The Gospel Comes With A House Key by Rosaria Butterfield

Goodreads: The Gospel Comes With A House Key

Published: 2018

Genres: Christian non-fiction

Pages: 240

Format: Borrowed from friend, print

Rosaria Butterfield writes a compelling case for radical hospitality; finding practical ways to love and serve your neighbours is something we can all be encouraged in from time to time. Her writing style is clear and concise and takes readers on a journey through her neighbourhood. I think a strength of the book was the examples of the way she and her husband open their home (soup and buns, air mattresses in the kids rooms, driving friends to appointments). I appreciated all the ideas from someone who is further along than I. While at times, I wanted to put the book down in frustration (there are seasons when serving is hard), but I think we can all take something from this book. Sometimes we're the host and sometimes we're the guest, as Butterfield explains, but it's important to do what we can with what we have where we are. A great read for anyone looking to grow in the gift of hospitality.

Top ten most anticipated books for 2025

Top Ten Tuesday is run by That Artsy Reader Girl. Find out more or check out upcoming topics on her site.

This week's topic is top ten most recent additions to my to-read list. I'm always, always adding more books, but here are a couple of the recent additions I'm most excited about.

1. First Love, Second Draft by Becca Kinzer

2. Welcome to the Honey B&B by Melody Carlson

3. The Voice We Find by Nicole Deese

4. Kate Landry Has A Plan by Rebekah Millet

5. The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna M. White

6. The Bitter End Birding Society by Amanda Cox

7. An Overdue Match by Sarah Monzon

8. The Atlas of Untold Stories by Sara Brunsvold

9. The Love Haters by Katherine Center

10. Uneasy Street by Becky Wade

What books are you most excited about for 2025?

Her One and Only by Becky Wade

Goodreads: Her One and Only

Published: 2016

Series: Porter Family #4

Genres: Adult, Romance, Christian

Pages: 391

Format: Library, print

The story follows Dru, the youngest Porter sibling and only girl. She's working as an executive protection assistant and is assigned to Gray Fowler, star NFL tight end football player. His team hired a protection agency after Gray started receiving threatening letters in the mail. Gray doesn't see the need for the agents and he definitely doesn't want Dru (a woman!) assigned to his case. He asks her to pose as his girlfriend when they're in public and Dru agrees; she is determined to find Gray's stalker. It reminded me of The Bodyguard by Katherine Center, which also has a female protection agent and a famous male client.

Dru is tough, yet vulnerable. Initially, she seems like an unrealistic romantic lead, but as the story unfolds, her nurturing, tender side shines through and she becomes very relatable. But I'll be honest; the highlight of this book is Gray! He's a bit arrogant at the beginning, but his story arc is beautiful. The more we learned about Gray, the more I loved him. He's tough and guarded, but for good reason! And Dru was the perfect character to help break his walls down. Gray and Dru have great banter (because Wade is an amazing author), sizzling chemistry, and it was so easy to root for them. I also really enjoyed the faith element in this book; it was weaved nicely throughout the story, making it natural and realistic.

I think this may have been my favourite book from the Porter Family series, probably because of the football (!) element (I really struggled to relate with the horse racing and bull riding). It was also a nice conclusion to Meg and Bo's story and a neatly wrapped up the whole Porter storyline. The rest of Wade's books are on my TBR and I can't wait to read all of her other stories.