Picked by Women of Valley View fans

Here are 4 books that Women of Valley View fans have personally recommended once you finish the Women of Valley View series. Book DNA is a community of authors and super-readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Book cover of Planting Hope

Cheri Swalwell Author Of Adventure's Invitation

From my list on small towns where God turns messes into miracles.

Why am I passionate about this?

I tell people when I meet them that when I married my husband, I got roots. I moved a lot as a child, living in small country towns to suburbs of big cities, and my favorite place by far is in the country, surrounded by nature, feeling that sense of belonging. My husband and I live in his great-grandparent's house in the country, next door to his mother, who still lives in the house where she grew up and raised my husband. There is nothing I love more than sharing my love for Jesus with readers through fictional situations that could really happen. 

Cheri's book list on small towns where God turns messes into miracles

Cheri Swalwell Why Cheri loves this book

This pick was a hard one, to decide which series of this author was my favorite. I picked this one because I absolutely love Jess. She is written in such a realistic and beautiful way. I couldn’t help but see some of myself in her. While this is the third book in this series (I highly recommend you read all three, in order) it was probably the one that stuck with me the longest. Brenda Anderson writes realistic, emotionally filled pages, drawing the reader in as though we belong. The storylines are all different and genuine and the characters all have their own personalities and quirks. There isn’t a book from this author that I don’t love and I highly recommend them all. 

By Brenda S. Anderson ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Planting Hope as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When flowers and chocolate collide, romance is sure to bloom.

Family has always been the one constant in Jess Beaumont’s messy life, so when her parents separate, she puts “Operation: Planting Hope” into action. All she has to do is recreate the circumstances that helped her parents fall in love. Unfortunately, that includes the daunting task of restoring the family cabin’s gardens. When the handsome candy store owner shows up to help, she’s certain she has all the elements required for her parents’ love to bloom again. After all, flowers and chocolate are the perfect ingredients for romance.


Luke Harrison…


Book cover of Redemption

Cheri Swalwell Author Of Adventure's Invitation

From my list on small towns where God turns messes into miracles.

Why am I passionate about this?

I tell people when I meet them that when I married my husband, I got roots. I moved a lot as a child, living in small country towns to suburbs of big cities, and my favorite place by far is in the country, surrounded by nature, feeling that sense of belonging. My husband and I live in his great-grandparent's house in the country, next door to his mother, who still lives in the house where she grew up and raised my husband. There is nothing I love more than sharing my love for Jesus with readers through fictional situations that could really happen. 

Cheri's book list on small towns where God turns messes into miracles

Cheri Swalwell Why Cheri loves this book

Karen Kingsbury was the second author who made me fall in love with Christian fiction. I read the redemption series all at once and fell in love with how this author drew me into each book and into the lives of the characters. Ashley quickly became my favorite of the Baxter children, and (only God) would she and I experience some of the same events in life at the same time. I was able to grieve and heal and feel the emotions that I needed to release from my own life and the pain I was experiencing through the pages of the books. I still, to this day, read anything that Karen Kingsbury writes because her writing feels so divinely inspired.

By Karen Kingsbury , Gary Smalley ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Redemption as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book 1 in the bestselling 5-book Christian fiction series that has sold nearly 2 million copies!

A story of redemption and love at all costs, from Karen Kingsbury, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “heart-tugging and emotional” (Romantic Times) life-changing fiction, co-authored with Gary Smalley.

Redemption is the first book in the original Baxter Family Series, which has gone on to captivate tens of millions of readers and is currently being made into an original television series, produced by Roma Downey and Will Packer.

A Shocking Betrayal
Kari Baxter Jacobs is furious, hurt, and confused. Her husband, Tim,…


Book cover of Paper Dolls

Cheri Swalwell Author Of Adventure's Invitation

From my list on small towns where God turns messes into miracles.

Why am I passionate about this?

I tell people when I meet them that when I married my husband, I got roots. I moved a lot as a child, living in small country towns to suburbs of big cities, and my favorite place by far is in the country, surrounded by nature, feeling that sense of belonging. My husband and I live in his great-grandparent's house in the country, next door to his mother, who still lives in the house where she grew up and raised my husband. There is nothing I love more than sharing my love for Jesus with readers through fictional situations that could really happen. 

Cheri's book list on small towns where God turns messes into miracles

Cheri Swalwell Why Cheri loves this book

Paper Dolls takes place in the fictitious town of Habakkuk, where everyone knows everyone else. Besides feeling as though I’m part of this sisterhood of women, I love how the author’s focus of this book is to allow me to get to know all of the women equally. Most books will start out with one main character, then the next in the series shares about another, and so forth. Kara Hunt steps outside the box and introduces all the women equally in the first book, making me want to read about each one of them more in-depth in the subsequent books. This series is full of humor, romance, suspense, mystery, and a lot of sisterhood love. 

By Kara R. Hunt ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Paper Dolls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Paper can be torn and dolls can break.

So can humans.

Kite Tanner, a widow, struggles with the sudden loss of her husband.

Priscilla Martin, the minister’s daughter, pursues money and men with passion.

Lydia Dooley, a prayer-warrior, battles a brain tumor and a daughter who can’t forget the sins of her mother’s past.

Eve Stanton, a talented Christian singer and songwriter, is brought to her knees when the truth about her marriage is revealed.

Mary Rabin, kidnapped from her front yard at the age of eight, returns forty years later to reunite with the family and friends she’d fought…


Book cover of Beneath a Southern Sky

Cheri Swalwell Author Of Adventure's Invitation

From my list on small towns where God turns messes into miracles.

Why am I passionate about this?

I tell people when I meet them that when I married my husband, I got roots. I moved a lot as a child, living in small country towns to suburbs of big cities, and my favorite place by far is in the country, surrounded by nature, feeling that sense of belonging. My husband and I live in his great-grandparent's house in the country, next door to his mother, who still lives in the house where she grew up and raised my husband. There is nothing I love more than sharing my love for Jesus with readers through fictional situations that could really happen. 

Cheri's book list on small towns where God turns messes into miracles

Cheri Swalwell Why Cheri loves this book

When I first began reading Christian fiction, my husband posed a question to me. To my surprise, when wandering the library that week, the exact scenario was the plot for this book! I got the book, read it cover to cover and fell in love with this author’s storytelling. The way she explores the characters' emotions put me right in the story. I went on to read the second book immediately and waited (albeit, not very patiently LOL) for the third in the series, pre-ordering it as soon as possible. Deborah Raney has become one of my favorite authors. She is one of the first Christian authors I ever read and she made me fall in love with the whole genre.

By Deborah Raney ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Beneath a Southern Sky as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Her Second Husband Healed the Sorrow of a Tragic Loss.
Her First Has Just Returned from the Dead.
Which Man Has the Right to Claim Daria’s Heart?

After two years of serving as a missionary in a remote area of South America, Daria Camfield has returned to the States to mourn her husband, reportedly killed while providing medical aid to a neighboring Colombian village.

One family discovers how God can redeem any tragedy.

At first, Daria finds comfort only in the daughter born to her after Nate’s tragic death. As she begins to heal, she also finds a listening ear…