January Sanders grew up believing karma was more reliable than an imaginary higher power, but after suffering her worst heartbreak in 29 years, she’s open to just about anything, including taking a temporary position at her aunt’s church. Keeping her lack of faith a secret, January is determined to use her photographic memory to help Grace Community’s overworked staff, all while scraping herself … herself off rock bottom. What she doesn’t count on is meeting the church’s handsome and charming guitarist, who not only is a strong believer, but has also dedicated his life to Christian music. It’s a match set for disaster, and yet January has no ability to stay away, even if it means pretending to have faith in a God she doesn’t believe in. Only this time, keeping secrets isn’t as easy as she thought it would be. Especially when she’s constantly running into her aunt’s landscape architect, who seems to know everything about her past and present sins and makes no apologies about pushing her to deal with feelings she’d rather keep buried. Torn between two worlds incapable of coexisting, can January find the healing that’s eluded her or will her resistance to the truth ruin any chance of happiness?
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This is a new author to me, and I will be reading more of her work. This is a story of romance and giving yourself the grace to look inside yourself. January is on the run – from herself basically. And she has a secret she is keeping from those around her. She had not planned on meeting a handsome and talented musician. She also had not planned on meeting someone who would make her take a hard look at herself. This book is an artful work of Christian Fiction that will pull you in and make it hard to set this book down until you reach the conclusion of January’s hunt….for herself.
Every once in a great while, I read that rare book that reaches deeper, feels richer, and makes a more profound impact than others. THIS is such a book! A 2020 Favorite.
Sometimes books take on such importance due to the current state of my environment, sometimes due to my present emotions, and sometimes simply because it’s an exceptional story. Love and a Little White Lie hits all three marks.
Personally, the current Covid-19 pandemic has hit close to home. My daughter, a healthcare worker, is battling this dreadful Coronavirus. It’s a scary, unpredictable disease, and reminds me and my family of the immeasurable importance of having God in our lives. My emotions as of late resemble a seesaw, teetering between fear and faith, worry and trust, calm and storm. God is my center balance, my refuge and strength, my ever present help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1) Perhaps this is why this story resonated so strongly with me. Also, because it’s simply an outstanding story.
I love these characters, the charming Texas community setting, the witty dialogue, and the spiritual significance of this story.
I embraced January from the get-go and empathized with how she masked her wounds—familial, romantic, and spiritual. I love her quirky mind and how she learns to live and love rather than only exist. Her first-person point of view is the perfect narrative, giving raw and candid insight into her daily thoughts, actions, and emotions. I enjoyed getting to know Aunt Doreen, Cameron, Dillon, Mr. Kyle, Mrs. Cox, and so many more delightful characters. Grace Community Church has a variety of personalities, each contributing to its charm. I’m invested and want to visit again. (Sequel please, please, please!)
I’m not going to give a synopsis of the story. I simply want to say, this story touched me. It carries an abundance of meaning and truly holds the potential to change your life and your heart.
#2020Favorites
#LoveandaLittleWhiteLie #BethanyHouse #CoverLove
I was blessed to receive a complimentary copy of this book.
Another “stayed up past my bedtime reading” book!
This is a beautiful story of finding self-worth, happiness, true love, and most importantly, finding faith. I was drawn into the story from the very beginning. An agnostic working in a church is a unique plot.
January (Jan), Dillon, Cameron, Darcy, and Aunt Doreen feel like people I know in real life. I loved all the characters.
I really liked how Jan found herself, her story, her choice. Her past was about making other people happy, giving up, or doing things for them.
The romance is great too! Flirty, kissy, talking, getting to know each other fun!
This story was fantastic! Love and a Little White Lie really surprised me, it was captivating in a way I didn’t expect. Sometimes life moves us in ways we aren’t ready for, we have a sense of missing something but are never sure what it might be. This book is written from the viewpoint of January (Jan). She’s currently living with her Aunt after a gaunt with her boyfriend went sideways. She thinks shes just there together feet back underneath her, but really she’s on a journey of self discovery and realizing the world is bigger than herself. The characters are rich and well rounded and readers delight in each step Jan takes towards being a better person.
Looking for something to read and pass a bit of time? Give this book a try. You not only won’t be disappointed but you might also learn a thing or two about yourself along the way.
Thank you to both NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this story. I will be making it part of my collection as well. My review and opinions are my won and voluntarily given.
Love And A Little White Lie was a beautifully written story with characters that were authentic and relatable.
January journeys through her family dynamics and her past with a rawness that draws the reader in. She struggles with being attracted to two different men and wrestles with being agnostic while working at a church.
I loved seeing the transformation in her heart occur in this story! January’s feistiness and the swoony moments make Tammy L. Gray’s newest release a must read!
Thank you to the publishing team for this opportunity to read and review this book honestly!
Love and a Little White Lie is a subtle change of direction for Tammy Gray, and I loved it! Jan(uary)’s voice is fresh and flows right off the page. Creating real characters outside of Christian circles is one of the things Tammy Gray does best, and this story delivered a wonderfully wounded, flawed agnostic heroine (Jan) surrounded by wounded, flawed Christians in very real and relatable circumstances.
THIS is how evangelization happens in real life, in my opinion, less with words and tracts, and more by simply living alongside and loving your neighbor (or here, more often, your co-worker).
The result is a beautiful novel filled with multi-dimensional characters, a slowly evolving friends-to-lovers story, and a religious awakening.
I couldn’t help being reminded of one of my favorite books, The Grace Crasher by Mara Faro, that shares a lot of similarities to this book. If you love Love and a Little White Lie, I highly recommend The Grace Crasher too.
“Prayer is not about changing your situation, although sometimes God grants those requests. It’s about changing your heart.”
This is my first Tammy Gray novel. I really liked this story and this quote! Once I started reading, I didn’t want to stop. The writing style, the wit, the faith thread, and the characters drew me in immediately. I was also interested in several of the side characters’ stories which made this story all the richer.
After a bad breakup, January moves to the town her aunt lives in and finds a temporary job at her aunts church. She has omitted one little thing – that she lacks in faith. At first, I was worried that January would be hard to like, and while I did have my issues with her, since this is written in first person, you really get to know her and feel for her, especially once you find out what she’s been through.
My favorite character in this story is…well, I don’t want to spoiler anything, so I’ll just say, it’s the one she ends up with! I really liked his character. He was intuitive, honest, and reliable. I really wanted to be in his head too!
My only issue with this story is that I wanted more page time with the two that ended up together. I loved when they were on the page and how their relationship grew. I just really wanted more of them -this is the reason why love triangle stories are not my favorite. I know that January needed the other relationship to grow, but I would’ve liked less of it and more time with the one she ended up with!
I will definitely be looking up Tammy Gray’s backlist and looking forward to whatever she writes next.
I enjoyed Love and A Little White Lie by author Tammy L. Gray, whose work I read for the first time. The novel is well written and the characters well developed.
On a mission to heal her broken heart and replenish her empty bank account, Jan settles into temporary living quarters graciously provided by her Aunt Doreen.
With the help of her aunt and Jan conveniently failing to mention she’s an agnostic, she lands employment at the Grace Community Church. It wasn’t a lifelong goal to work at a church, but as friendships are forged and time passes, Jan finds herself more and more comfortable with her life in the small Texas community.
When Jan becomes friends with Cameron, a handsome Christian musician, that friendship quickly turns into something more. Meanwhile, Dillon, a brooding landscape architect who spends a lot of time taking care of Aunt Doreen’s property seems to ruffle Jan’s feathers at every turn.
This novel is for romance readers that enjoy Christian touches throughout a story.
This is a well written book that hooks you on the first page and doesn’t let go. This is a book you don’t want to end, but you just have to know what happens next. This was a very emotional story, it made me laugh, cry and feel every emotion in between. I can’t say enough good things about this book without letting a spoiler slip out, So all I’m going to say is this is a book you don’t want to miss. I hated to see it end. Thank you Bethany House Publishers and Tammy L. Gray via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
I really enjoyed this book! While contemporary romance is generally not my thing, this book was less about earthy romance and more about the wooing of our Heavenly Father to one lost sheep. January (Jan) Sanders finds herself at the end of her rope after a massive heartbreak and finds solace with her aunt who offers her a place to stay and helps her find a job. The problem is that the job is at her aunt’s church, and January doesn’t believe in God. I loved how this book portrayed Christians – imperfect, but loving human beings. While Jan didn’t believe in God, she still cares about people and so she fits in, even if she doesn’t “speak the language”. I loved her compassion towards her boss and one of the elderly church members who’d ended up in a nursing home and the ways that she goes about helping them without them knowing about it.
This book had great characters, and great character development/growth. I found myself laughing at the banter and crying at the unraveling places. One thing I love is when books have characters with some serious quirks. Jan has a fascinating mind that looks at the world a bit differently and I loved that quirk about her, even if she didn’t like it about herself. The story itself was great and the healing process was both intense and realistic – for many of the characters, not just Jan. The romance was a solid theme throughout, but everything that happened both within and without the romance was clear evidence of God seeking Jan’s heart. The ending was wholly satisfactory as well and I was glad to see some loose ends tied up with Jan’s relationship with her mother. All in all, this was a beautiful story of God’s love and grace, shown to His children, often by His children.
Special thanks to Ms. Gray and Bethany House Publishers for an advance copy of this book. I was not obligated to provide a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.
Love and a Little White Lie by Tammy L. Gray is an I CAN’T PUT DOWN BOOK! I literally read it in two days and I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I put it down. Gray has a way of making this messed up world and the grittiness of it, come across the pages as relatable. Because, the characters are flawed, just as we the readers are flawed. Yet we see the handiwork of God sprinkled throughout. The heroine, January is an agnostic. She has experienced disappointments with the men who have come in and out of her life starting from childhood. However, her life is changed upside down when she gets a job at a church. This book has wit, heartache, romance and restoration. It also offers hope and love and that is what I feel we all crave and desire.
*I was given a copy of this book by Bethany House publishers, and this is my honest opinion.
Love and a Little White Lie by Tammy L. Gray is an I CAN’T PUT DOWN BOOK! I literally read it in two days and I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I put it down. Gray has a way of making this messed up world and the grittiness of it come across the pages as relatable. Because, the characters are flawed just as we the readers are flawed and yet we see the handiwork of God sprinkled throughout. The heroine, January is an agnostic. She has had some major disappointing experiences with the men who have come in and out of her life starting from childhood. However, her life is changed upside down when she gets a job at a church. This book has heartache, romance and restoration. It also offers hope and love and that is what I feel we all crave and desire.
*I was given a copy of this book by Bethany House publishers, and this is my honest opinion.
Why Love and a Little White Lie is a Book You Should Totally Read:
* January’s first person point of view – pulls you right into her doubts, fears, relationships and life decisions
* Awesome supporting characters that leap off the page and into your heart
* Witty and well-written dialogue
* Entertaining and engaging plot
* Touching moments drawn by God’s perfect hand
I couldn’t put this book down! What a great story!
This was my first time reading anything by Tammy L. Gray and I’m so glad I did! I happily recommend this book to fans of contemporary romances from a Christian worldview.
Love and a Little White Lie is available on August 4th. You can preorder your copy at http://www.christianbook.com or http://www.bakerbookhouse.com today!
I received a complimentary advanced reading copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers through NetGalley. A positive review was not required. Opinions expressed are completely my own.