, and Natalie’s father wants her to shut it down. As the majority shareholder, she has the power to do so.

And Natalie never says no to her father.

Tanner Collins, the vintner on Maoilios, is trying to salvage a bad season and put the Mitchell family’s winery back in business. When Natalie Mitchell shows up, Tanner sees his future is about to be crushed. Natalie intends to close the gates, unless he can convince her otherwise. But the Natalie he remembers from childhood is long gone, and he’s not so sure he likes the woman she’s become. Still, the haunted look she wears hints at secrets he wants to unearth. He soon discovers that on the night her sister died, the real Natalie died too. And Tanner must do whatever it takes to resurrect her.

But finding freedom from the past means facing it.

 

The Memory of You is Catherine West’s most recent stand-alone novel, and is another book I am really looking forward to! I’ve only read one other book by Catherine, but I really enjoyed it so I’m looking forward to reading another!

Those are my must-have releases for this month!

Happy reading and happy March!

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.