2015 Christy Award Finalists

It's always exciting each April to learn who the Christy Award Finalists are! I was at work on Tuesday when they were announced, but that hasn't kept me from being thrilled about the nominees, especially a few who I have the honor of knowing personally.! Below is the complete list; those titles which are hyperlinked lead to my reviews.


“The finalists this year represent the widest group of publishers in the history of the awards and also include an independently published novel. Several of the judges commented on the growing diversity and overall excellence of the novels submitted,” said Donna Kehoe, executive director of the Christy Awards.

CONTEMPORARY

Farewell, Four Waters by Kate McCord (RiverNorth, an imprint of Moody Publishing)

Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

The Story Keeper by Lisa Wingate (Tyndale House Publishers)

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert (WaterBrook Multnomah)

Firewall by DiAnn Mills (Tyndale House Publishers)

Undetected by Dee Henderson (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

CONTEMPORARY SERIES

The Amish Blacksmith by Mindy Starns Clark and Susan Meissner (Harvest House Publishers)

Home to Chicory Lane by Deborah Raney (Abingdon Press)

When I Fall in Love by Susan May Warren (Tyndale House Publishers)

FIRST NOVEL

Feast for Thieves by Marcus Brotherton (RiverNorth, an imprint of Moody Publishing)

For Such a Time by Kate Breslin (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

House of Living Stones by Kate Schuermann (Concordia Publishing House)

HISTORICAL

The Advocate by Randy Singer (Tyndale House Publishers)

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking)

The Sentinels of Andersonville by Tracy Groot (Tyndale House Publishers)

HISTORICAL ROMANCE

A Beauty So Rare by Tamera Alexander (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Thief of Glory by Sigmund Brouwer (WaterBrook Multnomah)

With Every Breath by Elizabeth Camden (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

SUSPENSE

The Color of Justice by Ace Collins (Abingdon Press)
[Note: I purchased this book and enjoyed it but never posted a review. Excited to see Ace Collins nominated for his first Christy!)

A Cry from the Dust by Carrie Stuart Parks (Thomas Nelson, a division of Harper Collins Christian Publishing)

Sky Zone by Creston Mapes (David C Cook)

VISIONARY

Once Beyond a Time by Ann Tatlock (Heritage Beacon Fiction)

Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes (Enclave Publishing)

YOUNG ADULT

Failstate: Nemesis by John W. Otte (Enclave Publishing)

This Quiet Sky by Joanne Bischof (Independently Published)

Storm Siren by Mary Weber (Thomas Nelson, a division of Harper Collins Christian Publishing)

The Christy Awards will be presented on Monday, June 28 in Orlando, Florida.