In The Wholehearted Marriage: Fully Engaging Your Most Important Relationship, authors Greg Smalley (The DNA of Relationships) and Shawn Stoever discuss the traits of marriages that go beyond “good” and become “great.” They coined the term “wholehearted” to describe a marriage in which “both spouses have two fully open and engaged hearts.”

The authors write that “we look around and don’t see many people up at ‘great.’ There are few role models. Not many people to hang out with in the Great Marriage category. So we settle.”

Critical Care

Candace Calvert

Tyndale House Publishers

Softcover, 304 pages, $12.99

978-1414325439

In the vein of TV medical dramas like ER and Grey’s Anatomy, Calvert's Critical Care is the story of Claire Avery, a former emergency room nurse-turned-hospital educator after her brother died of severe burns while she was on duty.

Crossing the Lines

Richard Doster

David C. Cook

softcover, 416 pages, $14.99

978-1-434-79984-5

Richard Doster evokes memories of the civil rights movement of the 1950s in his second novel set in the South. Crossing the Lines continues the story of newspaper reporter Jack Hall, who's sent to Montgomery, Ala., to report on a minor incident involving a woman who refused give up her seat in a “whites only” section of a city bus.

Once there, Jack forms a friendship with a young Martin Luther King Jr. and is witness to some of the civil rights movement’s most dramatic events. As he sees and learns more about the struggle for justice, Jack also confronts the long-held racial stereotypes of Christians of whom he goes to church with, including his wife Rose Marie who can’t understand why people are making such a fuss.

Doster weaves his fictional characters into stories of actual events so seamlessly that it is difficult to know where reality ends and fiction begins. The dialogue given King and others is historically accurate based on the author’s exhaustive research. Crossing The Lines is a good read that provides an insider's view of a part of history they may have missed.

Written by Jim Seybert

Zondervan is releasing the newly revised NIV Couple’s Devotional Bible this month. The Bible features the complete text of the New International Version, a new cover design and 260 new weekday devotions centering on issues couples face today. Authors include Lauren Winner, Jennifer Schuchmann, Wayne Brouwer and Carla Barnhill. Weekend devotions are also included with advice from Les and Leslie Parrott, Gary Thomas, Bill and Lynne Hybels and Gary Smalley. Topics include communication, work and career, sex, setting goals, step-parenting, money, fears, worship and forgiveness. The hardcover edition retails for $29.99, and a chocolate/silver Italian DuoTone is priced at $46.99.

In The Unexpected Adventure: Taking Everyday Risks to Talk With People About Jesus (978-0-310-28392-8, $14.99, Zondervan), releasing this month, Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg seek to convey the joy and fulfillment of personal evangelism.

Written in a devotional-type format and divided into 42-day “adventures,” the pair takes turns introducing readers to significant moments they’ve experienced when sharing the gospel. In the book’s introduction, Strobel calls evangelism “the missing ingredient” in the lives of many Christians who report going through times of spiritual dryness. A passion for reaching unbelievers not only translates into renewed Christian devotion but also spills over into a more dedicated focus on Bible study, prayer life, worship and dependence on God, he asserts.

Researcher and author George Barna addresses what he sees as a “critical moment” in the history of the U.S. in The Seven Faith Tribes: Who They Are, What They Believe and Why They Matter.

The author of Revolution and Boiling Point identifies seven major groups, or “faith tribes”—captive Christians, casual Christians, Jews, Mormons, Muslims, pantheists and skeptics—and suggests strategies they could employ to work toward a better future for America.