St. Ninian's Sanctuary Series by Jill Penrod

St. Ninian’s Sanctuary is a spiritual retreat center on a mysterious island so far south it’s nearly in Antarctica. At this center guests find healing, hope, and renewal, or so says its website. Ione Stavros needs it to be true, because she needs healed. Memories of horror haunt her, and she’s desperate to hear God again and regain her life. Soon after she arrives she meets Callen McGill, who is clearly as haunted as she is... moreSt. Ninian’s Sanctuary is a spiritual retreat center on a mysterious island so far south it’s nearly in Antarctica. At this center guests find healing, hope, and renewal, or so says its website. Ione Stavros needs it to be true, because she needs healed. Memories of horror haunt her, and she’s desperate to hear God again and regain her life. Soon after she arrives she meets Callen McGill, who is clearly as haunted as she is. Through an unspoken agreement, they don’t share their pain, but they share adventures, sometimes dangerous adventures, digging more deeply into the island’s secrets. God begins to knit Ione’s wounds, but Callen falls farther into darkness, and he doesn’t understand why God won’t heal him. If God is dealing with them together—and it seems that’s what He means to do—surely He will heal both of them. At least Callen hopes so, because this isn’t simply about healing their spirits. It’s also about rebuilding their lives, and Callen needs a job, a home, and mostly a way to keep Ione in his everyday life, whatever that will look like. It isn’t until God puts everything in Callen’s life to the test that he realizes God’s paths might lead to places he never expected to go. Small-town Christian contemporary romance with an island twist. less

When thirty-year-old Sage Montgomery loses his wife and in-laws, he ends up with custody of his teen sister-in-law, who is angry and impossible to reach. Hoping they will heal and refresh, his parents send them both to St. Ninian’s Sanctuary, a spiritual retreat center on an island on the southern tip of the world... moreWhen thirty-year-old Sage Montgomery loses his wife and in-laws, he ends up with custody of his teen sister-in-law, who is angry and impossible to reach. Hoping they will heal and refresh, his parents send them both to St. Ninian’s Sanctuary, a spiritual retreat center on an island on the southern tip of the world. While there Sage meets Violet, a woman all out of confidence who runs the island wool shed, and his sister-in-law meets Heath, a recent high school graduate who wants to remain on the island but can’t muster the courage to tell anyone. Through adventures and dangers only possible on the island, Sage and Paisley learn about love, loss, and what it means to grieve and begin again. Heath finds that God’s purposes are bigger than his fears. Violet begins to trust God for her purpose, even when she doesn’t think she measures up. And along the way, they discover more of St. Ninian’s secrets, including a few concerning the elusive owner of the island and what he’s hiding. Contemporary, small-town Christian romance with an island twist, Beyond the Borderlands is book three of the St. Ninian’s Sanctuary series. less