J. Marie Books
J. Marie Books
… there’s always one more story to tell …
J. Marie Books
contemporary inspirational fiction
j marie books
Writing inspiration
These are Compelling stories – Each story originates in everyday characters who are living ordinary lives in the most compelling ways. Success is measured by the degree to which the reader “must turn the next page” and the connection to the characters and the affection they feel for them.
These books focus on:
Family - in all it’s dynamic, beautiful disorder
Love - in all its bluster, confusion and tenderness
Faith - in all its ever-present, albeit sometimes subtle, influence
These stories will be notable for their loyalty to the messages of Hope, Forgiveness and Love. They are approachable and highly readable.
They will always have a love-romance angle, but it will always be intricately woven into the larger picture. Just as in real life, these characters “live their romance” while they work and otherwise “do life.”
And, while these stories have a message of Faith, they are never preachy, they present Jesus Christ as a loving Savior of common, less-than-perfect people.
upcoming Events
find your wAY HOME
Back of the book:
…. those people and places. None of them seemed real anymore. It’s like that day his grandparents came in June, he packed up all he had. And it all fit in a duffel bag….
Where are you supposed to go when you’re a thirteen-year-old city kid, your mom has just been thrown in jail for a repeat DUI drug charge, and you’ve never even met the man who is your father? You certainly can’t count on your mom’s latest drug dealer boyfriend to offer any support – he’s basically kicking you to the curb, making it abundantly clear he couldn’t care less what happens to you.
A story of faith for today, Find Your Way Homeis a tale of friendship and family, portraying the life of Elliott, a troubled young teen whose world is darkened by the effects of his mother’s drug and alcohol addiction and the physical abuse at the hands of her boyfriend. Even though, at first, he doesn’t see it as such, his saving grace is found in his grandparents’ insistence that he live with them while his mother serves her time in prison and state-mandated treatment program.
It’s in the quaint, lakeside town of Lake Belle, Minnesota, near his grandparents’ farm, that Elliott crosses paths with the Eastman kids, Daniel and his sister Lauryn. Over the years, even though they come from radically different circumstances, the Eastman’s accept Elliott as their “other brother,” and a deep friendship develops between the three children, with an especially poignant bond between Elliott and Lauryn.
Years pass, the children become adults, and life takes them in completely different directions. It’s only when a series of life events suddenly forces Elliott to acknowledge his deep-seated feelings of shame and resentment over his mother’s decade-long battle with addiction, and a soul-searching recognition of his true feelings considering marriage and his future, that he finally discovers what family, home, and love really means.
A Promised Place
BACK OF THE BOOK:
Fifty years separate their lives, fifty years separate their stories, but one house and a similar, soul-searching journey unite them.
You might have already met Lauryn and Elliott in J. Marie’s first novel Find Your Way Home, but if not, you are sure to become friends with them in this new novel A Promised Place.
Although the story continues where the first novel left off, A Promised Place stands uniquely on its own with its tender story of holding fast to love through the tough times and the search for a deeper faith through the midst of it.
When Lauryn Grant purchases the house at 316 Promise Place in Rivers Bend, Minnesota, she finds an enticing project to add to the list of home renovations featured on her website and in her social media. While she’s aware that the house has an interesting history, she finds the most intriguing story is written in a journal that has been hidden in a secret place inside the house for fifty years, just waiting to be discovered.
The journal that she finds tells the story of a simple, small-town man with a past life that doesn't quite fit the rigid constructs of his present one. Unexpectedly, Lauryn finds his captivating story not only influences how she deals with struggles in her life and with her faith, but it also has the power to change her forever.
THE FORGOTTEN HOUSE
BACK OF THE BOOK:
Death may silence your voice, but your spirit lives on in the ones still here, the ones you left behind.
Trouble is, now these people must piece together all the tasks you’ve left unfinished and all the words you’ve left unsaid. With your abrupt departure, they find that you didn’t quite take care of everything. Thankfully, you left a note. It’s just too bad you weren’t more specific…
When literary and film legend JL McMichael dies suddenly of a heart attack, his family, colleagues and fans are devastated and mourn his passing, appreciating the incredible impact his work has had on a generation. But, living life as a legend isn’t always easy, and sometimes even legends fall short, especially with those closest to them, their family.
With his passing, the writer’s son Canton and daughter Jasmine, both active in their father’s business empire, become the primary beneficiaries of his sizeable estate, including his multiple residences across the country. But, of course, there is also his granddaughter Mallory, his youngest son Parker’s daughter, to consider.
His responsibility ever since a tragic car accident took her parents’ lives over ten years earlier, JL McMichael’s estranged granddaughter Mallory is beneficiary of his writing get-away, a little stone house in Minnesota. To Mallory, this inheritance – a house so insignificant that the family forgot he even owned it - feels like the final, spite-filled blow in the tumultuous battle of wills between the enigmatic literary legend and his headstrong granddaughter.
Upon her arrival in Minnesota, Mallory finds that The Forgotten House holds some traumatic memories of her life with her grandfather, but it also holds some tantalizing secrets outlined in a letter he wrote to her, but never delivered. This letter, inspired by the intriguing next-door neighbor, propels her on a journey that could change everything.
THOSE WE LOVE and What They Hide
BACK OF THE BOOK:
If you bury secrets deep enough, like at the bottom of a river blanketed in ice and snow, will those secrets stay hidden forever? Or will the forces of nature propel those secrets to the surface and out into the light of day where they can destroy the peace of the innocents living above?
The disappearance of his ex-wife Natalie and the crimes she committed prior to her disappearance caused devastation in Drake Connor’s life. Finding himself the prime suspect in her disappearance, Drake survived years of suspicion which destroyed many of his family and work relationships, shook his confidence to the core and altered his faith.
Four years later, just as his life is returning to normal, Drake’s life is upended again when Natalie is finally located. But, finding Natalie does not provide any long-awaited answers; instead, her body, recovered from her car in a remote river in northern Minnesota, generates even more questions. And these questions lead Drake down a path of discovery that threatens everything he once believed about his marriage and the woman he loved.
THOSE WE LOVE and What They Hide is a story that reveals the secrets people keep - even from those they love. But alongside painful discoveries of deceit, it is also a story of resiliency and a celebration of the kind of love that inspires, even amidst the shadows.
MY Shadows HaVe Names
BACK OF THE BOOK:
“But the word Loss doesn’t fit, it’s a small, insignificant word – what I feel is vast, it is endless and deafening.”
The struggle to provide for their family on the rocky, rolling hills of western South Dakota is nothing compared to the resilience Alistair and Elena Chenowith must summon when the events of 1918 cascade around them and their four sons.
Set amidst the tall grasses of their farm, the story of the Chenowith family unfolds as a world war ravages Europe and a virulent flu virus ravages their family at home. With each loss, the Chenowith’s are forced to acknowledge that they cannot control the tragic events battering them; they can only control how they grow from them.
A story of faith, family and fortitude, My Shadows Have Names is a fictionalized novel inspired by actual events.