My Top 10(ish) Auto-buy Authors

I always love learning about other people’s favorite books and authors. It’s fun to see what favorites I have in common with others, and even more fun to discover authors I’ve never read anything from before. I’ve also been asked many times for book recommendations—another thing I LOVE! I’m always happy to share about the books and authors that are dear to my heart.

With that being said… I recently read a blog post (I can’t remember now which blog it was!) covering that blogger’s top ten favorite authors whose books they automatically buy no matter what, and I knew I wanted to do the same thing once I got my blog going.

So, without further ado, here are my Top 10(ish)—-because let’s face it, I have too many favorites **shrug**—Auto-buy Christian Fiction Authors! Included are brief descriptions of their writing and genres. 

1. Connilyn Cossette

Connilyn writes AMAZING Biblical Fiction, so far all set in the Old Testament Era. I discovered her first book, Counted with the Stars, on a blog shortly before its release and instantly fell in love with the breathtaking cover! From that first book, I was hooked, and now I never miss a new release of hers! And her covers **drool**, just like her first one, are always some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen!

2. Roseanna M. White

I love everything about Roseanna and her books! She is such a fun author to follow. She has a great blog and social media presence, and does “seasons” of Facebook Live episodes where she talks about her books, interviews other authors, reads excerpts from her books, and more. She and her husband founded Whitefire Publishing, where she publishes some of her work, while also publishing other works with Bethany House. Her books range from deep Biblical Fiction that doesn’t shy away from the supernatural workings of God, to lighter toned Edwardian/WWI era stories with a healthy dose of thrilling mystery. For several years now, I have never missed a new Roseanna White book!

3. Jocelyn Green

Jocelyn is a more recent addition to my fave author’s list. I read her book, The Mark of the King, in the spring of 2018 and was HOOKED. It easily became my favorite read of the year, and her following release, A Refuge Assured, is in my Top 3 Reads of 2019. Her way with words and depth of story and character is breathtaking. Since reading those two Colonial era books of hers, I’ve had the privilege of listening to the first two books of her Civil War era Heroines Behind the Lines series for review on Audible (thanks, Jocelyn, for the honor!). The Civil War era and late 1800’s decades aren’t usually a go to for me, but these books were phenomenal. Now I will never miss a book of hers, no matter what the story’s setting. Her writing is just that good! 

4. Melanie Dickerson

I have been a Melanie Dickerson fan for a very long time. I’ve read every book of hers from the beginning of her career, except for her two 2019 releases that I haven’t had the opportunity to order yet. While having written a Regency era series and recently released a novel set in the 19th century American South, Melanie is most famous for her Medieval era fairytale retellings. Her books are light, easy reads, but her clever reimaginings of beloved fairytales make for fun, intriguing plots!

5. Kristi Ann Hunter

I LOVE following Kristi Ann Hunter on Instagram and Facebook, and have done so since her first book release. Her sense of humor, often on display in her IG stories, is just the best. This sense of humor carries over beautifully into her Regency era romances. I like to think of her books as Jane Austen meets modern-day Rom-Com. They’re clever and well-written odes to Austen without being stuffy, and they’re so, so fun! I’m especially loving her current Haven Manor series.

6. Angela Hunt

The prolific, ACFW Lifetime Achievement Award winner Angela Hunt is the writer of one of my top three favorite series of all time, The Heirs of Cahira O’Connor. I have not read all of her work, because as I said she has written many, many books over her decades long career, but in recent years I have been following her work more closely and reading every book she comes out with. Her work spans everything from Biblical Fiction to Contemporary Fiction, but all of her recent works have been set in the Biblical era—and I’m loving it! Her recent Silent Years series is phenomenal and her next book, the start of a brand new series, is high on my list of most anticipated 2020 releases (blog post on that still to come!).

7. Jody Hedlund

Jody is also a more recent addition to this list. I’ve been aware of her work for a long time, but recently started reading more of it. Now, having become familiar with her stellar writing, I won’t miss another release! She also has a large range of work, from Medieval YA novels to Wild West stories. I am dying to get my hands on her latest releases—the start of her Bride Ship series and the entire Medieval YA Lost Princesses series that released throughout September and October (I do have the first book in this series at least!). Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that this lady released not the usual one or two but FIVE books this year! That is pretty much unheard of!

8. Laura Frantz

Another recent addition, I first read a Laura Frantz book two or three years ago. I loved it, but I wasn’t really an all-out fan until her book The Lacemaker released in 2018. The gorgeous cover alone makes the book worth reading, but the story is great too, and I love the fact that is has a subtle link to Jocelyn Green’s 1700’s lacemaker story, A Refuge Assured, that I mentioned earlier. Now Laura’s expertly crafted Colonial era books are absolute must-haves for me. Her 2019 release, A Bound Heart—inspired by her own family history—gave me all the Scotland-meets-Poldark vibes and I loved every word of it! 

9. Mesu Andrews

So far I have only read one, yes, one, Mesu Andrews book. Her 2018 release, Isaiah’s Daughter, was one of the first books I read this year and it’s one of the best Biblical Fiction books I’ve ever read! Not every book grips my heart so much that I find myself shedding tears over it, but this one did. I have a couple of her older releases in my Kindle app waiting to be read, and I just bought her latest release, Of Fire and Lions, for my birthday. Her depth of historical detail, theme, and character and her way of vividly bringing the characters of the Bible to life is exceptional. I will never miss another release, and hopefully will have the chance to work my way back through her past books.

10. Tessa Afshar

Yet another Biblical Fiction author! Can you see I like this genre? Haha! I read my first Tessa Afshar book at the beginning of this year, and then recently listened to another two books of hers on Audible. I loved them so much that now I will never miss another new book! All of her past works are on my (hopelessly massive) to-be-read list, and I can’t wait for her new book coming out in 2020, Daughter of Rome, about Priscilla and Aquila in the book of Acts! Tessa’s own story of how she went from being born into a Muslim family in Iran to being a successful Christian writer is so moving and another reason why I’m a fan of her work.

Special Mentions

The following authors were not included in the above list either because they fell just short of my Top 10 or because some of their current work is outside of my preferred genres. They are still some of my favorite authors and I follow their work closely on social media!

11. Lisa Bergren

Lisa is the author of another of my top three favorite series of all time, The River of Time Series. I could talk about that series all day and cannot recommend it enough (seriously, go read it). Her current series, The Sugar Baron’s Daughters, is so good as well and I had the honor of reading book two, Verity, for review this year! Her writing style has even influenced my own in some ways, I’ve found. She didn’t make it into the Top 10 Auto-buy Authors because I haven’t read some of her works since becoming a fan as they were in genres I’m not really into: Dystopian Fantasy and Contemporary. 

12. Julie Klassen

I’ve been a long time fan of Julie’s. She writes some of the best Regency era stories out there! In fact, her books are heralded as the “gold-standard” for that genre. She just barely missed my Top 10 list, but I can’t wait for her new book, The Bridge to Belle Island, to release in December!

13. Joanna Davidson Politano

Her writing is just as unique and memorable as her name! Joanna’s first book, Lady Jayne Disappears, released in 2017 and I was so impressed with it. The mystery kept me guessing until the end, which is unusual for me as I normally can guess it sooner, and the cover is one of the coolest I’ve ever seen. Her second book, A Rumored Fortune, was a little slower for me personally, but it was nominated for a Christy Award! What a huge accomplishment, especially for a new author! She fell just short of my Top 10, but I’m sure I won’t ever miss a release. I’m eagerly looking forward to reading her third book, Finding Lady Enderly!

14. Marylu Tyndall

Marylu Tyndall is best known for her Pirate Romances. Think Pirates of the Carribean, but Christian! I’ve been a fan of seafaring stories ever since reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, book five in the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. I’m not really sure why I enjoy them so much, but something about them is so fun to me, and Marlyu writes the very best! What I really love about her writing is that she doesn’t shy away from the deeper, overt spiritual themes that aren’t very common in Christian Fiction. She didn’t make my Top 10 simply because some of her recent work wasn’t something I was very interested in: a Contemporary Supernatural Thriller and a Medieval Supernatural Fantasy series. But you can bet any new 1600’s-1700’s seafaring adventure she releases will be eagerly purchased!

If you’re looking for some new authors to add to your own list of must-buy writers, I hope you can find a few amongst this list. Also, be sure to to follow these authors on Amazon and Goodreads, plus look them up on social media! Not only will you stay in the know on all their upcoming books, but it helps them out as well! 

Who are your favorite authors? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!