by Crystal Caudill | May 1, 2025 | Book Reviews, Reading Challenge
It’s another month of our challenge: Tackle Your TBR Pile. So go dig through that stack taller than you of books you’ve been meaning to read and start reading away. Since this year is based on your TBR pile, I will not have a recommendations page, but I’m leaving the link here so it’s easier for me to set up NEXT year’s blog posts.
Find recommendations at Reading Challenge Recommendations, Crystal Caudill’s Reading Friends Facebook group, Avid Readers of Christian Fiction, or Inspirational Historical Fiction Index.
Don’t forget to comment at the bottom of the post for your chance to win a book off my prize shelf. *The list of prizes from my shelf can be found here.*
Reading Challenge 2025: Tackle the TBR Pile
If you’re anything like me, you have a TBR pile that is bigger than you can hope to read in a lifetime. This is the year we’re going to try an tackle at least twelve of those books. Head to your shelves and find books that fit each month’s challenge.
This Month: April – Start or Finish a series on your TBR
Next Month: May – Cover in your favorite color
Not Alone
by Liz Bradford
Review by: Crystal Caudill
I’ve long been friends with Liz, but not SO long that I was around for her first few books, and I’ve wanted to read her debut series for a long time. With me finishing deadlines and her picking up writing book six of the series, I knew it was time. While I can tell this is definitely her first published book, I truly enjoyed the story. I’ve always enjoyed stories with action, suspense, and depth, and Liz hits all of that. I especially appreciate how she hits hard topics in her stories. Rebecca Palmer is a single mom who is trying to catch a serial killer who is targeting women like her. While giving anything else away would be spoiling the story, I will say that I appreciate her tackling some of the natural relationship challenges of the story.
I’ve already binge-read books 2 and 3, and plan on starting book 4 this weekend. Each book gets better, both in storyline and writing skills.
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Plot Overview:
When single moms are turning up dead, Police Detective Rebecca Palmer will stop at nothing to bring the killer to justice.
Detective Rebecca Palmer is hunting a serial killer bent on inflicting a warped sense of Biblical judgment. But, with so few clues, she struggles to catch his trail. The killer’s obsession with murdering single moms grips Rebecca’s heart with profound intensity, since she herself is a single mom. Will she be able to stop him before he takes another mother away from her child?
Jared Johnson fought crime as a detective on the streets of Chicago but has decided to trade the inner city for the simpler life of the south. His brother said Hazel Hill, North Carolina is a great place to live, and Jared is willing to test his brother’s claims. But is the move just another stop as Jared runs from his past, or will Hazel Hill be the place his restless soul can finally settle down?
Purchase Links:
Amazon
Giveaway
For your chance to win a print copy, comment with what book YOU read for this month. Use the Rafflecopter below for extra entries and to mark that you left a comment. Entries end on the 7th of each month at midnight EST, and the winner will be drawn sometime that week and notified by email. The winner will be announced on the Rafflecopter widget. *Giveaway Policies can be found here.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
What did you read for the challenge? What were your thoughts on it? Would you recommend it?
by Crystal Caudill | Apr 9, 2025 | Book and Writing Events
Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt!
Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!
- Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
- There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 4/13 at midnight Mountain)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
- Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!
Howdy! I’m so happy to meet you!
Whether you’re already a fan or I’m a new-to-you author, welcome! I’m Crystal Caudill, and I write “dangerously good historical romance.” What does that mean? It means I like to write thoroughly researched historical romance with strong threads of suspense and spiritual themes that (hopefully) feel natural and not preachy. You can find out more about me, my books, and my monthly reading challenge here on my website and on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, GoodReads, or BookBub. On March 11, my first book in a new series called The Art of Love and Danger released.
WRITTEN IN SECRET is about a 19th century (Gilded Age) female dime novelist who writes crime stories to correct the wrongs of a corrupt judicial system, only to have her stories brought to life by a vigilante who murders the pardoned criminals her stories were based on. Of course, there is a swoony hero (or so I’m told), humor, sweet romance, and a delightful dose of suspense.
Dime Novels, Corruption,
and a Search for Justice
Written in Secret was inspired by a handful of facts I discovered while researching dime novels and the history of the Cincinnati police. Check them out:
- Dime novels were highly controversial. Many believed the “cheap” literature would corrupt those who read it to commit crimes and become degraded in mind. There were widespread calls for the dime novels to be banned. Even the postmaster general advocated for them to be banned from the mail system.
- Women were relegated to only publicly writing romances. If a woman wanted to write a mystery or crime novel, they used a male pseudonym (most of the time).
- Despite opposition, dime novels were sold by the hundreds of thousands, and they shaped our modern concept of genre reading.
- Until 1886, except for very short periods of a police commission board attempt, the Cincinnati police were governed by the current mayor. That means officers could be hired or fired just based on their political leanings or how they served the mayor’s needs.
- Judges and juries were regularly bought off. Criminals with the right connections walked free or received lesser punishments. Even elections were rigged.
- People were growing tired of the corruption. In 1884, after the stress of two devastating floods, a riot broke out when a horrific crime went to trial, and one of the murderers received a light sentencing.
Everyone in the book wrestles with the injustice of the world around them and responds how they think best. Lydia is a mystery-dime novelist who rewrites the stories of criminals who got away with their crimes. Billy Poe is a vigilante who kills the criminals who inspired the dime novelist’s stories. Officer Hall is a police officer trying to stop the vigilante but wrestling with the dime novelist’s part in all this. The city wants justice, even if it takes rioting, while others do their best and trust God with what they don’t understand. It really was a fascinating exploration of finding justice in an unjust world.
Here’s Your Critical Stop #24 Basics:
If you’re interested, you can order Written in Secret on Amazon, Baker Book House, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook.com or at your local bookstore!
Clue to Write Down: read anywhere
Link to Stop #25, the Next Stop on the Loop: Hannah Currie‘s site!
But wait!!! Don’t go yet!!
I’m holding my own additional giveaway right here! Use the rafflecopter widget below for your chance to win . . .
Your choice of Counterfeit Truth, Counterfeit Love, Counterfeit Hope, Counterfeit Faith, We Three Kings, or Written in Secret . If the winner already has all the books, they can pick a book from my prize shelf of other authors’ books. 🙂
The winner of this giveaway will be selected on April 15th and notified by email afterward.
Fine Print: Physical items are available to U.S. residents 18 or older. Void where prohibited. E-books will be available for anywhere internationally that Amazon sells the ebooks. Full giveaway policies can be found here.
And if you are having trouble getting entered, just shoot me a note through my contact form, or comment below.
Best of luck, and happy hunting! – Crystal
by Crystal Caudill | Apr 8, 2025 | Author Interviews
It’s my pleasure to bring back Linda MacKillop to the blog. With all these new and updated questions, I’m looking forward to getting to know her better. Linda is also graciously giving away a copy of each of her books, The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon and Hotel Oscar Mike Echo to one U.S. resident. Check out the details below. If you missed the last time she was here, here is a bit about her before we dive in.
Linda MacKillop is the author of the Christy-Award winning novel, The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon, and the middle-grade novel Hotel Oscar Mike Echo, a finalist for the Christianity Today Book Awards for Young Adult. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and is a member of the Redbud Writers Guild. Her articles and essays have appeared in magazines and literary journals. Linda makes her home in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Discover more on lindamackillop.com.
You can connect with her through: Website | Newsletter | Instagram | Substack
Now for the fun stuff! I have to admit I am partial to my Fast Five. 🙂 So settle in as I hit Linda with rapid-fire.
CC: Rain or snow?
LM: Snow. I’m a Northern girl.
CC: Makeup or no makeup?
LM: A modicum of makeup.
CC: Personal maid or personal chef?
LM: Oh, definitely a personal chef!! One who cooks paleo.
CC: Arrive early, just on time, or late?
LM: My husband calls me “the on-time airline” if that answers the question.
CC: Food fight or water balloon fight?
LM: Water balloon fight–on a warm summer day.
I love that your husband has a nick-name for you. I think if mine gave me a nick-name for my tardiness, I’d be the Better Late Than Never gal. LOL
What kind of stories are your favorite to write?
LM: I write about broken people trying to make their way in life. This comes from my own background with troubled, broken parents who divorced. I have experienced God as healer, and I hope that I convey that truth and experience in my writing.
CC: I love that. We are essentially a world of broken people, and we all need the truth, hope, and healing of Christ in our lives.
Do you read fiction while you are writing your own stories?
LM: I read lots of fiction while I’m writing my own. I’m looking for a sense of strong voice and presence in the story, and I’m inspired by these kinds of books. They push me to work on my own story’s voice. And I like to be inspired by other writers.
CC: I love that. It’s definitely important to be reading the fiction you want to by inspired by as you write.
What is your favorite part about writing?
LM: Definitely the revision part is my favorite. Getting words down on a blank page for me is torturous and my least favorite part. But rewriting–or polishing–is so fun as you begin to see the story shine. This is also the part where I’m surprised by what appears on the page.
CC: That is wonderful. I haven’t decided if I love it or hate it yet.
Do you have a general writing process you follow or does it change all the time?
LM: I have a general process I follow. I pray before I write, usually on my knees, and then often, I read a little poetry to get my head around thoughtful, artful words. I write for about half a day, and then go off and do other things, like take care of my home, go for a walk, make dinner. The joy of the writing process for me is that when I step away from the desk, I still see the story developing in my brain, often answering questions that had me stumped while I sat at my desk.
CC: I love that. I definitely need to get better about getting away from my computer and just living life.
Do you have any advice for those who want to write their own stories?
LM: Start writing and don’t be afraid to write badly at first. Find a great critique group with experience writing and who will give you kind but truthful feedback. Read everything you can find in your preferred genre.
CC: Those are all great tips!
Now I’m excited to talk about The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon and Hotel Oscar Mike Echo.
Hotel Oscar Mike Echo
Home isn’t always what we dream it will be.
Eleven-year-old Sierra just wants a normal life. After her military mother returns from the war overseas, the two hop from home to homelessness while Sierra tries to help her mom through the throes of PTSD.
When they end up at a shelter for women and children, Sierra is even more aware of what her life is not. The kind couple who run the shelter, Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin, attempt to show her parental love as she faces the uncertainties of her mom’s emotional health and the challenges of being the brand-new poor kid in middle school. The longer she stays at the shelter, the more Sierra realizes she may have to face an impossible choice as she redefines home.
This middle-grade novel offers a compassionate look at poverty, homelessness, and hope. Readers walk alongside brave Sierra as she holds on to a promise she believes God gave her: that one day she will have a real home. But what if that promise looks far different than she has ever dreamed?
Purchase your copy at The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon | Hotel Oscar Mike Echo
CC: What will fans of your books love about your story and characters?
LM: I write quirky and unusual people and situations.
CC: Those are some of the most interesting books to read.
Why did The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon develop and change from spark to finished book?
LM: I originally wrote Eva Gordon in the first-person point of view of a person with increasing dementia. It was too difficult to write that close to a confused brain. It limited my storytelling, so I switched to a close third-person point of view.
CC: I can imagine how difficult that would be. I tried to write a first-person POV with a character in an asylum and I just couldn’t do it.
Why did you write this story?
LM: I was pondering a nagging question: If you have extremely difficult people in your life, why and how do you still find them loveable?
CC: That is a hard question and one I’m sure most of us deal with.
Who was your favorite character to write?
LM: In the Eva Gordon story, it was Mabel. She popped into the novel unexpectedly and added such a great dimension to the writing.
CC: I love it when characters add unexpected dimensions to the story!
What do you hope readers will take away from your story?
LM: Repair what you can in life before it’s too late.
CC: So easy to say, and so hard to do, but rarely is the right and good thing to do the easy thing to do.
I always like to end with a fun question so . . .
What would you be if you had to wear one Halloween Costume every day for the rest of your life?
LM: I would be a book because I could change the title on it each year while still wearing the same costume, and it would be easy to make from a cardboard box. My favorite costume as a child was when I made myself a Christmas package.
CC: Oh, that is such a fantastic idea!!! I love it! Thanks for hanging with us today!
Readers, I hope you’ll check out The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon and Hotel Oscar Mike Echo and then leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or BookBub. You wouldn’t believe how important that is to an author.
Reader, have you ever read a book where a character was facing dementia, Alzheimer’s, or something of the such? What was it?
Giveaway
Here’s your chance to win a copy of The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon and Hotel Oscar Mike Echo. Comment on the blog and enter the Rafflecopter for your chance to win! Entries close at 11:59 p.m. EST on 4/15. Open to legal U.S. residents. See Giveaway Policies for more details.
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by Crystal Caudill | Apr 1, 2025 | Crystal's Books, History Facts, Writer's Life
It’s always fun to take a peek at the behind-the-scenes creation of a book and a peek at the research too!
Story Inspiration
The story spark for this story came from a variety of places. The political/judicial corruption and city rioting came from an event in 1884 that I discovered while researching Counterfeit Love. Two men were responsible for the violent death of their employer, William Berner and Joe Palmer. William Berner had connections, while Joe was a black man. Berner received a conviction of manslaughter with a maximum 20-year sentence, while his partner received a murder conviction and death sentence. The city felt someone had bought the jury in Berner’s favor and rioted. In the end, fifty-four men died, an estimated two hundred were wounded, and Berner escaped safely to the State Penitentiary to serve eleven years of his twenty-year sentence before being released for good behavior.
A Bit About Dime Novels
Dime novels were the first novel type to make books and reading available to the common man. On a wage of $5 to $8 a week, traditional books that cost $2 to $3 were cost-prohibitive to anyone below the middle class. Dime novels were cheaply printed, much smaller in length and size, and cost only a nickel to twenty-five cents.
In addition to being cheap, dime novels were the precursor to genre fiction. Searching for crime, suspense, mystery, romance, thrillers, westerns, etc? Thank Dime Novels. These stories became wildly popular and spurred other variations and genres. Are you a fan of subscription fiction services like Love Inspired or Guidepost? Yep, dime novels were their start.
Personal Behind-the-Scenes Facts
I wrote this story during one of my life’s most challenging caregiving seasons. Generally, a novel takes me about 6 months to draft, with another month or two for self-editing. However, due to lots of stops and starts as I dealt with multiple significant health crises for my mother-in-law (including a broken neck), this book took 14 months to draft, and I had to squeeze edits down to two weeks. This book was such a disjointed mess that I never thought it would come together, but by God’s grace and mercy (and a fantastic editing team), it is the book you read now.
Writing a “spin-off” series from Counterfeit Love brought challenges I hadn’t expected. In the first draft, the characters didn’t closely enough resemble their portrayal in Counterfeit Love, so I had to do some serious reworking of characters–especially Abraham Hall and Dr. Pelton. Although I swore I would never reread one of my books once published, I did indeed have to reread Counterfeit Love. I created a detailed document of information from Counterfeit Love that had to be kept the same in Written in Secret. Even more challenging, the characters had to stay similar to what they were in Counterfeit Love while being different enough to show how they grew between 1880 and 1884.
Each “Guardian” has flavors of my core group of girls and critique partners, The Mayhemmers. I am the one most like Theresa, Liz the one most like Lydia, Angela the most like Nora, and Voni the most like Flossie. However, each character is still their own person and not directly based on a Mayhemmer.
Written in Secret by Crystal Caudill
In the heart of nineteenth-century Cincinnati one woman holds the power to rewrite history.
What happens when fiction becomes reality? In the corruption-infested Queen City, danger lurks in every shadow, but Lydia Pelton refuses to stay silent. She writes under a pseudonym, E. A. Dupin, crafting crime novels to exact justice and right the wrongs she sees in society. When a serial killer decides to be the sword to her pen, Lydia is confronted with the consequences of her words. Four men are dead, and the city blames her.
With murders on the rise, Officer Abraham Hall’s only lead is Lydia’s fiction, and he is thrust into an investigation with the “Killer Queen of Romance.” Despite his misgivings about the woman, he realizes that even with his reputation for catching elusive criminals, he needs her help. But his unexpected attraction to Lydia proves as difficult to manage as the woman herself.
As the mystery unfolds, Abraham and Lydia race to rewrite the ending, not only for Cincinnati’s citizens, but for their own hearts too.
Purchase Links: Amazon | Apple Books | Baker Book House | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Christianbook | IndieBound | Kobo | Kregel Parable Christian Book Store
Month-Long Blog Giveaway #1
Help me celebrate the release of Written in Secret and get the word out about the new series. From March 4 to April 1, this giveaway will be open to those legally allowed to enter both domestically and internationally. International winners will be given a prize of equal value as shipping costs are prohibitive. See my giveaway policies for more details.
Prize: homemade book cozy, fuzzy socks, journal, reader mug mat, bookmarks, stickers, tea, and chapstick.
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Month-Long Giveaway #2
Already have the book?? This giveaway is for you. Somewhere in the first fifty pages of Written in Secret is the answer to “What attacked Lydia and Abraham inside the circus tent?” Fill out the below Google Form to be entered for your chance to win a $25 gift card to Amazon or Baker Book House. The giveaway runs until April 11, 2024. The winner will be selected the week of April 12 and notified by email.
Enter Here
What is something you’d like to know about my research or behind the scenes that maybe I didn’t answer?
by Crystal Caudill | Mar 31, 2025 | Book Reviews, Reading Challenge
It’s another month of our challenge: Tackle Your TBR Pile. So go dig through that stack taller than you of books you’ve been meaning to read and start reading away. Since this year is based on your TBR pile, I will not have a recommendations page, but I’m leaving the link here so it’s easier for me to set up NEXT year’s blog posts.
Find recommendations at Reading Challenge Recommendations, Crystal Caudill’s Reading Friends Facebook group, Avid Readers of Christian Fiction, or Inspirational Historical Fiction Index.
Don’t forget to comment at the bottom of the post for your chance to win a book off my prize shelf. *The list of prizes from my shelf can be found here.*
Reading Challenge 2025: Tackle the TBR Pile
If you’re anything like me, you have a TBR pile that is bigger than you can hope to read in a lifetime. This is the year we’re going to try an tackle at least twelve of those books. Head to your shelves and find books that fit each month’s challenge.
This Month: March – Author with the same starting letter as you
Next Month: April – Start or Finish a series on your TBR
Beyond All Dreams
by Elizabeth Camden
Review by: Crystal Caudill
Beyond All Dreams was another fantastic read from Elizabeth Camden. The story masterfully wove together the politics of DC at the precipice before the Spanish-American War, the building of the “new” Library of Congress, and romance that had to overcome great personal obstacles as well as political ones. I want to have Elizabeth Camden’s skill when I grow up. LOL I really appreciated the maturity and growth of the characters as they overcame their personal struggles with anger, scars from the past-both literal and metaphorical, stepping out of comfort zones, and standing up for what they believe. I highly recommend this read to anyone who wants a story with depth, rich history, healthy romance, intrigue, and characters who hang around in your head for days afterward.
Genre: Historical Romance, Edwardian
Plot Overview:
Anna O’Brien leads a predictable and quiet life as a map librarian at the illustrious Library of Congress until she stumbles across a baffling mystery of a ship disappeared at sea. She is thwarted in her attempts to uncover information, but her determination outweighs her shyness and she turns to a dashing congressman for help.
Luke Callahan was one of the nation’s most powerful congressmen until his promising career became shadowed in scandal. Eager to share in a new cause and intrigued by the winsome librarian, he joins forces with Anna to solve the mystery of the lost ship.
Opposites in every way, Anna and Luke are unexpectedly drawn to each other despite the strict rules forbidding Anna from any romantic entanglement with a member of Congress.
From the gilded halls of the Capitol, where powerful men shape the future of the nation, to the scholarly archives of the nation’s finest library, Anna and Luke are soon embroiled in secrets much bigger and more perilous than they ever imagined. Is bringing the truth to light worth risking all they’ve ever dreamed for themselves?
Purchase Links:
Amazon | Baker Bookhouse | Barnes & Noble | Christianbook.com
Giveaway
For your chance to win a print copy, comment with what book YOU read for this month. Use the Rafflecopter below for extra entries and to mark that you left a comment. Entries end on the 7th of each month at midnight EST, and the winner will be drawn sometime that week and notified by email. The winner will be announced on the Rafflecopter widget. *Giveaway Policies can be found here.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
What did you read for the challenge? What were your thoughts on it? Would you recommend it?
The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon