Interview with Liz Johnson: Healing Hearts at the Red Door Inn

Interview with Liz Johnson: Healing Hearts at the Red Door Inn

In this episode with Liz Johnson, we dive into the sweet and heartfelt world of Sometimes You Stay, her newest contemporary Christian romance set on Prince Edward Island. In this episode, Liz shares the inspiration behind the beloved Red Door Inn series—a place of safety and second chances—and introduces us to Cretia, a travel influencer who’s lost everything (literally) and Finn, a big-hearted dog trainer with a barn full of rescued animals and one very determined one-eyed cow. We chat about opposites attracting, unexpected love, and the beauty of community and real connection in a digitally distracted world. If you love stories filled with redemption, humor, and hope, this one’s for you!

Listen to the episode here.

Meet Liz Johnson

Liz Johnson on The Christian Romance Podcast

By day Liz Johnson is a marketing manager. She makes time to write late at night—that’s when she thinks best anyway. Liz is the author of more than a dozen novels, a New York Times bestselling novella, and a handful of short stories. She’s a Christy Award finalist and a three-time ACFW Carol Award finalist. She makes her home in Phoenix, Arizona, where she enjoys exploring local music, theater, and doting on her nieces and nephews. She writes stories of true love filled with heart, humor, and happily ever afters.

Visit Liz’s Website here

Check out Kelly’s earlier episode with Liz here.

Follow Liz

Bible Verse for Encouragement

1 John 3:16 (NKJV)
“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Liz Johnson’s New Book: Sometimes You Stay

He was never going to leave the island, and she wasn’t going to stay. But if she walked away, she would always wonder . . .

For digital content creator Cretia Martin, home is wherever her carry-on suitcase lands. And it’s constantly landing in new places as she travels the world. She’s never been interested in settling in one spot–after all, houses are just places that collect junk and tie you down. But when she literally bumps into local dog breeder Finn Chaffey on Prince Edward Island and all the tools of her trade end up in the harbor, she can’t exactly leave until she gets things sorted out.

Finn is horrified by the part he played in the accident and offers to help, arranging for Cretia to stay with a friend at the beautiful Red Door Inn. The longer Cretia is forced to remain in one place, the more she discovers what she’s been missing with life on the road–and the more she wants to see Finn and his business succeed. But helping him means staying put, the one thing she always swore she wouldn’t do, and risking the only thing she’s never put on the line–her heart.

Tropes you’ll find inside Sometimes You Stay:

  • Forced proximity
  • Opposites attract
  • Fish out of water
  • Found family
  • Rescue trope (emotional and literal!)
  • Grumpy meets sunshine
  • Small town charm
  • Pet matchmakers (hello, Joe Jr.)

Get your copy today at Baker Book House or Amazon (or your favorite retailer)!

Get updates on our themed book giveaways

Enter the most current book giveaway on ChristianRomancePodcast.com and sign up for our email list.

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Kelly’s Personal Update

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me during the Kickstarter! I’m so grateful for you!

Finding Forevermore Novel

If you missed out on my debut novel Finding Forevermore on Kickstarter, no worries. You’ll have a chance to get the book at a later time once it officially launches across retailers like Amazon.

I’ll share more updates by joining my free email list and you’ll get all kind of goodies! Visit my website here to sign up

Follow me for updates

Interview with Danielle Grandinetti: Crafting Christmas Suspense and Faith-Filled Romance

Interview with Danielle Grandinetti: Crafting Christmas Suspense and Faith-Filled Romance

In this interview with Danielle Grandinetti we dive into a story-lover’s journey from piano teacher to indie and traditional published author of heart-pounding historical romantic suspense. Danielle shares how God directed her unexpected path to publishing, how her background in music and teaching shapes her storytelling, and why she loves dropping her characters into high-stakes, dangerous situations—especially around Christmas! We also talk about her novella The Neighbor and the Gifts, where a shy librarian faces creepy Christmas gifts from a stalker, and how justice, mercy, and love are woven into every suspenseful chapter. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to write romance with a dose of danger, this episode is a must-listen!

Listen to the episode here.

Meet Danielle Grandinetti

Danielle Grandinetti is an award-winning inspirational romance author fueled by tea, books, and the creative beauty of nature. Her stories combine romance, mystery, and suspense against the backdrop of the 1930s to tell the tale of finding home and hope in hard times. With a master’s in communication and culture and a passion for intercultural communication, storytelling has been her heartbeat for as long as she can remember. Married to her hero, Danielle is a second-generation Italian-American, a dairy farmer’s granddaughter, and a boy mom from Chicagoland who now lives along Lake Michigan’s Wisconsin shoreline.

Visit daniellegrandinetti.com.

Follow Danielle

Bible Verse for Encouragement

Micah 6:8 (NKJV)
“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?”

Danielle’s New Book: The Neighbor and the Gifts

Twelve days. Twelve gifts. One unlikely hero.

Wisconsin, 1930—When Manitowish Waters librarian Olivia “Ollie” Larson finds a package on the library steps, she expects the children’s books she ordered, not a taxidermied partridge. By the fourth gift from her unknown and unwelcome True Love, disappearing to her grandfather’s isolated cabin in the Northwoods is the only way she can escape him.

Deputy Titus Wilburn is happy to escort the lovely librarian to her grandfather’s house on his way to the neighboring Yarwood cabin. After all, he’s been smitten with her since they attended school together, and she needs his protection. However, the plan fails when Ollie’s uninvited suitor discovers her new location.

As the man’s actions become more desperate and his gifts more dangerous, an unexpectedly bedridden Titus decides to free Ollie from this menace, which puts the enemy’s sights directly on him. Ollie refuses to let her injured hero sacrifice himself, but with the days ticking closer to Christmas, she may have no choice but to accept whatever fate her suitor has in store for her if she wants to save Titus’ life.

One cabin in the Northwoods … a decade of Christmas miracles.

Read the whole series!
Prequel: The Sheriff and the Outlaw
Book One: The Baby and the Guardian
Book Two: The Neighbor and the Gifts

Tropes you’ll find inside:

  • Shy heroine & wounded hero
  • Small town / cabin setting
  • Forced proximity (hero falls off a roof!)
  • Childhood friends to more
  • Christmas countdown with a twist
  • Matchmaking grandparent
  • Romantic suspense with a historical twist
  • Gifts from a “not-so-secret” admirer (stalker)
  • Love inspired by danger
  • Librarian heroine

Get your copy today on Amazon or your favorite retailer!

Get updates on our themed book giveaways

Enter the most current book giveaway on ChristianRomancePodcast.com and sign up for our email list.

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Kelly’s Personal Update

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me during the Kickstarter! I’m so grateful for you!

Finding Forevermore Novel

If you missed out on my debut novel Finding Forevermore on Kickstarter, no worries. You’ll have a chance to get the book at a later time once it officially launches across retailers like Amazon.

I’ll share more updates by joining my free email list and you’ll get all kind of goodies! Visit my website here to sign up

Follow me for updates

Interview with Hope Toler Dougherty: From Fiction Skeptic to Faith-Fueled Storyteller

Interview with Hope Toler Dougherty: From Fiction Skeptic to Faith-Fueled Storyteller

This episode with Hope Toler Dougherty dives deep into how God gently (and vividly) led her from nonfiction essays to the world of Christian romance fiction. In this episode, Hope shares the divine inspiration behind her writing journey and her latest book, Forever Free. We talk about her character Heath’s redemption story, Phoebe’s farm fresh dreams, and how singleness and second chances intertwine with grace and growth. If you’ve ever felt “less than” or unsure of your path, Hope’s journey will deeply encourage you. Grab your journal and a cozy cup—this one is full of wisdom, laughter, and God’s fingerprints on every page.

Listen to the episode here.

Meet Hope Toler Dougherty

Hope Toler Dougherty holds a Master’s degree in English and taught at East Carolina University and York Technical College. Her early novels are Irish EncounterMars…With Venus Rising, and Rescued Hearts. Her Forever series includes Forever MusicForever Home, and the novella, “A Hatteras Surprise,” featured in Candy Cane Wishes and Saltwater Dreams.

Visit Hope’s Website here

Follow Hope

Bible Verse for Encouragement

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
Ephesians 3:20 NKJV

Hope’s Book: Forever Free

Phoebe Sinclair combines her love of flowers and teaching to nurture a cut flower business on her grandfather’s land. She has her hands full growing the farm, growing her customer base, and dealing with her growing attraction to the aloof man who volunteered to help make her farming dream come true.

Can she focus on her main job, or will a pair of yearning eyes and a hurting heart divert her worthy goals?

Heath Daniels has resigned himself to a life of singleness as he watches his siblings couple up and set wedding dates. Tracking their happiness, however, is more difficult than he expected. A real struggle, in fact.

Feeling old troubles—from the bad time when he dropped out of college to explore less-than-noble pursuits—creep back to tempt him, propelling him to volunteer for manual labor that leaves him exhausted at the end of every day—and out of trouble.

Tropes you’ll find inside:

  • Enemies to Lovers
  • Forced Proximity
  • Second Chances
  • Found Family
  • Grumpy/Sunshine (a little bit!)
  • Rehabilitation/Healing Through Work
  • Secret Softie Hero

Get your copy today on Amazon or your favorite retailer!

Get updates on our themed book giveaways

Enter the most current book giveaway on ChristianRomancePodcast.com and sign up for our email list.

[convertkit form=6900532]


Kelly’s Personal Update

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me during the Kickstarter! I’m so grateful for you!

Finding Forevermore Novel

If you missed out on my debut novel Finding Forevermore on Kickstarter, no worries. You’ll have a chance to get the book at a later time once it officially launches across retailers like Amazon.

I’ll share more updates by joining my free email list and you’ll get all kind of goodies! Visit my website here to sign up

Follow me for updates