My New Favorite Author

Ya'll know me. And ya'll know I love to read. Not that I have a ton of time, but I do try to spend every evening, after all the kiddos have gone to bed, curled up with my favorite book. It's my down time and it is how I wind down to fall asleep.

My new absolute favorite author is, without a doubt, Julie Lessman. I honestly cannot sing her praises enough. When I was leaving for a girls weekend in D.C., I asked my husband to find me a good book on my Kindle. He did some searching and stumbled upon Julie Lessman. He saw all the awards she had won and figured she must be "pretty good" and bought me her first book on Amazon. By the time I was home from the trip, I had called him, begging him to please buy the next one for me!

Folks, I am telling you, Julie Lessman has quickly become my new favorite author. While I have always said that Francine Rivers is in a "league of her own", I must tell you that I really think Julie Lessman is as close as anyone has ever gotten that I have read, and I actually, seriously, think she is rivaling Francine Rivers in the quality of her writing. I thoroughly enjoyed Karen Kingsbury as well, but she does not compare to Lessman.

What I appreciate so much is her gift for writing. This is quality writing. I really dislike that I have to compromise quality for content when I read or watch Christian movies or books. I truly believe that Christians should be doing this just as good. And Lessman does! And not only is the writing fantastic, but she incorporates encouragement and the salvation message so well. It truly never comes across force or preachy.

I have absolutely devoured her books. Not only that, but I have given each one to my mother-in-law, and she has devoured each of them behind me. I even bought new hard copies of her "Heart of San Francisco" series, and for those of you who know me at all, you know I don't buy anything new. But I just could not wait until I found a used set!

Seriously. If you like reading, and you enjoy Christian novels, you absolutely must read Lessman's books.

Where to start? Well, you can find a complete listing of her books by clicking here.  But I would suggest you start by reading: A Light in the Window. You can purchase this for only 99cents on Amazon so you seriously have nothing to lose. Buy this book and see for yourself if you are not completely hooked! (I actually didn't know about A Light in the Window and read it after Series #1 and #2 listed below.)

Once you finish (and LOVE!) that book, you can jump into "The Daughters of Boston" series and follow that up with "The Winds of Change" series. Both of these follow along with the O'Connor family, and trust me, you'll grieve as much as I did when those series are done.

SERIES #1

"THE DAUGHTERS OF BOSTON" SERIES:

     A Passion Most Pure

     A Passion Redeemed

     A Passion Denied 

SERIES #2

THE "WINDS OF CHANGE" SERIES:

     A Hope Undaunted

     A Heart Revealed

     A Love Surrendered

Once you finish these series, there are actually two (going on three!) novellas which are shorter stories following a few of the couples in the series listed above. Let me know if you get there and I'll give you a link to the novellas!

After that, I got started on "The Heart of San Francisco" series. It was very hard for me to leave the O'Connor family, but honestly, and I am still not sure how she did it, but Lessman reeled me into an entirely different family nearly as seamlessly.

SERIES #3

THE "HEART OF SAN FRANCISCO" SERIES:

     Love at any Cost

Dare to Love Again

Surprised by Love

I am planning to do some further reviews of Lessman's books in the weeks and months to come so stay tuned. But for now, let me know if you are going to jump in and read based on my recommendation. I really want to know what you all think even though I know you will love her as much as I do!!