Best-selling author Francine Rivers' first full-length release since 2003 is part of a strong New Year 2010 fiction schedule previewed to librarians by four leading Christian publishers.

Rivers' Her Mother's Hope, out in March, is the first of a two-part "Marta's Legacy" series from Tyndale House Publishers, with the second installment, Her Daughter's Dream, to follow later in the year.

The series "is really going to hit home with book groups," Tyndale Acquisitions Director for Fiction Karen Watson told those participating in Library Journal's online "Christian Fiction Book Buzz" Webcast last Thursday. The books are based in part on Rivers' "own family heritage and history," Watson added.

Baker Publishing Group National Accounts Manager Nathan Henrion said that there was a resurgence in fiction set in biblical times, with books such as Davis Bunn and Janette Oke's The Hidden Flame (Bethany House Publishers/Baker Publishing Group)--the second in their "Acts of Faith" series (January)--and Jill Eileen Smith's Abigail (Revell/Baker Publishing Group), the second in her "The Wives of King David" series (February), expected to fare well.

Amish fiction was "far from peaking," Henrion added, with Beverley Lewis' The Telling (Bethany House Publishers/Baker Publishing Group), the third in her "Seasons of Grace" series, due out in April.

Allen Arnold, senior vice president and publisher for fiction at Thomas Nelson, spotlighted the company's young adult efforts, including the next installments in novels by Andrew Klavan (The Long Way Home, "The Homelanders" series) and Robert Liparulo (Frenzy, "Dreamhouse Kings" series). Arnold also said that he expected a strong response to the first in a new fiction series from singer Sara Evans, The Sweet By and By.

Abingdon Press Executive Director of Marketing Susan Salley previewed the company's debut fiction line, featuring "stories that not only entertain but explore the gray areas of our lives." Among the releases is The Call of Zulina by Christian fiction veteran Kay Marshall Strom, the first in a three-part "Grace in Africa" series.

The Library Journal preview was hosted by the magazine's review editor--Barbara Hoffert--who said that Christian fiction remained one of the hottest book genres, alongside mystery and romance, and was "not just your simple devotions any more."

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