Enjoy this sneak peek into Summerside Press’ newest novels releasing in the second half of 2012

I really love the cover for Janice Thompson’s Queen of the Waves ~ how about you? Any you can’t wait for?

Love Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan by Melanie Dobson

Elena must choose between her heart and her family’s fortune. It’s the height of the Gilded Age, but Elena Bissette’s once-wealthy family has lost most of its fortune. The Bissettes still own a home on fashionable Mackinac Island, and they spend summers there in the hope of introducing Elena to a wealthy suitor. But Elena is repulsed by the idea of marrying for money. Quickly tiring of the extravagant balls, she spends most evenings walking along Mackinac’s rugged coastline. There she meets Chase, a young fisherman who invites her to watch the ships on Lake Huron from an abandoned lighthouse. The two begin to meet in secret at the lighthouse, where they discover a tattered diary holding clues to a decades-old mystery.

As Elena works with Chase to solve the mystery of the lighthouse, her mother relentlessly contrives introductions between Elena and the island’s most eligible bachelor, an elusive millionaire named Chester Darrington. When Elena’s two worlds unexpectedly collide, she will be in for the surprise of her life.

July, 2012

MELANIE DOBSON is the author of ten novels including Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa and The Silent Order, which both won Carol Awards in 2011. Melanie has a background in publicity and journalism. She grew up in the Midwest but now lives with her husband and two daughters in Oregon. Read more at www.melaniedobson.com.

Rebecca’s Rose by Jennifer Beckstrand

With her mother ill, Rebecca Miller must run the household, care for the small farm, and watch after her younger siblings. Although she feels trapped at times, Rebecca is determined to fulfill a promise made to a dying friend. Then she meets a boy with uncommon good looks and a mischievous glint in his eye who just might help her keep her vow.

Levi Cooper was born into an Amish community and schooled in the Amish way of life until he was six years old. After his father died in an accident, Levi’s mother married an Englischer and was consequently shunned by her Amish relatives. Forced to leave the Plain community, Levi grows up as an Englischer, scarcely thinking about the life he used to live. Haunted by painful memories and on the path to self-destruction, Levi meets an Amish girl who is looking for adventure.

Rebecca’s growing attachment to Levi could lead to the loss of everything she holds dear. Will the secrets he keeps separate them forever?

August 1, 2012

JENNIFER BECKSTRAND has a degree in mathematics and a background in editing. She has won two writing contests and serves as the PAN liaison in her Utah RWA chapter. She and her husband have six children and live in Utah.

Love Finds You at Home for Christmas by Annalisa Daughety and Gwen Ford Faulkenberry

Love finds a home in two heartwarming stories of Christmas past and present.

“Recipe for a Perfect Christmas”

Ruby McFadden had her life all planned out, but when World War II takes her fiancé from her, Ruby leaves college and contributes to the war cause. Cliff Hamilton returns home a broken man. He lost his brother in battle and was himself was wounded. Before long, Ruby and Cliff forge a friendship based on their mutual quest for solitude. As snow blankets their small Arkansas town and the Christmas season draws near, Ruby and Cliff enjoy the sweet, quiet pleasures of being home. When Cliff’s feelings begin to turn into something more, will Ruby take a chance on love?

ANNALISA DAUGHETY is the author of five novels including two Love Finds You™ novels. She makes her home in Arkansas. Read more at www.annalisadaughety.com.

“Small-Town Christmas”

When Sophia Garner left her small hometown years ago, she never expected to return as a jobless divorcée. Sophie has inherited a Victorian mansion, which she decides to turn into a B&B with a small café. Between managing her employees, serving her eccentric customers, and facing her old rival from high school, Sophie doesn’t have time for love. Besides, she doesn’t think she’ll ever find a relationship like her grandparents, Ruby and Cliff, shared. That’s before her childhood friend Jon walks into her café and back into her life. As Christmas nears and snow blankets the beautiful Ozark foothills, Jon woos Sophie with a tender kind of love she’s never before experienced. When confronted by her past, Sophia must choose between the life she always thought she wanted and the home she has now.

October, 2012

GWEN FORD FAULKENBERRY is the author of two novels and four devotionals. She is an English professor and lives in Arkansas with her husband and their four children.

A Merry Little Christmas by Anita Higman

Fall in love with this cozy story about two people from different worlds.

Franny Martin is an Oklahoma farm girl who’s preparing to spend the holidays alone…again. Then Charlie Landau shows up one day, all wealth and polish, and offers to buy Franny’s farm. Franny has no money to speak of, but she is clever and spirited, and she’s more than happy to sell the farm and move to the city.

As Sinatra croons from the radio and Christmas descends upon her charming farm, Franny teaches Charlie the curious and sometimes comical ways of country life. In the process, they unearth some discoveries of the heart—that sometimes love comes when you’re least ready for it. Will the holidays bring their most impossible dreams within reach?

October 1, 2012

ANITA HIGMAN is the award-winning author of more than thirty books, including fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, and plays. Her previous Christmas book, Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe, hit both the Nielsen and CBA bestseller lists. Anita lives with her husband in the Houston area, and they have two grown children.

Sleigh Belles by Janice Hanna

From Savannah to Montana…

The year is 1916, and Southern belle Alanna Lessing is headed to Montana on a mission—to rescue her older sister from the influence of suffragettes and bring her back home to Savannah where she belongs. Alanna is opposed to the women’s suffrage movement, which is at its heyday in Montana. She fears that her sister, Margaret, has allowed herself to be swept away by these newfangled beliefs.

The Christmas season is drawing near, and sleigh bells are ringing among the snow-covered peaks. The charming town of Missoula begins to grow on Alanna, and so do a few of its inhabitants—particularly neighboring rancher Tanner Jacobs. Alanna takes it upon herself to turn Tanner into a true Southern gentleman. He plays along, in part because he likes being near her, and in part because he’s intrigued by her very different way of life. Will their differences bind their hearts, or forever tear them apart?

October 1, 2012

JANICE HANNA is the author of nearly eighty books for the Christian market, including Wedding Belles, the first book in the Belles & Whistles series. An avid theater buff, Janice directs musicals at a Christian theater in the Houston area.

Queen of the Waves by Janice Thompson

Two families on opposite sides of the globe are shaken by the rise and fall of the Titanic, “queen of the ocean.”

When pampered Jacqueline Abington secretly elopes with the family gardener, she concocts a scheme for another woman to take her place on the much-anticipated maiden voyage of the Titanic.

From a poor corner of London, Tessa Yarborough has been granted the opportunity of a lifetime—a ticket to sail to America aboard a famed vessel. But there’s a catch: she must assume another woman’s identity. For the first time in her life, Tessa stays in expensive quarters, dresses in luxurious gowns, and dines with prestigious people. Then a wealthy young American man takes an interest in her, and Tessa must struggle to keep up the ruse even as she finds herself falling for him. When tragedy strikes, the game is up, and Jacquie’s and Tessa’s lives are forever changed.

October 1, 2012

JANICE THOMPSON, who also writes under the pseudonym Janice Hanna, is an award-winning author of nearly eighty books including six historical romances for Summerside Press. Janice has written cozy mysteries, historicals, romances, nonfiction, devotionals, and children’s books. She currently serves as vice president of CAN (Christian Authors Network) and was named the 2008 ACFW Mentor of the Year. Janice lives in Spring, Texas, near her four grown daughters and four young grandchildren. Read more at janicehannathompson.com.

Where the Trail Ends by Melanie Dobson

A young woman traveling the Oregon Trail in 1841 must rely on a stranger to bring her to safety. But whom can she trust with her heart?

After losing her parents along the trail to Oregon Country, Samantha Waldron and her young brother, Daniel, must overcome tremendous challenges to reach the Willamette Valley before winter. Together they weather the deluge of autumn storms and the battle against cholera, but when their canoe capsizes on the Columbia River, they must rely on handsome British exporter Alexander Clarke to rescue them from the icy water.

Alex escorts them to Fort Vancouver, where is Samantha is overwhelmed with men vying for her affections—including a man she’d once planned to marry. The only one who intrigues her—Alex—is the one she cannot have. When his betrothed arrives unexpectedly from Britain, Samantha becomes determined to create a home for herself and her brother in the fertile valley, far away from the fort. But when, on a rainy winter night, Daniel disappears into the wilderness alone, Samantha must rely on the man she loves—the man she’s trying desperately to forget—to rescue her brother before it’s too late.

MELANIE DOBSON is the award-winning author of ten novels, five of them historical romances for Summerside Press. In 2010, Melanie won ACFW Carol Awards for Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa (long historical romance) and The Silent Order (romantic suspense). Melanie is the former corporate publicity manager at Focus on the Family, and she worked in public relations for fifteen years before she began writing fiction full-time. Born and raised in the Midwest, she has lived all over America and now resides with her husband and two daughters near Portland, Oregon. Read more at melaniedobson.com.